Fifty Spiritual Homilies 1 part 7/19

How much more, when the Lord spoke a word to Mary, or to Zacchaeus, or to the sinful woman who loosed her hair and wiped the feet of the Lord, or to the Samaritan woman, or to the thief—power came forth, and the Holy Spirit was mingled with their souls.

And now those who love God, and forsake all things, and persevere in prayer, are taught in secret things which they did not know.

For Truth itself, according to their will, is revealed to them and teaches them: I am the Truth.

For the apostles themselves, before the cross, abiding with the Lord, beheld great signs—how lepers were cleansed and the dead were raised—but they did not yet know how the divine power moves and ministers within the heart, nor that they were to be born again spiritually, and mingled with the heavenly soul, and become a new creation.

But because of the signs which He did, they loved the Lord.

Then the Lord said to them:

Why do you marvel at the signs? I give you a great inheritance, which the whole world does not possess.

So they were perplexed at His words, until He rose from the dead and bore up the body for our sake above the heavens;

and then the Comforter, the Spirit, entered and was mingled in their souls.

And Truth itself reveals itself to faithful souls, and the heavenly man comes together with your man and becomes one fellowship.

As many, therefore, as are in service and do all things eagerly through zeal and love of God—that very thing, after some time, brings them into the knowledge of Truth itself;

for the Lord reveals Himself to their souls and teaches them the manner of life of the Holy Spirit.

Glory and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit unto the ages.

All visible things God created and gave to men for rest and enjoyment, and He gave them a law of righteousness.

But from the coming of Christ, God seeks another fruit and another righteousness: purity of heart, a good conscience, wholesome words, holy and good thoughts, and all the virtues of the saints.

Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But I say to you: neither lust nor be angry.

For he who wishes to become a friend and brother and son of Christ must do something more than other men—that is, to consecrate the heart itself, the mind itself, and to lift up his thoughts to God.

And thus God secretly gives life and help into the heart, and entrusts Himself to it.

For when a man gives the hidden things—that is, the mind and the thoughts—to God, not being occupied or distracted elsewhere, but constraining himself, then the Lord counts him worthy of mysteries in greater holiness and purity, and gives him heavenly food and spiritual drink.

(being made like to their father)—so also Christ, the true Master, Himself created all things and nourishes the wicked and the unthankful; but the children, whom He begot of His own seed and to whom He imparted of His grace, in whom the Lord was formed, He nourishes with a special rest and food and meat and drink beyond other men, and gives to them as they walk together with their Father Jesus, as the Lord says:

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him, and shall never see death.

For those who have the true inheritance have been begotten as sons from the heavenly Father, and they dwell in the house of their Father, as the Lord says:

The servant does not abide in the house;

but the son abides for ever.

If, therefore, we also wish to be begotten of the heavenly Father, we ought to do something more than other men: diligence, struggle, zeal, love, a good manner of life, to be in faith and fear, as those who desire to obtain such great good things and to inherit God;

for the Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup.

And thus the Lord, beholding the good will and the endurance, shows His mercy, and having cleansed us from the defilement of sin and from the eternal fire that is within us, He establishes us as worthy of the kingdom.

Glory to His compassion and to the good pleasure of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

All the works that appear in the world are done in hope of partaking of their fruits; and unless one enjoys the fruit of his labors in full assurance, he gains nothing.

For the farmer sows in hope of fruit and bears his toil for the sake of his expectation (for he who plows, plows in hope, it says); and he who takes a wife does so in hope of having heirs; and the merchant gives himself to the sea and to ready death for the sake of gain.

So also in the kingdom of heaven: in hope that the eyes of the heart may be enlightened, a man gives himself, withdrawing from the affairs of life and devoting himself to prayers and supplications, awaiting the Lord, until He comes and manifests Himself to him and cleanses him from the sin dwelling in him.

But he does not put his hope in his own labors and manner of life, until he obtains the things hoped for—until the Lord comes and dwells in him in full perception and operation of the Spirit.

And when he tastes the goodness of the Lord and delights in the fruits of the Spirit, and the veil of darkness is removed, and the light of Christ shines and works in unspeakable joy, then he is fully assured that he has the Lord with him in great affection.

Just as there the merchant who has gained rejoices, yet has struggle and fear from robbers and from the spirits of wickedness, lest by growing slack he lose his gain—until he is counted worthy in the kingdom of heaven, in the Jerusalem above.

Let us therefore also entreat God, that He may strip off from us the old man and clothe us with the heavenly Christ from now on, so that, being in the exultation of the Spirit and thus guided by Him, we may be in great calm.

For the Lord says, desiring to fill us with the taste of the kingdom:

Without Me you can do nothing.

And yet He knows how to enlighten many through the apostles;

for being themselves creatures, they nourished their fellow servants with the heavenly word, and minds deadened and corrupted they made alive again and raised up through their good manner of life and teaching.

For one creature nourishes and gives life to another creature, just as the clouds nourish the seeds of wheat or of barley, being themselves creatures.

And as light enters through a window, but the sun sends forth its rays over the whole world, so the prophets were luminaries only of their own house, of Israel, but the apostles were suns shining their rays into all the parts of the world.

There is, then, a land in which the four-footed beasts dwell, and there is a land in the air, in which the birds walk and live; and if these wish to stand or walk upon the earth, they have hunters who seize them;

and there is a land of the fish, the water of the sea;

and each, in the place where it was born, whether land or air, has there its way of life and food and rest.

So there is a land and country of Satan, where the powers of darkness and the spirits of wickedness live and walk about and rest; and there is a luminous land of the Godhead, where the hosts of the angels and the holy spirits walk about and rest.

And neither can the dark land be seen or touched by these eyes, nor can the luminous land of the Godhead be touched or seen by fleshly eyes.

But to the spiritual it appears to the eye of the heart—both the Satanic land of darkness and the luminous land of the Godhead.

As the discourse of those outside says:

There are mountains of fire (for there is fire there), and there are creatures like sheep;

now those who hunt them make iron wheels and cast hooks and send them into the fire, since those creatures have fire for food, fire for drink, rest, growth, life—fire is for them in place of everything;

and if you bring them out into another air, they perish;

and their garments, when soiled, are not washed in water, but in fire, and become cleaner and whiter—so also Christians have that heavenly fire for food, that is their rest, that cleanses and washes and sanctifies their heart, that brings them to growth, that is their air and life.

But if they go out from there, they perish at the hands of the wicked spirits, just as there the creatures coming out of the fire die, as fish do from the water;

just as four-footed animals cast into the sea are drowned, just as birds walking on the earth are caught by the hunters, so also the soul that does not abide in that land is choked and perishes;

and unless it has that divine fire in place of food and drink and clothing and cleansing of heart and sanctification of soul, it is held fast by the wicked spirits and corrupted.

But let us seek whether we have been sown in that invisible land and planted in the heavenly vine.

Glory to His mercies.

Just as if some very rich man, a glorious king, should look with favor on a poor woman who possesses nothing but her own body, and become her lover and wish to take her to himself as bride and consort, and she thereafter shows all goodwill to the man and preserves her love toward him—behold, that poor and needy woman who possessed nothing becomes mistress of all that belongs to her husband.

But if she does anything contrary to what is proper and due, and does not conduct herself fittingly in her husband's house, then she is cast out with dishonor and reproach, placing her two hands upon her head, just as the law of Moses signifies concerning an unsubmissive wife who is not useful to her husband.

And then she acquires pain and the greatest grief, reckoning from what wealth she has fallen and of what glory she has been deprived, being dishonored through her own folly.

When the heavenly Bridegroom Christ takes the soul as bride into His own mystical and divine fellowship, and she tastes of heavenly riches, she ought with much diligence to please her Bridegroom Christ sincerely, and to fulfill the ministry of the Spirit entrusted to her duly and fittingly, by pleasing God in all things and grieving the Spirit in nothing, and rightly keeping good chastity and love toward Him, and conducting herself well in the house of the heavenly King with all goodwill toward the grace given her.

Behold, such a soul is established as mistress of all the Lord's good things; the glorious body of His Godhead itself becomes hers.

But if she stumbles in anything and acts contrary to what is proper in her ministry, and does not do what is pleasing to Him, and does not follow His will, nor becomes a fellow worker of the indwelling grace of the Spirit, then with reproach she is unbecomingly dishonored and separated from life, as having become useless and unfit for the fellowship of the heavenly King.

And then upon that soul there comes grief and pain and weeping among all the holy and spiritual spirits;

angels, powers, apostles, prophets, martyrs weep over her.

For just as there is joy in heaven, as the Lord said, over one sinner who repents, so there is great grief and weeping in heaven over one soul falling away from eternal life.

And just as on earth, when some rich man dies, he is carried out of life with dirges and lamentation and beating of the breast by his own brothers and kinsfolk and friends and acquaintances, so also over that soul all the saints mourn with lamentations and dirges.

For elsewhere too the Scripture signifies this, saying:

The pine has fallen; wail, O cedars.

For just as Israel, when it seemed to please the Master (even though it never pleased Him as it ought), had a pillar of cloud overshadowing it and a pillar of fire giving light, saw the sea divided before it, water coming forth clear from the rock;

but when their mind and will turned away from God, then they were delivered up to serpents and to their enemies, led away into dire captivities and tried by bitter bondage.

The very same thing happens entirely also with our souls.

This too the Spirit, mystically revealing in the prophet Ezekiel concerning such a soul as concerning Jerusalem, said:

I found you, He says, naked in the wilderness, and I washed you from the water of your uncleanness, and I clothed you with a garment, and put bracelets on your hands and a collar around your neck and earrings in your ears, and you became renowned among all the nations.

You ate fine flour and oil and honey; but afterward you forgot My benefits and went after your lovers and committed fornication in shame.

So also the Spirit admonishes the soul that knows God through grace, which, having been cleansed from former sins and adorned with the ornaments of the Holy Spirit and having partaken of divine and heavenly food, yet not conducting herself fittingly in much knowledge, and not duly keeping the goodwill and love owed to the heavenly Bridegroom Christ, is cast off and thrown out of the life of which she once was a partaker.

For Satan is able to exalt and lift himself up even against those who have such measures, and against those who have come to know God in grace and power, evil still rises up at its height and strives to dash them down.

We must therefore struggle and keep watch with all understanding, to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, as it is written.

As many of you, then, as have become partakers of the Spirit of Christ, in no matter, neither small nor great, be disposed contemptuously, and do not outrage the grace of the Spirit, lest you become outside the life of which you have already become partakers.

And again I will speak in another figure.

When one enters the palace to serve, he receives the vessels of service from the king's belongings; he himself enters naked and ministers to the king with the king's own vessels;

so here there is need of much understanding and discernment, lest he serve anything contrary to what is proper, bringing in one dish in place of another to the king's table, but set out the food in due order, the first things first and the last last;

but if through ignorance and lack of discernment he does not serve the king in order, he is liable to peril and death—so also the soul ministering to God in grace and the Spirit needs much discernment and knowledge, lest it stumble in anything regarding the vessels of God, that is, the ministry of the Spirit, by having its own will not in harmony with grace.

For it is possible, in the ministry of the Spirit accomplished secretly by the inner man and in his own vessels, that is, in his spirit, for the Lord to be ministered to by the soul.

But without His vessels, that is, grace, it is impossible for anyone to minister to God, that is, to be well-pleasing to all the wills of God.

And when it receives grace, then too there is need of much understanding and discernment, which He also Himself gives to it when it seeks them from God, that it may minister to Him in a well-pleasing way in the Spirit which it receives, and in nothing be robbed by evil and stumble through ignorance and fearlessness and negligence, being turned aside and acting contrary to what is proper to the Master's will.

For punishment and death and grief will be to such a soul, which the divine apostle also says:

Lest, having preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

You see, being an apostle of God, what fear he had.

Let us therefore entreat God, that we may minister the ministry of the Spirit according to His will—especially as many of us as have obtained the grace of God—and may not live with a contemptuous mind, so that, having thus lived in a manner well-pleasing to Him and having served Him with spiritual worship according to His will, we may inherit eternal life.

Someone is afflicted with weakness, and it happens that he has some sound members—an eye, perhaps, of sight, or something else—but the rest of the members are ruined;

he has a sound hand, but his foot is ruined.

So it is also in the spiritual realm;

it is likely that someone has three sound members of the Spirit, but is not on that account perfect.

You see how many are the degrees and measures of the Spirit, how evil is filtered out and refined part by part and not all at once.

The whole providence and economy of the Lord (both the rising of the sun and all created things) came to be for the sake of the kingdom which the elect are to inherit, in order that the peaceful kingdom of concord might be established.

Christians, therefore, ought to struggle in all things and to judge no one at all—not a prostitute, nor sinners, nor the disorderly—but to look on all with a simple will and a pure eye, that this may be in someone as natural and fixed: to despise no one, nor to scrutinize or abhor them or hold them in judgment.

If you see a one-eyed man, do not pass judgment in your heart, but regard him as whole;

him who has a crippled hand, as one not crippled;

see the lame as upright, the paralytic as healthy.

For this is purity of heart: that, seeing sinners or the weak, you may have compassion and be moved with mercy toward them.

For it happens that even saints of the Lord sit in theaters and behold the deception of the world;

but they, according to the inner man, speak with God, and according to the outer man appear to men as beholding the things happening in the world.

The worldly, then, have another energy from the spirit of error, to mind earthly things;

but Christians have another will, another mind; they are of another age, of another city;

for the Spirit of God communes with their souls, and they trample down the adversary.

The last enemy, death, is abolished;

for the godly are masters of all things.

But again, the slack in faith and the sinners are slaves of all things, and fire burns them and stone and sword kill them, and finally demons lord it over them.

Question: Do all the members rise again in the resurrection? Answer: To God all things are easy, and so He promised;

but to human weakness and reasoning this appears as it were impossible.

For just as God, taking from the dust and the earth, fashioned the nature of the body as it were another nature, not resembling earth, and made many kinds, such as hairs and skin and bones and sinews;

and just as a needle cast into fire changes its color and is transformed into fire (yet the nature of the iron is not destroyed, but remains), so also in the resurrection all the members rise again and not a hair perishes, as it is written, and all become light-formed, all are baptized into light and fire and are transformed;

but not, as some say, dissolved and become fire so that the nature no longer subsists.

For Peter is Peter, and Paul is Paul, and Philip is Philip;

each remains in his own nature and hypostasis, filled with the Spirit.

But if you say that the nature was dissolved, then there is no longer Peter or Paul, but God in all and everywhere, and neither do those who depart into hell perceive their punishment, nor those in the kingdom their blessedness.

Just as if there were a paradise having all kinds of fruit-bearing trees, and there were there a pear tree or an apple tree and a vine bearing its fruit and leaves, and it should happen that the paradise and all the trees and leaves were changed and altered into another nature and all became light-formed—so also men are changed in the resurrection, and their members become holy and light-formed.

The men of God, therefore, ought to prepare themselves for struggle and contest.

And just as a noble young man bears the blows that come upon him and the wrestling and strikes back, so also Christians ought to bear the afflictions, both those from without and the wars within, that through endurance, though struck, they may conquer;

for such is the way of Christianity.

For where the Holy Spirit is, there follow persecution and conflict.

You see the prophets, how they were persecuted throughout by their own countrymen, in whom the Spirit was working.

You see how the Lord, who is the way and the truth, was persecuted not by another nation, but by His own, by His own tribe of Israel He was persecuted and crucified;

for from the cross the Comforter, the Spirit, passed over.

Therefore they ought not to be astonished;

for it is necessary that the truth be persecuted.

Question: Some say that evil comes upon a person from without, and if the person wills, he does not receive it but sends it away.

Answer: Just as the serpent, having spoken to Eve from without, entered within through her obedience, so also now sin, being without, enters in through the obedience of the person.

For sin has authority and boldness to enter into the heart;

for the thoughts are not from without but from within, out of the heart.

I desire that the men pray without wrath and evil reasonings.

For there are thoughts coming out of the heart, according to the Gospel.

Go to prayer and examine your heart and your mind, and resolve to send up your prayer pure to God, and see there whether there is anything hindering, whether a pure prayer is made, whether your mind is occupied with the Lord as the farmer's is with farming, the husband's with his wife, the merchant's with trade;

whether, when you bend your knees in prayer, others do not plunder your thoughts.

But you say that the Lord, having come through the cross, condemned sin, and it is no longer within.

Just as a soldier may store his chariot in someone's house—whenever he wills he has authority to come in and go out of that house—so also sin has authority to reason within the heart.

Satan entered into the heart of Judas.

But if you say that through the coming of Christ sin was condemned and after baptism evil no longer has pasture to reason in the heart, you are ignorant that from the coming of the Lord until now, of those who were baptized, how many at some time reasoned wickedly? Or did not some of them turn to vainglory or fornication or gluttony? But do all the worldly who commune with the Church have a blameless and pure heart? Or do we find that even after baptism many sins occur and many sin? Sin, then, has pasture even after baptism, so that the robber enters and does what he wishes.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart.

But you say that I love and have the Holy Spirit.

Do you have the remembrance and the longing and the burning toward the Lord? Are you bound there night and day? And if you have such love, you are pure; but if you do not have it, seek still, when there come the things of the earth and the shameful and wicked thoughts, whether you do not bend toward these, but your soul is always drawn to the love and longing of God.

For the thoughts of the world drag the mind down to earthly and corruptible things, and do not allow it to love God or to remember the Lord.

And often the simple man goes to prayer and bends his knee, and his mind enters into rest; and the more he digs and deepens, the wall of evil that opposes is broken through, and he enters into vision and wisdom, where neither rulers nor wise men nor orators are able to attain or to know the subtlety of his mind, since he is occupied with divine mysteries.

For one inexperienced in testing pearls does not know how to appraise them, because of his being inexperienced.

Christians, then, abhor the glories of the earth and regard them as dung in comparison with that majesty which works in them.

Question: Can a person who has a gift fall? Answer: If he is negligent, he falls.

For the enemies never rest nor grow weary of warring.

How much more ought you not to cease from seeking after God;

for great loss comes to you when you are negligent, even if you seem to be examined in the very mystery of grace.

Question: Does grace remain after one falls? Answer: God wishes to bring the person back again to life, and exhorts the person to weep again and repent; and indeed He may remain in order to make you a more secure worker, repenting of those things in which you formerly transgressed.

Question: Are affliction or warfare laid upon the perfect, or are they wholly without care? Answer: Warfare never ceases from warring against anyone;

for Satan is merciless and a hater of mankind, wherefore he does not hesitate to war against every person;

but he does not appear coming against all in the same measures.

For prefects and counts also pay tribute to the king;

but this one, confident in his wealth and his gold and silver, makes his payments as out of his abundance, not regarding it as loss.

For just as he who gives alms never regards it as loss, so also Satan regards these things as a thing done in passing.

But there is a poor man lacking his daily food;

this one is scourged and tormented, unable to pay that tribute;

and there is one who is flayed and grievously tormented and does not die;

and there is another who, at a single sentence, is commanded to be beheaded and perishes.

So it is also with Christians.

And they have no danger in this respect, because they are unfallen and made secure concerning their own salvation through having been often trained in the war of evil and become experienced;

and having God with them, they are guided and find rest.

But others, not yet trained, if they fall into a single affliction and warfare is stirred up, immediately fall down into ruin and destruction.

Just as those who pass through a city, wishing to see their beloved and acquaintances, even if they meet many in the marketplaces, are not hindered by them;

for they have an aim, to meet their friends;

and when they knock at the door from outside and call, their beloved open to them with joy;