45. For Sinners Who Take No Care to Amend Their Lives

Sinners who have fallen into the depths of evil frequently console themselves—in order to quiet themselves somewhat and stifle the voice of their conscience—with the hope of God’s mercy, or simply with the hope of going unpunished. They say: “It is all nothing, it will all pass; God has much mercy, He is merciful”—or: “Nobody has ever been there yet, nobody has ever come back from there, nobody knows what will be there”—and they continue to sin. Is it right, then, for sinners to reason this way? Is it right for them to count on God’s mercy? Is it right for them to console themselves with the hope of going unpunished? Let us see. Once, after a conversation with his disciple John about his being caught up into the heavenly dwellings and about what blessedness the Lord has prepared in heaven for those who love Him, Saint Seraphim then turned to a conversation about the eternal torments of sinners and spoke about them as follows: “It is terrible to read the Savior’s words where He pronounces His righteous judgment upon impenitent sinners: these will go away into eternal punishment (Matt. 25:46), where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:46): there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12). If even Satan himself fears and trembles at such torments, in what state will impenitent sinners find themselves? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and sinner appear (1 Pet. 4:18)?”

For those who have stifled their conscience and walked in the lusts of their hearts, there is no pardon in hell; there is no mercy there for those who showed no mercy here. They will then hear the gospel words: Remember, child, that you received your good things in your lifetime (Luke 16:25). In this temporary earthly life the guilty person may still somehow escape punishment—either by circumstances or through friends—but there, it is one of two things: either ‘Depart from me’ or ‘Come to me!’ The mouth of God, like a two-edged sword, will decide everything in that dreadful moment, and there will be no turning back. The righteous will inherit the heavenly dwellings, and sinners will go into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels“ (Schema-Hegumen Seraphim, p. 57).”

And so, sinners reason wrongly; they are wrong to count on God’s mercy, and they are wrong to console themselves with the hope of going unpunished. Do you hear what Saint Seraphim says? “For those who have stifled their conscience and walked in the lusts of their hearts, there is no pardon in hell… There, that is, at the final judgment of God, it is one of two things: either ‘Depart from me’ or ‘Come to me!’” This means that not only do sinners wrongly hope for impunity, but by stifling their conscience they are also heaping upon themselves wrath for the day of wrath and the righteous judgment of God, and at that judgment they will receive even greater condemnation (Luke 20:47). Yes, indeed, a terrible condemnation awaits such people at God’s judgment! Therefore let us wish for them that, while there is still time, they might come to their senses, that they might constantly reflect on the righteousness of God, on the fact that even God’s long-suffering has a limit, that in the world beyond the grave a great gulf is fixed between the righteous and sinners—that is, that after death there is no repentance—and that by meditating on all of this, they might at last enter upon the path of salvation.

Otherwise let them not forget that a time will come when they will say to the mountains: ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills: ‘Cover us’ (Luke 23:30)—but it will already be too late. Amen.