Therefore, examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith (whether you are confident in the unseen, whether you experience the fulfillment of the expected Kingdom of God, the fruits of which the faithful to Christ already partake of here and now, and Christians already enjoy them each to their own measure), that is, whether you are already, even partially, imperfectly, but tasting the fruits of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace…
Faith (knowledge) is the possession of the Kingdom of God (the realization of the expected – the Kingdom of God, and the conviction of the unseen – the Kingdom of God). The Church is the “presence of the expected and unseen.” Every Christian (= the Church) knows who he is (Spirit-bearer), whose he is (Christ’s), and what he is (holy). A Christian knows that he is in the Holy Spirit, that he belongs to Christ, loves Christ (“Who shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? I am convinced that nothing and no one…” – see Rom. 8:35-39), that he is holy (God’s, the temple of the Holy Spirit). He knows, not just “believes” – he knows it! And do you know (do you have the testimony within yourselves) that you are holy, Christ’s, in the Holy Spirit, do you see, do you feel your spiritual growth (1 m → 1.20 m → 1.50 m → …), do you know that you are moving from strength to strength of the Holy Spirit?! Or perhaps you are a catechumen (trusting in the Church), zealously fulfilling God’s commandments, knowing “the whole will of God” and living by it, humbling yourselves and becoming merciful?! Humility is the conscious desire for knowledge, understanding, and awareness; it is also the fruit of knowledge and awareness (the more you know the truth, the more you humble yourself; and the more you humble yourself, the more you desire to know the Truth – this is the movement from strength to greater strength, from humility to greater humility). And pride is blindness, ignorance, delusion, the unwillingness to learn, self-confidence…
In a conversation with Motovilov about the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, Saint Seraphim of Sarov says: “Acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit (through prayer – V. A.) and all other virtues for Christ’s sake, trade spiritually with them, trade with those of them that give you the greatest profit… For example: if prayer and vigilance give you more of God’s grace – watch and pray; fasting gives much of the Spirit of God – fast; almsgiving gives more – give alms, and in this way, judge all virtues (virtues) that are performed for Christ’s sake.” Therefore, a Christian must know (understand): from what does communion with God grow (the increase of the grace of the Holy Spirit) – he uses that; from what does it decrease or disappear – he avoids that, trying by all means offered by the Church to preserve communion with God (in the Holy Spirit), to return it through repentance (in case of sin) and to multiply it. Therefore, one must see, know, and understand: am I growing in the Holy Spirit, what is the cause of growth, which virtue, so that by practicing that virtue even more, to perfect oneself in that virtue in cooperation with the Holy Spirit! “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Unless, of course, you fail the test” (see 2 Cor. 13:5), “Let a person examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (see 1 Cor. 11:28), “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (see Rom. 8:9), “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”; “…they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (see Acts 19:1-7)… Therefore, Christians know themselves, they know the truth about themselves, in what state they are: whether they are in the Holy Spirit or not, whether they are moving from strength to greater strength, or not… Christians in the Holy Spirit command: “examine yourselves,” “test yourselves,” “know yourselves,” “do not deceive yourselves,” etc., while the “elders” (in their “traditions of the elders”) command the opposite! What to do, whom to listen to?! Do not forget: God allows everything! Most of the baptized, unfortunately, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God, live according to the “traditions of the elders,” and not according to the will of God.
The antichrist says: do not look at yourself, so as not to fall into delusion, do not look, do not know yourself, do not know the truth about yourself, your spiritual state, because you will fall into delusion!? Do not look (do not know) whether you are being healed, whether there is a result from the treatment, whether there are fruits from learning, struggle… because you will fall into delusion!? But not knowing in what state I am (where am I? who am I? what am I?…) – this is the first delusion, deception. This prohibition of knowledge, understanding, awareness – all this is contrary to what the Holy Spirit commands: “Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith; whether you are in the Holy Spirit; whether you have received the Holy Spirit; test yourselves…”. “Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ Or what king, going to war against another king, does not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still far off and ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples” (see Luke 14:25-33). Therefore, those who undertake any task (war with hell, building a house of salvation, realizing any projects, dreams, plans, etc.), must weigh their strength, resources – can they complete what they have planned! That is, realistically, truthfully assess themselves and their strengths and resources! But the antichrist repeats his: oh, do not look at how much money you have – so as not to fall into delusion!? Oh, do not check whether you can bear this burden, this service – because you will fall into delusion!? Oh, do not write a control work, do not check your knowledge – because you will fall into delusion!? So that you may not know the truth about yourself – because you will fall into delusion!? But the essence of all feats is to know oneself! And the servants of the antichrist say: do not know the truth about yourself! (How can one be proud who knows the truth about oneself (“I can do no good, I know nothing, I am the greatest sinner, etc.”)?!). And regarding the elders who spoke about delusion (do not measure yourself, do not focus on yourself, do not think about your state, growth…), one must know: who said it, to whom, when, for what purpose, etc. If it concerns his disciple – then the elder watches over his spiritual growth, and the disciple has no need for this activity. But these are exceptions! And “Christians,” not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God, still crucify Christ, according to the traditions of the elders crucify the Truth! Watch and pray, so as not to fall into temptation! God is Love and allows everything – He loves you indescribably!