Word about the Holy Spirit

“The Sermon on the Holy Spirit” was spoken by St. Gregory of Nyssa on May 28, 388 on the feast of Pentecost. *The title of the work in Greek is Λόϒος εἰς τὸ ἅϒιον Πνεῦμα. *The title of the work in Latin is De Spiritu Sancto. David makes the subject of every holiday brighter, always tuning his multi-tuned zither according to need. So, may the same Prophet illuminate the great holiday of Pentecost for us, striking the strings of wisdom with the jingle of the spirit and proclaiming a song. Let him utter from this divine hymn these words befitting true grace: “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord” (Ps. 94:1). First you need to know grace, what it consists of, and then apply the corresponding words from prophecy to its content; allow me, as much as possible, to explain in order everything that concerns this subject. From the beginning, humanity fell into error regarding the knowledge of God, and leaving the Lord to the creatures, some, deceived, began to serve the elements of the world, while others began to revere the nature of demons, and to many, the hand-made images of idols seemed to be deities, and to serve these false gods they built altars, and churches, and dedications, and sacrifices, and sacred groves, and churches. But the Lord of creation looked with the eye of humanity at the damage to human nature and gradually again elevates human life from error to the knowledge of truth. For just as those who, with some knowledge of the art of medicine, restore the strength of those exhausted by long-term hunger, do not suddenly allow them to be satisfied, sparing their weakness; but when they gain strength through proportionate consumption of food, then they allow themselves to be filled with food as much as they like; in the same way, when human nature was exhausted by a terrible famine, the economy (of God) established a gradual approach to the mysterious food; so that men, always ascending to perfection in some successive order, may thus reach the limit of perfection. For what saves us is the life-giving Power, which we believe under the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But those who are completely incapable of perceiving this truth due to the weakness that has befallen them from spiritual hunger, first of all distracted from polytheism by the prophets and the law, are taught to look at the one Divinity, and in the one Divinity they understand only the one and only power of the Father, being incapable, as I said, of perfect food. Then, for those who have become more perfect through the law, the only begotten Son is revealed through the Gospel; after this, we are offered perfect food for our nature - the Holy Spirit, in whom is life. This is the subject of the holiday, therefore it is fitting for us, who have gathered the Spirit for the celebration, to obey the leader of this spiritual celebration, David, who says: “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord.” “The Lord is the Spirit,” as the Apostle says (2 Cor. 3:17). For today, at the end, after the yearly reversal of the time of Pentecost, at this very hour (if it is now the third hour of the day) unspeakable grace is given. The Spirit, which had previously distanced itself from our nature, again communicated itself to people, because man became “flesh” (Gen. 6:3). And when by that stormy breath the spiritual forces of evil and all the bad demons were expelled from the air and scattered, then by the descent of the Spirit in the form of fire all those who were in the upper room were filled with Divine power (Acts 2:3); for it is impossible to become a partaker of the Holy Spirit otherwise than by dwelling at the height of this life. Only those who philosophize on high, having transferred their dwelling from earth to heaven, and live in the upper room of a high way of life, partake of the Holy Spirit. For this is what the book of Acts says, that when they were gathered in the upper room, that pure and immaterial fire was divided into tongues according to the number of the disciples. But they talked with the Parthians, Medes and Elamites and other peoples, freely adapting their speech to each national dialect; and I, as the Apostle says, “in church I want to speak five words with my mind, and I use others, rather than ten thousand words with my tongue” (1 Cor. 14:19). Then it was useful to speak in the same speech with those speaking foreign languages, so that the sermon would not be ineffective for the ignorant, encountering an obstacle in the language of those preaching; now, when we all (here) speak in one language, we need to look for the fiery language of the Spirit to enlighten those darkened by deception. So, let David guide us in this, taking the Apostle as his companion. For this psalm, the beginning of which gives us joy in the Lord, in the words: “Come, let us rejoice in the Lord,” not only leads us to glorify the Holy Spirit, but much more in what follows, teaches us about His Divinity. I will tell you the very words of the Prophet, with which the great Apostle agrees; His saying is this: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as in anger, in the days of temptation in the wilderness, your fathers tempted Me with vengeance” (Ps. 94: 7-9). Mentioning these words, the divine Apostle says: “In the same way as the Holy Spirit speaks” (Heb. 3:7), and having said this, he quotes the very words of the Prophet, attributing them to the Person of the Spirit. So, Who is He whom the fathers “tempted” them in the wilderness? Who is the One Who Was Angered? Find out this from the Prophet himself, who says that “I have tempted... the Most High God” (Ps. 77:56). And the Apostle, also pointing to the Person of the Holy Spirit, attributes to Him these very sayings: “in the same way as the Holy Spirit speaks... in the day of temptation in the wilderness, where your fathers tempted Me” (Heb. 3:7-9). So, since the Holy Spirit says: “Your fathers tempted Me in the wilderness,” and the Prophet testifies that He Who was tempted in the wilderness is the highest God; then let the lips of the Doukhobors be stopped, speaking untruths about God, when both the Apostle and the Prophet clearly proclaim the Divinity of the Spirit. For the Prophet says: “by temptation... God Most High” and, as if from the Face of God, pronounces these words to the Israelites: “in the desert your fathers tempted Me”; and the great Paul attributes these words to the Holy Spirit, so that through this it is proven that the Holy Spirit is the Most High God. So, do the enemies of the glory of the Spirit agree to see the fiery tongue of divine words illuminating the hidden, or will they laugh (at us) as at those who have drunk sweet wine (Acts 2:13)? But I, even if they said this about us, advise you, brothers, not to be afraid of the censure of such people and not to lose heart from their ridicule. If only they had ever had sweet wine, this newly pressed wine poured out from the winepress, which the Lord trampled through the Gospel, in order to give you the blood of his own grape to drink (Is. 63:2-3)! If only they too were filled with this new wine, which they called sweet, which the traders had not yet spoiled with an admixture of heretical water! Then, of course, they would be filled with the Spirit, with the help of which all those who are seething with the Spirit, like foam, throw off the coarseness and impurity of unbelief. But they cannot accept this sweet wine, because they still wear old wineskins, which, not being able to contain such wine, are heretically broken. But we, brethren, “come, let us rejoice in the Lord,” as the Prophet says, drinking and sweet drinks of piety, as Ezra commands (2 Ezra 9:51), and brightly celebrating with the faces of the apostles and prophets, “come,” by the gift of the Holy Spirit, let us rejoice and be glad in “this day, which the Lord has made” in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. You might be interested in: