Wood, oil. 43 x 34 cm Accademia Carrara, Bergamo
In this picture, a graceful pose in the style Perugino and hazy transparency of color, characteristic of Francesco Franchi, are combined in such a way that they create original style Raphael himself. From the time of this work, his ability to create clear and balanced forms, as well as the ability to discreetly, harmoniously translate the formal elements of other painters into a clear, calm vision - the main feature of his artistic temperament - begins to appear.
Raphael. Saint Sebastian, 1501-1502
Saint Sebastian holds an arrow in this painting by Raphael, reminiscent of the details of his martyrdom. The saint's little finger is gracefully raised. Sebastian is dressed in a magnificent red cloak and gold embroidered shirt, his hair is elegantly styled. There is nothing in his figure that would remind of the torments that this saint endured. This is a typical early work, unanimously associated with Raphael. With its decorative beauty and elegiac mood, this painting is very reminiscent of the work of Perugino.
Raphael. Saint Sebastian, 1501-1502. Detail
Raphael. Baronci altarpiece, 1500-1501
God the Father and Virgin Mary. Fragment of the Baronci altarpiece
Wood, oil. 112 x 75 cm. (God), 51 x 41 (Virgin Mary). National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples
Raphael's stay in Citta di Castello, a small town near Urbino, in the early years of the 16th century was very fruitful. There he created three luxurious altars for various churches. The first documented order of Raphael - dated December 10, 1500 - was made for the altar in the Andrea Baronci chapel of the church of Sant'Agostino in Citta di Castello. The altar was dedicated to the coronation of Nicholas of Tolentinsky, a 13th-century Augustinian hermit who was not canonized until 1446, although his cult became popular very early.
Raphael. God the Father and Virgin Mary. Fragment of the Baronci altarpiece, 1500-1502
The altar was badly damaged during an earthquake in 1789. The Raphael painting, which was badly damaged, was removed from its original place and sold Pope Pius VI, who ordered to cut the panels into several pieces. Two of them are shown in the figure above. Since 1849, the surviving sections of the Baronci altarpiece have been kept in various collections.
Angel (1). Fragment of the Baronci altarpiece, 1500-1501
According to studies of Raphael's paintings made by the scientists of the Museum of Fine Arts of Lille, this figure of an angel was in the lower left corner of the altar, next to St. Nicholas of Tolentino. The large modeling of the head of an angel and the ecstatic expression of his face, with his gaze directed upwards, are characteristic of a number of Raphael's early works.
Angel (2). Fragment of the Baronci altarpiece, 1500-1501
Only one angel is depicted on this part of the Baronci altarpiece, but a partial copy of the altar made in the 18th century in Citta di Castello, as well as a description of 1789, show that a pair of angels stood on either side of the main figure.
This angel was located on the right and looked not at the saint in the center, but at some figure from the edge of the image.
Raphael. Angel. Fragment of the Baronci altarpiece, 1500-1501
Raphael. crucifixion. Altar in Citta di Castello. 1502-1503
Wood, oil. 281 x 165 cm. National Gallery, London
The presence of Perugino's motifs is still quite evident in Raphael's Crucifixion, 1502-1503, which is now in the National Gallery in London. The painting depicts the crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saint Jerome, Mary Magdalene and John the Evangelist. The "Crucifixion" was the central part of the altar made for the church of San Domenico in Citta di Castello. This is the first work signed by Raphael. The signature "drawn by Raphael of Urbino" fully confirms his authorship.
Raphael. crucifixion. Altar in Citta di Castello. 1502-1503
The composition of the "Crucifixion" is close to other panels on the same theme, executed by Perugino - such as the imposing Chigi Altarpiece for Sant'Agostino in Siena. But the strict balance of gestures, which distinguishes the figures of Raphael's paintings from the sentimental and simple poses of Perugino, clearly separates the young student from his teacher. The faces are treated with light chiaroscuro and, as a result, they are more graceful than those of Perugino. Thus, Raphael - although he is not yet willing and perhaps unable to overcome the influence of Perugino - shows in the painting "The Crucifixion" his own spiritual warehouse. He has an extraordinary sense of proportion and sharpness of visual perception. This becomes even more evident in the two parts of the predella, framed by stories from the life of Saint Jerome. One of them is kept in the Cook Collection (Richmond), and the other in the Lisbon Gallery.
Raphael. Altar of Oddi, 1502-1503
The order from Maddalena Oddi for the painting "The Coronation of Our Lady", originally intended for the church of St. Francis on the Mountain in Perugia, was first received by Perugino. But he passed it on to his student, Raphael.
Raphael. Coronation of the Mother of God. Altar of Oddi, 1502-1503
The altar combines two scenes common in Quattrocento iconography: the coronation of the Mother of God (which occupies the upper part of the picture) and the Giving of the Sash of the Virgin to St. Thomas (the lower part), an episode traditionally associated with the Dormition. According to legend, at the Assumption of the Mother of God, among the apostles who gathered in Jerusalem for Her burial, there was no Thomas. He bitterly regretted that he had not been honored to be at the last minutes of the earthly life of the Most Pure Virgin and had not received Her blessing. On the third day after the Assumption, the Mother of God appeared to Thomas and, as a consolation, gave him Her Belt. It was given to two pious Jerusalem widows and was kept in Palestine from generation to generation.
Raphael. Coronation of the Mother of God. Altar of Oddi. Top part compositions. 1502-1503
The scenes of the Coronation and the Giving of the Girdle to Thomas remain separated in Raphael's painting, perhaps because of the young Raphael's uncertainty about his ability to create a large whole composition. Nevertheless, the pictorial forms of Raphael appear already very mature here, and some innovations in perspective - for example, the diagonal representation of the tomb of Our Lady - run counter to the traditional compositional techniques of the Quattrocento.
Raphael. Coronation of the Mother of God. Altar of Oddi. The bottom of the composition. 1502-1503
The composition of the Oddi altar is divided horizontally into the heavenly and earthly spheres. The upper part depicts Christ crowning his mother, which Raphael placed over her empty sarcophagus. The contrast between her disappearance and the appearance of miraculous flowers instead of the body of the Mother of God strikes the apostles gathered around the massive stone coffin at the bottom of the panel.
Raphael. Annunciation. Altar of Oddi. Predella. 1502-1503
The sketches that have come down to us show the tremendous work done by Raphael during the creation of this panel. Some of the details, in particular the highly individualized faces of the apostles and the serene landscape in the background, are painted with great skill.
Raphael. Adoration of the Magi. Altar of Oddi. Predella. 1502-1503
But the most significant are the scenes of the predella, which consists of three paintings measuring 27 × 50 cm: a wide space opening under the colonnades of the Annunciation (the left side of the predella); the deeply felt Adoration of the Magi (centre); free transfer of shades of the atmosphere in the scene of the Entry into the Temple (right side). All this foreshadows the extraordinary spatial intuition of Raphael's future Vatican compositions.
Raphael. Introduction to the Temple. Altar of Oddi. Predella. 1502-1503
Raphael. Betrothal of the Virgin Mary. 1504
Board, oil. 170 x 117 cm. Brera Pinacoteca. Milan
The Betrothal of the Virgin Mary is one of the most famous and revered paintings by Raphael. It marks his transition from apprenticeship with Perugino to the rank of one of the most prominent masters of the Italian Renaissance. "The Betrothal of the Virgin Mary" was written just before Raphael's trip to Florence.
The painting "The Marriage of the Virgin Mary" was commissioned by the Albizzini family for the chapel of St. Joseph in the Minorite church of San Francesco in Citta di Castello. During the era of revolutionary Napoleonic Wars she changed owners more than once until she ended up in the famous Brera Pinacoteca in Milan.
Raphael. The betrothal of the Virgin Mary. 1504
When writing this "Betrothal of the Virgin Mary", Raphael was inspired by two compositions by Perugino: the famous painting "Christ hands the keys to paradise to St. Peter" from the cycle of frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and the panel "The Marriage of the Virgin Mary". On the frieze of the temple, depicted in the depth of the picture, is the signature of Raphael and the date -1504.
In the foreground, Joseph the Betrothed solemnly puts a ring on the finger of the Virgin, and holds a symbol of his chosenness - a wooden staff that has blossomed, while the other suitors have left them dry.
Raphael. The betrothal of the Virgin Mary. Maria. 1504
polygonal style temple Bramante creates a receding perspective in this painting by Raphael. It is the center of a radial system consisting of steps, a portico, buttresses, a drum - and extended by a pavement. A group of wedding guests repeats this circular rhythm. The three main figures are located in the foreground, and the rest in the depth, gradually moving further and further away from the central axis, indicated by the ring that Joseph puts on the finger of the Virgin.
Raphael. The betrothal of the Virgin Mary. Temple. 1504
The plan of the painting by Raphael clearly resembles the two above-mentioned works by Perugino. But Raphael's space is openly stronger, and the perspective is displayed much better than that of his teacher.
Raphael. Three Graces. 1504-1505
Board, oil. 17 x 17 cm. Condé Museum, Chantilly
The growth of the pictorial power of Raphael's paintings after his arrival in Florence is clearly visible in the paintings The Dream of the Knight and The Three Graces. These two panels may have formed a single diptych presented by Scipione di Tommaso Borghese. The theme of the picture could be borrowed from the poem "Punica" by the poet Silius Italic. In the first panel, the sleeping knight Scipio must choose between Venus (pleasure) and Minerva (virtue). On the second, the Graces reward his choice of virtue with the golden apples of the Hesperides. The classical origin of this theme reflects the influence on Raphael of the Florentine humanist milieu.
Raphael. Three Graces. 1504-1505
In this painting, a young knight is sleeping under a laurel tree, which divides the painting into two equal parts. In each of the two halves, Raphael depicted a young woman. The left personifies virtue and holds a book and a sword over the sleeping knight. The right one holds out a flower to the sleeping knight - a symbol of sensual pleasure. Possible interpretation by Raphael of the allegory depicted in the picture: task young man– to balance both sides of life harmoniously.
Raphael. Allegory (Dream of a knight). OK. 1504
Raphael. Saint George and the dragon. 1505-1506
Wood, oil. 28.5 x 21.5. National Gallery of Art, Washington
Raphael's paintings on the theme of the battles of St. Michael and St. George with the dragon are connected to each other by theme and stylistic elements. In them, the influence on Raphael of the great Florentine masters of the older generation is clearly noticeable, especially Leonardo da Vinci, whose canvas “The Battle of Anghiari” (1505), which did not come down to us in the original, gave a brilliant example of art on a military theme. But the connection of these paintings by Raphael with Flemish painting is clear - especially with Hieronymus Bosch(bright light, and humanoid monsters in the "Saint Michael" scene).
Raphael. Saint George and the dragon. 1505-1506
Raphael. Saint Michael and the dragon. 1503-1505
Wood, oil. 31 x 27 cm Louvre Museum, Paris
In this painting by Raphael, Saint Michael, standing in the middle of a gloomy landscape with a burning city in the distance, is about to kill the devil overturned to the ground with a sword blow. The monsters crawling on all sides are reminiscent of the drawings of Hieronymus Bosch, and the figures in the central part of the picture resurrect the scenes of Hell from Divine Comedy Dante. On the left, Raphael painted hypocrites in lead robes, doomed to follow their painful path, and on the right, thieves tormented by snakes.
Raphael. Saint Michael and the dragon. 1503-1505
Raphael's imagination is rich in the details of this painting, but much more balanced in the very figure of St. Michael the Archangel, the center of the whole composition. The sense of balance and spiritual harmony inherent in Raphael was developed in two other panels related to the dragon fight of St. George. There, a soft landscape, executed in the style of the Umbrian school familiar to the early Raphael, conveys calmness to the main character, contrasting with the general drama of the theme.
Raphael. Saint George slaying the dragon (Little Saint George). 1503-1505
Wood, oil. 29 x 25 cm Louvre Museum, Paris
For more details, see a separate article by Raphael "Saint George"
Having received in 1504 the Order of the Garter from King Henry VII of England, the Duke of Urbino Guido da Montefeltro, as a gift for the British monarch, ordered Raphael a painting on the theme of the exploit of St. George. It was entrusted to deliver it to England by Baldassare Castiglione, the author of the famous treatise “On the Courtier” in those days.
Saint George is one of the most popular Christian saints and the patron saint of England. According to an old pious legend, a dragon settled in a swamp outside the walls of one city, killing passers-by with fiery breath. To appease the dragon, the city sent him several sheep a day. When there were no more sheep, the sons and daughters of local citizens were sent to the monster. The Christian warrior Saint George, who was passing by, saw the girl in tears, entrusted himself to God and pierced the dragon with a spear. The spear broke, but the brave knight continued to fight with the dragon sword. He killed him and saved the girl from death.
Raphael. Saint George slaying the dragon (Little Saint George). 1503-1505
Raphael's painting "Saint George Slaying the Dragon" was exhibited in tandem with his own "Saint Michael". Both paintings were of the same size and similar style. This led to the idea that Raphael wrote them as a single diptych.
Raphael. Christ blessing. 1505-1506
Panel, oil. 32 x 25 cm. Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Brescia
In Raphael's painting "Christ Blessing" the influence of Leonardo da Vinci is very strongly felt. Christ is depicted here rising from the tomb. Unlike the panels of the 14th and 15th centuries of the same theme, the main thing in this picture is not a feeling of compassion, but the triumph of the Risen Christ. He still wears the symbols of the Passion: the Crown of Thorns and the marks of the nails with which his hands and feet were nailed to the cross.
Raphael. Christ blessing. 1505-1506
The influence on Rafael Perugino is almost fading away. The figure of Christ is the smoothness of surfaces and soft light and shade modeling, in which Raphael clearly surpasses his teacher.
Raphael. Saint Catherine of Alexandria. 1508
Wood, oil. 71.1 x 54.6 cm. National Gallery, London
Half a painting for personal worship, half a collector's work, "Catherine of Alexandria" was probably painted just before Raphael's departure for Rome. It is dominated by the influence not of Perugino, but of Leonardo da Vinci, who perfected the so-called "serpentine" posture - with the bends of the body around its own axes. It gives movement, grace and three-dimensionality even to static figures. To make this unnatural position natural, Raphael depicts Saint Catherine with her head turned up and to the left - in ecstatic communion with the thin golden rays of divine light that descends from the sky.
Raphael. Saint Catherine of Alexandria. 1508
The left hand of Catherine of Alexandria rests on the attribute of her martyrdom - the wheel. The right hand is pressed to the chest. The saint looks up at the sky filled with light. The composition is rich in harmonious movement, its color scheme is full and varied.
The landscape of this painting by Raphael was written out with great care. Its chiaroscuro also points to the influence of Leonardo, although the jagged mountains characteristic of da Vinci's landscapes are absent. The exquisite modeling of the figure of Catherine of Alexandria, the slight twisting of her body at the moment when she leans on the wheel of her martyrdom (on which the spikes are replaced by rounded bumps to soften the element of cruelty) well reflect the balanced nature of Raphael's art. "Catherine of Alexandria" clearly testifies to the tireless search for form that underlay the figurative creativity of Raphael. He always refrains from arousing emotions he considers too strong, softening the tones and elements of the theme of paintings in search of the perfect harmony of balance between figure, color, posture and sensual expression, as well as between main and decorative elements.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven, for He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy and blameless before Nim-in love, Predestinating to adopt us to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace (1: 3-6)
In Greek, verses 3-14 are one sentence and cover the past, present, and future of God's one purpose for the church. This is God's plan of salvation presented by Paul. Verses 3-6 show us the past tense aspect of election; verses 6-11 are present aspect - redemption, and verses 12-14 are future - inheritance. God's plan of salvation includes the salvation of every believer who has ever, present or future, placed his trust in God. As it is sometimes expressed, history is the realization of "His story" that was already planned and destined for eternity.
This passage can also be divided into three parts, each of which sheds light on various Face Divine Trinity. Verses 3-6 put the Father at the center of the discussion, verses 6-12 the Son, and verses 13-14 the Holy Spirit. Paul takes us to the very throne of God to show the greatness and abundance of the blessings and riches that belong to those who abide in Christ Jesus.
These days people are very concerned with the issue of identity, life purpose, self-knowledge and determining the meaning of life. In this regard, there are countless books, articles, seminars and a sufficient number of activities to fulfill the aspirations of people in this matter. But, due to the fact that God and His Word are not taken into account in all these countless efforts, the only source of finding the truth is eliminated, and people are inevitably left, in this respect, to themselves. They have to answer these questions themselves.
We are taught to think of ourselves first and shown how to reach the top in life by manipulating and trampling other people. We must attack before we are attacked. We receive guidance on how to succeed and high position becoming one of a kind. We are advised to look for the meaning and meaning of our lives in the heredity of our family and its ethnic roots that go back to the past, encouraging us with expectations of finding our destiny and life path through such knowledge. But such approaches only apply external gloss and gloss to the psychologically, which helps only to veil, but not to open and remove problems related to the question of the meaning of life.
Others, in order to prove their usefulness, are actively involved in church activities and other Christian work. They hope to earn gratitude and praise, and soon fall into the trap of a kind of hypocritical religious game that distinguished the scribes and Pharisees of the time when Jesus was on earth. As self-satisfaction increased, their spiritual life was subject to withering and dryness, because such selfish aspirations feed the flesh and destroy the soul, disfiguring it.
But every human effort aimed at self-improvement and self-satisfaction, regardless of religious background, is subject to the law of diminishing returns. There is never true and lasting satisfaction, and multiplying achievement causes only multiplying desire. And it should be noted, and something more important, that the guilt and fear that bring dissatisfaction are not reduced, but suppressed. The longer this artificial and superficial game goes on, the deeper depression, anxiety, and guilt become.
A person can achieve true consciousness of his own dignity, the meaning and significance of his life only in a state of right relationship with his Creator and Creator. Without Christ, a person has no spiritual significance and value, no position before God, no purpose in this world and no meaning to his life. He is like “dust tossed up by the wind” (Ps. 1:4).
The Christian is a child of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. If He does not understand these blessings, then he needs to realize the position he already occupies in his Savior. Paul's epistle, by its very nature, is designed to help such a Christian understand his position and the heritage he has.
Paul says that if we belong to Christ, we can be completely sure that God numbered us in His church before the creation of the world. By His grace and mighty power, He has chosen each of us to be His children. This happened not because we were honored with this election due to our own deeds and merits, but by God's will.
Although this idea is completely incomprehensible to our limited mind, nevertheless it is repeatedly repeated in Holy Scripture. The story of God's redemption is that He came down to our earth and drew to Himself those whom He chose for salvation. In these opening verses of his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul gives us a glimpse of the beginning of eternity, of God's plan of salvation for us, not only long before we were born, but even before the birth of the earth.
Aspects of blessing
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heaven (1:3)
Paul presents six aspects of the divine blessing that he is about to unfold before our eyes: Blessed God, blessing God, blessed believers, blessings of a spiritual order; heavenly mansions from which blessings descend and the Executor of the blessing is Jesus Christ.
Blessed God
This grace-filled truth is opened by Paul with thanksgiving praise to the One who is the cause of this blessing: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a panegyric, praise and doxology, a proclamation of mercy and love. Since God alone is truly good (Matt. 19:17), our exaltation and praise should belong to Him alone.
God is good and merciful and these qualities make up His inner essence. No one except God's Only Begotten Son, and our Lord Jesus Christ, can possess such goodness. Therefore, starting from the book of Genesis, right up to Revelation, pious people, realizing the unsurpassed and incomprehensible to the earthly mind, the goodness of the Great God, proclaimed Him in words of blessing. Melchizedek exclaimed, "Blessed be the Most High God" (Genesis 14:20). V last days“And every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and everything that is in them, I heard, saying: To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” ( Rev. 5:13).
Nothing more befits God's people than giving blessings to God for His great goodness, And we must in all circumstances bring praise to Him: enduring pain, struggle, sorrow, failure, in the face of adversaries or enemies - thank Him in praise, because God is good in all these circumstances. For this, we thank and bless Him.
God bless
According to His perfection and merit, He Who deserves highest blessing for His goodness, and God Himself is the supreme blessing Person who endows others with goodness. It is He who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, “Every good gift,” James reminds us, “and every perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Paul assures us: “And we know that to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose, everything works together for good” (Rom. 8:28). As the source of all goodness and blessing, God blesses others as well. Goodness descends only from God, because outside of him there is no source of goodness.
Blessed Believers
The pronoun us that Paul uses refers to believers: "saints ... in Christ Jesus," which the apostle refers to in his address in verse 1. God has ordained blessings for believers from time immemorial. Galatians 3:9 says that believers are blessed.
When we bless God, we speak good words about Him. God blesses us and sends blessings to us. We bless Him with words, He blesses us with deeds. We can only bring praise to Him, for we have nothing better in ourselves. In Him dwells the source of all goodness. With His blessing on us, the situation is completely changed. He cannot bless us for our goodness, because we do not possess it. He also blesses us with grace. Our heavenly Father endows us with every goodness, good gift, and blessing. This is the essence of His being, and this is what we need.
Blessings of the Spiritual Order
Our Heavenly Father blesses us with every spiritual blessing. In the New Testament, the word pneumatikos (spiritual) is always used of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is not used to oppose non-material and material objects. It refers to the divine origin of blessings and whether they help our spirit, mind, body, daily walk, or in some other way. The word spiritual refers to the source, not the size and scope of the blessing.
Many Christians are constantly begging God for what He has already given. They cry out in prayer to Him to give them more love, even though they should have known that "the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Rom. 5:5). They pray for peace, even though Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you" (John 14:27). They ask for joy and happiness, even though Jesus said, "I have said this to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:11). They pray to God for power, even though His Word tells them that “I can do all things through Christ (Jesus) who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
“As from His divine power everything that is necessary for life and godliness has been given to us, through the knowledge of Him who called us with glory and goodness” (2 Pet. 1:3). And this promise is not an aspect of the future tense, but refers to an already accomplished action - He has already given us "everything that is necessary for life and godliness." He has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing. We are "fullness in Him" (Col. 2:10).
We already have resources in God and they are not the object of possession in the future tense. Every Christian has what Paul calls "the cooperation of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:19). God cannot give us more than what He has already given in His Son. So there is nothing else to get. The believer does not need to get anything more, but to use more and use the resources already at his disposal.
Our property and position in heaven is firm and unshakable. The Apostle Paul says that God has already “raised us up with Him and seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).
Heavenly Mansions Where Blessings Come From
These abundant and countless blessings from God are in heavenly mansions, in heaven. Heavenly mansions does not mean only the sky. The concept of heaven (1:20; 2:6; 3:10) includes the entire supernatural realm of God's dwelling place, subject to His dominion, from where He extends His influence.
Paradoxically, Christians have a dual existence and citizenship. As earth dwellers, we are citizens of the earth. But in Christ, our main and incomparably more important citizenship is heavenly (Phil. 3:20). Christ is our King and Sovereign, and we are citizens of His Kingdom: heaven. That is why we need to seek "the things above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God" (Col. 3:1).
As members of God's realm, we have the ability to understand the supernatural acts and manifestations of God, that which "the natural man does not accept...and "cannot understand...because these things must be judged spiritually" (1 Cor. 2:14).
When traveling abroad, an American citizen continues to be the same American citizen that he is in the United States. Whether he is in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Antarctica, or any other place outside of his homeland, an American citizen continues to retain all of his rights and privileges that this citizenship provides him.
Being citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, Christians reserve all the rights and privileges of this citizenship, although they live on an alien and often hostile earthly planet. Our true life is in the invisible world, God's heavenly mansions. There is the Father, our Savior, our relatives and friends; there our names are written, and there in heaven is our eternal abode and throne.
But we are currently experiencing constant pressure, striving for the heavenly and eternal and experiencing the pressure of the earthly and material world. Pavel in following words conveys a similar tension: “We are oppressed from everywhere, but not constrained; we are in desperate circumstances, but we do not despair; We are persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but we do not perish; We are grieved, but we always rejoice; we are poor, but we enrich many; we have nothing, but we have everything” (2 Cor. 4:8-9; 6:10).
The secret to mortal living as a heavenly citizen is to walk in the Spirit so that we walk in the Spirit. “Walk in the Spirit,” says Paul, “and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). When we put on His power, God produces His fruits in us: “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (vv. 22-23). As we live by the power of God's Holy Spirit, we receive heavenly blessings.
Blessing - Jesus Christ
Christians have every spiritual blessing in heaven because they are in Christ. By trusting Him as our Lord and Savior, we enter into a wonderful union with Jesus Christ. And he who unites with the Lord is one spirit (with the Lord) (1 Cor. 6:17). Our union with Christ and unity with Him rests on more than mere agreement. He is the community of life, God's eternal life, which flows into the life of every believer (cf. Rom. 15:5-7).
All that the Lord possesses, those who abide in Christ have. “This very Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16-17). The riches of Christ are ours. His provisions are our possessions, His righteousness is our righteousness, and His strength and might are our strength and might. His position and privileges rightfully belong to us. And we have what He has. His work is our work; what He does, we do.
And all this happens because God's grace extends to us, which successfully works God's will in those people who trust in Him (1 Cor. 15:10).
Elements of the eternal formation of the Body
Since He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love, having predestined us to be adopted by Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace (1:4-6).
These verses reveal the past portion of God's eternal plan for the formation of the church, the Body of Jesus Christ. His plan is presented in seven elements: method, election; object, elected; time, in eternity, in the past; in purpose, holiness; in urge, love; result, establishment, fame.
Method - election
The Bible speaks of three types of election. The first is the theocratic election of Israel. “For you are a holy people with the Lord your God,” Moses told Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, “the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own people out of all the nations that are on the earth” (Deut. 7:6).
This election has nothing to do with personal salvation. “For not all are the Israelites who are of Israel,” explains Paul, “nor are all the children of Abraham who are of his seed” (Rom. 9:6-7). Descent from Abraham according to the flesh, as from the father of the people of Israel, did not mean spiritual descent from him, as from the father of believers (Rom. 4:11).
The second kind of election concerns the separation of a special group of people. The Lord chose the tribe of Levi for priesthood, according to the Levites, in connection with this, salvation was not at all guaranteed. Jesus called twelve people to the apostolic ministry, but only eleven of them to salvation. After Paul came to Christ because God had chosen him for salvation, God predestinated him to a special apostleship (for the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; Rom. 1:5).
The third kind of election concerns salvation, as the Pope says in our previous text: "No one can come to me unless the Father draws him" (John 6:44). The word helkuo - attract conveys the meaning of force majeure. It was used in ancient Greek literature to describe the desperate desire of a hungry person for food and the desire of demonic forces to take possession of animals, not being able to move into people.
Scrap yards use huge electromagnets to lift and partially sort piles of metal. When this magnet is turned on, the generated electromagnetic field rapidly attracts all iron parts and objects located nearby to the magnet, but has no effect on metals such as aluminum and copper.
In the same way, God of His own will chooses for Himself, irresistibly attracting those whom He predestined to love and forgiveness, does not extend His influence to those who do not belong to this category.
From eternity, before the foundation of the world, and therefore regardless of any merit or merit; that man could have, God chooses us in Him, in Christ (v. 3). By the mighty election of God, those who receive salvation are united in eternal union with Christ before the foundation of the world.
Although the human will is not free in the sense that many people assume, man has a will which he clearly recognizes. Holy Bible. Being separated from God, the human will is enslaved by sin. But man is nevertheless able to choose God, who made it possible to make this choice. Jesus said that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life (John 3:16) and that "whoever lives and believes in Me will never die" (11:26). Repeated commands to the unsaved to turn to the Lord (Joshua 24:15; Isaiah 55:1; Matt. 3:1-2; 4:17; 11:28-30; John 5:40 ; 6:37; 7:37-39; Rev. 22:17) clearly indicate the responsibility of a person in the matter of the right of his choice, as an act of will.
But the Bible is also clear that no one who has not been chosen by God accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior (cf. Rom. 8:29; 9:11; 1 Thess. 1:3-4; 1 Pet. 1:2). Jesus presents both truths in one verse in the Gospel of John: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will not cast out” (John 6:37).
God's mighty election and man's responsibility in the election of Jesus Christ seem to be opposite and incompatible truths, and from our human perspective they are both opposite and incompatible truths. That is why so many sincere Christians with the best intentions throughout the history of the church have desperately tried to put them under common denominator. But in view of the fact that this question cannot be resolved by our limited mind, the results were nothing more than a compromise in favor of some particular truth, to the detriment of another concept, instead of a harmonious balance and correct combination.
We should leave this contradiction untouched, leaving it as it is, and accepting both truths by faith. May the Lord Himself bring them into harmony.
Ekledo (to choose) is rendered in the aorist, middle voice, indicating the completely independent choice of God. The reflexive form of the verb means that God not only made the election Himself, but also did it for Himself, His primary goal aimed at choosing the church was aimed at ensuring that this would bring Him praise and glorification (vv. 6, 12, 14) . The Lord has chosen believers before, not for their own welfare, but for the glory of His Name. The main reason for the calling of believers to form one church was "that today the manifold wisdom of God may be made known through the Church to the principalities and powers in heaven" (3:10).
Israel was God's chosen one ("my chosen one") (Isaiah 45:4; cf. 65:9, 22). “It is not because you were more numerous than all nations that the Lord received you and chose you; for you are less numerous than all nations; But because the Lord loves you” (Deut. 7:7-8). God chose the Jews because of His great love.
God's heavenly angels are also His chosen ones (1 Tim. 5:21), set apart by Him for the glorification of His Name. They are meant to serve Him as messengers. Christ Himself was the chosen one (1 Pet.-2:6), which can be said about the apostles (John 15:16). By the will and plan of the same Almighty Mind, the church also belongs to the same category of the elect. God saved us and called us “with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time” (2 Tim. 1:9). Acts says: “The dogs who were ordained to eternal life believed” (13:48).
Paul said, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may receive salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). His heartfelt desire was to reach with the preaching of the Good News to the elect, those whom God had already separated, so that they too could partake of the pen intended for them by the great will of God. Paul gives thanks for the church because God has chosen it. “We should always thank God for. you, brethren beloved of the Lord, that God from the beginning, through the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, chose you unto salvation” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
In his book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, D. A. Parker observes the following:
All Christians believe in Divine sovereignty, but some are unaware of this and mistakenly imagine and claim that they reject it. The reason for this position is rooted in the same circumstances that give rise to most of the errors in the church. This is the intrusion of rationalistic speculation into its limits, the fascination with systematic logic and consistency, the unwillingness to recognize the existence of supernatural phenomena, not allowing the factor of God's wisdom exalted above human, and, ultimately, the subjection of Holy Scripture to the supposed requirements of human logic so that it fully corresponds to it.
People see that the Bible teaches the truth that man is responsible for his actions, but they do not see (and indeed man cannot see) how this position is in full accordance with God's sovereign dominion over these actions and actions. They cannot accept the simultaneous existence of these two truths, as observed in Scripture, but come to the hasty conclusion that in order to adhere to the Biblical truth of human responsibility, they need to abandon the equally Biblical and true doctrine of Divine sovereignty and they get off with a superficial explanation of the numerous passages of Scripture which teach this proposition. For our twisted minds, the desire to simplify the Bible, stripping it of the supernatural element, is quite natural. Nor is it surprising that even pious people fall prey to this tendency. This is the subject of constant and painful controversy. The irony of this situation is that when one wonders how these two sides pray, it becomes abundantly clear that the people who deny God's sovereignty are in fact just as unshakable in this regard as those who assert it. (Chicago: Inter-Varsity, 1961, pp. 16-17). Unable to withstand the tensions of mysterious, supernatural phenomena, paradox, or contradiction, we are likely to tend to bring Biblical teaching into line with our own system of order and sequence. But such a biased approach does not express the truth of the Biblical teaching and brings confusion both in relation to the doctrine itself and in its practical application in life, contributing to its spiritual weakening. It should also be noted that other vital doctrines of Scripture are also a paradox to our limited understanding. There are completely contradictory factors: that the Scripture itself is the work of human hands, and at the same time - the Word of God, that Jesus Christ fully combines in Himself the essence of God and the essence of man, that salvation is accomplished forever, but the saints must show obedience and fidelity to the end, that the Christian life must be carried out in complete submission and enslavement of the self, but all this is done by Christ. Such incomprehensible truths invariably testify that God's mind is immeasurably superior to man's and is a powerful proof of the divine authorship of Scripture. People who themselves compose the Holy Scriptures would no doubt try to solve such problems.
And God's sovereign election or predestination does not eliminate human choice by faith. Divine sovereignty and human response or response are one common and inseparable part of human salvation, although only God's immeasurable mind knows exactly how they work in combination with each other.
This is not happening the way many think and teach. They claim that God simply looks into the future to see who is disposed to faith and then elects them to salvation. Romans 8:29, taken out of context, is often cited to support this view. But verse 28 is unequivocal that God foreknew and predestinated to salvation those whom He had already called according to "His good pleasure." Any doctrine that diminishes the sovereign love of God as manifested in the election of man, that puts more emphasis on man's merits, also diminishes God's glory by damaging the very purpose of salvation.
We just need to be satisfied with this state of affairs, saying with John Shadwick the words of his poem.
I was looking for the Lord, but later I only found out that He found me, sought me out in His love. Oh God, You are great! I did not know You, but the Truth that You called me.
Object - favorites
We are this object of election, not all, but only those whom God has chosen - the saints and "faithful in Christ Jesus" (v. 1). God's chosen ones include those whom God declared holy before the foundation of the world. They received by faith the Son of Jesus Christ. To be a Christian means to be God's chosen one and His child and to inherit everything through Jesus Christ, becoming His joint heir.
Time is eternity in the past
God chose us before the creation of the world. Before the creation of the world, the fall, the covenants, or the law, God in His sovereign predestination ordained us to be His children.
Before the world came into existence, He ordained the church, the Body of His Son, for a special purpose, beginning in those distant times.
God put in His plan death on the cross Christ for us "before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:20), and we at the same time, according to the same plan, were destined for salvation. It was then that God decided to give us an inheritance in His kingdom (Matt. 25:34). We belonged to God before the beginning of time and will be His children after time has completed its rapid run. Our names as believers are “written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8; cf. 17:8).
The goal is holiness
God has chosen us to be holy and blameless. Amomos immaculate literally means without spot or wrinkle. Having been chosen in Him, we are holy and blameless before Him. We have been given the personal righteousness of Christ, His integrity and purity, c; seeing that Jesus Christ gave himself up for us as “a lamb without blemish and without blemish” (1 Pet. 1:19). Thus, the unworthy and unrighteous were clothed in the holiness and righteousness of Christ. According to Christ's eternal predestination, He laid out in His plan "to present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but that she should be holy and blameless" (Eph. 5:27).
It is quite obvious that Paul is talking here about our position, and not about our practical implementation of this principle. We well know that our lives are far from being of integrity and a standard of holiness. But “in Him,” as Paul says elsewhere, “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:10). We have this fullness in Jesus Christ and for this reason we have the assurance of salvation. We are filled with the righteousness of Christ. Our lives may be imperfect and unbalanced, but nevertheless we occupy a firm and unshakable position, which cannot be otherwise, because Christ stands before God in purity and holiness. As we abide in our Savior, we are as unmoved as He is, looking forward to complete deliverance and holiness in the coming presence before Him in glory.
God considers us holy and pure, and leads us to purity and holiness, and therefore we should strive with all our might to lead a life that reflects our eternal destiny.
Motivation is love
God has chosen the saved according to His love. In love He ordained to adopt us to Himself, He chose the church, the family of redeemed children, in the same way that Israel, His special people, was chosen. He was motivated by love. (Deut. 7:8).
The biblical word agape, love, is not an emotional expression, but conveys the meaning of a heartfelt disposition to promote the well-being and meet the needs of others. "Not more than that love, as if a man lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus said (John 15:13). And that is exactly what Jesus Himself did for the sake of those whom God chose to be saved. God showed the highest love before the foundation of the world, choosing to give His Only Begotten Son for our salvation. “God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and made us dead in trespasses alive with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5). He loved us and will continue to love us forever according to the good pleasure of his will.
The result is adoption.
As a result of God's election, our adoption follows. In Christ we become subjects of His kingdom and servants of Him as our Lord. He even calls us friends, saying, "I have told you all that I have heard from my Father" (John 15:15). In His great love He has made us more than citizens and servants, and even more than friends. He accepted us as His children by His love.
When we come to know Christ, we become God's children. “Because you did not receive the spirit of bondage to live in fear again,” says Paul, “but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” (Rom. 8:15). Abba is an Aramaic word that expresses warm feelings of affection, which is equivalent to the word "daddy" or "dad".
To receive salvation means to have in your soul the life of God Himself, His Spirit, our life-giving spirit. Parents can adopt or adopt children and love them no less than their own children. Such a child takes an equal part in the life of the family. He enjoys material wealth and inherits property values. But no earthly parents can endow an adopted child with their inner nature and traits. And God is
Then children were brought to him, that he should lay his hands on them and pray; but the disciples rebuked them, (14) But Jesus said, Let the children go, and do not hinder them from coming to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (15) And laying his hands on them, he went from there.
(Matthew 19:13-15)
Although there are several examples of the use of this plot in the art of the Middle Ages, it gained popularity starting with Lucas Cranach the Elder, whose painting on this subject was painted in 1538. Most often this plot was used by artists Northern Europe in the 17th century.
Tony Robert Flury. Christ blessing the children. Nantes. Art Museum
Christ is depicted holding the baby or laying hands on him, that is, at the moment of blessing. Mothers hold their babies in their arms (Lucas Cranach the Elder; here most of the children are still in infancy: mothers brought them in their arms; this is more in line with the story of Mark, who says: “(13) They brought children to Him ...” - Mark 10 :13; in the inscription on the picture, the artist himself points to this source).
Lucas Cranach the Elder "Christ Blessing the Children"
Sometimes the fathers of the babies are also depicted. Two or three of Christ's disciples may be present. Usually these are Peter (his appearance - with a short beard - is traditional), James and John. They are disappointed and look with condemnation at the fact that Christ commanded to admit children to Him, because the disciples themselves did not let them to Him.
Researchers believe that this topic owes its popularity to the friendship of Lucas Cranach the Elder with Luther, whose doctrine had a significant impact on the artist's worldview. Cranach supported this church reformer in his dispute with the Anabaptists, who did not recognize infant baptism and believed that the choice of religion could only be a free and conscious act. The polemical nature of the picture, apparently, forced Cranach to choose from the available gospel versions of the story about this story precisely the presentation of Mark, which also speaks of babies.
Sometimes this plot was used to create family portraits, the characters of which are dressed (as we see it in Cranach) in contemporary clothes for the artist. Such portraits served as a reminder of the solemn rite of baptism or confirmation.
© Alexander MAYKAPAR
Lucas Cranach the Younger and the Artist's Studio - "Christ Blessing the Children", Metropolitan Museum of Art
In the museum complex "Horse Yard" * Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve opened the exhibition "And the candle did not die out ..." St. Sergius Radonezh.
The Church and Archaeological Museum of the Moscow Theological Academy presented an exhibition painting by Mikhail Vasilyevich Nesterov (1862 - 1942) "Christ blesses the youth Bartholomew", written in 1926.
The exhibition presents for the first time such a large volume of works for five centuries, from the XV - early XXI centuries, dedicated to Sergius of Radonezh, about 400 exhibits from the collections of the Sergiev Posad Museum-Reserve, as well as exhibits from 11 collections of Vologda, St. Petersburg, Kazan, significant monuments from the culture of the Moscow region.
The exhibition will last until the end of the year, everyone is invited.
The painting "Christ blessing the youth Bartholomew".
Year of creation: 1926 Material, technique: Oil on canvas. Size: 62 x 87 cm, Inventory number: Rzh-26.
Collection: Church-Archaeological Office of the Moscow Theological Academy, Moscow Region, Sergiev Posad.
Short description: The picture shows the scene of the meeting - the communication of Christ and the boy Bartholomew. The divine presence is clearly conveyed by the youth's wide-open eyes.
In the compositional solution of this work, the figures of the youth and Christ, sharply shifted to the left edge of the canvas, symbolize the end of a difficult path. This scene is depicted on the left half of the canvas.
Christ, bending slightly with his left hand, touches the head of the lad, and the boy, who did not take a big step towards him, right hand holds on the chest.
Christ is dressed in a long lilac tunic and a dark brown cloak, thrown over his shoulders from the back. The halo is indicated by a light light yellow glow. The hair is light brown, long, gathered at the back, the beard is small.
The lad is dressed in a white shirt with a red lining of the collar zone, belted with a thin red-yellow belt, light blue wide trousers with white “polka dots”. Up to the middle of the calves, the legs are wrapped in onuchi and tied with twine from bast shoes.
The scene of the meeting takes place in early autumn, against the background of two wooden huts, the grass is still green, with places of yellow half-dried plants. In the right half of the picture there is a single thin mountain ash with showered, red leaves and clusters of berries.
To the right of the mountain ash, three white grazing geese with arched necks are walking. In the background, behind the huts, wide dark fir trees rise. The gray sky is covered with white clouds.
The canvas “The Blessing of the Child Bartholomew by Christ” close in composition to the “Vision of the Child Bartholomew” has a different semantic coloring, a different sound. As well as there, the motif of prayerful standing in front of a miracle is captured here, a moment of high spiritual insight. But if in the “Vision” everything is permeated with amazing harmony and goodness, and spiritualized nature seems to echo the prayerful delight of the sweet, touching Bartholomew, then in the “Blessing” one feels an alarming tension, and the fragile defenselessness of the lad is revealed especially sharply. There is a cold detachment in the laconicism of the laconic landscape, which intensifies the tense ringing note. The composition clearly divides the space of the picture into two proportionate parts. In one - Christ and the youth, in the other - an image of snow geese, insignificant at first glance, stopping near a young mountain ash. The subtle figurative, very conscious symbolism of Nesterov is not read immediately, but gradually. White goose, swan, duck in songs and legends Ancient Russia- always a personification feminine and also a symbol of marriage. Thus, the pagan motif of geese introduced by the artist turns out to be a kind of key to understanding the picture. Enlarging and bringing Christ and the youth as close as possible to the viewer, using the so-called framing technique, as in cinema, Nesterov affirms the significance of the depicted event, shaded by the external genre of the situation. Exactly following the iconography of the "Blessing" with its traditional gesture of petition and the ritual step of aspiration towards a hieratic-static deity with a reciprocal gesture of giving, Nesterov intensifies the emphasis, sharpening the idea of the choice that the lad faced: life in the world in all its fullness, in family happiness or life in God? The choice has already been made, the eyes of the lad shine with boundless trust in Divine Providence, readiness for spiritual achievement.
In "Blessing", let's take a closer look at the boy. His image is devoid of historical concreteness. This is Bartholomew (although we will not find this episode with Christ in the life of Sergius of Radonezh), this is the boy from the Soul of the People. The image was transformed, becoming philosophically generalized, turning into a symbol of spiritual service to the Highest Ideal. Sacrificial ministry. And that is why the face of Christ is so tragic, in whose blessing gesture there is so much hidden paternal tenderness.
In 1923, Nesterov wrote to S. N. Durylin: “Continuing to answer your questions, I approached the most difficult thing: understanding the image of the face of Christ, and even the “Russian” Christ. Having lived my life, having thought a lot on this subject, I am still far from a clear understanding of it. It seems to me that the Russian Christ for a modern religious painter, weighed down by psychologisms, subtleties of thinking ... is an immeasurably difficult task. Who knows, if we hadn’t come face to face with the events of 1917, I probably would have tried to understand the face of the “Russian” Christ even more clearly, now I have to dwell on these tasks and, apparently, leave them forever” [ Nesterov, 1988, 293]. However, to leave the search for an image, long years inspired him, Nesterov could not. He returned to the image of Christ in the paintings "Christ blessing the lad Bartholomew", " Holy Week” and in the watercolor sketch “Traveler”.
Inscriptions: On the front side in the lower left corner, in blue paint, is the artist's personal autograph with the date: “Mikhail. Nesterov // 1926.
Safety: Satisfactory. Scuffs. The back of the canvas is covered with gray paper. Canvas, oil, baguette.
The back is covered with leatherette. On the reverse side - In white pigment in the lower left corner, a new inventory number: "CAC MDA // Inv. No. Rzh-26". On a rectangular paper sticker in purple ink in the lower right corner is the old inventory number: "1326", "VP 13 (07) 8".
Researcher Makhonina Nadezhda Viktorovna.
*Exhibition hall with an area of 500 square meters in the western wing of the Horse Yard (an architectural monument of the 18th - 20th centuries) was restored after a visit by the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov on September 11 last year.
So, friends, I come to the conclusion: there is another, seventh meaning in the metaphor they used. Our Lord is also compared to a star in the sense that HE IS THE HERALD OF THE COMING GLORY.
The bright morning star (cf. Rev. 22:16) portends that the sun will soon rise and that soon its rays will delight the earth with their light. Wherever Jesus Christ goes, He is a prophet of goodness.
Let Him enter into your heart, and as soon as He enters into it, you can be sure that eternal life and joy will also come to you. Let the Lord Jesus into your family and you will see what a difference He will make in them.
Preach Him in the power of the Spirit in any city, small or large, and you will see what great blessings He will bring to that city. Christ announced the good news to the whole world. His coming brought abundant blessings to the sons of men.
Undoubtedly, the Second Coming of Christ in the flesh is a great prophecy about the glory that will be revealed in the last days, when all peoples will bow before Him and the golden time of rest and peace will come, by the way, it will come, by the way, not at all because civilization will reach more than high level development, not because the level of education will increase or the world will become better, but only because the blessing Christ will come.
He is the first, brightest of the stars, the harbinger of dawn.
And since Christ has already come, paradise will come to the sons of men who believe in him. O you who labor and are burdened! Because Christ has already come, you can rest from your labors.
O you daughters of mourning, since Christ has come, you will have a fountain that heals weak souls.
O you who bend under the weight of need and deprivation, the time will come when you will straighten up and gain the sacred wealth prepared for you, for this Star has already shone. Just don't lose hope! Always hope! Because now that Jesus is here, there is no room for despair.
I come to a conclusion, but I want to make you think about all this and urge you again; if you have never yet looked to Christ, commit yourself to Him now; if you have never yielded to Jesus, yield to Him now; If you have never trusted Him, then trust Him now.
It's very simple. May God give you the Holy Spirit to understand what this means. It means simply giving up hope in yourself completely and letting Him do everything in your life. Here is how it is said in one quatrain:
I, sinful, weak, helpless worm,
In Your holy hands I entrust myself.
Be my strength, my righteousness
My Savior, You are everything to me.
If you, on your part, do this, then the blessing Christ, on His part, will do everything for you. You belong to Him because you will see Him as He is. This Sunday evening will be blessed for you as you surrender to Him now.
I well remember the moment when my heart yielded to His divine grace, when I could no longer look at anything else, as my gaze was simply riveted to the Star of Bethlehem. Oh, come to Him!
I don't know what else to say to you and how else to convince you. For your own sake, so that you may be happy in your present life; for the sake of your eternity, so that you may later have the joy that you will escape hell, that you will enter heaven - look at Jesus!
You may never hear the call to do so again. The call that sounds at the moment may be the last, and your refusal to heed it - the last straw that will overflow the cup of your guilt.
Oh, don't let that happen! Now quietly ascend from your spirit to God this simple prayer:
“God, Christ bless!
Be merciful to me, a sinner!
Let each of you say, even if not with your tongue, but simply in your heart, these words from the psalm:
I will draw near to the merciful King,
Whose scepter grants forgiveness;
Maybe He will notice my touch
And the petitioner will live.
I might die if I go
But I decided to go
'Cause if I stay here
Then I will die forever.
But if I die knowing
What mercy was looking for
That the Tsar tried to find her,
I would be filled with joy
From one thought that I will die such a death,
Which no sinner ever died.
Friends, I invite you to my Christian site"Preacher" http://olegkmeta.ru/xristos_blagoslovlyayushhij/andchristian channel"Preacher"