I read about another hermit who had fallen in two deadly sins. Of course he fell into despair. He wanted to go back into the world because of his great despair but God didn`t let him and led him to a monastery to spend the night there. And there He revealed to the abbot the spiritual state of the monk.
The abbot came close to him, helped him to repent as he should and the monk came back to the spiritual state he had before and even reached holiness. Thus even in these deadly sins the Hand of God and His Providence follow the man.
But Satan being very skillful begins to give bad advice to the soul: `There is no salvation for you anymore, it`s all over! Do not expect anything good after these sins` And in this way he tries to impede God`s mercy and help reach that man and save him. For this reason when you see despair know that there is the hand of Satan and that is why we must get rid of it and say: `No matter what I`d be, I belong to God. Even if I reach a bad condition, I won`t quit my hope into God. To be hopeful is good, to be hopeless is a demonic thing` Therefore it is useful for us to hope all the time in God`s mercy.
Christianity is full of parables of very sinful and dirty men who by their repentance entered heaven. Then why would the Christian despair, why would he lose his courage and be discouraged and fall in the depth of despair for his sins? Why to take God so low and consider Him a Nero or a Diocletian?. Discouragement and everything bring despair to the man come only from a demonic influence and delusion.
`The publicans and the debauchers willl enter the Kingdom of God before you[1].
This is what Christ said to the scholars and Pharisees who were boasting themselves that they kept the Law. They considered the publicans injust and wretched because they were stealing. However the publican came out of the temple
Justified by God for his humble prayer, while the Pharisee was condemned for his pride.
What did Christ say to Peter, the Apostle when he asked if he had to forgive seven times? `What are you saying, Peter? Only seven times? No, seventy times seven. And the Holy Fathers say if a man can forgive seventy times seven his neighbor, God forgives even more the sinful. It is enough if he repents.
No matter how many sins we would have, and I am the first sinner of all, with the most sins – we must not despair. There is forgiveness for all sins. There are solutions for all the problems.
Someone who committed a murder felt guilty and hid himself because his clothes were full of blood. But a righteous man went to him and said:
`Man, give me your clothes to wear them.`
`Why ?`
`Give me your bloody clothes to wear them and I will surrender to justice.`
He took the clothes and wore them and the justice caught him and hung him. The guilty one escaped and the innocent sacrificed himself for the other one out of his love for him. This is what Christ did.
We were the guilty ones and He took our guilt and assumed it. He brought back justice to the Divine justice offering Himself as a ransom price. He sacrificed Himself for redeeming many, meaning that He sacrificed Himself for many mistakes and redeemed our guilt. He paid our debt so that we may gain our freedom in the heavenly Jerusalem.
The path towards the heavenly Jerusalem was closed. They all went to hell even the saints. The honored forerunner, the last saint of the Old Testament, this blessed hermit who preached repentance before Christ was beheaded and went to hell before Christ to preach to those who were prisoners there the message of salvation, that God was on earth as a man and He was to descend to hell to bring them their freedom of the chains of hell. He gave them the hope of salvation and told them:
`You know God incarnated Himself with flesh and bones. To free us from the chains of hell He will be crucified and will come down here because God is love, mercifulness and kindness.`
He found Adam and Eve and told them:
`Dear ancestors, since we all were born from you, you know what is about to happen? God Who created you took a human flesh, made Himself man, descended on earth and works for our salvation and will come down here to free us. Do not despair. He will come in a short time.`
And Eve said:
`What salvation? Ours? Can someone take us out of here? I was disobedient and I brought unhappiness in the world and from my body God will take His body and become man on earth?`
`Yes, God can become man. Everything is possible at God and there is nothing impossible for Him. I saw Him. I baptized Him in Jordan. I splashed Him with water with my right hand. I saw the Holy Spirit Who descended and I heard the voice of God the Father from the skies Who said: `This is my beloved Son…listen to Him.` The Holy Spirit showed us the Holy Trinity, the Triune God.
[1] Matthew 21, 31.
Excerpt from the book The Art of Salvation published by Evanghelismos.
