Can A Demon Confuse You?

No, a demon cannot. When God has made a pronouncement, you can't confuse it with anything else. If you have any doubt, it is probably not from God. God's Word comes directly in the following way: first the fruits of the Holy Spirit come, and then God speaks with the person. In the Epistle to the Galatians, it states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance..." (Galatians 5: 22-23). Here these gifts of the Holy Spirit appear in witness of the fact that the person is approaching closer to God, and then God speaks to him.

We know that right after someone has left the body, he will have to enter a state that is quite unpleasant for him; he will have to encounter evil spirits. As we know, our relations with them are, I would hope, not good. We would very much not want to have good relations with them. Thus, upon encountering the evil spirits, we will have to engage them in battle. To that end, it is necessary not only to examine what we are wearing, but also what weapons we will need to use in doing battle with them. What are these arms ? In Chapter 6 of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul describes in detail the mechanics of preparing for that awful day: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6: 11-13).

The day of death, the day we encounter the dark princes, is an excruciating, fierce day, so it is essential to inventory and take all of the weapons. What must the full armor of God be? St. Theophan the recluse tells us to examine how we are set for armor. What kind of "full armor" should there be? "So, stand, having girded your loins with truth," says Theophan the Recluse. The loins of the mind must be bound with truth.

First and foremost, the body must be clean; fornication, depravity, and things of that ilk must have come to an end. The mind must immerse itself in contemplation of God's dogmas. It is essential that before you die, you examine yourself against dogmatic theology, for anyone entering into Paradise is asked to give the password. Did you know this? They do not let you in without the password. The Symbol of Faith is the password into the Kingdom of God. You cannot get in without it. The very word "symbol" means "password."

Can We Every Forget It?

 If you have never thought about it, you will, of course forget it; if you were interested in it, you will not forget it. Thus, you first have to examine yourself against the Faith. Further, it is essential to put on the "breastplate of righteousness," i.e. to check whether at that moment you are obeying all of the Commandments or not. Then, "your feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace." That is to say, you must put on footwear, but what footwear? You must put on readiness to walk [following] along the Gospels into the world of God. Are you ever ready to always walk in accordance with the Gospels? You have to examine yourself.

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherefore ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked..". Look and see to what extent you trust in God. Examine yourselves in terms of despondency or despair; can you easily push them away, or no?. If it is not easy for you, ask God for an increase of faith.

Yes, moving on. "And take the helmet of salvation."The helmet of salvation is resolute hope in salvation from God. Now, as to the battle. Remember that your arms were given to you for use in battle: the helmet - so that you would hope in salvation, the sword - so that with the word of God, you might do battle with the demons, and so that with prayers, with the word of God, you might drive them out. You have to have a firm grasp of the dogmas so that no demon can knock you off track, and so that everything needed for righteousness might be at the ready.

"And the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." First of all, read God's word. I think, for example, that if one is taken ill with some serious, potentially fatal disease, he should re-read all of the Sacred Scriptures, from beginning to end, or at least begin to do so. Please remember that we use God's word not just as a text, but as the highest form of prayer. After all, what is the difference between Orthodox prayer and sectarian prayer? Sectarians pray using their own words, while the Orthodox pray with the Bible. Thus, their saying that the Orthodox are not "biblical" is nonsense. It is the sectarians that are not biblical. They have torn pieces out of the Bible, and shove them in without any reason, knowing nothing. I myself have debated with Protestants. You show them a certain passage, and they say, "Oh, we did not know that." They learn individual citations by heart, but do not perceive the Bible as something that is an organic whole.

We Christians pray with the Word of God, and live by It. Have you ever noticed just how much from the Bible is read during the service? It is almost the entire service. Even the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is thoroughly permeated with the Bible. That is why we attend to the Word of God, and pray through the Word. Do you understand? We teach ourselves to pray without ceasing. God's Commandment calls for us to pray without ceasing, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always..." (Luke 21: 36). We should examine ourselves to see whether we are praying without ceasing or not. This is especially evident when we are flooded with attacks of fear. The prince of darkness is behind that, and the only means to drive him away is prayer. We are not ready for that. What should we do? We need to turn off all of our thoughts.

Teach yourself that, and without fail, memorize the requisite technique: Turn off all your thoughts, and focus all of your attention on the words of the prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner. Most-holy Lady Theotokos, help me. O Lord, through the power of the Honorable Cross, protect me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen." Cast aside all arguments; even if they are the very most persuasive ideas, they come from Satan, and are intended to drive you to despondency and destruction. This is a preliminary, probing attack; the strongest attack will come right after your death, and thus it is essential that you prepare yourself for it.

Now as to how those near and dear to us can help. If we ourselves are unable to go to God's church, we should ask them to bring a priest to visit us at home as often as possible. It is especially important to strive to commune on the actual day of your death, for according to ancient tradition, confirmed by experience, one who has worthily communed of the Body and Blood of the Lord cannot be attacked by Satan for he has Christ within him.

As the Apostle Paul says, one who communes with the Lord becomes one in spirit with the Lord (I Corinthians 10:16-17). Do you understand? This is why the devil has much greater problems dealing with such Christians. It's very good to pray to St. Barbara and ask that we not have a sudden death. Remember St. Barbara.