Chrysostom
Beloved of All
You tremble for this young woman, and rightly so, for the enemy prowls like a roaring lion, yet your own soul stands in greater peril if you do not watch. The present life is a dream, and all its pleasures a fleeting shadow. You speak of arguments and putting things aside, but examine yourself: if your relationship with her is not one of holy matrimony, then you are making provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts, and such sin opens a door to darkness. The soul that is drunk with passion sees not things as they truly are, and that drunkenness invites a far worse stupor than sleep.
Yet do not despair; the Lord permitted the storm that the disciples might know His deliverance. He slept in the boat not from carelessness, but to rouse them from their supine state, that they might cry out to Him and witness His power. In the same way, this terror may be the earthquake that shakes your prison doors and breaks your chains. The jailer, when he saw the doors open and the prisoners free, fell down asking, “What must I do to be saved?” So now, turn with your whole heart and cry out to Christ. Do not merely ask prayer for her while remaining in the night of sin yourself. For if we will stand steadfast and unmovable, the shaking of the earth will not overthrow us; but if we sleep the sleep of heedlessness, we become like demoniacs, raving and shameless.
Therefore, rouse yourself. Let your prayer be joined with sobriety, for sobriety is the intensity of watchfulness. Put aside every weight, not only quarrelsome words but every carnal entanglement that defiles the temple of God. The hands lifted up in prayer must be pure. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for her deliverance, but know that your own soul must first be cleansed. He died once for all that we might not remain in death. If you truly fear for her, lead her to the feet of the prisoner, where true freedom is found, but come yourself as one awake from sleep, clothed in the garment of repentance. The angel of the Lord still opens doors at midnight for those who watch.
Yet do not despair; the Lord permitted the storm that the disciples might know His deliverance. He slept in the boat not from carelessness, but to rouse them from their supine state, that they might cry out to Him and witness His power. In the same way, this terror may be the earthquake that shakes your prison doors and breaks your chains. The jailer, when he saw the doors open and the prisoners free, fell down asking, “What must I do to be saved?” So now, turn with your whole heart and cry out to Christ. Do not merely ask prayer for her while remaining in the night of sin yourself. For if we will stand steadfast and unmovable, the shaking of the earth will not overthrow us; but if we sleep the sleep of heedlessness, we become like demoniacs, raving and shameless.
Therefore, rouse yourself. Let your prayer be joined with sobriety, for sobriety is the intensity of watchfulness. Put aside every weight, not only quarrelsome words but every carnal entanglement that defiles the temple of God. The hands lifted up in prayer must be pure. Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus for her deliverance, but know that your own soul must first be cleansed. He died once for all that we might not remain in death. If you truly fear for her, lead her to the feet of the prisoner, where true freedom is found, but come yourself as one awake from sleep, clothed in the garment of repentance. The angel of the Lord still opens doors at midnight for those who watch.
