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(About the book by N.V. Gogol “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy”). A man is seen turning to God with fervor of heart. But in the matter of religion this is not enough. In order for it to be true light for a person and to emit from him genuine light for his neighbors, it must be definitive. Determination lies in the exact knowledge of the Truth, in its separation from everything false, from everything that seems true. The Savior Himself said this: “The truth will set you free.” Elsewhere in Scripture it is said: “Your word is truth.” Why does one who wants to gain certainty delve deeply into the Gospel, in accordance with the teachings of the Lord, and straightens his thoughts and feelings. When a person completes this work, then he is able to separate in himself the correct, kind thoughts and feelings from the counterfeit, imaginary correct and kind ones. Then he enters into purity, just as the Lord after the Last Supper said to His disciples, already educated by the teaching of the Truth: “You are pure by nature because of the word that was spoken to you.” But purity alone is not enough for a person; he needs revival, inspiration. So, in order for the lantern to shine, it is not enough to cleanly wash the glass; a candle must be lit inside it. This is what the Lord did with His disciples. Having cleansed them with the Truth, He revived them with the Holy Spirit - and they became light for men. Before receiving the Holy Spirit, the apostles were not able to teach humanity, although they were already pure. Such a move must be made with every Christian, a Christian in reality, and not just in name; first - cleansing by the Truth, and then - enlightenment by the Spirit. True, man also has innate inspiration, more or less developed, arising from the movement of the feelings of the heart; Truth rejects this inspiration as mixed and mortifies it, so that the Spirit, coming, resurrects it in a renewed state. If a person, before purification by the Truth, is guided by his inspiration, then he will emit for himself and for others not pure light, but mixed, deceptive, because in his heart lives not simple good, but good mixed with evil more or less. 6.556–557 Who does not believe in the Son of God? Not only the one who openly and decisively rejects Him, but also the one who, calling himself a Christian, leads a sinful life, chasing carnal pleasures; the one whose god is his belly; the one whose god is silver and gold; the one whose god is earthly glory; the one who honored earthly wisdom, hostile to God, as if he were a god. 1.495 Without self-denial, a person is incapable of faith; his fallen mind opposes faith, boldly demanding an account from God of His actions and evidence of the truths He reveals to man; a fallen heart wants to live a life of fall, which faith strives to mortify; flesh and blood, despite the grave approaching them every hour, also want to live their own life, the life of corruption and sin. 1.496 Faith is a natural property of the human soul, planted in it by a merciful God at its creation. 1.496 Dead faith, the recognition of Christ with one involuntary mental conviction, may also be the property of demons! Such faith will only serve the believer to greater condemnation at the judgment of Christ. Leave what to us and to You, Jesus of Nazareth! – The unclean spirit cried out to the Lord. - You came to destroy us: “We know You who You are, the Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). Faith in the Gospel must be living; one must believe with one’s mind and heart, confess one’s faith with one’s lips, express and prove it with one’s life. 1.497 Orthodox faith in Christ, sealed by the Sacrament of Baptism, alone is sufficient for salvation, without works, when a person does not have time to do them, because faith replaces a person with Christ, and good human deeds with the merits of Christ. But while continuing earthly life, work is certainly required. 1.499 In dogmas - theology taught by God Himself. In the rejection of dogmas there is blasphemy, called unbelief; in the distortion of dogmas - blasphemy, called heresy. When the mind, not yet purified by repentance, still wandering in the realm and darkness of fall, not yet enlightened and not led by the Holy Spirit, dares by itself, with its own painful forces, out of the darkness of pride, to talk about God, then it will certainly fall into error. Such a delusion is blasphemy. We can only know about God what He, in His great mercy, revealed to us. By the sacraments of the Christian Church, the believer is brought into union with the Divine, in which there is essential salvation, the sealing of faith by the work of faith, and the henceforth acceptance of the guarantee of eternal blessings. 1.498 True living faith, only a person confesses it with his lips, brings him salvation. She brought salvation to the thief on the cross; She brought salvation, through repentance, to many sinners in the last, dying minutes of their lives. 1.501 Due to the importance of faith in the matter of salvation, sins against it have a special weight on the scales of God’s justice; they are all mortals, i.e. the death of the soul is associated with them and will be followed by eternal destruction, eternal torment in the abysses of hell. The mortal sin is unbelief: it rejects the only means of salvation - faith in Christ. Mortal sin is renunciation of Christ: it deprives the renunciant of living faith in Christ, manifested and contained by confession of the mouth. Mortal sin is heresy: it contains blasphemy and makes those infected by it alien to the true faith in Christ. Mortal sin is despair: it is the rejection of active, living faith in Christ. Healing from all these mortal sins is holy, true, living faith in Christ. 1.502 Those who have been enriched by a living faith in Christ fly like winged creatures through all sorrows, through all the most difficult circumstances. Intoxicated with faith in the omnipotent God, they do not see labor in work, and do not feel illness in illness. They recognize God as the only actor in the universe; they have made Him theirs by living faith in Him. 1. 503–504 He (the Lord) sends sorrows to those he loves, and after the sorrows, consolations. The fact that sorrows are replaced by consolations, and consolations by sorrows, gives rise to faith in God and deadness to the world. Faith, taking a person by the hand, places him before God. Such a person rises above the world: under his feet is a dark chaos of doubts, unbelief, delusions, pompous and at the same time vain reasoning. So under the feet of someone who has climbed to the top of a high mountain are clouds, cliffs, abysses, rustling waterfalls jumping over the rocks. 6.343 Some of the Gospel Commandments teach us to act in a manner pleasing to God; others teach us to behave in a godly manner in the face of outside influence on us. Studying the second is more difficult than learning the first; but the first will also be understood satisfactorily when the soul studies and accepts the second. It is necessary to assure yourself that God controls the fate of the world and the fate of every person. The experiences of life will not be slow to confirm and approve this teaching of the Gospel. The consequence of accepting this teaching by faith is humble submission to God, the retreat of confusion, peace of soul, and the strength of courage. Whoever accepts the teaching of the Gospel in this way will receive the shield of faith, in which all the flaming arrows of the evil one will be able to be extinguished (Eph. 6:16). This faith is called active by the holy fathers, in contrast to dogmatic. It appears in a person from the fulfillment of the Gospel Commandments, grows as they are fulfilled, fades and is destroyed as they are neglected, transforms, in due time, after the overshadowing of grace, into living faith, fills the Christian with spiritual power, with which the saints of God will conquer kingdoms, do justice, receive promises, stop the mouths of lions, quench the fiery power, avoid the sharp edges the sword, strengthened by weakness, became strong in battle, putting the foreign army to flight (Heb. 11:33-34). 5. 83–84 One of the greatest virtues of a commander in the battles of this world is recognized as when he does not lose heart despite all the vicissitudes of happiness, but remains unshakable, as if stony-hearted, borrowing from his firmness the most reasonable and useful orders, leading with this firmness to bewilder his enemies, weakening their insolence, inspiring his own army with courage. This character of a commander is the reason for extraordinary successes - and, suddenly, a whole series of losses and misfortunes are crowned with decisive victories and triumph. This is how the mind should be... - this leader in the invisible struggle against sin. Nothing, no temptation inflicted by people and spirits, arising from fallen nature, should confuse him. Let the source of steadfastness and strength be faith in God, to whom we have devoted ourselves to service, who is omnipotent. Cowardice and confusion are born from unbelief; but as soon as the ascetic resorts to faith, cowardice and confusion disappear, like the darkness of the night from the rising sun. 5.148 “Above all,” says the apostle, “take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one” (Eph. 6:16). These arrows are the various actions of demons in us that set in motion the ailments of fallen nature: inflammation of the heart with anger, heated thoughts and dreams, impulses for vengeance, overprotective and numerous considerations, mostly unrealizable and absurd, about resisting the enemy, about defeating and humiliating him, about achieving the most durable position for yourself, not subject to any dangers. He who has acquired faith has acquired God through his work, and stands above all the tricks of not only human, but also demonic ones. He who has acquired faith has the opportunity to touch true, pure prayer, which is not plundered by any worries about oneself, by any fears, by any dreams or pictures presented to the imagination by the crafty spirits of malice. 5. 299–300 (See READING THE SCRIPTURES). The Orthodox Church recognizes in eternity twofold torment, as well as twofold bliss: 1) internal, produced by sensations and thoughts born from the situation, and 2) external, produced by the external environment. 3.305 The Holy Scriptures everywhere call the torments of hell eternal; this teaching has been and is constantly preached by the Holy Church. Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed this terrible truth several times in the Holy Gospel. Foretolding to rejected sinners a common fate with the fallen angels, He announced that He would tell them at His Last Judgment: “Depart from Me, the curse, into eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angel” (Matthew 25:41). According to the utterance of the final decree for the human race, those who perished will go away into eternal torment (Matthew 25:46). In the story of the hard-hearted rich man and the beggar Lazarus, the Lord testified that between the abodes of eternal bliss and the prisons of hell, a great abyss has established itself, and there is no transition from bliss to torment, nor from torment to bliss (Luke 16:29). The worm of hell does not die, and the fire of hell does not go out (Mark 9:48). The hellish dungeons represent a strange and terrible destruction of life, while preserving life. There is a complete cessation of all activity; there is only suffering; there reigns the most severe of heart ailments - despair; there are cries and groans that do not attract any consolation to the soul torn by them; there are insoluble bonds and fetters; there the darkness is impenetrable, despite the abundance of flames; there is the kingdom of eternal death 3.124–125 (See Demon spiritual vision, Man, God-thinking, Dreams). It is known that the true saints of God are granted visions solely by the good will of God and by the action of God, and not by the will of man and not by his own effort - they are granted unexpectedly, very rarely, in cases of special need, according to the wondrous vision of God, and not as if it happened. 1.242 Regarding voices and phenomena, even greater caution is needed; here the demonic charm is closer and more harmful. Many of the holy and skilled fathers were deceived by demons, cunningly hiding and clothing their lies and darkness with the ghosts of truth and light; and it is more convenient to be deceived now, and more incomprehensible. It takes a long time and experience to accustom the mind and heart to distinguish good from evil, no matter under what guise evil may be disguised. Therefore, the holy fathers commanded that the novices should not entrust themselves to any voices or manifestations, but should reject them and not accept them, leaving the matter to the court and the will of God, and recognizing humility for themselves as more necessary than any voice and manifestation. The Voice of Christ is the Gospel; Let us listen to him and obey him. True Spiritual visions and sensations belong to that age, are completely immaterial, cannot be explained in the land of feelings, by a material word; this is a sure sign of the truly Spiritual. The Voice of the Spirit is immaterial; it is completely clear and completely immaterial; he is the mental voice. Also, all Spiritual sensations are immaterial, formless, cannot be interpreted, clearly conveyed by human material words, and at the same time they are tangible, strong, overcome all other sensations, make them inactive, as if non-existent, and whoever has a Spiritual feeling, this feeling explains to him what is inexplicable by a material word. The lowest level of visions consists of those visions that a person becomes a spectator of due to lack of eating, vigilance and other exhaustions of the flesh; These visions are achieved not only by people of ascetic life, but also by many vicious ones who have somehow come to the exhaustion of the flesh. Their bodily senses reach some special subtlety - and they begin to see spirits, hear voices, smell fragrances and stench. This state is dangerous, and many who came into it fell into delusion. 6. 230–231 The Holy Fathers command the ascetic of prayer, when phenomena occur outside and within himself, to remain indifferent to them and not heed them, not recognizing himself as worthy of seeing the saint. They command, on the one hand, not to condemn the phenomenon, so as not to censure the sacred, and on the other hand, not to entrust oneself to the phenomenon, hastily recognizing it as true, so as not to fall into the snare of the evil spirit, trying to seduce and deceive the ascetic in order to damage or destroy him. After the phenomenon has passed, sometimes after a considerable time, an explanation appears in the heart’s feeling, which should give the phenomenon. In general, it was noted by the holy fathers that those whom God visited with a true appearance, Satan begins to tempt with false appearances. 6.547 What is unclear... is better left without interpretation, because an attempt at interpretation can be harmful to the soul, can serve as a reason for inconspicuously leading oneself into deception, to obtain a mood capable of deceiving oneself. 6.718 It should be noted that the fallen spirit, wanting to take possession of Christ’s ascetic, does not act in a powerful manner, but seeks to attract the person’s consent to the proposed delusion and, upon receiving consent, takes possession of the one who expressed consent. Saint David, describing the attack of a fallen angel on a person, expressed himself with all precision, saying: He catches the hedgehog who snatches the beggar, he snatches the beggar, and at some point he draws him into his net (Ps. 9:30). The Holy Spirit acts autocratically, like God: He comes at a time when a person who has humbled himself and humbled himself does not at all expect His coming. Suddenly changes the mind, changes the heart. By its action it embraces all the will and all the abilities of a person who does not have the opportunity to reflect on the action taking place in him. Grace, when it is in someone, does not show anything ordinary or sensual, but secretly teaches what has never been seen or imagined before. Then the mind secretly learns high and hidden secrets, which, according to the Divine Paul, the human eye cannot see; below, the mind can comprehend it by itself. The human mind by itself, not being united with the Lord, reasons according to its own strength. When he is united with the fire of the Divine and the Holy Spirit, then we all possess the Divine Light, the whole becomes light, inflames in the flame of the All-Holy Spirit, is filled with the Divine mind and it is impossible for him in the flame of the Divine to think about his own and about what he would like. This is what St. Maximus Kapsokalivit said to St. Gregory of Sinai. On the contrary, when a demonic phenomenon occurs, a person is always given the freedom to judge the phenomenon, accept or reject it. This is evident from the demon's attempts to deceive the saints of God. Once, when the Monk Pachomius the Great was in solitude outside the monastic rumors, the devil appeared to him in great light, saying: “Rejoice, Pachomius! I am Christ and I have come to you as to my friend.” The saint, reasoning with himself, thought: “The coming of Christ to man is united with joy, free from fear. At that hour all human thoughts disappear; then the whole mind is focused on the vision of the visible. But seeing this person present himself to me, I am filled with confusion and fear. This is not Christ, but Satan.” After this reflection, the monk boldly said to the one who appeared: “Devil! Get away from me: cursed are you, and your vision, and the deceit of your evil plans.” The devil immediately disappeared, filling the cell with stench. 5.65–66 (See Demons sensual vision, Charm, Dreams). Just as after the creation of the body the soul was immediately blown into it, so after the novice accepted the rules for external behavior, it is necessary for him to immediately assimilate godly spiritual activity. Just as the body is enlivened by the soul, so reverent outward behavior is enlivened by godly spiritual activity. Without a soul, the body is dead; abandoned by it, it begins to be damaged and emit a stench from itself: similarly, outward reverent behavior, without pious direction and exercise of the soul, first turns out to be alien to spiritual fruit, then becomes infected with vanity, conceit, hypocrisy, man-pleasing and other most destructive, difficult to notice and comprehend spiritual passions. Spiritual passions grow and strengthen very quickly under the cover of outward reverence, when it is not animated by true piety. A person, admiring his outward reverence, imperceptibly moves from reverence to pretense... Complete success in pretense forms a Pharisee, holding to the killing letter of the law, who rejected the life-giving spirit of the law. 5. 29–30 (See External and internal feat). One who has put his outer behavior in order is like a well-made vessel, without holes: you can put precious myrrh into such a vessel, you can put it with confidence that the myrrh will remain intact. And the monk, having improved his customs, becomes capable of spiritual activity, which is kept intact by well-organized bodily customs; it, on the contrary, cannot be retained in any way in a monk who is upset by his outward behavior. Saint Isaac of Syria, at the beginning of the 56th word, says: “Body of the body is preceded by the soul, just as the creation of the body in Adam preceded the breathing of the soul into him. He who has not acquired the physical cannot have the spiritual: the second is born from the first, like an ear from a naked grain of wheat. He who does not have spiritual activity is alien to spiritual gifts.” The same venerable man in the 46th homily says: “I have seen many great and wondrous fathers who, more than other things, cared about the orderliness of the senses and the habits of the body: from this orderliness is born the orderliness of thoughts. Much happens to a person outside of his will and forces him to violate the limits set for himself; why, if he had not been in constant storage of feelings, then in such cases for a long time he would not have been able to come to his senses and find his previous peaceful dispensation.” In the 89th word: “In the presence of your friends, behave reverently: by doing this, you will benefit yourself and them, because the soul often throws off the reins of guarding under the pretext of love. Beware of conversations: they are not always useful. Prefer silence in meetings: it protects against many emotional losses. Guard your sight more than your belly, because your own battle is, without a doubt, easier than the external one. Do not believe, brother, that inner thoughts can be restrained without first bringing the body into a good and decent dispensation. Fear bad habits more than demons.” When Basil the Great arrived in Antioch, then the philosopher Livanius, mentor of the Antioch School and Basil's comrade at the Athens School, asked him to deliver a lesson to his young listeners. Saint Basil fulfilled this. Having told them to keep the purity of soul and body, he taught them in detail the rules for outward behavior: he commanded them to have a modest gait, not to speak loudly, to observe decorum in conversation, to eat and drink reverently, to remain silent in front of elders, to be attentive to the wise, obedient to superiors, to have unfeigned love for equals and lesser ones, to distance themselves from the evil, from those infected with passions and those who love to please the flesh, speak little, carefully collect knowledge, do not speak without first discussing what you intend to talk about - do not talk too much, do not be quick to laugh, adorn yourself with modesty, and so on. The wise Vasily gave the young men an instruction most relevant to their outward behavior, knowing that decorum will immediately communicate from body to soul and the improvement of the body will very soon lead to the improvement of the soul. 5. 24–25 Internal (mental) activity (See Spiritual and physical feat, Jesus Prayer). The crucifixion of the flesh is necessary, necessary for the ascetic of Christ! It is necessary to submit to the good yoke of asceticism in order to curb the bestial aspirations of the flesh, and not to deprive it of the health and strength necessary for asceticism itself. “We have learned to be killers of passions, not bodies,” says Pimen the Great. Even for those who are weak in body and sick, violation of abstinence is very harmful, it increases illness, does not support, but frustrates the weak and sick. Prudent moderation is especially capable of supporting and preserving bodily strength and health - both in people of strong build and in people of weak, sickly build. 2.350 Our will, in a state of fall, is hostile to the will of God; due to its blindness and state of enmity towards God, it constantly strengthens to oppose the will of God. When her efforts remain unsuccessful, she leads a person into irritation, indignation, embarrassment, grief, despondency, murmuring, blasphemy, and despair. In the renunciation of one's will in order to inherit the will of God, there is renunciation of oneself, commanded by the Savior, which constitutes a necessary condition for salvation and Christian perfection, so necessary that without satisfying this condition, salvation is impossible, much less Christian perfection is impossible. “The life is in His will,” said the prophet (Ps. 29:6). The will of God is revealed to humanity in the Law of God, but mainly, with special accuracy and detail, it is declared to us by the Word of God made man. As something beyond comprehension, it is accepted by faith. Studying the will of God is work filled with joy, full of spiritual consolation, and at the same time work associated with great sorrows, sorrows, temptations, with selflessness, with the mortification of fallen nature, with the saving destruction of the soul. It is associated with the crucifixion of the old man (Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:9–10). He demands that carnal wisdom be rejected, trampled upon, destroyed. “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” says the apostle, “in order to test you, what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2). 5. 82–83 One should not transgress the will of God with one’s own will, but, having done what is due on one’s part, leave the rest to God. 6.721 Let us leave everything that does not depend on us to the will of God, and what depends on us, we will conform to the will of God either by fulfillment or by repentance for non-fulfillment. 6.581 Correct and accurate fulfillment of God's will is impossible without knowledge of God's destinies. What are God's commandments? This is the will of God, declared by God to people for guidance in actions depending on their will. What are God's destinies? These are actions or allowances of the will of God, on which the arbitrariness of man has no influence. It is obvious that for a person to fully fulfill the will of God, it is necessary for a person to take a correct attitude towards both the commandments of God and the destinies of God. 2.78 St. John Chrysostom and other holy fathers, when starting to talk about something, always tried to begin with the following words: “God's will be over us all! Glory to God for everything that happens, even if what happens is difficult and bitter.” God is both abundantly merciful in His benefits and abundantly merciful in His punishments. It is up to every Christian to understand and acknowledge this truth. It often happens that, according to God’s will, something material and temporary is taken away, and in its place something moral and spiritual, eternal, is given. And people attached to matter and temporary life grieve, not realizing that they are being elevated to priceless, highest benefits. Surrendering oneself to the will of God brings peace and consolation to the heart in all sorrows. 6. 797–798 In relation to the omnipotent and all-holy will of God, there can be no other corresponding feelings in a person other than unlimited reverence and equally unlimited submission. From these feelings, when they become the property of a person, patience is made. 1.329 In due time God will arrange everything; the best thing is to surrender to His holy will and not think about tomorrow, when there is no special reason to think about it. Otherwise, many live in the future with their dreams and worries, and let the present slip away from their hands. 6.136 Don’t worry, but in peace of mind surrender to the will of God. God knows what He creates, and whatever He does, He creates according to His great goodness, according to His wisest and unsearchable destinies. Say to yourself more often: “God’s will be done.” Let your mind and heart be immersed in this soothing and sacred thought. May they be satisfied with it. May God bless you and give you the mind of truth and submission to His holy will, which is why spiritual peace vegetates. 6.597 We must pray to God to do His holy will over us, and not persist in following our own, even though it is well-intentioned. 6.710 The whole earth belongs equally to God, and I surrender myself entirely to His will and guidance. God often arranges for those who have entrusted themselves to Him a spiritually beneficial situation through contrary circumstances. St. Tikhon of Voronezh was accused of excessive ardor; Because of such an accusation, he had to retire to a monastery, where he was honored with the special mercy of God. In his dying will, the saint brings special gratitude to God for the fact that he was granted to prepare for the transition to eternity through thorough repentance. This is what is considered a spiritual husband to be a blessing from God: expulsion from the pulpit and a humble stay in the monastery. The most correct judgment! 6.797 Everything passes by, both good and bad, but neither humans nor demons can do what God does not allow. 6.803 It is necessary to revere the destinies of God, incomprehensible to us, in all God’s permissions, both private and public, both civil, moral and spiritual. “Humble yourselves,” exhorts the holy Apostle Peter, “under the mighty hand of God, putting away all your sorrow, for He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). Humility is appropriate according to that excellent example, which is presented to us by the Holy Scriptures in the prayer of the three holy youths, who were subjected to a severe test in Babylon for their loyalty to God and who recognized all God’s allowances as the consequences of God’s righteous judgment (Dan. ch. 3). “Need is a temptation,” the Lord determined (Matthew 18:7), foreshadowing the terrible disasters that must befall those who believe in Him and all humanity. He said: “See, do not be horrified, for it is fitting for all this to be” (Matthew 24:6). If so, then we have neither the right nor the opportunity to say or think anything against the definition pronounced by the All-Good, All-Wise, Almighty God. “You will be betrayed,” the Lord foretold us, “by your parents, and by your brothers, by your kindred, and by your friends, and you will be put to death, and you will be hated by everyone for My name’s sake” (Luke 21:16-17). “Everyone who kills you will decide to offer service to God. You will be in a world of sorrow: but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:2,33). Having depicted and foreshadowed the position of Christians during their earthly life, the position intended for them by God, the Lord added: “And the hair of your head will not perish” (Luke 21:18). This means: God will vigilantly provide for you, He will vigilantly watch over you, support you in His almighty right hand, and because no sorrowful thing happens to you, it will happen only by His permission, by His all-holy will, for your salvation. The Lord concluded the instruction to the disciples regarding the misfortunes of earthly life that must befall them with a decisive and definite commandment: “In your patience gain your souls” (Luke 21:19). Recognize and confess God as the ruler of the world; reverently, with selflessness, submit and surrender to His will; from this consciousness, from this humility, holy patience will vegetate in your souls. It is known to the soul by the peace it brings to the soul. Every word against the destinies of God will die in your mouth, every thought will fall silent before the greatness of God’s will, as the holy evangelist Luke said about himself and about his comrades: “Let us keep silent, saying: the will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:14). You need to know that every thought that appears with the property of contradiction and opposition to the destinies of God comes from Satan and is his fiend. Such a thought, as ungodly, must be rejected at its very appearance. The Lord set an example of this. When He told the disciples about the suffering and violent death that lay ahead of Him, then the Apostle Peter, moved by compassion according to the nature of the old man, began to contradict Him, saying: You are merciful, Lord, You should not have these things. The Lord answered Peter, denouncing the beginning of the thought he expressed: “Follow Me, Satan, you are My temptation; for you do not think that the essence of God is human, but human” (Matthew 16:22–23). Why is our spirit indignant against the destinies and permission of God? Because we have not honored God as God; because we have not submitted to God as God; because we have not given ourselves our due place before God; from our pride, from our blindness, because our fallen, damaged, perverted will is not destroyed and not rejected by us. 5. 84–86 (See Divine Providence, Self-sacrifice). The Venerable Pimen the Great used to say: “The will of man is a copper wall between God and man, a stone that strikes against the will of God. If a person leaves it, then he too can say: “By my God I will cross the wall. My God, His way is blameless” (Ps. 17:30, 31). If justification is combined with will, then man becomes corrupted and perishes.” By the word “justification” we must understand our recognition of our actions as fair or righteous; this serves as a sure sign of mental disorder and deviation from the path of salvation. 2.358 One’s own will leads a person to temptations, although its suggestions apparently seem good, but we cannot see what consequences its fulfillment will lead to. When a person renounces his will, then only he can be a participant in true prayer, which is the union of a person with God. This union cannot be achieved without renouncing your will, your truth, your mind. 6.841 (See Will of God, Obedience). (See Connection, Godliness, Spiritual Mind). (See Activities, Reading, Clothing, Simplicity). You might be interested in: