Words of Fr. John of Kronstadt, February 25, 1907

The Lord comes to judge the earth

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples in His truth. (Ps 95:13).

I have had occasion to attend earthly proceedings known as circuit courts. The setting of the main courtroom is an impressive one. A large portrait of the sovereign on the wall, tables, benches, a varied public, the dock and the defendants themselves, the tense expectation of the judges.

Then the doors open; the crier announces loudly: the court is in session! The members of the court come out with the presiding judge; they take their seats; the court record is read; the defendants are announced; the jurors sit; the witnesses are summoned; the oath is read—to speak only the truth. The examination of the case begins. All of this proceeds decorously, in good order—and makes an impression on the public. Such is the setting of an earthly, human court. For the defendants it is somewhat frightening. After the degree of the defendants’ guilt has been determined and the judges have deliberated, the verdict is rendered and announced—punishment, or release from trial. Such, in brief outline, is an earthly court.

Human judgment presupposes divine judgment, just as the inner judgment of conscience presupposes an eternally righteous Lawgiver and Judge—God, who has placed the law of conscience within every man. The judgment of judges is the judgment of God. Judge rightly, Moses tells the judges of Israel, for judgment belongs to God (Num 25:5).

Judges are men, and defendants are sinful human beings just as much as those who judge them, and judges are naturally prone to error, and sometimes judge not rightly but crookedly—acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent. Not so the judgment of God: it is right, exact, eternal. The prophet says: the Lord will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth. Now let us all look closely at the description of the dread Judgment of God, the final judgment of mankind for all eternity. When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, says the evangelist, then He will sit on the throne of His glory, and all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand: come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mt 25:31-34). For what does the Kingdom of Heaven come? For love of God and neighbor, for deeds of mercy, as the divine answer itself shows. Then He will say also to those on the left: depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41). For what? For a lack of love toward God and neighbor, for self-love, for a mad, blind attachment to earthly goods and a disregard for spiritual, eternal goods; for unbelief, coldness, ingratitude toward the Creator, and the trampling of His righteous laws, as the same answer of the righteous Judge shows. And these, it is said at the close of today’s Gospel reading, will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life (Mt 25:46).

Such, in brief, is the description of the dread and final Judgment of God upon the people of all times and all places on this earthly planet. For a deeper impression of this fearsome, dread judgment upon our souls, let us go into some of its particulars.

The evangelist proclaims that the Son of Man, that is, Christ, will come to judgment in His glory, with all the holy angels with Him, and will sit on the throne in His glory. Let us pay attention to the words «will come in His glory». Can you picture to yourselves this fearsome, unseen glory of the very Unoriginate, Almighty Creator and Judge, by whose word all things were made—all the angels, heaven and earth—and by whose word all things are held in being and in wondrous harmony, and to whom all things are subject? On Tabor He showed three of His disciples, in a small measure, the radiance of His glory, and even that they could not bear, falling face down upon the ground. To the Apostle John the Theologian, on the island of Patmos, on the Lord’s Day, the Lord appeared, already ascended into heaven—appeared in His glory, measured to what the apostle’s still mortal eyes could bear. And when I saw Him, John himself says, I fell at His feet as though dead, for His face shone like the sun in its strength. And He laid His right hand on me and said to me: do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, amen; and I hold the keys of hell and of death (Apok 1:17-18).

So He appeared on earth to His chosen disciples, giving them life rather than striking them down by His light, and revealing only a little of His divine nature and His incorruptible, incomprehensible brightness. Now imagine in what glory He will appear to all the nations of every age, so that all will at once see His fearsome, unbearable, divine glory, and without any hesitation be convinced of His Godhead and divine authority—including even the Jews who crucified Him and to this day do not believe in Him and revile Him! In what fearsome glory, I say, will He appear at His second coming, so as at once to take from all nations every possibility of unbelief and compel them to acknowledge His divine authority? Besides His own natural, eternal glory, He will be surrounded by the fearsome glory of all the countless angelic hosts, mighty in strength and fearsome in their heavenly glory. There the rational, flaming thrones will appear, and the many-eyed cherubim, and the fearsome seraphim, whose glory even righteous men could not bear to look upon.

How, then, will unrepentant sinners feel, and the unbelieving multitude of the Jews who pierced Him and to this day persecute Him in the persons of faithful Christians! John the Seer answers: Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will wail before Him. Yes, amen (Apok 1:7). Take note of these closing words, «yes» and «amen», that is, this will surely and unalterably come to pass.

In what state, then, will our unbelievers of the present, the past, and the future find themselves—the so-called intelligentsia, and all the decadents—unbelieving and ill-intentioned writers who have made the printed word a tool of slander, deceit, temptation, commerce, and mockery of everything holy and of well-meaning people? Before them, only too truly (really) will stand that which they mocked, which they rejected here, which they scorned. Plain truth will strike them, will render them speechless, without excuse; and in the very matters where they considered themselves unaccountable, they will see themselves guilty and answerable, for the word of the Lord will not fail to pass—that for every idle word people speak, they will give an account on the day of judgment (Mt 12:36). At that judgment there will stand together king and soldier, rich and poor, old and young, learned and unlearned, man and woman—in equal standing; each will be either glorified or put to shame by his own deeds (Mt 12:37). Then eternity will open itself to those who did not believe in it, in the full terror and dread of its majesty; but to those who believed and were devoted to the Lord, in all its longed-for beauty and glory and unbroken blessedness.

While we still have time, let us make use of it for repentance and amendment. Amen.

Brothers, Orthodox Christians, receive the above words of the venerable, true pastor, the righteous Father John of Kronstadt, concerning the dread, approaching, coming Judgment of God; these words are true, and apply to all who have lived on earth from the beginning; God forbid that we should hear them from the righteous, divine Judge: Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Mt 25:41).

Brothers, when we call the saints to mind we always rejoice. You know for certain that the great man of prayer of the Russian land, the true pastor Fr. John of Kronstadt, our patron, was named a righteous one by the Sovereign Emperor in a rescript addressed to His Eminence the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Anthony, dated January 12, 1909.

The Lord glorifies the righteous. Thanks be to His all-good Providence, that He, the Merciful One, put His counsel into the heart of the tsar. Our most pious monarch, Nicholas Alexandrovich, rendered fitting glory to the great luminary of the Church of Christ, Father John of Kronstadt, rightly naming him a righteous one. For this, millions of people faithful to the tsar have been comforted with abundant joy. Many in their prayers render glory to God and thanksgiving to the tsar. Therefore we too, following the tsar’s own word, call the venerable pastor, Father John of Kronstadt, a righteous one; may he be a righteous one in eternal memory, for we, as followers of the great righteous one of God, Father John, proclaim the truth to the world: we speak what our eyes have seen and our ears have heard. When he turned his face toward us, and wherever his voice went out from his lips, the hearts of all who heard his voice burned with the love of Christ. From the voice of the Lord within him came forth thunders, and lightnings flew, and waters roared, and abundant springs of living water flowed. They watered the earth as though with rivers, and the earth became fruitful. The Lord God sent the earth His abundant rain, early and late.

Brothers, Orthodox Christians, for many these words may not be entirely clear. Let me explain what they mean.

During the time of the liberation movement, the great righteous one, Father John of Kronstadt, by God’s inspiration, began to speak stern words in his sermons, likewise reproving the world for its evil and the wicked for their lawlessness.

Glory and thanksgiving for everything to the Lord God, that He, the Merciful One, does not abandon us by His grace, and shows us righteous ones for our enlightenment by His true word. Without the saints, people would become worse than beasts; everyone would turn into an instrument of slander, of buying and selling, of trade and persecution, through sheer impunity. It is said: God is wonderful in His saints, for the Lord works His wondrous, marvelous deeds through His saints before our very eyes. We could not describe in books all the miracles the Lord God has worked through the aforementioned righteous one, Father John of Kronstadt, for we were witnesses to all of it, and therefore we proclaim the truth to the world. By his words many were enlightened by the light of Christ’s teaching.

Wherever he was, he was always surrounded by crowds. For example, when Father John of Kronstadt was in the city of Kharkov, he celebrated the service in the vast cathedral, and because of the great multitude of people, the choir had to sing from the altar. The gathering of people was extraordinary. The whole city was stirred, and in many places where Father John of Kronstadt passed, peasants left their fields and merchants closed their shops, hurrying to receive his blessing. In many places they greeted him, and out of joy sang the Paschal irmoi, and met him with the ringing of bells. We count ourselves happy in these memories, and we always rejoice with that same spiritual joy which God gave us through His servant, His chosen one. Holiness and righteousness are known by holy deeds. In no faith or sect is there salvation, except in the true Orthodox Holy Faith.

Listen, brothers, attend, to how holiness is known. The law—the Holy Gospel—is our guide. Here is what the holy Apostle Paul says concerning the saints of God: «For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword: it pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from Him, but all things are laid bare» (Hebr 4:12-13).

Brothers, these words of the holy Apostle Paul apply to all the saints who are well-pleasing to God and who have fulfilled the Holy Gospel. Many of you were witnesses that in the venerable pastor, Father John of Kronstadt, the word of God lived: he judged us, knew even the thoughts of our hearts, and often reproved them.

We often had occasion to hear that when telegrams were sent from thousands of versts away to the righteous Father John of Kronstadt, asking him to pray for someone who was ill, then, by the holy righteous one’s prayer, the sick person received healing. You know, Orthodox Christians, that it is said in the Holy Gospel that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him (Jn 9:31); therefore we honor Father John of Kronstadt as a righteous one, but since he has not been canonized according to the order of the Church of Christ, we do not paint icons in his honor, do not light candles or lamps before him, and have no prayers or akathists to him—in this we do not depart from the ordinances of our holy mother, the Orthodox Church.

V. Pustoshkin

Rom 3:12

1Cor 13:5