The Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven

The Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven

From Saint Innokenty Bishop of Alaska:

 

 

Preface

On several occasions I have attempted to compose an article on Christian life that would present the essence of what a Christian should know and do in a concise yet complete and inspirational way. Although many parts of this topic had previously been thought out and developed, how I could consolidate all this in a short format eluded me. Then I came upon a booklet entitled "Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven," written by "the Apostle of Alaska" — Saint Innokenty Veniaminov. Having read it, I understood that I could not write anything better. Everything in it is excellent: the content, the style, and the form of presentation. Therefore, I have gladly reprinted his sermon, making therein some minor stylistic changes.

Bishop Innokenty (known in the world as Ivan Popov-Veniaminov) was born in 1797 in the village of Achinsk, in the province of Irkutsk in Siberia. Even in childhood, having lost his father, he grew under God’s special care. He taught himself to read and write, and by the age of seven he was already reading the Psalter and the Epistles. The parishioners of his church convinced his mother to send him to school, and Innokenty was accepted into the Irkutsk seminary at government expense, graduating from it with distinction. Having married in 1821, he was then ordained into the priesthood. In 1823 he was sent as a missionary to Alaska, where he went with his wife. Here, with great self-denial and success, he preached the teachings of Christ among the primitive Aleuts. He compiled the first alphabet and grammar of the Aleut language and translated Holy Scriptures, sermons and divine services into Aleut. After several years in America, Innokenty traveled to St. Petersburg to obtain assistance for his missionary work from the Synod. While there, he was informed of his wife’s death, whereupon he promptly entered the monastic life. In 1840 he was consecrated bishop and was assigned to the Kamchatka, Kuril and Aleutian bishoprics, and his missionary activity grew further. Twenty-eight years later he was transferred to the cathedral of Moscow as Metropolitan. He fell asleep in in the Lord in 1879. In February 1994, Metropolitan Innokenty (Veniaminov) was canonized as a saint at the Joy of All Who Sorrow Cathedral in San Francisco together with Archbishop Nicholas, the Apostle of Japan.

Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Introduction

We were created to live on earth unlike animals who die and disappear with time, but with the high purpose to live with God — not for a hundred years or so — but for eternity!

Every individual instinctively strives for happiness. This desire has been implanted in our nature by the Creator Himself, and therefore it is not sinful. But it is important to understand that in this temporary life it is impossible to find full happiness, because that comes from God and cannot be attained without Him. Only He, who is the ultimate Good and the source of all good, can quench our thirst for happiness.

Material things can never wholly satisfy us. Indeed, we know from experience that every item we have desired has pleased us only for a short while. Then it became boring, and we started to desire something else. This process of satisfaction and boredom then repeated itself many times. The most striking example of unquenchable thirst for happiness was Solomon, the famous King of Israel, who lived around 1000 B.C. He was so rich that all the household utensils in his palaces were made of pure gold. He was so wise that kings and famous people from far away lands came to hear him. He was so famous that his foes trembled at the mere mention of his name. He could easily satisfy any of his wishes, and it seemed that there was no pleasure that he did not possess or could not obtain. But with all of this, Solomon could not find total happiness to the end of his life. He described his many years of searching for happiness and his continual disappointments in the book of Ecclesiastes, which he began with the following phrase: Vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Ecc. 1:2).

Innumerable other wise people who were also successful in life came to the same conclusion. It seems that in the depth of our subconscious something reminds us that we are just wanderers on this earth and that our true happiness is not here but there, in that other and better world known as Paradise or the Heavenly Kingdom. Let man own the whole world and everything that is in it, yet all this will interest him for no more than a short period, while the immortal soul, thirsting for personal communication with God, will remain unsatisfied.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth in order to return to us our lost capacity to spend eternity in the blissful presence of God. He revealed to people that all their evil lies in sin and that no one through their own efforts can overcome the evil within themselves and attain communion with God. Sin, ingrained in our nature since the fall, stands between us and God like a high wall. If the Son of God had not descended to us through His mercy for us, had not taken on our human nature, and had not by His death conquered sin, all mankind would have perished for ever! Now, thanks to Him, those who wish to cleanse themselves from evil can do so and return to God and obtain eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now we will discuss in detail how you can achieve this aim. We will examine:

* Which benefits were granted to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ.
* How Jesus Christ lived on earth and suffered for us.
* Which path leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.
* How Jesus Christ helps us to walk along the path of salvation.

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