Thus, we must know that the grace of the All-Holy Spirit comes to everyone who believes in Christ, not for the good works that he did before (if it came for good works, then there would be no grace, but payment for works), but it comes from God for faith, comes before all good works, and already on it, as on a firm foundation, good works are arranged, which are perfect only with the help of grace; so that the deeds that occur without the grace of the All-Holy Spirit are not counted by God for anything, as if they did not exist at all. Good is no longer good if it is not done good, but it is impossible for good to be done good without the grace of Christ. If this were possible, God would not have come to earth to be made man, in order to bestow such grace upon men, by the help of which alone every good can be done well. And blessed is the man who has come to know that by the grace of Christ every good can be done well; but he who has not known these things is cursed, he keeps the faith of Christ in vain.

That is why the majority of people, when they sing psalms and prayers, only pronounce psalms and prayers with their lips, and their minds converse with demons, because it is they, the demons, who ground his mind and circle it in vain, worldly, carnal, vindictive thoughts, so that good, prayer and psalmody would not be done in a good way, that is, in a proper, God-pleasing way. Is it not obvious from this that good cannot be good done without the grace of Christ? If it is impossible for good to be good without the grace of God, then what true good can a man boast of, as if it were his own work? No. That is why true Christians, who realize that they have nothing good in themselves, but everything from the grace of God, are always humble and contrite, which is the sign of true Christians. And arrogance, arrogance, vanity, audacity, pride, love of glory and ostentatious humility, which happens for the sake of glory for the sake of people, are the signs of not true Christians.

3. Thus, faith and good works are two things that are inseparably linked with each other. Faith is for good works, but good works are done not for faith, but through faith. Without faith, no one can do truly good deeds and please God, because for the sake of faith the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ comes to the one who believes in Him. To the extent of the faith that one shows, grace is also given. He who has great faith is given great grace; who has little faith, little grace. But even then it must be remembered that faith alone, even if it is true and Orthodox, will not bring any benefit to the one who believes in this way, without good works. The manifestation of faith is the power that comes from faith; and the manifestation of power is the zealous practice of God's commandments and God-pleasing works. For life action (energy) comes from the power that one can possess to do anything. Thus, since it is impossible to please God without faith (God is pleased with good works), it is evident that faith gives us the strength to do good and God-pleasing works according to the will of God. Faith here, in relation to what I am saying, is of course not only to believe in Christ and in all His words, but even more so to dare in Christ and to bear in our hearts the assurance that by the power of Christ we can be freed from evil, and accomplish every virtue, as the holy Apostle Paul confessed, saying: "More than all have you labored: not I, but the grace of God, which is with me (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Thus, whoever has not been vouchsafed to receive the grace of Christ and to know it intelligently inherent in his soul, he in vain bears the name of a Christian; He is the same as the infidels. He may think that he avoids all evil and passes through every virtue, but in truth a liar is also a pretender. Let such a person work, but his labor is in vain. Let him distribute all his possessions to the poor, fast, keep vigils, sleep on the bare ground, pray, crying out: Lord, have mercy! But if he does not bear in his heart the conviction that the grace of God, given for the faith, is the mercy of God, and does not seek to receive this grace alone above all else; if he did not even think that it was only for the sake of receiving this grace that he gave away his possessions and subjected himself to deprivation and suffering to everyone; if he does not strive for this purpose, in order either to receive grace for the first time through Baptism, or, if he had it and it departed because of his sin, to return it again through repentance, confession and self-abasement, but gives alms, fasts, performs vigils, prays, and so on, not with this one purpose and not for this one end, but thinks that he does glorious virtues and good deeds that are valuable in themselves before God - then in vain he troubles and exhausts himself.

It is this goal, which I have mentioned, that is the hidden mystery of Christianity from the beginning of the world, which appeared in the last times (Col. 1:26). Paul means it when he says of God that He desires to be saved by all men, and to come to the understanding of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). For the knowledge of the truth is nothing else but this very grace. It is the truth which Jesus Christ was, according to the Holy Gospel (John 1:17). And it is impossible for a Christian to find mercy with God if he does not know this grace. For just as Christ could not work signs and wonders for unbelievers, so He cannot have mercy on anyone who, although they believe in Him, have not previously come to know that the grace of Christ, given by Him and through Him, is mercy and salvation itself. It is impossible for anyone to be saved in any other way unless he receives the Divine grace to deify him, or to make him a god by grace. Let us, brethren, dispose ourselves to this one end to do all our work, that is, to receive and know God's grace and mercy in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom be glory and dominion, with His Father without beginning and His All-Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The Nineteenth Word. 1. The soul is purified through faith and the fulfillment of Christ's commandments. 2. She is clothed from above with the descending power of the Holy Spirit and is vouchsafed to behold God. 3. Those who wish to receive good from God must joyfully endure every sorrow, suffering, and temptation that meets them. 4. Everyone should consider himself whether he is worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven.

The mind, united with God by faith, having come to know Him by the practice of virtues, and having been vouchsafed to behold Him by contemplation, sees wondrous and most glorious miracles. He is completely illumined and becomes like light, although he cannot understand and express what he sees. For the intellect itself is then the light and sees the Light of all, that is, God, and this light which it sees is life, and gives life to him who sees it. The mind sees itself completely united with this light and is soberly awake. He realizes that this light is within his soul, and he is amazed; but being amazed, he sees him as if he were far from him; then, having come to his senses, he again finds this light within; and thus finds neither words nor thoughts what to say or what to think of the light which he sees. Who, hearing this sacrament, will not be amazed, and, being amazed, will not run to Christ? Who does not wish to behold these miracles of God for himself? And who does not love Him Who gives us such glorious gifts without price?

2. Let us strive then, my beloved brethren, to gain Christ and see how wondrous He is in His beauty and sweetness. He Himself says: "If you have My commandments, and keep them, you will love Me: but if you love Me, you will be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and I will appear to him Myself (John 14:21). And then he adds: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him (23). This one who loves God and His commandments is clothed from above with the descending power of the Holy Spirit, Who does not appear sensually, in the form of fire, and does not come with a great noise and stormy breath (this was accomplished only in the Apostles - for unbelievers), but is seen intelligently, like an intelligent light, and comes with quietness, bringing joy - which is the reflection of the first eternal light and the reflection of unceasing bliss. As soon as this light shines in the spirit, every impure thought immediately disappears, every passion of the soul is expelled, and every bodily infirmity receives healing. Then the eyes of the heart, the mind and the thought, are purified, and they see God, as it is written in the Gospel about the Beatitudes. Then the soul, as in a mirror, sees all even the slightest of its sins and comes to the greatest humility; Thinking about the greatness of this glory, he is filled with all joy and gladness, and, marveling at the unexpected miracle he sees, sheds abundant tears. Thus, at last, the whole man is completely changed and comes to know God, having himself previously been known from God. This grace of the All-Holy Spirit alone causes a person to despise everything earthly and heavenly, present and future, joyful and sorrowful. It makes him a friend and a son of God and a god, as far as this is possible for a man. Oh, how majestic are the gifts of God!

Almost everyone is ashamed of weak and poor people: the earthly king does not even want to look at them, the nobles turn away from them, the rich despise them. If it happens to meet such people on the way, they are bypassed, paying no attention to them as if they were insignificant, and no one even thinks that it would be good to enter into contact with them. But the all-good God has forsaken the strong, the wise, and the rich, and has chosen the weak, the foolish, and the poor, according to His great and ineffable goodness. And who is content to thank Him worthily for this alone?! This God, Whom thousands of angels serve, Who bears all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), the greatness of Whose glory no one can endure, this same God was pleased to become the father, and brother, and friend of such outcasts, and to take on human flesh, that He might become like us in all things, except sin, and make us partakers and heirs of His glory and His kingdom. Oh, how great and rich is the goodness, how ineffable is the condescension of our Lord God towards us!

But why, brethren, do we not have recourse to this gracious God, Who loved us so much? Why do we not give our lives to die for the love of Christ and our God, Who died for us? Do we not see how many people, out of addiction to perishable goods, endure great labors, are exposed to great dangers, go to distant places, leaving their wives and children and all the comforts of life, and do not value anything higher and more beautiful than what they desired, and do not give themselves rest until they have achieved their goal? But if these, for the sake of temporal and perishable blessings, take up such a podvig, and in order to obtain them they endanger both their soul and their lives, then is it not in every way fitting for us to give up to death both our souls and our bodies for the sake of our love for the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Creator, Almighty, and Ruler of all creatures? He Himself says in His Holy Gospel, that he who has lost his soul, that is, who is prepared to sacrifice his life for Me and for the sake of the Gospel, or who has made his soul dead for the world, and does not find it occupied with any carnal lust, will save it, but he who gains his soul, that is, he who regrets to give up his life for Me, or who finds his soul occupied with something sinful, will destroy her.

Thus says God, omnipresent and all-containing! Whither shall we, brethren, flee from His presence, or whither shall we go? If we ascend to heaven, there we will find Him; if we descend into hell, and there He is present; if we enter into the depths of the sea, and there we will not flee from His sovereign hand, but His right hand will hold both our souls and our bodies. Therefore, brethren, since we cannot resist the Lord, nor flee from His presence, come, let us rather become servants of that God, Who for our sake was man, took the form of a servant and died for love for us. Come, let us bow down under the strong and invincible hand of Christ, Who exudes eternal and immortal life and fills with it those who seek it in Him, by the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. Come, let us seek Christ, in Whom we clothed ourselves in holy Baptism, but for the sake of our wicked deeds we again cast off Him. When we were baptized, we were still senseless infants, both in age and in mind, and we did not understand how great the sanctification was; then, although we have come to know this, yet, carried away by our youth, we have defiled ourselves with our sins, we have lost the grace of holy Baptism, and we continue to defile both our souls and bodies every day, transgressing the commandments of God. Let us return ourselves again to our former order through repentance, which now remains the only way to our salvation, and let us put it in our hearts to work with all our might in the practice of all kinds of good works, of which we know that they are pleasing to Christ the Lord, that we may again be sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit, and that we may live the rest of our lives blamelessly, having Christ the Saviour as our all-powerful helper, from Whom we shall therefore receive this mercy also, that we shall become worthy to know the mysteries of our God, hidden from the ages and from generations.

3. If we wish to attain that which our soul has loved, that is, the blessings of God's grace, and, being men, to become earthly angels, we must also love sorrow and bodily distress, lift up all suffering, and endure temptations with joy, in the conviction that they will bring us every good.

For this reason, none of those who have been vouchsafed to have Christ desires anything else, and none of those who have been satiated with the love of God has the urge to love anything else here on earth.

Verily, my brethren, there is nothing in the world better than not to have anything of the goods of this world, not to desire to acquire anything more than the necessities of the body, and not to plot to rest your flesh and please it, but to desire only one thing – to live a spiritual life, not to please the flesh in anything in lust (Romans 13:14). As for the necessary necessities of the body, I call bread and water, clothing and shelter, as the Apostle teaches: "Having food and clothing, we shall be filled with them" (1 Timothy 6:8). If there is a need for anything more than this, then in every way, if we believe in God and trust in Him, He, Who gives us more than this and provides for all things, will give it to us. Only let us abandon all the other things that have come into our temporal life, vanity, envy, disputes and quarrels, deceit, murmuring, slander, and in general everything that is hateful to God and causes harm to the soul, and let us love with all our hearts that which God commands, spiritual poverty, or humility, and the unceasing weeping of the day, from which joy and consolation flow into the soul every hour, who love God. From this weeping is born meekness in those who strive in truth, from weeping hunger and thirst for righteousness or every virtue, and always seek the kingdom of God, which surpasses all human understanding; from unceasing weeping they are merciful, and pure in heart, and peacemakers, as if filled with peace, and good-natured in temptations; because of weeping they hate evil; From weeping, divine zeal is kindled in the soul, which does not allow it for a moment to give itself over to the peace of carelessness or to incline to evil together with the wicked, but fills it with courage and strength to endure all kinds of temptations to the end.