Therefore, these thoughts-remedies are for strengthening our spiritual immunity (against all kinds of viruses-heresies-deceptions), standing in the Truth, establishment in the fear of God! Do not be complacent, irresponsible, but work out your salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that our enemy the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour! God is Love, so the devil can devour any of us who do not want to follow the path of repentance, responsibility, discernment, sobriety, truth… – to follow Christ, but will stand irresponsibly, self-confidently, proudly, foolishly, voluntarily on the path of the Antichrist! To the Father’s House, to the Kingdom of God, one can go by a short road (the narrow path of repentance, self-denial, self-mortification for the sake of Jesus Christ and through the narrow gate of Truth-Humility, carrying the cross in the name of Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father), or one can wander for a long time on the wide paths (on which the apostle Peter wanted to lead Jesus Christ!) of the Antichrist, deceit, hypocrisy, folly, and blindness! – Why is everything so complicated, why such great risks? Because we must become gods (by grace) – therefore such a difficult science: through many tribulations, all of us must acquire humility, become poor in spirit, enter into the inheritance, that is, enter the Kingdom of God, acquire the Holy Spirit! Be vigilant!
So, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the fruits of the Holy Spirit are different things! Pagans can have gifts, but only Christians, baptized by the Holy Spirit, have fruits! Gifts are given for ministry and not to Christians (e.g., Old Testament prophets, shepherds were not Christians, but had spiritual gifts for ministry, to prepare God’s people for the acceptance of Christ in the baptism of the Holy Spirit; apostles before Pentecost, before the baptism of the Holy Spirit; Corinthians, as testified by apostle Paul, etc.). Note that we speak only of those gifts (miracle-working, clairvoyance, healing…), which are from the Holy Spirit; because the one who will be cautious with the manifestations of spiritual gifts, it is self-evident (obvious), that having witnessed demonic tricks, signs, illusions, healings, prophecies, all kinds of visions, appearances (angels, saints, light, smells…)…, he will be even more vigilant (with prayer, repentance, humility, standing in the Truth), to avoid falling into temptation!
Therefore, it is not spiritual gifts (ministerial tools) that need to be sought, but the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which organically grow in the heart of the one born of the Holy Spirit (a Christian), that is, one must care about salvation, about the baptism of the Holy Spirit! Blessed is not the one who has spiritual gifts (see Judas Iscariot or those clairvoyants, miracle workers, who ended their lives by suicide or went mad – there are many such examples), but the one who abides in the Holy Spirit, in union with God, Bliss, who has the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace… (Happiness = to love! Blessed is the one who loves!). Who seeks the gifts of the Holy Spirit is already halfway in delusion-deception…, because they seek means for ministry (and not salvation), wrongly using which many have stumbled, hurt themselves, perished! One must seek not God’s, but God! And spiritual gifts are given by God in the church for ministry, and given to those for whom it is beneficial for their salvation!
From what has been said above, a natural question arises: why does the Lord God give a person the gifts of the Holy Spirit (ministry), knowing that a person can use them for their own destruction?! First, let’s clear this question of impurities of accusations, claims, doubts! And for this, first repeat a hundred times, carefully listening to every word: God is Love, Truth, Wisdom; God divinely loves every person every moment! This is regarding accusations, charges against God! And regarding doubts, that since God is Love, this cannot be, once again, for an example-fact, let us recall the apostle Judas, who betrayed Christ and hanged himself. Judas Iscariot received the apostolic ministry from God (Jesus Christ) and the necessary ministerial spiritual gifts (preaching-proclamation, healing, cleansing, resurrection, exorcism: “These twelve (Simon-Peter, …, Judas Iscariot) Jesus sent out and commanded them: … preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons: freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:1-8)), to perform the apostolic, missionary ministry, bringing (catching) people to Christ, preparing the hearts of people to receive Christ in the baptism of the Holy Spirit! What happened to Judas Iscariot (apostle, miracle worker, preacher) is known to all!
Saint Isaac the Syrian in Discourse 56 (On the Love of God, on Renunciation of the World, and on Peace in God) writes: “Many performed powers (miracles), raised the dead, labored in converting the lost and performed great miracles; many were brought to the knowledge of God through their hands, and after all this, those who gave life to others fell into abominable and vile passions, killed themselves, and became a stumbling block for many when their deeds became apparent, because they were still in soul sickness (carnal, pagans, not healed-saved in the baptism of the Holy Spirit, although they had spiritual gifts with which they served, and brought many to the knowledge of God, but forgot to care for their own salvation, baptism in the Holy Spirit – V. A.) and did not care for the health (healing-salvation in the baptism of the Holy Spirit – V. A.) of their souls, but set out to heal the souls of others in the sea of this world, still being themselves infirm (pagans, unsaved), and lost the hope of God for their souls (that is, the hope of salvation) in the rage of inflamed passions (abominable and vile, into which they fell)…”21.