TEMPLE OF VLADIMIR THE HOLY MARTYR
Week 20 of Pentecost.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
It was the prophet Hosea, seven hundred years before the incarnation of the Eternal Word of God, who uttered these words - this soul-shattering prophecy that we will all rise with Christ: “Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory? (Hos. 13.14) And then, later, when everything has come true, the Apostle Paul will say the same thing, quoting the prophet: “death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15.54). What amazing words! What amazing faith! When everything living around you daily and hourly proves the inevitability of decomposition and decay, when “death and time reign on earth,” when, as it seems, decay finally and irrevocably triumphs, be able to hear in the most hidden depths of the soul the barely sounding “breath of a quiet wind.” "(3 Kings 19.12), the voice of God! And not only to hear, because we, sinners, hear a lot in our souls, but also to recognize him and believe him!
The average person is looking for evidence. For him, poor fellow, one promise is not enough, even if it comes from an angel, and he incredulously, like the priest Zechariah, keeps asking, asking: “How do I know this? for I am old, and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1.18). But Zechariah was not an ordinary man, no match for you and me, he was righteous before God, “walking blamelessly according to all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1.6). And it was just as difficult for him, a righteous man, to believe that his wife Elizabeth would not remain idle and in her old age would bear him a son. But how can we, who are still so far from righteousness, believe in the resurrection of the dead and Eternal Life, when from all sides, from all corners of the world, we hear about the triumph of death - that the earth is opening up, swallowing thousands of lives, that Megacities of millions are being swept away by hurricanes, and tens of thousands of people are dying at the hateful hands of those whom they could call their brothers!
And so to each of us, contemplating this pandemonium of death, frozen in animal horror in anticipation of these terrible punishments reaching us, to each of us, as to the poor widow of Nain, the Lord now addresses himself with a quiet word of consolation: “Do not cry." “Don’t cry,” He tells us. Do not cry and do not be afraid, for, as the prophet of God proclaimed seven hundred years before the Nativity of Christ, the sting of death has been destroyed and hell has been put to shame!
The respectable inhabitants of Nain were mistaken when they said: “A great prophet has arisen among us” (Luke 7.16). What prophet could do this? The most that a prophet can do is to prepare “the way of the Lord” (Matt. 3.3), therefore, although he is great among “those born of women... but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt. 11.11). For the “sting of death” can only be pulled out by the One Who is primarily the Giver of Life, from Whom Life itself receives its sanction, its being.
Truly, it is “God Himself who visited His people” (Luke 7.16)! And the resurrection in Nain is not an ordinary resuscitation, not a special case concerning only an unfortunate widow and her untimely deceased son. This event is significant for each of us, because it is not for this that the Son of Man resurrects a dead young man, so that after not so long years he will die again, and this time - forever. God did not incarnate and become a Man to entertain the idle eyes of the bored inhabitants of Nain! Not just to heal a few hundred “blind, lame, dry” (John 5.3) and raise a few dead!
This amazing event, which took place near the walls of a small provincial town, is a sign of joy for everyone who looks forward to the “comfort of Israel” (Luke 2.25). This is a great prophecy about triumphant life, about overcoming corruption, about “death being swallowed up in victory”! Whatever we think about God, when the tragic reality of the death of loved ones touches our own lives, no matter how we imagine Him in moments of bitter trials, all our possible fears, resentments and doubts are in vain, “for the Son of Man came not to destroy the souls of men, but to save” (Luke 9.56).
The joyful Nain resurrection is given to experience not only the unfortunate mother who has lost her last hope, but also everyone who believes in the Light, everyone who cannot come to terms with the final triumph of evil in the world. This is exactly what the prophet says: God “does not want the sinner to die” (Ezek. 33.11). This is exactly what the apostle writes about: “I do not want to leave you, brethren, ignorant about the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope” (2 Thess. 4.13). And this is exactly how Christ Himself consoles us when He says: “Don’t cry!” Amen.
October 23, 2005
I remind you, brothers, of the Gospel which I preached to you, which you received, in which you are established, and by which you are saved, if you hold fast to what was taught as I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I originally taught you what I myself
accepted:
that is, that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve;
then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, and some have died; then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and after all, he appeared to me, like some kind of monster.
For I am the least of the apostles and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace in me was not in vain, but I labored more than all of them; not me, however, but the grace of God that is with me.
So, whether I or they, this is how we preach, and this is how you believe.
If it is preached about Christ that He rose from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen; and if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is in vain.
Moreover, we would also turn out to be false witnesses about God, because we would testify about God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise,
that is,
if the dead do not rise; for if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised.
And if Christ has not risen, then your faith is vain: you are still in your sins; This means that those who died in Christ also perished.
And if in this life only we hope in Christ, then we are the most miserable of all people.
But Christ rose from the dead, the Firstborn of those who died.
For as death came through one man,
so
through one man came the resurrection of the dead.
Just as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will come to life, each in his own order: Christ the Firstborn, then those of Christ at His coming.
And then the end, when He will hand over the Kingdom to God and the Father, when He will abolish all authority and all authority and power.
For He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death,
for He has put all things under His feet.
When it is said that to Him
, it is clear that except Him Who put all things under Him.
When he submits everything to Him, then the Son Himself will submit to Him who has subjected everything to Him—that God may be all in all.
Otherwise, what do those who are baptized do for the dead? If the dead do not rise at all, then why are they baptized for the dead?
Why are we subjected to disasters every hour?
I die every day: I am testified of this by your praise, brothers, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord.
By reasoning
to man, when I fought with the wild beasts in Ephesus, what good did it do me?
If the dead do not rise, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die!” Do not be deceived: bad communities corrupt good morals.
Be sober as you should, and do not sin. For to your shame I say: some of you do not know God.
But someone will say: “How will the dead be resurrected and in what body will they come?” Reckless! What you sow will not come to life unless it dies.
And when you sow, you do not sow the future body, but the naked grain that happens, wheat or something else.
But God gives him a body as he wants, and each seed his own body.
Not all flesh is the same flesh; but there is another flesh among men, another flesh among beasts, another among fishes, and another among birds.
There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; but the glory of those in heaven is different, and that of those on earth is different.
There is another glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory.
So it is with the resurrection of the dead: it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; the spiritual body is sown, the spiritual body is raised. There is a spiritual body, and there is a spiritual body.
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living soul”; and the last Adam is the life-giving spirit.
But not the spiritual first, but the spiritual, then the spiritual.
The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, so are the earthy; and as is the heavenly, so are the heavenly.
And just as we bore the image of the earthly, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
But I'll tell you
, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God and corruption does not inherit incorruption.
I tell you a secret: we will not all die, but we will all change suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
When this corruptible puts on incorruptibility and this mortal puts on immortality, then the word that is written will come true: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
«Death! Where is your sting? Hell! Where is your victory?
The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law.
Thanks be to God, who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
So, my beloved brothers, be strong, immovable, always abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Vyacheslav Goncharenko. The Great Achievement of Calvary
April 20, 2014
Hebrews 2:14:
“And just as the children share in flesh and blood, He also took part in it, so that by death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil...”
What Jesus Christ did when he came into this world, no one could do. In history there were so many great people, conquerors, discoverers who created it. But what Jesus Christ did affected more than just our world. It affected all eternity, every person. When people say that Jesus was one of the great men, a teacher, a preacher of truth, it is too little to say that about Christ. Jesus is so much more. Jesus Christ is the Anointed One. He is the Son of Almighty God. And He is also the Son of Man. But at the same time, He is God. He is a special messenger for our world, come to do something.
What did He do? He did three things that opened up new horizons for us. This is what the Apostle Paul writes.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57:
"Death! where is your sting? hell! where is your victory? The sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law. Thanks be to God, who has given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
This means that Jesus Christ figured out three things that no one on earth could figure out. He dealt with sin, the curse of the law, and death. It's amazing!
“Death, where is your sting?” - asks the Apostle Paul. Death is scary, so many people are afraid of death. The most serious fear is the fear of death. But a believer in Jesus Christ treats death this way: “Hey, death, who are you?! Where is your sting? Also, many people live in fear of hell, expecting that at the end of their lives Gehenna, the flame of fire, awaits them. But the attitude of a believer to hell is different: “Hell, where is your victory?” Jesus Christ made it so that neither death, nor hell, nor sin, nor the power of sin - the law - no longer have power over a believer.
Jesus Christ dealt with death very easily. How? He has risen from the dead! Thus He showed all the people of the earth: “There is no more death for Me!” He also made a promise to believing people: “Whoever believes in Me will never see death.” He meant eternal death, which in the Bible is called the “second death” - separation from God, eternal torment in hell. Jesus delivered us from the most terrible death - from eternal condemnation. But He also said about earthly death: “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). Neither physical death nor eternal death is no longer scary to a believer! That's what Jesus did. Of course, death has not disappeared. People are still dying. But death has lost its power.
“The sting of death is sin...” Let’s talk a little more about this. What is the sting of death? Imagine some living creature that has a sting, such as a bee, a wasp, a scorpion, or a poisonous snake. Actually, snakes do not have a sting, but they have special glands with poison, which they release through their teeth. And this is how the devil worked through sin. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is death.”
(Romans 6:23). The person who sinned had to be punished by death. Jesus Christ came and broke off this sting of sin. Now imagine a snake without its poisonous tooth - it’s just a hose! She won't do anything to you, she won't cause you any harm. It may look intimidating, but you can handle it and it will be under your feet.
How did Jesus deal with this deadly sting of sin?
Hebrews 9:12:
“...and not with the blood of goats and bulls, but with His own blood, He once entered into the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption.”
Jesus appeared before the Heavenly Father and showed Him His wounds and His blood. What did the blood of Christ do? The blood of God's Son satisfied God's justice. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). This was the punishment for sin. Any criminal who breaks the law must be punished. He will be charged with a certain article under which he will be convicted. Perhaps he will be sent to prison, and even repentance and an apology will not help him. Saying “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again” won’t help. The person who committed the crime must answer for it; he will still be punished. This is God's justice. A person who broke God's law had to die for his sins.
But this is what Jesus Christ did: He took upon Himself the retribution for our sins. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:23). Dying on Calvary, bleeding, with his hands and feet pierced, He came to the Heavenly Father and said: “Father, this is My blood shed for this world.” God accepted the blood of Jesus as payment for the sins of all mankind. This means that God has forgiven all the sins of people - both believers and non-believers. “God in Christ reconciled the world to himself, not counting their transgressions against [people]” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Look how long people who have committed terrible crimes can live - for example, the SS men who tortured and exterminated people in concentration camps during World War II. The TV report tells us that one of the Nazi criminals is already ninety years old. We are outraged: “As soon as the earth bears him?!” But God does this: He does not impute to people their crimes, because our entire world has been forgiven by Jesus Christ. But there is an important point: our world is legally forgiven. There is a document for forgiveness of every person, signed with the Blood of the Lamb. You say: “How can we make sure that a person is actually forgiven?” To do this, you must believe in Calvary, believe in the Blood of the Son of God, believe in Jesus Christ. And then the believer becomes forever freed from sin, becomes a righteous and holy person.
Hebrews 10:14:
“For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
Perhaps you do not believe this, considering yourself a sinner. But it's you
That's how you look at yourself. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, then God sees you through Him and accepts you just as Jesus the Righteous One. You become a son or daughter of the Living God.
So Jesus broke off the sting of death. “The sting of death is sin...” What if you sin again? The blood of Christ still works. It is written: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
It is important to confess
your sin. It's in our interests. None of us would like to accumulate our crimes and sins. We want to get rid of them and live with a clear conscience. Our conscience screams loudly, so we come under God's grace - and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. We continue to walk this earth in holy robes.
What else did Jesus do? He delivered us not only from the curse of sin. He also delivered us from the curse of the law. We read that “the power of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:56).
Galatians 3:13:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us—for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”
What is the curse of the law? When God in ancient times gave Moses commandments for the people, all of them were not given for man to fulfill them. No one could fulfill all the commandments of God. They were given to show man his sinfulness, so that people would try to adhere to the commandments, and so that humanity would ultimately come to the most important revelation: no one can cope with sin on their own. How do all the religions that exist in the world differ from the Christian religion? Because they are all trying to teach people how to get to heaven on their own. But our strength is not enough to get to heaven! And if it had been enough, God would not have sent Jesus Christ. It is the coming of Christ that says that our strength is not enough to reach God. But here's where grace came in: God
came down to us, He reached out to us.
How did the curse of the law work? “Everyone who keeps the commandments will be blessed.” And a long list was given - a list of areas in which you will be blessed: in the city and in the field, at the entrance and at the exit, your barns will be blessed, the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your livestock - and so on. You can read in the Old Testament about all the blessings of the law for those who obey it. But the opposite pole of blessing—curse—was also at work. “If you do not fulfill the law and carefully keep it, you will be cursed in the city and in the field, at the entrance and at the exit...” And then a long list of curses followed. Humanity fell under a curse because it could not fulfill the entire law. And people would never have gotten out from under this curse, from their unlucky life, from darkness - if not for Jesus Christ.
What did He do? We read that He “has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). And further it says: “...so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).
Jesus fulfilled the law, but instead of blessing he received our curse and hung on the cross - alone, naked, abandoned, cursed, rejected. And even God the Father turned away from Him. Jesus hung on the cross and cried out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” Instead of the blessing He should have inherited, He received our curse. But because of Jesus, all of us—every person—have received God's blessing. This is the blessing of Abraham that is reserved for every believer. Jesus Christ dealt with every curse, every retribution and punishment for the whole world, not just for believers. He did this for absolutely unbelieving people.
But know that this happened de jure - that is, legally there is a stamp on paper. There is an agreement signed in blood. There are the words of God. But we actually become free from curse when we believe in Jesus Christ. We believe with all our hearts in the Son of God. It is illogical when people do not want to go to hell, do not want to live in damnation, do not want sin with the consequences of death to sting them - but at the same time they do not want to see the reason that takes them from that life to a blessed life, not want to receive the Lamb of God. They don't want God who was sent for them. Where is the logic in this behavior of people? They want a good life - but they do not want to accept the best Person in the universe.
But God’s way is simple – accept the Gospel. Jesus sent His disciples all over the world to preach the Gospel. What is the Gospel? This is the Good News: “People, your sins are forgiven, your curses are broken, death has no power over you anymore! People, believe that all this was done by Christ - His death and resurrection. Believe - and you will have a different life, which is written about in the Word of God. Believe in Christ, live by the Word of God - and you will live with God forever!” What a simple message in Christianity! No amount of your deeds or merits will allow you to receive what God gives you freely through faith in Jesus Christ. You hear what the preacher says and accept it by faith. You will understand that there is simply no alternative. Wherever you go, people will load you with such burdens, such laws, in which you will bury yourself. This is the path to hell. But God's way is simple. “Those who walk this way, even if they are inexperienced, will not go astray” (Isaiah 35:8).
This is what Jesus Christ did: He delivered us from sin, curse and eternal death. He redeemed us from all this! What does it mean? He paid the price for us and we no longer belong to the kingdom of death. We read that Christ deprived of his power the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil. He deprived the most important enemy of human souls of power through His cross and His resurrection. Jesus deprived the ancient serpent of his power and strength. Therefore, the Gospel—the Good News of what Jesus did—belongs to all the people of this world. As soon as people hear the Good News and believe it with all their hearts, they will move from the kingdom of Satan to the Kingdom of God and will remain in this Kingdom forever.
Do you want to enter the Kingdom of God? Maybe you are tired of living in sins, in damnation and slavery. This is similar to the liberation that prisoners of war sitting behind barbed wire receive when suddenly a messenger comes and announces to them: “Ours have won! The enemy has capitulated! These people sat without hope, in the gloomy confidence that they would never see their relatives, that they would be shot. Around them along the perimeter are many armed soldiers, ready at any moment to carry out the execution order. But the messenger proclaims: “The battle is won! Victory has been won! The prisoners rise up because they understand: the power has changed! The enemies lower their guns, realizing that they are in trouble. They understand that any careless action now could cost their lives. The surrender has already been signed.
Colossians 2:15:
“... having taken away the strength of the principalities and powers, he powerfully subjected them to shame, having triumphed over them with Himself.”
In a modern translation, it reads like this: “By this He disarmed the principalities and powers and exposed them to everyone’s ridicule, leading them as captives in His triumphal procession.”
Good News is the answer for this world. The Good News, friend, is the answer for you too. You no longer need to live in sins, in the fear of death, in the old curses. Accept Jesus Christ and you will enter into blessing!
Breaking news! On February 17, the forced eviction of the New Life Church from the building took place.
Cause and history of the conflict:
