… but let us zealously cleanse ourselves so that even here we may receive a pledge of the heavenly kingdom, or, rather, let us zealously acquire God Himself, the King of all, in Whom all good for everyone is…
… Therefore, we must accurately examine ourselves, whether we have acquired (obtained) the Lord Jesus Christ within ourselves, to realize whether the power is given to us and received by us from Him, as John the Theologian says, to be children of God (John 1:12). And let everyone listen to the words of the Holy Scriptures, let everyone listen carefully and to himself, so as not to become a victim of vain flatteries and not to start considering himself faithful, and later not to turn out to be unfaithful. For it is possible, considering oneself as having Christ within, to depart from this life empty of Him and to be condemned as having nothing, with the deprivation of what he dreamed of having and being thrown into the fire of Gehenna. But how can we know whether we have Christ within us, and how can we examine ourselves regarding this with precision? Thus: …
… Why, if Christ says that He will give the Spirit to those who believe in Him, there is no doubt that those who do not have the Spirit are not believers in Him…
… If someone states that each of us, believers, has received and possesses the Spirit, although he does not realize and feel it, such one blasphemes, as he makes Christ a liar, who said: it will be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life – and again: from the belly of him who believes in Me… will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). Therefore, if the well is springing, surely the river that flows from this well and passes is visible to those who have eyes. But if this (we shall speak in the tone of those who reason so) occurs in us, yet we feel and realize nothing in ourselves, it is clear that we will not at all feel eternal life, which is a consequence of this, and will not see the light of the Holy Spirit, but will remain dead, blind, insensible in the future life, as we dwell in the present one. Thus, our hope is vain, and our race is in vain if we still are in death, that is, remain dead in spirit and do not perceive the feeling of eternal life. But it is not so in truth, not so. But what I have said more than once, I will say again, and will not cease to say: the Father is light, the Son is light, the Holy Spirit is light; these three are one Light, timeless, indivisible, inseparable, eternal, uncreated, …, invisible, since it exists and is thought to be beyond and above all, – which no man could ever see before being cleansed and could not receive before seeing. For first, it is necessary to see it, and then, by many endeavors, to acquire (obtain) it, as many have seen, but not acquired… At first, divine enlightenment and illumination frequently come to those who repent with warmth of heart, but soon it departs. And if they give themselves entirely to endeavors even unto death, and will seek (acquire) this enlightenment with heartache, and present themselves to the Lord Christ as worthy, pure, blameless in all deeds, then they will receive it again, and it will come back to them more perfectly. If, however, they become lazy and do not want to throw themselves into great labors because of their love of life and love of comfort, then they are unworthy of such a gift and do not enter into eternal life (do not receive its beginnings) now, while still in the body; not entering now – clearly, they will not be able to do so after death, in another life (until they repent – V.A.).
… the saint, when he entered into the endeavors of martyrdom and began to endure tortures in his struggle, then he knew himself, that he is a temple of God, and began to see with the rational eyes of his soul, that the Holy Spirit tangibly dwells in him.
Therefore, we all, my brethren, must despise the present, as the martyrs did, because it is impossible for anyone to obtain the imperishable if he considers the perishable as dung, nor to acquire the eternal if he is attached to the temporary; nor can anyone enslaved in the heart by any passion, even the smallest, have Christ living within him by the grace of the Holy Spirit, because God is Light…
I was hungry for your return and repentance, but you did not give Me to taste this and satisfy My desire, that is, you did not repent of your evil sins. I was naked from your virtuous deeds, and you did not clothe Me with them. I was in a cramped, unclean, and dark prison of your heart, you did not want to visit Me and bring Me into the light. You saw how I lay in the sickness of your own laziness and inactivity, and did not come to serve Me with your good deeds. Depart from Me…
… This is what the Lord says, this is what He says now to those who say that they have the Holy Spirit within them, only it is hidden and covered by the darkness of their passions and is not seen by the rational eyes of their souls. To those who say they know Christ, but do not see the light of His Divinity, Christ says: if you have known Me, then, certainly, you have known Me as Light, because I am truly Light for the world. But woe to those who say: when will the day of the Lord come? – and do not strive to attain it here, in this life, because the coming of the Lord has come, and comes always in the faithful, and is inherent in all who wish. And if Christ is Light for the world, and promised His Apostles to be with us until the end of the age, then how, Being with us, is He to come? No, He does not have to come to us, because we are not sons of darkness and night, that light should come to us, but sons of light and the day of the Lord. Therefore, while we live in the present life, we dwell with the Lord, and when we die, we will live through Him and with Him, as divine Paul (Romans 14:8) says.