Archimandrite Ignatius. 1847. Nikolaevsky Babaevsky Monastery.

Word

for the fear of God and for the love of God

Man's service to God, as lawful by God, is clear and simple. But we have become so complex and deceitful, so alien to the spiritual mind, that we need the most careful guidance and instruction for the correct and pleasing service of God. Very often we approach the service of God by means of a method that is contrary to the institution of God, forbidden by God, which brings our souls not benefit, but harm. Thus, some, having read in the Holy Scriptures that love is the most sublime of virtues,[62] that it is God,[63] immediately begin and intensify to develop in their hearts the feeling of love, to dissolve their prayers, their contemplation of God, and all their actions.

God turns away from this unclean sacrifice. He demands love from man, but true, spiritual, holy love, and not dreamy, carnal, defiled by pride and voluptuousness. It is impossible to love God otherwise than with a heart purified and sanctified by Divine grace. Love for God is a gift of God: it is poured out into the souls of the true servants of God by the action of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, that love, which belongs to the number of our natural qualities, is found in the sinful corruption that embraces the entire human race, the entire being of each person, all the properties of each person. In vain let us strive to serve God, to unite with God through this love! He is holy, and rests only in the saints. It is independent: man's efforts to receive God into himself are fruitless, when it is not yet God's pleasure to dwell in man, although man is a God-created temple, created for the purpose that God should dwell in him [65]. This temple is in sorrowful desolation: before consecration, it needs to be renovated.

A premature striving to develop in oneself a sense of love for God is already self-deception. It immediately removes one from the correct service of God, immediately leads one into various errors, and ends in damage and destruction of the soul. We will prove this by the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers; let us say that the procession to Christ begins and is accomplished under the guidance of the fear of God; finally, let us show that the love of God is that blessed rest in God into which those who have completed the invisible path to God enter.

The Old Testament, in which truth is depicted in shadows, and the events with the outer man serve as an image of what is done in the inner man in the New Testament, tells of the terrible punishment to which Nadab and Abihu, the two sons of Aaron, the priests of the people of Israel, were subjected. "Every one of them," says the book of Leviticus, "took his censer, put incense into it, and brought before the Lord a strange fire, which the Lord had not commanded to be offered. Only the consecrated fire kept in the Tabernacle of the Witness could be used in the priesthood of the Israelites. And fire went forth from the Lord, and burned them, and they died before the Lord" [66]. The alien fire in the censer of the priest of Israel depicts the love of the fallen nature, alienated from God in all its properties. The execution of the impudent priest is depicted as the mortification of the soul, which recklessly and criminally sacrifices unclean lust to God. Such a soul is struck by death, perishes in its self-deception, in the flame of its passions. On the contrary, the sacred fire, which alone was used in the sacraments, signifies grace-filled love. The fire for Divine services is not taken from the fallen nature, but from the Tabernacle of God. "Fire, descending into the heart," says St. John of the Ladder, "restores prayer. When it rises and ascends to heaven, then the descent of fire into the upper room of the soul takes place" [67]. Ce! all of you, says the Prophet, who walk, that is, who are guided in your life by the light of your fire and the flame of your fallen nature, which you kindle, instead of extinguishing it, will all perish in the fire and the flames of hell. By a wrong and criminal action in yourselves, you kindle the fire and strengthen for yourselves the flame of hell [68].

The New Testament teaches the same in the parable of the one who entered the marriage in an unmarried garment, although the one who entered was from among those who were called. The king said to the servants, pointing out the unworthy: "Having bound his hand and nose, take him and cast him into utter darkness." The binding of hands and feet means the deprivation of all possibility for spiritual progress. Exactly: the one who has taken the wrong direction, who has aspired directly from the state of sinfulness, comes to this state, and even in this state, to love, which accomplishes the union of man with God, but a person who has already been purified by repentance. Throwing into utter darkness means the descent of the mind and heart into error and self-deception. With error and self-deception, every thought, every feeling is completely gloomy, completely hostile to God. The servants to whose power the unfortunate person surrenders are demons: although they are infected with an insane hatred of God, they are at the same time His servants in His unlimited omnipotence and wisdom; they take possession only of those people who, for their arbitrary behavior, surrender to the power of demons. He who has entered a direction forbidden by God is given over to this power, as carried away by self-conceit, as having arbitrarily rejected obedience to God.

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Holy love is exalted and glorified in the Holy Scriptures. The Apostle Paul, having enumerated in the First Epistle to the Corinthians the gifts of the Holy Spirit, mentioning the gifts of wonderworking, prophecy, the reasoning of spirits, and knowledge of various languages, said: "Be zealous therefore for the great gifts, and even after you have transcended I will show you the way." What can be higher than a Prophet, a miracle-worker, who speaks in foreign tongues by the gift of the Holy Spirit, and not by ordinary human study? "If I speak with the tongues of men and with the tongues of angels," answers the great Paul, "but love is not imam, for it is like a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." And if the Imam prophesy, and all the mysteries, and all the understanding, and if the Imam have all the faith, as if I were to put away the mountains, then I am not an Imam, I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions, and if I give up my body, burn it in it, I have no love, there is no profit for me. Love falls away, if prophecies are abolished, if tongues are silenced, if reason is abolished. For we understand in part and prophesy in part: "When the perfect comes, then, in part, it will be abolished" [71]. What is perfect? Love is the souza (totality) of perfection [72]. One must attain perfection in all virtues, in order to enter into the perfection of all perfections, into their fusion, into love. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God [73]. God is love, and abiding in love abides in God, and God abides in him [74]. Of this we understand, that we abide in Him, and He in us, as He hath given us food from His Spirit [75]. The only true sign of the attainment of love, given to us by the Holy Spirit Himself, is the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit in us. He who has not become the temple of the Holy Spirit, let him not flatter himself, let him not deceive himself: he cannot be the abode of love, he is a stranger to it. Love is poured out into our hearts together with the Holy Spirit. It is His attribute. In whom the Holy Spirit descends, in him is His attribute of love. "Whoever acquires love is at the same time clothed with God Himself," said St. Isaac of Syria [77].

Perhaps it will be objected: "We are Christians; we are renewed by Holy Baptism, by which all the ailments of fallen nature are healed, the image and likeness of God are restored in their original grace, the Holy Spirit is implanted in man, and the damage to the qualities and therefore of love is destroyed." So! but the grace-filled state of renewal and renewal brought about by Holy Baptism needs to be maintained by living according to the Gospel commandments. If ye keep My commandments, said the Lord, ye shall abide in My love. Be in Me, and I in you. As the rod cannot bring forth fruit for itself, unless it be on the vine, so are you, unless you abide in Me. If anyone does not abide in Me, he will be cast out like a rod, and will dry up: and they gather it and put it into the fire, and it will be burned. He who does not maintain the acquisitions granted by Holy Baptism, by living according to the commandments, loses what he has acquired. "The ineffable and terrible glory," says St. John Chrysostom, "which is brought about by Baptism, remains in us for one or two days; then we extinguish it, bringing upon it a storm of worldly cares and covering the rays with thick clouds" [79]. Having come to life through Baptism, we again mortify ourselves by life according to the flesh, by life for sin, for earthly pleasures and acquisitions. The holy Apostle Paul said: "Thou shalt not live according to the flesh, but according to the flesh." But those who are in the flesh cannot please God. For the wisdom of the flesh is death [80]. The grace of Baptism remains inactive, like a bright sun covered by clouds, like a precious talent buried in the ground. Sin begins to act in us with all its force, or even more strongly than before Baptism, according to the degree to which we give ourselves over to sinfulness. But the spiritual treasure given to us is not completely taken away from us until death, and we can reveal it again in all its power and glory through repentance. Repentance for a sinful life, sorrow over sins voluntary and involuntary, struggle with sinful habits, effort to overcome them and sorrow over their forcible defeat, forcing ourselves to fulfill all the Gospel commandments – this is our lot. We are to ask forgiveness from God, to be reconciled to Him, to atone for unfaithfulness by faithfulness to Him, to replace friendship with sin by hatred of sin. Those who are reconciled are characterized by holy love. It is not so much that we seek it, as God seeks that we may be able to receive it and receive it. Having convicted of error the one who was satisfied with himself in his self-conceit and blindness, calling him to zealous repentance, the Lord pronounced the following consolation and promise: Behold, I stand at the doors, and there is no understanding: if any man hear My voice, and open the doors, I will come to him, and sup with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcome, and sit with My Father on His throne [82]. This is what All-Holy Love says. The feeling of love which the sinner ascribes to himself, who never ceases to drown in sins, which he ascribes to himself unnaturally and proudly, is nothing but a deceptive, forced play of feelings, an indistinct creation of dreaminess and self-conceit. Everyone who sins does not see Him, nor know Him,[83] God, Who is Love.

Let us turn to the citizens of the deserts, caves, abysses of the earth, to those of the people who are not worthy of the whole world, to the venerable monks who were engaged in the highest of sciences, the science brought by the Lord from heaven. This science is the knowledge of God and, through the means of true, experienced knowledge of God, the knowledge of man. The sages of this world have worked and are working in vain to acquire this knowledge in the light of their own minds, darkened by the fall. The light of Christ is needed here! only by the radiance of this light can man see God, see himself. Illumined by the light of Christ, the venerable wilderness dwellers labored in the village of their hearts, and found on it the precious beads – love for God. In their divinely inspired writings, they warn us against the calamities that usually follow the premature search for love. St. Isaac of Syria discusses this subject with particular clarity. From his writings we write out several testimonies and the most spiritually useful instructions.

"The All-Wise Lord," says the great instructor of monastics, "is pleased that we eat spiritual bread in the sweat of our brow. He established this not out of malice, but so that indigestion would not occur, and we would not die. Each virtue is the mother of the one that follows it. If you leave the mother who gives birth to virtues, and strive to seek out daughters before acquiring their mother, then these virtues become vipers for the soul. If you do not reject them, you will soon die" [84]. Spiritual reason will naturally follow the practice of virtues. Both are preceded by fear and love. Again, fear precedes love. Anyone who shamelessly asserts that it is possible to acquire what follows, "without first practicing in the preceding, has undoubtedly laid the first foundation of destruction for his soul. The Lord has established such a path that the last is born of the first" [85].

In the 55th Sermon, which serves as a response to the epistle of St. Simeon the Wonderworker, St. Isaac says: "You wrote in your epistle that your soul loved to love God, but that you have not reached the point of loving, although you have a great desire to love. To this you add that the hermitage in the wilderness is desired by you, that purity of heart began in you, and that the memory of God is greatly inflamed in your heart, kindling it. If this is true, then it is great. But I would not like it to be written by you, because there is no order in it. But if you have told for the sake of the question, then the order of the question is different. Whoever says that his soul does not yet have boldness in prayer, because it has not conquered the passions, how dare he say that his soul has loved to love God? There is no way to arouse in the soul the Divine love, after which you mysteriously walk in hermitage, if the soul has not conquered the passions. You said that your soul did not conquer the passions, but loved to love God: there is no order in this. He who says that he has not conquered the passions, but loves to love God, I do not know what he says. "You will object: I did not say I love, I will love to love. And this is not the case if the soul has not attained purity. If you want to say an ordinary word, then you are not the only one who speaks, but everyone says that he desires to love God; this is said not only by Christians, but also by those who worship God wrongly. This word is usually said by everyone. But at such words only the tongue moves, while the soul does not feel what is being said. Many patients do not even know that they are sick. Malice is a disease of the soul, and delusion is the loss of truth. Very many, infected with these ailments, proclaim their health, and are praised by many. If the soul is not cured of malice and does not acquire the natural health in which it was created, if it is not reborn into health by the Spirit, then it is impossible for a person to wish for anything higher than natural, proper to the Spirit, because the soul, as long as it is in illness because of the passions, is not yet able to feel the spiritual with its sensation and does not know how to desire it, but desires only from hearing and reading the Scriptures."