Unwillingness to Lose "Gifts" is a Sign of a False Healer

Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov). "Orthodox sorcerers" – who are they?"

Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov)

Repentance is extremely frightening to the enemy of mankind, for it deprives him of his power over the human soul. I can recall a sincere conversation with a very experienced healer, who knew a lot of herbs, naturopathic treatment methods, diet, detoxification, and was conscientious and selflessly kind to people. She was unbaptized and could hardly go to church. She could go only when there was no service, because, as she said, those prayers "disturbed" her. 

- Why don't you get baptized, Marina? 

It is surprising that she was not at all mistaken about the source of the power she used in the treatment and diagnosis: 

- Yes, I am aware that my actions, from the perspective of God, are wrongful, that it may have other consequences than we expect in eternity. But I believe that we should live here and now. And to get baptized... One must repent in order to do so. Could it happen that after I am baptized I will lose these powers? I don't want that... 

So we see that the fear of repentance, the unwillingness to lose those wrongful "gifts" drives an outstanding, gifted person to atheism – the denial of God. 

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Considering oneself Worthy of God is a Demonic Delusion

St Ignatius (Brianchaninov). "On Prelest". Seeing One's Sin.

St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) (1807-1867)

That frightening time will come, that frightening hour will approach when all my sins will appear uncovered before God the judge, before his angels, before all mankind. I foretaste the state of my soul in this terrible hour, and I am filled with horror. Under the influence of this vivid and strong foretaste, I hurry with trepidation to plunge deeply into myself, to examine myself, to inspect the book of my conscience for the sins of deed, word, and thought that are written within.

Books that have been left a long time unread in cabinets become filled with dust and can be eaten away by moth. If someone tries to read such a book, he finds it quite difficult to make out the words. This is my conscience. It has long remained uninspected; it can hardly even be opened. Having opened and read it, I do not find the contentment I expected. Only my grievous sins are clearly written. The smaller sins, which are very many, have been almost completely effaced. And now, I can hardly make out what was written.

God, God alone can return clarity to the faded words and deliver man from an evil conscience (Heb.10:22) God alone can give a man the vision of his own sins. Only through God, can man see his sin and the fall that is the germ, the seed, the summation of all human transgressions.

False Interpretation of the Apocalypse

Priest Dionysius Tatsis

Sayings of the Ascetics of Greece. Compiled by Priest Dionysius Tatsis.

In a monastery on the island of Patmos, there was a monk named Antipas who believed he had seen the Lord. He said that the Lord for three years dictated him the interpretation of the Apocalypse, which he wrote down in a book. Many of the important prophecies, according to this monk, have already been fulfilled. Elder Daniel, having talked with him, persuaded him to burn this interpretation.

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Saint Theophan the Recluse on Discernment

Selected psalms interpreted by Saint Theophan the Recluse.

St. Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)

The truth of God is the commandments: the decisions of the truth of God are God's judgments and determinations of what, when and how things should be done in order to serve the cause of salvation and pleasing God, and not ruin it. This is determined by the well-known "reasoning" of the holy fathers. This is the second requirement for success in the work of God.

This reasoning, or the ability to determine how best to act in which case, is not acquired suddenly, but gradually. At first, he who approaches the way of God usually does not reason himself, but asks everything from those who know how to reason, as it happens in all worldly affairs and undertakings. But then, with strict attention, which was suggested in the previous verse, and with experiments in leadership, deeds after deeds, successfully completed, give the soul the habit of determining something by itself. This skill grows along with the progress of life and is finally established; internal rightness is acquired, which directly and correctly determines what and how to do; the right spirit is renewed in the womb, that is, in a purified heart.This reasoning has two functions: one distinguishes thoughts, the other guesses the indications of God's providence, that is, what God wants from us in this or that case and situation, for everything is from Him, and everything is arranged for our good, for our salvation.

St Leo Understood that the “Foreseeing” Monk is in a Devilish Delusion

From the Life of St Leo of Optina

 

Elder Leo of Optina (1768 - 1841)

As an example of a spiritual discernment, the following story is given. At the end of the 20s or at the beginning of the 30s, the Elder Fr. Leonid visited the Sofronieva Hermitage in Putivl District, Kursk Province. At that time, Hieroschemamonk Theodosius lived there in a hermitage in the garden, and many considered him a spiritual and clairvoyant man, because he predicted in his time the Patriotic War of 1812 and some other events. Fr Leonid found his spiritual condition questionable. After talking with the hermit, the Elder asked him, how he knew and foretold the future. The hermit answered that the Holy Spirit disclosed him the future. When further asked by the Elder, in what way did He disclose it, he explained that the Holy Spirit appeared to him in the form of a dove and spoke to him with a human voice. Seeing that this was an obvious delusion of the enemy, Fr. Leonid began to warn the recluse that such things should not be trusted. But he was offended, and with indignation objected to the Elder, “I thought that you, like the others, wanted to get useful things from me, and you came to teach me!” After that, the Elder Fr. Leonid withdrew and, leaving the monastery, said to the abbot, “Take care of your holy recluse, lest anything bad happens to him.” Barely had Fr. Leonid reached Oryol, when he learned there that poor Theodosius had hanged himself. From this, we may conclude that although this hermit was in the delusion of the enemy, the mercy of God did not entirely depart from him. However, when he rejected the benevolent warning of the wise and experienced Elder, the Lord forsook him, and he died such a horrible death.

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The Beginning of Love for Enemies - at Least do them no Harm

Elder John (Krestiankin) (1910 - 5.2.2006)

"Do Love the Love. Memories of the Spiritual Father - Archimandrite John (Krestiankin)". Compiled by T.S. Smirnova.

Deacon Dmitry Polyakov recalls.

Once, on one of my visits, in a conversation with Father John, the topic of love for enemies was touched upon. I wondered how it is possible to love enemies? Father spoke for a long time and convincingly, using the example of the holy fathers and ascetics of the faith, about the possibility and necessity of pitying and loving our enemies. But, apparently, realizing that his words did not reach me much, in conclusion he said: “Yes! This is hard and difficult to do. In the initial stage, at least don't make them harm".

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Elder Ephraim on Spiritual Delusion (video)

How we can distinguish when the Devil wants to deceive us? (at 52:17)

Whenever the devil tries to trick you to things that maybe that was a good sign from Jesus and that really was and was the devil, how can you easily distinguish between the two?

The way to distinguish whether or not these spiritual experiences are from the Lord or from the devil is to see what results of them are, what the fruits of them are in our lives. If the experience that we had is from the Lord, accompanied it will be with humility, peace in our soul, and certain spiritual blessings and fruits that come from that: we feel that it is from the Lord. If on the other hand, if there is something from the devil, the results will be different: there will be an uneasiness about it, there will be a discomfort, there will be a spiritual unrest that will be created by the activity of the devil in our lives and of course that sometimes leads to pride. So when we are not sure about a spiritual experience is to whether or not it is from the devil or not or whether it is from the Lord, we are to go for insurance to our spiritual guide, our spiritual father. We do this in order to check ourselves out. We need to go to somebody who help us make this discernment, to find out whether is something of the Lord. If we only depend on ourselves, if we make our own judgment on this, if we in a sense draw our own conclusions about the validity of the experience, we can easily fool ourselves, thinking that this is from the God while in reality it is not from the God, it could be from the devil. That requires a tremendous amount of spiritual discernment in order to be able to make distinction which one is from the devil and which from the Lord. 

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