9781644135945

The Time After Pentecost
life, keep the commandments. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
Prayer
I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast upheld me and hast not made my enemies to rejoice
over me. O Lord, my God, I have cried to Thee, and Thou hast healed me. Thou hast brought
forth, O Lord, my soul from hell; Thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit.
Sing to the Lord, O ye His saints; and give praise to the memory of His holiness. (Ps 29:2 ff.)
Thursday
“I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the
Scriptures; and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven. . . . And last of all He
was seen also by me” (Epistle). This apostolic sermon is simple, strong, and clear. The central
theme is the fact that Jesus, the Son of Man, is the Son of God, and that He was sent into this
world for our redemption and sanctification, as a victim for our sins.
“He that believeth in the Son, hath life everlasting; but he that believeth not the Son, shall
not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” ( Jn 3:36). In this life already God’s wrath
abides on him who does not believe in Jesus, His Son. Belief in His Son is considered a matter
of highest concern in the eyes of God. “For God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” And as
an explanation the Evangelist adds: “For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the
world, but that the world may be saved by Him. He that believeth in Him is not judged. But
he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only-begotten
Son of God” ( Jn 3:17 ff.). In vain will he try to save his soul if he does not believe
in Jesus, the Son of God.
One truth is clear: the first condition for sharing in the divine life and for being saved is the
belief in the Son of God, “who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,” who
died for us and rose again. Three times the Father announced to mankind that Jesus is His Son
in whom He is well pleased (Mt 3:17; 17:5; Jn 12:28). The Father gives this testimony of His
Son before men that they may believe in Jesus. To verify this testimony, the Father gave Christ
power over the elements, over sickness and death, and raised Him from the dead on the third
day. Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him has life everlasting ( Jn 6:40). All revealed
truth is contained in the testimony of the Father: “This is My beloved Son.” Our whole faith,
likewise, consists in our acceptance of this testimony of the Father. If we believe in Jesus, the
Son of God, who became man for us, we believe implicitly in the entire revelation of the Old
and New Testaments, in all the teachings of the apostles and the Church. Our faith is simply
the development of the Father’s testimony: “This is My beloved Son.” Our supernatural life is
based on our vivid realization of Christ’s divinity.
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony
of God, which is greater, because He hath testified of His Son. He that believeth in the
Son of God, hath the testimony of God in himself. He that believeth not the Son, maketh Him
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