Terrible Judgment. What is it and when will it be

What does the Last Judgment mean? Do not think that throughout human history God has been love, and only at the Last Judgment, excuse me, now only in justice.

Nothing like this! It is unwise to present God at this Judgment as some kind of despot. The Last Judgment is called Terrible not because God “forgets” about love and acts according to some soulless “truth” - no, but because here the final self-affirmation, self-determination of the individual takes place: is she capable of being with God or will she leave Him, will she remain outside of Him forever. But can this be? Although this is a mystery of the future age, it is possible to psychologically understand the rejection of God.

Let me give you one case as an example. Once, in the good old days, a village teacher saved a St. Petersburg aristocrat from death, who, in the winter, lost his way. He was covered in snow and died. You yourself understand how grateful the saved man was to him. And after some time, he invited the teacher to St. Petersburg and arranged a high society reception in his honor, calling his relatives and friends. Anyone who has been to large receptions imagines the position in which the teacher found himself, seeing in front of him a multitude of forks, knives, plates and other accessories of the same table, which he had never seen before. Having never been to such receptions in his life, the poor fellow did not know what to do: he would take something with the wrong hand, he did not know how to take up food, he sat, drenched in cold sweat. Toasts are made in his honor, but he does not even know how to answer. Exhausted from thirst, he drank water from an oval saucer in front of his plates. And what was his horror when he saw the guests washing their fingers in these plates. This is where he almost fainted. So this magnificent reception became a real hell for our teacher. Then, for the rest of his life, he often nodded at night in a cold sweat - he again dreamed of this high society reception in his honor.

You probably understand what I'm saying. What is the Kingdom of God? This is spiritual union with God, Who is the infinite fullness of love, meekness and humility. And now imagine how a person who is filled with exactly the opposite properties will feel in this Kingdom: hatred, malice, hypocrisy. What would the Kingdom of God be to him if he suddenly found himself in it? Thus, what an aristocratic reception was for a poor teacher. For him, God's Kingdom would be hell to the infernal extent. An evil being cannot abide in the atmosphere of love, the atmosphere of God's Kingdom.

Now it becomes clear what can happen at the Last Judgment. Not violence against the person, like the current as ancient greek goddess Blindfolded Themis sends people - one to the right, the other to the left - depending on their deeds. Not! God is love. It is no coincidence that the Monk Isaac the Syrian says: “. those tormented in Gehenna are smitten with the scourge of love. endure torment greater than any. possible punishment. It is inappropriate for a person to think that sinners in Gehenna are deprived of the love of God. But love, by its power, acts in two ways: it torments sinners. and rejoices with himself those who have done their duty.

Perhaps there will be individuals who willfully reject the love of God. But a person who rejects God leaves on his own, and this is good for him, for his hatred cannot endure the flame of God's love. Just as for a rural teacher, a magnificent reception in his honor turned out to be a torment.

God does not violate our freedom. And so the doors of hell, if you like, can only be locked from the inside - by its inhabitants themselves. Only those who themselves did not want or do not want to leave it remain.

The idea that the reason for the stay of sinners in hell, not excluding the devil himself, is their free “I don’t want to”, was expressed by a number of fathers: Clement of Alexandria, St. John Chrysostom, St. Basil the Great, Reverend Maxim Confessor, St. John of Damascus, St. Isaac the Syrian, St. Nicholas Cabasilas and others.

Here it is necessary to say about a fundamentally important change that will happen to a person at the end of the existence of this world. It follows from the teaching of the holy fathers that after the general resurrection, a person regains his natural fullness and with it freedom and the will to self-determination. At the Last Judgment, the final fate of a person is decided by himself, by his will, he regains the possibility of repentance, that is, spiritual renewal, healing - in contrast to the posthumous state of the soul, which was completely determined by the nature of its spirituality. Hence the peculiarity of the Last Judgment: a person himself for the last time and finally decides whether to be with God or voluntarily depart into the unquenchable flame and unceasing tartar (cold) of eternal passions. Christ cannot violate human freedom.

And one more fact can be said with full confidence: at the Last Judgment, before every person, believing and unbelieving, the great feat of Christ, His sacrificial love, His amazing self-abasement for the salvation of mankind will be revealed in all its strength and brightness. And it is difficult to imagine that such a Sacrifice would not touch, or rather, would not shake the hearts of the resurrected people. Look how impressive, for all its shortcomings, Gibson's The Passion of the Christ made. And here the very reality of the Cross and the Glory of the Risen One will be revealed before the face of everyone. No doubt this will determine to a large extent the positive choice of a great many people. Such a choice, of course, will be facilitated by the sad experience of ordeals, which have shown the real "sweetness" of passions and being without God.

I emphasize once again: the Last Judgment is a moment when the results of the entire life and posthumous spiritual path will be summed up, when the process of growth, the process of formation, self-determination of the individual will be completed. This moment is really terrible, and God forbid that it be done with great benefit for all people.

What is the eternal fate of those who did not try to live virtuously, but spent their lives in passions, in evil, like all of us, or even did not believe in God at all? The question of the future life of man worried everyone and always. But the difficulty of understanding it lies not only in the fact that it is closed to us by an impenetrable veil, but also in the fact that eternity is not time at all, and for the human consciousness, immersed in the flow of time, it is impossible even to imagine. But this is not necessary. The Lord gave His Revelation with only one sole purpose - to lead a person to salvation (then we will see everything “face to face” - 1 Cor. 13:12), and not in order to prematurely reveal the secrets of the future age to the curious mind. Therefore, the entire Revelation has a pedagogical, educational, and not an abstract-cognitive character. For this purpose, heaven and hell are proclaimed. There are no useless messages in Revelation; everything in it is deeply soteriological. It says only so much and what is necessary and useful for a person in earthly life for the heritage of the life to come. Therefore, the Church, through the mouth of the holy fathers and the voice of decrees Ecumenical Councils simply proclaims, repeating the Gospel: yes, for the righteous there will be a kingdom of eternal life and light, and sinners will go into eternal torment. And point. With rare exceptions, such a painful question for many was not even posed: how to understand the teaching about the God of love, if He, knowing that these people would fail, gave them life?

The question has a serious apologetic reading. But any reasonable person understands that even if in the cognition of this created, spatio-temporal world we come across insurmountable boundaries, then this should be the case with respect to that world, the future life is simply a mystery. Berdyaev accurately said that this problem "is the ultimate mystery, not amenable to rationalization."

Maybe that's why the most reasonable answer to this question could be such a sincerely humble answer. We do not know what eternity is; it is not revealed to us what the new heaven and the new earth are; we do not understand life in a new body, so let's leave the dream of solving an equation with many unknowns; let us bow before the love and wisdom of God, believe that with Him there can be neither unrighteousness nor revenge, but there is only boundless love, and, therefore, eternity for each person will be the most useful and corresponding to his spirit. The Monk John of Damascus wrote quite definitely about this: “God always provides blessings to the devil, but he does not want to accept. And in the next age, God gives blessings to everyone - for He is the Source of blessings, pouring out goodness on everyone, everyone partakes in the good, as far as he has prepared himself for those who perceive.

In this regard, I will cite the thought of St. Isaac the Syrian, a great ascetic of the 7th century and an indisputable authority in spiritual life: torment them mercilessly there—such a man thinks inexpressibly blasphemous of God. Such (person). slanders him." “Where there is love, there is no retribution; and where there is retribution, there is no love. Love, when it does good deeds or corrects past deeds, does not thereby repay past deeds.

But she cares about what is most useful in the future: she explores the future, not the past.

“Although (it is said) about rage, anger, hatred, etc., in relation to the Creator, we should not imagine that He also does something out of anger, hatred or envy. Many images are used in the divine Scriptures in relation to God, which are very far from His nature.

“He (God) does not (do) anything for the sake of retribution, but looks at the benefit that should come from His (actions). One of these (objects) is Gehenna. It was not for this that the merciful Lord created rational beings in order to ruthlessly subject them to endless sorrow - those of whom He knew before their creation, what they (would turn into after creation), and whom He (nevertheless) created.

Gregory the Wonderworker and Gregory of Nyssa, brother of Basil the Great, also believed that eternal torment is not endless. For the concept of eternity does not mean infinity. A multitude of people who have stumbled during ordeals and found themselves in eternal torment, through the prayers of the Church, come out of there and enter the Kingdom of God. Let us recall at least the story of Emperor Trajan! All this suggests that the state of eternity does not mean unconditional finality, it can change, and only in a positive direction. And here are the words of Isaac the Syrian: “If the Kingdom and Gehenna had not been foreseen in the consciousness of our Good God from the very appearance of good and evil, then God’s thoughts about them would not have been eternal; but righteousness and sin were known to him before they manifested themselves. Thus, the Kingdom and Gehenna are the consequences of mercy, which in their essence are conceived by God according to His eternal goodness, and not (the consequences of) retribution, even if He gave them the name of retribution.

Let us pay attention: Isaac the Syrian wants to say that all the acts of God are providential, that they come only from love. God has no retribution, that is, no revenge, no anger, no punishment, as it happens here on earth when we are punished by people for some misdeeds. All actions of God are dictated only by love.

He likens God to a father who, not for the sake of punishment, but for the sake of benefit, and only benefit, puts the child in a situation that he, through unreason, can perceive as punishment, but it turns out to be given for his good. The statement of Isaac the Syrian is striking that Gehenna itself is nothing but the last providential means of love that God uses as the salvation of man: “The merciful Master did not create rational beings for this, in order to mercilessly subject them to endless sorrow!” Here, it can be said, for the first time, the patristic answer to the question is given with such clarity: why does Gehenna exist? And he leaves hope for the coming of that “time” when “God will be all in all” (1 Cor. 15:28).

“The kingdom of God and hellfire are the consequences of mercy, and not retribution, even if God gave them a name - retribution!” How to understand it? The words of St. John Chrysostom serve as a definite answer: “Because He (God) prepared Gehenna, because He is good.” These words indicate that it is unbearable for a person with a hellish state of soul to be with God, and the Lord, in His goodness, allows such a being to be outside of Himself. That is, God, while preserving the inviolable freedom of a rational creature to the end, shows his goodness in relation to it by giving it the opportunity to be "where" it can be. For “hellish torments,” as Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov wrote, “come from the unwillingness to truth, which has already become the law of life.”

St. Gregory the Theologian, not daring to appropriate the Judgment of God for himself, as you know, admitted the possibility of posthumous salvation through hell or, as he himself expressed it, through baptism in fire. True, he wrote about those people who died outside the boundaries of the historical Church: “Perhaps they will be baptized by fire there - this last baptism, the most difficult and lengthy, which eats up matter like hay and consumes the lightness of any sin.”

From the statements of the holy fathers, which suggested the possibility of salvation from hellfire, a stupid (forgive the expression) person can conclude:

“Aha, so if the torments are not endless, then you can live without looking back at them, live for your own pleasure!”

But listen with what force St. Isaac the Syrian warns such frivolity: “Let us beware in our souls… and understand that, although Gehenna is subject to limitation, the taste of being in it is very terrible, and beyond our knowledge is the degree of suffering in it.”

A terrible path is to enter the Kingdom, having gone through the Gehenna experience of “good” outside of God. The apostle writes: “Each work will be revealed; for the day will show, because it is revealed in the fire, and the fire will test the work of each, what it is. Whoever's business, which he built, will stand, he will receive a reward. And whoever's business is burned, he will suffer damage; however, he himself will be saved, but as if by fire” (1 Cor. 3:13-15). Lovely image, showing that the state of salvation can be different: for some it is with glory, honor, reward, the other will be saved, but as from fire.

Who would want to receive any kind of colossal inheritance, but having gone through long-term and cruel tortures of terrible sadists? I am sure none of those who have an idea about it and even less experience of severe suffering. When Russian representatives at one international conference they showed video cassettes, where it was recorded what the bandits in Chechnya were doing with prisoners of war, many could not bear it: they closed their eyes, left the hall. It’s impossible to even watch – but what if you experience it yourself? Indeed, for no good! So it is with Gehenna: if only it were possible to show what sufferings a person endures, when passions open in him in full force and begin to act, then no one would probably want to live “as it should” now - and then - what will happen. No, God forbid, if only not to fall into those terrible hands!

That's why we hear about Holy Scripture such strong warnings: ". and these shall go away into eternal punishment” (Matt. 25:46), “they will be thrown into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 8:12). That is why with such perseverance, with such force, referring also to the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, the Church warns us of the threat of eternal torment. Love cannot fail to do everything it can to save the beloved from suffering. Therefore, "beware of our souls, beloved"!

Alexey Osipov,
professor at the Moscow Theological Academy
Orthodox conversation No. 20, 2007

Choose to live with Christ!

"For God so loved the world,

that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16)

“Choose life, so that you and your offspring may live, love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and cleave to Him; for in this is your life and the length of your days…” (Deut. 30:19-20)

The Last Judgment - what will happen to sinners after the Last Judgment?

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 Heaven or Hell. This is not a judgment, but simply the distribution of the dead, who will be waiting for "time x".

Last Judgment in Christianity

AT 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 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.

Jesus will entrust part of his authority to the righteous, such as the apostles.
People will be judged not only for good and evil deeds, but also for every idle word.
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.

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 be answered.
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.
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 in different periods, thereby 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?

The saints, who wrote sacred books from the words of the Lord, were not given detailed information about the Last Judgment. 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.

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.
Under it is a throne - a judicial throne, on which there is a spear, a cane, a sponge and the Gospel.
Below are the trumpeting angels who so call everyone to the event.
The lower part of the icon shows what will happen to people who were righteous and sinners.
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.
On the other side, Hell is represented with sinners, demons and Satan.

Different sources describe other details of the Last Judgment. 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 guardian angels 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.

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.
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.
People who have done bad deeds will be sent to the abyss - a place that demons fear.
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.
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.

When the Son of God comes to earth with holy angels, he will sit on the throne of his own glory. All the nations will gather before him and Jesus will separate the good people from the bad.
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.
After that, the judge will ask why they did not help the needy when they needed support, and sinners will be punished.
Good people who have led a righteous life will be sent to Paradise.

We offer you an exposition of the Orthodox teaching on the resurrection and the life of the future age according to the Orthodox Catechism of St. Philaret (Drozdov). But first, we should recall the words of the Savior about the resurrection of the dead in the Gospel of Matthew: “You are deceived, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God, for in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven” (Matt. 22, 29) -thirty).

375. Question: What is the life of the next age?
Answer: This is the life that will be after the resurrection of the dead and the universal Judgment of Christ.

376. Q. What will this life be like?
A. This life will be so blessed for those who believe, who love God and do good, that we cannot even imagine this blessedness now. “We have not appeared (not yet revealed) that we will” (1 John 3:2). “We (I know) a person about Christ,” says the Apostle Paul, who was caught up into paradise, and hearing inexpressible verbs, they should not fly to a person to speak (which a person cannot retell) (2 Cor. 12:2,4).

377. Q. Where does such bliss come from?
A. Such blessedness will follow from the contemplation of God in light and glory, and from union with Him. “Now we see like a mirror in divination (as if through a dim glass, guessingly), then face to face: now I understand from a part, then I will know, as if I had been known” (1 Cor. 13:12). “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mat. 13.43). “God will be all in all (all in all)” (1 Cor. 15:28).

378. Q. Will the body also participate in the bliss of the soul?
A. The body will be glorified by the light of God, like the body of Jesus Christ during His Transfiguration on Tabor. "It is not sown in honor, it is raised in glory" (1 Cor 15:43). “Let us put on the image of the earthly (and as we wear the image of the earthly) (i.e. Adam), so that we may also put on the image of heaven (i.e. our Lord Jesus Christ)” (1 Cor. 15:49).

379. Q. Will all be equally blessed?
Oh no. There will be different degrees of blessedness, depending on how one has labored in faith, love and good deeds. “There is another glory to the sun, and another glory to the moon, and another glory to the stars: the star differs from the star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:41-42).

380. Q. And what will happen to the unbelievers and lawless?
A. The unbelievers and lawless will be given over to eternal death, or, in other words, to eternal fire, eternal torment along with the devils. “Whoever was not found in the book of living things (in the book of life) is written, he will be cast into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:15). “And behold (this) is the second death” (Rev. 20:14). “Depart from me, cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matt. 25:41). “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous women into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46). “It is good to enter with one eye (it is better for you to enter with one eye) into the Kingdom of God, rather than having two eyes (rather than with two eyes) I will be thrown into hellfire, unless their worm dies, and the fire is not quenched” (Mk. 9:47-48).

381. Q. Why will sinners be dealt with so severely?
A. They will do this not because God would like them to perish, but they themselves perish, “because (because) they did not love the truth, in a hedgehog they would be saved (for their own salvation)” (2 Thess. 2:10) .

382. Q. Of what use can contemplation of death, of the Resurrection, of the last Judgment, of eternal bliss and eternal torment, bring?
A. These reflections help us to refrain from sins and free ourselves from attachment to earthly things; comfort in deprivation of earthly goods; they encourage you to keep your soul and body clean, to live for God and for eternity, and thus achieve eternal salvation ”(Large Orthodox Catechism. M .. 1998).

www.pskovo-pechersky-monastery.ru

After the Last Judgment

What awaits us at the Last Judgment?

On the immortality of the soul. 3

Terrible Judgment. 5

Why do we need knowledge about the Last Judgment? . 7

What awaits us after the Last Judgment. 9

How to save yourself from future torment. eleven

Fear of future torment

warns against sin. 13

A godly life is the key to salvation. fourteen

Short stories from the life of the holy fathers. fifteen

Let us be afraid of this most terrible day and hour, in which neither brother, nor relative, nor bosses, nor power, nor wealth, nor glory will protect. But there will be only: a man and his work.

svt . Barsanuphius the Great

What is the testimony of your conscience, expect such from God and judgment for yourself.

svt . Filaret of Moscow

ABOUT THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL

Christian Revelation teaches about the personal immortality of the soul.

Her afterlife is a continuation of her earthly life, since after the death of the body the soul retains its strength and abilities and is fully capable of remembering and realizing all its past and giving an account of it before conscience and God.

A Christian must constantly prepare for this transition to the other world, remember the hour of death.

He who fulfills the commandments of God in his life is not afraid of death. (Archim. Georgy Tertyshnikov)

PRIVATE COURT

Earthly life, according to the teaching of Holy Scripture, is a time of ascetic labors for a person. The bodily death of a person sets a limit to this time and opens the time of retribution. Following death, God performs His righteous judgment, called, in contrast to the last universal Judgment, a private judgment, “on which the fate of sinners is determined. But the final decision of their fate will follow at the universal Last Judgment.

We believe that the souls of the dead are blissful or tormented, looking at their deeds. Separated from the bodies, they immediately pass either to joy, or to sorrow and sorrow; however, they do not feel either perfect bliss or perfect torment; for everyone will receive perfect bliss or perfect torment after the general resurrection, when the soul is united with the body in which it lived virtuously or viciously. (Eastern Patriarchs)

A sad fate befalls after the end of earthly life a person who does not fulfill the commandments of the Lord. The souls of unrepentant sinners, after a private judgment, are taken by dark forces and taken to a place of darkness and primordial torment, where they remain in anticipation of the final decision of their bitter fate at the Last Judgment, which will take place after the Second Coming of the Savior. (Archim. Georgy Tertyshnikov)

DEAD JUDGMENT

Terrible, very terrible is the judgment of God, although God is good, although He is merciful.

The same Jesus, Who now calls everyone to Himself, on the day of judgment will send away those who do not come from Himself.

One elder said: “If it were possible at the coming of God, after the resurrection, from the fear of death for human souls, then the whole world would die from this horror and amazement! How can one see the heavens receding, God appearing with anger and fury, the innumerable host of Angels and humanity all together”? (Ancient Patericon)

The day of the Second Coming to earth of the Savior of the world will open suddenly and unexpectedly for those who live on earth, for like lightning, appearing at one end of the sky, in an instant runs to the other and covers the entire sky, so will be the sudden and instantaneous appearance of the Son of Man. At this time, the face of earth and sky will change.

Following the resurrection of the dead and the change of the living, there will be a general, open and solemn Judgment on all. (Archim. Georgy Tertyshnikov)

It will take place after the general resurrection of the dead.

As the voice of the trumpet, proclaiming God's command, will sound, so at the same moment the dead will rise, and the living will change, that is, they will receive an incorruptible body, in which the dead will rise.

Terrible Judgment! The Judge will burst upon the clouds, surrounded by a myriad of incorporeal Heavenly Powers. (St. Theophan the Recluse)

In contrast to a private court, at which only the human soul receives retribution, the fate of human bodies, with which the soul performed its good and evil deeds, will be determined at the universal court.

Those who have to be condemned after the resurrection will feel that they are in naked shame, like those who are exposed to shame naked before a large assembly of people.

If the prophet of God Daniel, foreseeing the future judgment, was horrified, then what will happen to us when we stand before this Last Judgment? When from east to west we all gather and stand, burdened with the weight of our sins, where will our friends and neighbors be then? Where are the precious treasures? Where will be those who despised the poor, expelled the orphans, placed themselves more righteous than all? Where will those who did not have the fear of God, did not believe in future punishments, promised themselves immortality? Where will those who said: we will eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (Isaiah 22:13), let's enjoy the blessings in this life, and then we'll see what else will happen - God is merciful, does He forgive sinners? (St. Efrem Sirin)

He rejects judgment; and this denies the existence of God; for the devil is always like this—he proposes everything with cunning, and not directly, so that we do not beware. If there is no judgment, then God, humanly speaking, is unjust; and if God is unjust, then He is not God; when He is not God, everything went on simply: there is neither virtue nor vice. But he obviously doesn't say anything. Do you see the idea of the satanic spirit, how he wants to make dumb people out of people, or better - animals, and even better demons. (St. John Chrysostom)

WHY DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENT?

This knowledge is necessary for people so that “the sinner does not give himself free rein, and if he happens to sin, he quickly turns again to the Lord and repents.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)

Why will this day be filled with such horror? A fiery river will flow before Him, the books of our deeds will be opened, the very day will be like a burning furnace. Angels will run around and many fires will be laid out. How, you say, is God philanthropic, how merciful, how good? Thus, despite all this, He is philanthropic, and here the greatness of His philanthropy is especially revealed. For this is why He inspires us with such fear, so that in this way we will wake up and begin to strive for the Kingdom of Heaven. For this He has said and explained everything to us, and not only explained it, but also showed it by means of deeds. Although only His words are reliable; but lest anyone should suspect in his words an exaggeration or a single threat, he adds evidence also by means of deeds. How? Sending punishments to people - private and general. In order to convince you by your very deeds, for this He either punished the Pharaoh, or caused a flood of water and general destruction, or sent a destructive fire; now we see many wicked being punished and tormented. All this is like hell. (St. John Chrysostom)

The Holy Prophets and Apostles predicted the Last Judgment; Divine Scripture announces a terrible day and hour in order to implore everyone: Watch therefore, for you do not know the day or the hour when the Son of Man is coming. (Matthew 25:13). Look after yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with overeating and drunkenness and worldly cares, and lest that day come upon you suddenly (Luke 21:34).

Let us not deceive ourselves, let us believe that there is judgment, there is eternal punishment, there is unquenchable fire, there is pitch darkness, there is gnashing of teeth and incessant weeping; for the Lord Himself in His holy Gospel speaks of this: heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). Let us take care to correct our life while there is time. (St. Efrem Sirin)

WHAT EXPECTS US AFTER THE TERRIBLE JUDGMENT

We are already going either to the right, or to the land of the Last Judgment! Oh my neighbor! Where will we be then? What if we are not called to the right side of the King (Christ)? (St. Philaret of Moscow).

The Last Judgment will take place over the entire human race, but for those of the people who are worthy of justification, this Judgment “will be joyfully received, as if it were not judgment at all, but the arms of the Lord; joyfully passed and in joy after it.

For the righteous, a blessed life will begin - eternal and unchanging.

The degrees of blessedness for the righteous will be different, depending on spiritual perfection and holiness.

After the Last Judgment, unrepentant sinners will face endless torment, for the decision of this Court will remain forever unchanged. The degrees of torment in hell will be different, depending on the moral state of sinners, but “in every degree in hell, sinners will endure torment to the last measure of patience - such that if you add a little more, then the whole nature will shatter into dust; but it still will not scatter, but will continue to suffer and suffer, and this is without end.

Eternal eyelids will sound in the ears of the condemned sinner: "Go away, accursed one." This burden of rejection is the most unbearable burden that weighs heavily on unrepentant sinners. (Archim. Georgy Tertyshnikov)

Those placed at the judgment will be expelled from the judgment seat and will be led to the place of torment by unmerciful angels, gnashing their teeth, turning back to see the righteous, from whom they themselves are excommunicated, and they will see the most heavenly light, they will see the beauties of paradise, they will see the great gifts that the ascetics accept from the King of Glory in kindness. Gradually moving away from all the righteous, relatives, friends, acquaintances, sinners will also hide from God Himself, losing the opportunity to see joy and the true non-evening light.

Then sinners will see that they are completely forsaken, that all hope for them has perished, and no one can help them or intercede for them. Then, in bitter tears, weeping, they will say: “Oh, how much time we have wasted in negligence, and how our blindness has deceived us! God Himself spoke through Scripture, and we did not heed; here we cry, and He turns His Face away from us. We brought ourselves to this misfortune: we knew it, but did not listen; we were exhorted, but we did not heed; they preached to us, but we did not believe; heard the Word of God, but doubted. How righteous is the judgment of the Lord! How worthily and righteously we are condemned! We accept awards according to our deeds. For momentary pleasure we endure torment; for negligence we are condemned to unquenchable fire. There is no help for us from anywhere, we are all abandoned - both by God and the saints. There is no time for repentance, and tears are of no use. Let us cry: save us, righteous ones! Save, apostles, prophets, martyrs! Save, Honest and Life-Giving Cross! Save Thou too, O Lady Mother of God, Mother of the Lover of God! We should cry like this, but they will no longer hear us; and if they hear, what good is it? For it is the end of every intercession. In such torments of desolate torment, sinners will be led to hellfire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48). (St. Ephraim Sirin)

HOW TO SAVE FROM FUTURE TORTURE?

Every morning, when you get up from sleep, think that you must give an account to God in all your deeds and that you will not sin against Him, but the fear of God will dwell in you. (Abba Isaiah)

Starting any business, say to yourself with attention: “What will happen if my Lord visits me now?” And see what your thought will answer you. If he condemns, now drop one thing and take up another, because you must be ready at any hour to depart on your way (to die). Whether you are sitting at needlework, or you are on the road, or you visit someone, or you eat food, always say to yourself: “What will happen if God calls me now?” See what your conscience answers you, and do as it tells you.

Whatever you do, do it, as if now you had to pass into eternity, to judgment before God. (Prot. A. Nekrasov)

No one says: "I have sinned a lot, there is no forgiveness for me." Whoever says this does not know that the Lord has come to earth to call not the righteous, into sinners (Luke 5:32). But also let no one dare to say: “I have not sinned!” Whoever says this is blind: no one is clean from filth; no one is free from sin, except the one without sin.

Let us not be ill with self-righteousness; but let us not despair of salvation, recognizing our sins! Have we sinned? Let's repent. Have you sinned many times? We will repent many times. God rejoices in every good deed, but mainly in the souls of the repentant, for he bows down to them, accepts them. with my own hands and calls, saying: Come come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). (St. Ephraim Sirin)

Every day bring to your mind the Last Judgment, because at it we will have to give an answer for every day. We must daily call our soul to judgment and give ourselves an account of our behavior and activities; this was done even by the best of the pagan sages, such as Cato. Lying down on his bed at the end of the day, he would expose his soul to the question: “What shortcoming have you got rid of now? What evil addiction have you overcome? What have you improved in?" “Every day I,” says Cicero, “become my own accuser and judge. When my candle is extinguished, I turn to the review of my whole day; I review all my words and actions, not hiding from myself and do not forgive myself for anything. (Flower Garden Spiritual)

FEAR OF FUTURE TORTURE WARNING FROM SIN

If contemplation of the unceasing, now incomprehensible for us sweet bliss of the righteous in the future life does not have such a strong effect on us as to stop us on the path of sin and induce us to a virtuous life - the only one leading to the Kingdom of Heaven, then let us at least often bring to mind future terrible , endless torment in hell awaiting stubborn, unrepentant sinners.

Let us more often go down in thought to hell, so as not to go down there once by the very deed.

Only because we consider earthly sorrows grave is that we have not studied the torments of hell.

A hundred times better through the whole century in the fire to suffer, rather than lose blessed eternity. (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)

If the fire of carnal lust burns you, set the fire of Gehenna against it, and the fire of your lust will immediately go out and disappear. If you want to say something vile, think about that gnashing of teeth, and the fear of it will curb your tongue. If you wish to make any kidnapping, listen to what the Judge commands and says: bind his hand and foot, and cast him into outer darkness (Mt. 22:13); and thus cast out this passion also. If you are devoted to drunkenness and lead an intemperate life, then listen to what the rich man said: after Let Lazarus dip the tip of his finger in water, and let my tongue grow weary: as I suffer in this flame ; and got no help (Luke 16:24-25). Bringing this often to mind, you will finally lag behind the passion of intemperance. If you love amusements, talk about the narrowness and sorrows that have to be there; after this you will not even think about amusements. If you are cruel and unmerciful, then often remember those virgins who, because their lamps went out, were not allowed into the Bridegroom's chamber, and you will soon become philanthropic. Are you careless and careless? Meditate on the fate of the one who hid his talent, and you will become faster than fire. You are consumed by passion, how to seize the fortune of your neighbor? Imagine constantly that undying worm, and in this way you will easily be freed from this disease, and you will correct all your other weaknesses. God has not commanded us anything difficult and difficult. Why do His commandments seem heavy to us? From our relaxation. For just as the most difficult things become easy and easily achievable through our suffering and jealousy, so the easy things become heavy through our debauchery. (St. John Chrysostom)

A GODLY LIFE IS A PURCHASE OF SALVATION

It all depends on how we use the present. Heaven and hell are at our will.

Do not hope to get yourself heaven for nothing without living worthy of heaven. Without living for heaven on earth, one cannot enter heaven beyond the coffin. (Filaret, archbishop. Chernigov).

Walk on the earth, and have a residence in heaven. Turn your eyes down, and your soul to grief.

You can go to hell or fall, although you don’t want to and don’t think about it: you can’t ascend to heaven when you don’t want to and don’t think about it. (St. Philaret of Moscow)

BRIEF STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF THE HOLY FATHERS

Three elders, having heard about Abba Sisoy, came to him, and the first one said to him: “Father! How can I get rid of the fiery river? The elder did not answer him. The second says to him: “Father! How can I get rid of the gnashing of teeth and the sleepless worm? The third said: “Father! What should I do? I am tormented by the memory of pitch darkness. Abba Sisoy answered them: “I don’t remember any of these torments. God is merciful; I trust that He will do mercy to me.” The elders, hearing this, departed from him in sorrow. But the abba, not wanting to let them go in grief, turned them back and said: “Blessed are you, brothers! I envied you. One of you spoke of a fiery river, another of the underworld, a third of darkness. If your soul is imbued with such a memory, then it is impossible for you to sin. What am I to do, hard-hearted, to whom it is not given to know that there is punishment by man? That is why I sin every hour.” The elders, bowing to him, said: "What we heard is what we see."

Abba Macarius said: “Once, while walking through the desert, I found the skull of some dead man lying on the ground. When I hit the skull with a palm stick, he said something to me. I asked him: "Who are you?" The skull answered me: “I was the chief priest of the idols and pagans who lived in this place. And you are Macarius the spirit-bearer. When you take pity on the suffering in torment and begin to pray for them, they feel some consolation.” The elder asked him: “What is this joy and what torment?” The skull tells him: “As far as the sky is from the earth, so much fire is under us, and we are standing from head to toe in the midst of fire. None of us can see the other face to face. We have the face of one turned to the back of the other. But when you pray for us, each sees the face of the other somewhat. That is our joy!” The elder wept and said: "Unfortunate day on which a man was born!" The elder asked further: “Is there no more severe torment?” The skull answered him: "Under us the torment is even worse." The elder asked: “Who is there?” The skull replied: “We, as those who did not know God, have been pardoned a little more; but those who have known God and rejected Him are under us.” After this, the elder took the skull and buried it in the ground.

1. Holy Scripture about the Last Judgment

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He, as King, will sit on the throne of His glory. And all nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate some people from others (the faithful and good from the ungodly and evil), just as a shepherd separates sheep from goats; and he will put the sheep (the righteous) on his right hand, and the goats (sinners) on his left.

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. For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me."

Then the righteous will ask Him humbly: “Lord, when did we see You hungry and fed? Or thirsty and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger and took You in? come to you?"

The king will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, because you did this to one of the least of these My brothers (i.e., for people in need), you did it to Me."

Then the King will also say to those on the left side: “Depart from Me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his Aggels. For I was hungry, and you did not give Me food; I was thirsty, and you did not give Me drink; and received me not, was naked, and 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 not, serve You?”

But the King will say to 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 they will go into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life».

That is why this judgment is called Terrible

“A soul that understands that there is a world and wants to be saved has an urgent law to think in itself every hour that now is a feat (mortal) and torture (of deeds), on which you cannot endure (the gaze) of the Judge” - said teacher Anthony the Great.

St. John Chrysostom:

Don't we often decide to die instead of revealing our secret crime to respectable friends? How will we feel when will our sins be revealed before all the angels, all people and appear before our eyes?

Rev. Efrem Sirin:

Even the Angels tremble when the Judge speaks, and the armies of fiery spirits stand in awe. What answer will I give when they ask me about secret deeds that will be discovered there for everyone?

Then (at the Judgment) we will see countless angelic forces standing around (the throne of Christ). Then the deeds of each in order will be read and announced before the Angels and people. Then the prophecy of Daniel will be fulfilled: “Thousands of thousands served Him, and ten thousand thousands stood before Him; the judges sat down, and the books were opened” (Dan. 7:10). Great will be the fear, brethren, at the hour when these terrible books will be opened, where our deeds and our words are written, and what we have done in this life, and what we thought to hide from God, who tests hearts and wombs! Every deed and every human thought is written there, everything good and bad... Then everyone, bowing their heads, will see those standing before the judgment seat and being interrogated, especially those who lived in carelessness. And seeing this, they will lower their heads even lower and begin to meditate on their deeds; and each one will see before him his own deeds, both good and bad, such as those who have done before.

St. Gregory of Nyssa:

In the human body itself there is a secret that comes out in its own time: in infancy - teeth, in maturity - a beard, and in old age - gray hair. So it is on the last day of Judgment: everything will be revealed before the eyes of all, not only deeds and words, but all thoughts that are now hidden from others. There is no hidden thing that would not be revealed, according to the word of Jesus Christ. Since it is known that everything secret will be revealed at the Coming of Christ, let us cleanse ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, creating holiness in the fear of God, so that our deeds revealed to all will bring us honor and glory, and not shame.

St. Basil the Great writes that God is not only good, but also just

“However, another will say: “It is written: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel. 2, 32), therefore one invocation of the name of the Lord is enough to save the caller.” But let this one also listen to what the apostle says: “How can we call on Him in whom they have not believed?” (Rom. 10, 14). And if you do not believe, listen to the Lord, Who says: “Not everyone who says to Me:“ Lord! Lord!” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Even for the one who does the will of the Lord, but not as God wants it and not out of a feeling of love for God, diligence in work is useless, according to the saying of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who says: because they do it, “in order to appear before people. Truly I tell you that they already receive their reward” (Mt. 6:5). The Apostle Paul was also taught to say: “And if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, but I do not have love, it will not profit me at all” (1 Cor. 13, 3).

In general, I see the following three different dispositions in which the need for obedience is inevitable: either, fearing punishment, we turn away from evil and are in a state of slavery, or, pursuing the benefits of a reward, we do what is commanded for our own benefit and thereby become like hirelings, or we do this for our own sake. goodness and out of love for Him who gave us the law, rejoicing that we were worthy to serve such a glorious and good God - and in this case we are in the state of sons.

He who, out of fear, fulfills the commandments and constantly fears the punishment for laziness, will not do one of the prescribed things and neglect the other, but will be affirmed in the thought that the punishment for disobedience is equally terrible for him. And therefore, “blessed is the man who always remains in reverence” (Prov. 28:14), but he also stands firmly in the truth who can say: “I have always seen the Lord before me, for he is at my right hand; I will not be moved” (Ps. 15:8), because he does not want to miss anything due. And: "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord..." Why? Because he “strongly” loves “His commandments” (Ps. 111:1). Therefore, it is not common for those who are afraid to leave any order without execution or to carry it out carelessly.

But the mercenary will not want to transgress any command. For how will he receive payment for his work in the vineyard, unless he has fulfilled everything according to the condition? For if even one of the necessary things is missing, then the vineyard makes it useless to the owner. Who, then, will pay for the injury to the one who caused the injury?

The third case is service out of love. What kind of son, having the goal of pleasing his father and amusing him in the most important, will want to offend for the sake of small things, especially if he remembers what the apostle says: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed” (Eph. 4, 30).

Therefore, where do those who transgress most of the commandments wish to be numbered when they do not serve God as the Father, do not submit to Him as the One who gave great promises, and do not work as the Master? For He says: “If I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am the Lord, where is the reverence for Me” (Mal. 1:6)? Just as “blessed is the man who fears the Lord... and loves his commandments strongly” (Ps. 111:1), so “by transgressing the law,” it is said, “you dishonor God” (Rom. 2:23).

How then, preferring a voluptuous life to a life according to the commandment, can we promise ourselves a blessed life, cohabitation with the saints and joy with the angels in the presence of Christ? Such dreams are characteristic of a truly childish mind. How will I be with Job, when I did not accept even the most ordinary sorrow with thanksgiving? How will I be with David, when I did not act generously with the enemy? How will I be with Daniel, when I did not seek God with unceasing abstinence and vigilant prayer? How will I be with each of the saints when I did not follow in their footsteps? What ascetic is so unreasonable that he will award equal crowns to the winner, and who did not enter into the feat? What military leader ever called for an equal division of the spoils of both the victorious and those who did not appear for battle?

God is good, but also just. And it is natural for a just person to repay according to their dignity, as it is written: “Do good, Lord, to the good and upright in your hearts; but let the Lord leave those who turn to their crooked ways to walk with those who do iniquity” (Ps. 124:4-5). God is merciful, but also the Judge, for it is said: “He loves justice and judgment” (Ps. 32:5). Therefore, he says: “I will sing mercy and judgment; To you, O Lord, I will sing” (Ps. 100:1). We are taught to whom "mercy" is, for it is said: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy" (Mt. 5, 7). Do you see how judiciously he uses grace? Not without judgment he has mercy, and not without mercy he judges. For “the Lord is merciful and righteous” (Ps. 114:5). Therefore, let us not know God halfway and turn His philanthropy into an excuse for laziness. For that, thunders, for that lightning, so that goodness is not despised. Who commands the sun to shine, He punishes with blindness, Who gives rain, He rains with fire. One shows goodness, the other - severity; Or let us love for the former, or fear for the latter, lest it be said to us: “Or do you neglect the riches of God’s goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But, according to your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath” (Rom. 2:4-5).

So ... it is impossible to be saved without doing deeds in accordance with the commandment of God, and it is not safe to neglect any of the commandments (for it is a terrible exaltation to place oneself as judges of the Legislator, and to choose some of His laws and reject others) ... "
(St. Basil the Great. Creations. Rules set out at length in questions and answers. (Great Asketicon))

St. Basil the Great explains the righteous action of the Judgment of God - the reward of the righteous and the final abandonment by the Holy Spirit of those who left God the choice of their lives:

“And during the expected appearance of the Lord from heaven, the Holy Spirit will not be inactive, as others think, but will appear together and on the day of the Lord’s revelation, in which the Blessed and only Mighty One will judge the universe in righteousness.

Who knows so little about the blessings that God has prepared for the worthy, so as not to know that even the crown of the righteous is the grace of the Spirit, which will be communicated more abundantly and fully when spiritual glory will be divided to each according to the measure of his valiant deeds? For in the lordships of the saints the Father has many abodes (John 14:2), that is, many distinctions of merit. As "a star differs from a star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead" (1 Corinthians 15:41-42). Therefore, sealed by the Holy Spirit on the day of deliverance and having kept the firstfruits of the Spirit pure and whole, they will only hear: “Good, good and faithful servant, Thou hast been faithful about little Me, I will set thee over many” (Matt. 25, 21).

And likewise, those who grieve the Holy Spirit with the wickedness of their undertakings or have not gained anything for this will be deprived of what they received, and grace will be given to others. Or, as one of the Evangelists says, they will be “completely torn apart” (Luke 12:46), by torn apart, meaning the final estrangement from the Spirit. For the body is not divided into parts, so that one part is punished and the other set free, because it is like a fable and it is not worthy of a righteous Judge to assume that one half is punished who has sinned all. It is also not the soul that is cut in half, because it completely and completely accepted sinful wisdom and assisted the body in evil. On the contrary, this separation, as I said, is the alienation of the soul forever from the Spirit. For now the Spirit, although it has no fellowship with the unworthy, nevertheless seems to be in some way with those who were once sealed, waiting for their salvation after conversion.

And then it will be completely cut off from the soul that has scolded His grace. Therefore, “there is no one who confesses in hell, and remember God in death” (cf. Ps. 6, 6), because the help of the Spirit no longer dwells there.

How can it be imagined that judgment would be accomplished without the Holy Spirit, while the Word shows that He is also the reward of the righteous, when instead of a pledge perfect will be given, and that the first condemnation of sinners will be that everything that is honored will be taken away from them. having themselves?" (On the Holy Spirit. To Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium)

The condemnation at the Universal Judgment is named in the Revelation of St. John the Theologian "second death" (20, 14).

The desire to understand Gehenna torment in a relative sense - eternity, as a kind of "age, period", maybe long, but final, or even a general denial of the reality of these torments - is found today, as in antiquity. Considerations of a logical nature are given, the discrepancy between torment and the goodness of God, the disproportion between temporary crimes and the eternity of punishments, their discrepancy with the ultimate goal of the creation of man, which is bliss in God, is pointed out. But it is not for us to determine the boundaries between the inexpressible mercy of God and truth - His justice. We know that the Lord wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. But man is capable of his own evil will to push away the mercy of God and the means of salvation.

St. John Chrysostom, speaking of the Last Judgment, notes:

"When the Lord spoke of the kingdom, he said: Come, blessed ones, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, and speaking of fire, he did not say so, but added: prepared for the devil and his angels. For I prepared the kingdom for you, but the fire not to you, but to the devil and his angels. But since you yourselves threw yourselves into the fire, then blame yourselves."

We have no right to understand the words of the Lord only conditionally, as a threat, as some kind of pedagogical measure applied by the Savior. If we understand this, then we will sin, since the Savior did not inspire us with such an understanding, and let us expose ourselves to the wrath of God, according to the words of the psalmist: Why does the wicked neglect God, saying in his heart: "You will not seek" (Ps. 9, 34).
(Prot. Michael Pomazansky).

Worthy of attention is also a simple reasoning on this subject. St. Theophan the Recluse:

"The righteous will go into eternal life, and the rabid sinners will go into eternal torment, into community with demons. Will these torments end? If Satan's malice and rabidness end, then the torment will end. But will Satan's malice and rabidness end? Let's look and see then. .. Until then, let us believe that just as eternal life has no end, so eternal torment that threatens sinners will have no end. No divination proves the possibility of ending satanism. What Satan did not see after his fall! How he himself is struck by the power of the Cross of the Lord! How hitherto all his cunning and malice are struck by this power! And everything itchs for him, everything goes against him: and the farther he goes, the more he persists. No, there is no hope for him to improve! And if he has no hope , then there is no hope for people who have become rabid due to its action. This means that hell cannot but be with eternal torment".

“You forget that there will be eternity, not time; so that's all there will be forever, not temporarily. You consider the torment to be hundreds, thousands and millions of years, and then the first minute will begin, and there will be no end to it, for there will be an eternal minute. The score won’t go any further, but it will stop in the first minute, and it will stay that way.”

4. There is no repentance after death

In Holy Scripture

repentance in this temporary life is considered a necessary condition for salvation.

Unless you repent, you will all also perish (Luke 13:3).

Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for I tell you that many will seek to enter, and will not be able to. When the owner of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you, standing outside, will begin to knock on the door and say: Lord! God! open to us; but He will answer you, I do not know where you are from.
(Luke 13:24-25)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. What a man sows, that he will reap:
He who sows to his own flesh from the flesh will reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
(Gal. 6, 7, 8)

But we, as companions, implore you that the grace of God may not be received by you in vain.
For it is said: in an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

And we know that truly there is the judgment of God on those who do such things.
Do you really think, man, that you will escape the judgment of God by condemning those who do such things and (yourself) doing the same?
Or do you neglect the wealth of God's goodness, meekness and long-suffering, not realizing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
But, according to your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of righteous judgment from God,
Who will render to each according to his deeds:
to those who, by perseverance in a good deed, seek glory, honor, and immortality, eternal life;
but to those who are stubborn and do not obey the truth, but give themselves over to iniquity, wrath and wrath.
(Rom. 2:2-8)

That repentance in this life is necessary for justification at the Last Judgment for salvation in the life to come, the holy fathers unanimously teach:

"The law of life is this," says Saint Theophan the Recluse, - that as soon as someone puts here is the seed of repentance, even if it is at the last gasp, then it will not perish. This seed will grow and bear fruit - eternal salvation. And as soon as someone does not plant the seed of repentance here and goes there with the spirit of unrepentant persistence in sins, then he will remain there forever with the same spirit, and the fruit from it forever will reap according to his kind, God's eternal rejection."

“Don’t you already have such aspirations,” St. Theophan writes in another letter, “that God, with sovereign power, would forgive sinners and bring them into paradise. I ask you to judge whether this is good and whether such faces are good for paradise? there is something external, but internal and passing in. When someone sins, sin perverts, defiles and darkens his entire composition. all filthy and gloomy will remain. Such will be the one whom God would forgive by His sovereign power, without his inner purification. Imagine that such an unclean and gloomy one enters paradise. What will it be? An Ethiopian among the whitened. Is it fitting?"

Rev. John of Damascus writes that beyond death there is no repentance for people:

“You need to know that the fall for angels is the same as death for people. For after the fall, there is no repentance for them, just as for people it is impossible after death».

Saint John (Maximovich) thus depicts what will happen at the Last Judgment:

“The Prophet Daniel, speaking of the Last Judgment, tells that the Elder Judge is on the throne, and in front of him is a fiery river. Fire is a cleansing element. person.

That fire will kindle inside a person: seeing the Cross, some will rejoice, while others will come to despair, confusion, horror. So people will immediately be divided: in the gospel narrative, before the Judge, some stand to the right, others to the left - they are divided by their inner consciousness.

The very state of a person's soul throws him in one direction or another, to the right or to the left. The more consciously and persistently a person aspired to God in his life, the greater his joy will be when he hears the word "come to Me, blessed ones", and vice versa, the same words will cause a fire of horror and torment in those who did not want Him, avoided or fought and blasphemed during his lifetime.

The Last Judgment does not know witnesses or protocol records. Everything is recorded in human souls, and these records, these "books" are revealed. Everything becomes clear to everyone and to oneself, and the state of a person's soul determines him to the right or to the left. Some go in joy, others in horror.

When the "books" are opened, it will become clear to everyone that the roots of all vices are in the human soul. Here is a drunkard, a fornicator - when the body died, someone will think - sin also died. No, there was an inclination in the soul, and sin was sweet to the soul.

And if she has not repented of that sin, has not been freed from it, she will come to the Last Judgment with the same desire for the sweetness of sin and will never satisfy her desire. In it will be the suffering of hatred and malice. It's a hellish state."

Saints Barsanuphius and John:

As for the knowledge of the future - do not be mistaken: what you sow here, you will reap there (Gal. 6, 7). After leaving here, no one can succeed.
Brother, here is doing, - there is retribution, here is a feat, - there are crowns. Brother, if you want to be saved, do not enter into this (teaching), for I testify to you before God that you have fallen into the pit of the devil and into the ultimate destruction. So, step aside from this and follow the Holy Fathers. Get yourself: humility and obedience, lamentation, asceticism.
(Answer to question 606).

The words are: will not leave from there, until the last codrant will be rewarded (Matthew 5:26), said the Lord, signifying that their torment will be eternal: for how can a man repay there?… Don't be fooled like crazy. Nobody succeeds there; but what one has, he has from here: whether it be good, or rotten, or sweet. Finally leave empty talk and do not follow the demons and their teachings. For they suddenly seize and suddenly overthrow. So humble yourself before God, weeping over your sins and weeping over your passions. And take heed to yourself (1 Tim. 4:16) and look ahead to where your heart deviates through such studies. God forgive you.
(Answer to question 613)

Reverend Theodore the Studite:

"And again, who can't resist such feats, he is deprived not of something small, insignificant and human, but of the most Divine and Heavenly things. For reaching the desired many patience, long-suffering and keeping the commandments, inherit heavenly kingdom and immortality, eternal life and inexpressible and inscrutable comfort with eternal blessings; but those who sin by negligence, laziness, addiction and love for this world and for deadly and corrupting pleasures, inherit eternal torment, endless shame and standing on the left side, having heard the terrible voice of the Judge of all and the Lord of God: move away from Me curse into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and aggel him. (Matthew 25:41).
But oh, lest we ever hear this, my children and brethren, and not be excommunicated from the Saints and the Righteous by a pitiful and inexpressible excommunication. When they are received into joy indescribable and incomprehensible, and insatiable pleasure, as the Divine Scripture says about this, that they will sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matt. 8, 11). But we will have to go with demons to where the fire is inextinguishable, the worm is indestructible, the gnashing of teeth, the great abyss, the tartar is unbearable, the bonds are insoluble, the darkest hell, and not for a few times or for a year, and not for a hundred or a thousand years: for the torment will have no end, as Origen thinks, but forever and ever, as the Lord said (Matt. 25, 46). Where then, brethren, according to the words of the Saints, is the father or mother for deliverance? - Brother, it is said, he will not deliver: will a man deliver? He will not give God betrayal for himself, and the price of the deliverance of his soul (Psalm 48, 8, 9).

St. John Chrysostom:

“A terrible, truly terrible account lies ahead of us, and we must show much humanity, so as not to hear the terrible words: “depart from Me,” I don’t know you, “workers of iniquity” (Mt. 7:23), so as not to hear again terrible words: “Depart from Me, cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41), so as not to hear: “A great chasm has been established between us and you” (Lk. 16:26) - so as not to hear with trembling: "take him and throw him into outer darkness" (Mt.22:13), - so as not to hear with great fear: "a crafty servant and a lazy one" (Mt.25:26). Terrible, very terrible and terrible is this judgment seat, although God is good, although He is merciful. He is called the God of bounty and the God of comfort (2 Cor. 1:3); He is good like no other, indulgent, generous and many-merciful; He does not want the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live (Ezek. 33:11). Why, why will this day be filled with such horror? A fiery river will flow before his face, the books of our deeds will be opened, the very day will be like a burning furnace, angels will rush around, and many fires will be laid out. How, you say, is God philanthropic, how merciful, how good? Thus, despite all this, He is philanthropic, and here the greatness of His philanthropy is especially revealed. For this, after all, He inspires us with such fear, so that, although in this way we wake up and begin to strive for the kingdom of heaven.

Rev. Abba Dorotheos:

Believe me, brethren, if anyone has even one passion turned into a habit, then he is subject to torment, and it happens that another does ten good deeds and has one evil skill, and this one, which comes from an evil habit, overcomes ten good (deeds). An eagle, if he is completely out of the net, but gets entangled in it with one claw, then through this smallness all his strength is cast down; for is he not already in the net, although he is wholly outside it, when he is held in it by one claw? Can't the catcher grab it if he wants to? So it is with the soul: if even one passion turns itself into a habit, then the enemy, whenever he thinks, will overthrow it, because it is in his hands, because of that passion.

Bliss. Augustine:

There should be no doubt that the prayers of St. Churches, saving sacrifices and alms benefit the dead, but only to those who before death lived in such a way that after death all this could be useful to them. For for those who have departed without faith, hurried by love, and without communion in the sacraments, in vain are the works of that piety done by their neighbors, which they did not have in themselves as a pledge, when they were here, not receiving, or in vain receiving the grace of God, and treasure themselves not mercy, but anger. So, new merits are not acquired for the dead when good friends do something for them, but only the consequences are extracted from the beginnings they had previously laid.

Etc. Efrem Sirin:

If you want to inherit the future Kingdom, then here also find the favor of the King. And to what extent you will honor Him, in such measure He will raise you up; As much as you serve Him here, so He will honor you there, as it is written: "I will glorify those who glorify Me, but those who dishonor Me will be put to shame" (1 Sam. 2:30). Honor Him with all your soul, so that He also honors you with the honor of the saints. To the question: "How to gain His favor?" - I will answer: Bring Him gold and silver through helping those in need. If you have nothing to give, then bring Him as a gift faith, love, abstinence, patience, generosity, humility... bad way; console the faint-hearted, be compassionate to the weak, give the thirsty a cup of water, feed the hungry. In a word, everything that you have and that God has endowed you with, then bring it to Him, for Christ did not despise even two widow's mites.

St. Simeon the New Theologian says that at the judgment it will not be reckoned to a person what he does, but who he is: whether he is like Jesus Christ our Lord, or completely different from Him. He says: “In the future life, a Christian will not be tested on the subject of whether he renounced the whole world for the love of Christ, or whether he distributed his property to the poor, whether he abstained and observed fasting on the eve of the holidays, or whether he prayed, whether he lamented and whether he mourned over his sins, or whether he did anything else good in his life, but he will be carefully tested whether he bears such resemblance to Christ as a son bears to his father.”

Blessed Theophylact(Archbishop of Bulgaria) in the interpretation of the words of the Holy Scriptures:

“The king, having entered to look at those reclining, saw a man there dressed not in wedding clothes, and said to him: friend! how did you come in here not in wedding clothes? He was silent. Then the king said to the servants: Bind his hands and feet, take him and throw him into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; For many are called, but few are chosen” writes:

Entrance to the wedding feast takes place without distinction: all of us, good and evil, are called only by grace. But then life is subjected to a test, which the king makes carefully, and the life of many is found to be defiled. Let us tremble, brethren, when we think that for one whose life is not pure, faith is useless for him. Such a one is not only thrown out of the bridal chamber, but is also sent into the fire. Who is this one who wears defiled clothes? This is the one who has not put on the clothes of mercy, goodness and brotherly love. There are many who, seducing themselves with vain hopes, think of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven and, thinking highly of themselves, rank themselves among the elect. By interrogating the unworthy, the Lord shows, firstly, that he is philanthropic and just, and secondly, that we should not condemn anyone, even if someone obviously sinned, if such is not openly convicted in court. Further, the Lord says to the servants, punishing angels: "bind his hands and feet," that is, the ability of the soul to act. In the present age, we can act and act one way or another, but in the future the forces of the soul will be bound, and it will not be possible for us to do any good to atone for sins; "then there will be gnashing of teeth" is fruitless remorse. "Many are called", that is, God calls many, more precisely, all, but "few are chosen", few are saved, worthy of election from God. Election depends on God, but to become elected or not is our business. With these words, the Lord lets the Jews know that a parable was told about them: they were called, but not chosen, as disobedient.

Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria also says:

“The sinner, having departed from the light of truth because of his sins, is already in darkness in the present life, but since there is still hope for conversion, this darkness is not pitch darkness. And after death there will be a consideration of his deeds, and if he does not repent here, then pitch darkness surrounds him there. For then there is no longer any hope of conversion, and a complete deprivation of Divine grace sets in. As long as the sinner is here, then, although he receives a little of Divine blessings—I speak of sensual blessings—he is still a servant of God, because he lives in the house of God, that is, among the creatures of God, and God feeds and preserves him. And then he will be completely separated from God, having no participation in any blessings: this is the darkness, called pitch darkness, in contrast to the present, not pitch darkness, when the sinner still has the hope of repentance.

St. Gregory Palamas:

Although in the future resurrection, when the bodies of the righteous are resurrected, the bodies of the lawless and sinners will be resurrected along with them, they will be resurrected only in order to undergo a second death: eternal torment, an unsleeping worm, gnashing of teeth, pitch and impenetrable darkness, gloomy and unquenchable fiery hell. The Prophet says: iniquity and sinners will be crushed together, and those who forsake the Lord will die (Is. 1, 28). This is the second death, as John teaches us in his Revelation. Hear also the great Paul: if you live according to the flesh, he says, then die, if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live (Rom. He is speaking here of life and death, which belong to the age to come. This life is a delight in the everlasting Kingdom; death is the betrayal of eternal torment. The transgression of the commandment of God is the cause of all death, spiritual and bodily, and that which we will undergo in the future age, eternal torment. Death proper consists in the separation of the soul from Divine grace and in union with sin.

Saint Irenaeus of Lyon:

“To all who keep love for Him, He gives His fellowship. But communion with God is life and light and the enjoyment of all the blessings that He has. And those who voluntarily depart from Him, He subjects to separation from Himself, which they themselves have chosen. Separation from God is death, and separation from light is darkness, and alienation from God is the deprivation of all the blessings that He has. Therefore, those who, through their apostasy, have lost the aforementioned, as being deprived of all blessings, are in every kind of torment, not because God Himself punished them in advance, but the punishment overtakes them due to their deprivation of all blessings. But the blessings of God are eternal and without end, and therefore their deprivation is eternal and without end, just as with respect to the immeasurable light, those who blind themselves or are blinded by others are always deprived of the sweetness of the light, not because the light caused them the torment of blindness, but blindness itself gives them misfortune. ".

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk:

Think about this, sinful soul, and pay attention to what the Forerunner said: the ax is already at the root of the tree: every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Matt. 3, 10). You see where sinners who do not produce the fruits of repentance are determined: they are cut down like barren wood with the ax of God's judgment and are thrown into eternal fire like firewood.

St. Macarius, Metropolitan Moscow:

Grant us, Lord, - all always - a living and unceasing memory of Your future glorious coming. Your last, terrible judgment on us, Your most righteous and eternal retribution to the righteous and sinners - yes, in the light of her and Your grace-filled help, they lived chastely and righteously and piously in the present age (Titus 2:12); and in this way we will finally reach the eternally blessed life in heaven, in order to glorify You with all our being, with Your Father without beginning and Your most holy and good and life-giving Spirit, forever and ever.

St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov):

Christians, only Orthodox Christians, and, moreover, who have spent their earthly lives piously or cleansed themselves of sins sincere repentance, confession before the spiritual father and correction of oneself, inherit eternal bliss together with the bright Angels. On the contrary, the wicked, i.e. those who do not believe in Christ, the wicked, i.e. heretics, and those Orthodox Christians who spent their lives in sins or fell into some kind of mortal sin and did not heal themselves with repentance, inherit eternal torment along with the fallen angels.

St. Theophan the Recluse:

“Let the judgment be not soon, but if it is possible to extract any indulgence from here, then it is only for those who can be sure that the hour of their death coincides with the hour of the distant judgment: what is it to us? Death will come today or tomorrow, and will end all ours and seal our fate forever, for after death there is no repentance. In whatever death finds us, in that we will appear in judgment."

"The Last Judgment! The Judge is coming on the clouds, surrounded by a myriad of heavenly powers incorporeal. Trumpets sound to all ends of the earth and raise the dead. The rebellious regiments are flowing in regiments to a certain place, to the throne of the Judge, already anticipating in advance what sentence will sound in their ears. For the deeds of each one will be written on the forehead of their nature, and their very appearance will correspond to deeds and customs. The separation of the gums and the gums will take place by itself. Finally, everything has already been decided. There was a deep silence. Another moment - and a decisive sentence of the Judge is heard - to one: "come", to the other: "depart". Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us! Be Thy mercy, O Lord, upon us! - but then it will be too late to cry like that. Now we must take care to wash away from our nature the signs written on it, which are unfavorable for us. Then we would be ready to shed rivers of tears to wash ourselves; but that won't do anything. Let us cry now, if not with rivers of tears, then at least with streams; if not streams, at least raindrops; if we do not find this, let us repent in our hearts and, having confessed our sins to the Lord, let us beseech Him to forgive us for them, vowing not to offend Him any more by violating His commandments, and then being jealous to faithfully fulfill such a vow.

St. rights. John of Kronstadt:

Many live outside of grace, not realizing its importance and necessity for themselves and not seeking it, according to the word of the Lord: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Many live in all abundance and contentment, enjoy flourishing health, enjoy eating, drinking, walking, amusing themselves, composing, working in various industries. human activity but they do not have the grace of God in their hearts, this priceless Christian treasure, without which a Christian cannot be a true Christian and heir to the kingdom of heaven.

The fact that a person who has not repented during his lifetime will not be able to enter the Kingdom of God is also written in agreement with the Holy Fathers by modern theologians:

Arch. Raphael (Karelin):

"1. Eternal life in paradise is impossible for those who do not have an inner paradise in their hearts (the grace of the Holy Spirit), because paradise is union with God.

2. A sinner who has not been redeemed by the Blood of Christ has an unhealed sin (ancestral and personal) in his heart that prevents union with God.

Bottom line: A sinner cannot be in paradise, since he is deprived of the ability to communicate with God, which is carried out through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Orthodox teaching is different: unrepentant sin is the sparks of hell in the human soul, and after death, not only the sinner will be in hell, but hell will be in him. Hell is not the wages of sin, but the tragic consequence of sin."

Alexander Kalomiros:

"No, brethren, we must wake up so as not to be lost to the Kingdom of Heaven. Our eternal salvation or our eternal death does not depend on the will and desire of God, but on our own determination, on the choice of our free will, which God infinitely values. Being convinced of the power of divine love, however, let us not let ourselves be fooled The danger does not come from God, it comes from ourselves.

As St. Basil the Great, “the torment of hell is not caused by God, but by ourselves”
Holy Scripture and the Fathers always speak of God as a great Judge Who, on the day of the Last Judgment, will reward those who were obedient to His will and punish those who disobeyed it (see 2 Tim. 4:8).

What kind of judgment is this, if we understand it not in the human, but in the divine sense? What is the judgment of God? God is Truth and Light. God's judgment is nothing but our union with Truth and Light. "Books" will be opened (cf. Rev. 20:12). What are these "books"? These are our hearts. Our hearts will be permeated with the all-pervading Light that comes from God, and then everything that is hidden in them will be revealed. Those hearts in which love for God will be hidden will rejoice when they see the divine Light. The same hearts, which, on the contrary, harbored hatred for God, will, accepting this piercing Light of Truth, suffer and suffer, as they have hated Him all their lives.

So it is not God's decision that will determine the eternal fate of people, not God's reward or punishment, but what was hidden in every heart; what has been in our hearts throughout life will be laid bare on the Day of Judgment. This naked state - call it reward or punishment - does not depend on God, it depends on the love or hatred that reigns in our hearts. Bliss is contained in love, despair, bitterness, torment, sadness, anger, anxiety, confusion, darkness and all other internal states that make up hell are in hatred.

So the Holy Fathers warn that to justify us at the Last Judgment, we need to repent already in this life that after death, repentance is impossible for someone who did not know him during his lifetime, but there is only retribution for what has been done. Entering the realm of eternity, resurrecting in a different, spiritual body, a person reaps the fruits of earthly life. You can read about why it is impossible to find repentance at the Last Judgment in the articles.

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 on the right hand, and the condemned on the left.

Jesus will entrust part of his authority to the righteous, such as the apostles.
People will be judged not only for good and evil deeds, but also for every idle word.
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"?

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 be answered.
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.
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 managed to return from the other world, all information regarding the afterlife is an assumption. 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 in different periods, thereby 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?

The saints, who wrote sacred books from the words of the Lord, were not given detailed information about the Last Judgment. 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. The revelations of John the Theologian and the prophet Daniel were of great importance. The Last Judgment icon has three registers and each has its own place.

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.
Under it is a throne - a judicial throne, on which there is a spear, a cane, a sponge and the Gospel.
Below are the trumpeting angels who so call everyone to the event.
The lower part of the icon shows what will happen to people who were righteous and sinners.
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.
On the other side, Hell is represented with sinners, demons and.

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 carried out 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.

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.
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.
People who have done bad deeds will be sent to the abyss - a place that demons fear.
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.
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.

When the Son of God comes to earth with holy angels, he will sit on the throne of his own glory. All the nations will gather before him and Jesus will separate the good people from the bad.
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.
After that, the judge will ask why they did not help the needy when they needed support, and sinners will be punished.
Good people who have led a righteous life will be sent to Paradise.

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? Nobody. 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 from the proven revelation of God, we would not believe 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, human language it will become numb, and human eyes will stare into terrible darkness, into the earth without a 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 calculation 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 prodigal son God is called 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 always appeared in lesser or more, 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 even the dead will rise in the flesh), then the words of the prophet should be understood in figuratively. 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 his 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 it is said in the Old Testament: 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 the prison of our evil being, our evil deeds, and we remember it and visit it, 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 in us is like Goliath the adversary 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 to those standing on the 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 conceive of the end of eternal torment?" St. Basil the Great. Word 14, about the Last Judgment), into the disgusting society 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 which there is little life, that is, little God, is filled with much greater torment than the soul of a righteous person, in which there is more life, that is, more 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 of ours is a distant shadow of a 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; those who do not desire a future life and do 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.

Met.
holy Artemy Vladimirov
schiarchim.
mit. Hilarion (Alfeev)
arch.

Last Judgment- the last, universal Judgment of God over the world, which will take place at the second (while all dead people resurrected, and the living will change (), and each will be determined by the eternal fate of his deeds (,), words () and thoughts.

The Holy Fathers spoke about the fact that there is a kind of "memory of the heart" that imprints everything, our whole life - both internal and external. And at the Last Judgment, this book, written in the depths of our soul, will open, as it were, and only then will we see what we really are, and not what our inflamed one painted us. Then we will see how many times God called us to salvation, punished us, had mercy on us, and how stubbornly we resisted grace and strove only for and. Even our good deeds we will see eaten away like worms by hypocrisy, pride and secret calculation.

At the same time, the judgment is not only what will happen after death. Judgment is made by us every second of our earthly life. The Last Judgment is not trial but only a final statement of fact. Each of us in the course of life is spiritually determined in relation to God.

Why is the Last Judgment called the Last Judgment?

Announcing the Second Coming of the Messiah and the subsequent universal Judgment, the prophets and apostles called this “Day” the Day of the Lord, great and terrible ().

This Day is also called the Day of the Wrath of God (). Therefore, the name “Terrible” was assigned to the future Judgment not because the Lord would appear before the eyewitnesses in some deliberately formidable form. He will appear before the gaze of those gathered in the splendor of His glory and majesty, as a Mighty and Just Judge. This, of course, will cause fear in those around you, in someone - reverent, and in someone - the strongest dumbfounded: "it's terrible to fall into the hands of the living God!" ().

Horror and restless awe will accompany sinners from the knowledge that at this Judgment all their sins will be revealed, promulgated, weighed (and not only committed deeds, but also those that remain unfulfilled: secret sinful desires, thoughts and thoughts), and for each will have to answer before an incorruptible and impartial Judge.

In addition, the Last Judgment will take place publicly, in front of the whole world: in front of a host of angelic hosts, in front of billions of people, including those closest to them, relatives. At this last Judgment, the sinner will no longer be able to deceive either his personal conscience, or those around him, or, of course, the All-Seeing Judge with reservations and excuses convenient for him. The Light of Divine Truth, the Light will illuminate any unrepentant lawless person, will illuminate each of his crimes, actions or inactions.

A ship with slaves came to a certain city, and in that city there lived one holy virgin, who was very attentive to herself. She, having heard that this ship had come, was very glad, for she wanted to buy herself a little girl, and she thought: I will take and raise her as I want, so that she does not know the vices of this world at all. She sent for the owner of the ship, and calling him to her, she found out that he had two little girls, exactly what she wanted, and she immediately gave the price for one of them with joy and took her to her. When the owner of the ship departed from the place where this saint was, and barely moved a little, one harlot met him, completely depraved, and, seeing with him another girl, wanted to take her; agreed with him, gave the price, took the girl and left with her. Do you see the mystery of God?

Do you see the judgment of God? Who can explain it? So, the holy virgin took that little one, brought her up in the fear of God, instructing her in every good deed, teaching her monastic life and, to put it briefly, in every fragrance of the holy commandments of God. The harlot, having taken that unfortunate woman, made her an instrument of the devil. For what could this infection teach her, if not the destruction of her soul? So, what can we say about this terrible fate? Both were small, both were sold, not knowing where they were going, and one ended up in the hands of God, and the other fell into the hands of the devil. Is it possible to say that God will exact equally from both one and the other? How is that possible! If both fall into fornication or some other sin, can it be said that both of them will be subjected to the same judgment, although both have fallen into the same sin? Is it possible? One knew about the court, about the kingdom of God, day and night she studied in the words of God; the other, the unfortunate one, has never seen or heard anything good, but always, on the contrary, everything bad, everything devilish: how is it possible that both should be judged by one judgment?

So, no person can know the judgments of God, but He alone knows everything and can judge the sin of everyone, as He alone knows.
Rev.