SUDDENLY THE JUDGE WILL COME!

SUDDENLY THE JUDGE WILL COME!

  The Church of Christ in its continuous Orthodox confession says, not once, but at every reading of the Creed:   “He shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and His kingdom has no end.”  The year or date makes no difference to any of us, for we are all a heartbeat away from judgment.  To ignore this is disaster and horror, but to heed it is a call to happiness, joy and eternal life.

 Accidents and sickness can shorten our days, including war and insurrection as well as crime. There is no guarantee as to how long this life will last and how soon we will leave this world to face the Judge, who will judge justly , bestowing mercy only upon those who called upon Him., and obeyed His commandments.

 Without any warning, all of a sudden, shrill angelic trumpets will sound and be heard by every person in every corner of the earth. In a moment, the wicked and sinful, the unbelievers and haters of Christ, will be terrified of this great event and seeking death they will not find it. “They will cry out to the mountains and rocks; Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand.” (Rev. 6:16-17).

   Those who wasted their days in vain pursuits, in searching for riches, full bellies, and various  entertainment, will be terrified realizing that they are no better than those who cried: “Away with Him! Crucify Him!. They will remember having heard of the Resurrection but giving it little attention. They never picked up their Bibles so that God could communicate with them. Scoffers will hang their heads in shame and seek repentance but not find it, for it is too late.

ORTHODOXY THE CHURCH OF CHRIST PART 2 SEEKS NOT UNION BUT RETURN OF THOSE OUTSIDE

ORTHODOXY THE  CHURCH OF CHRIST PART 2

SEEKS NOT  UNION BUT RETURN OF THOSE OUTSIDE

These phrases are a second group which show how well truthful sober-minded Roman Catholics and Protestants admire and glorify the Orthodox Church!

      The Church headed by the Godman, like Him, is both divine and human, it is a living Church having an active divine and human life. Each of us  walk into the holy church bearing our  human bodies and divine spirits, indeed to offer worship to God, but the worship is productive, helping us to be sanctified undergo a transition from carnal humanity to divine spirituality. Jesus Christ is the perfect man in the image and likeness of God which each one of us must become, by personal  ascetic struggle.  All these things are taught to us in the  Gospel and Epistle readings and the hymnology.  We cannot say that we are uninformed, the reason is our not caring. The holy mysteries supply the food for energy and power to complete this transition., as we  and we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God, who , on the last day, will grant us eternal life out of His great and rich mercy.

      In 1951, Professor U. Kury, in the Internationale Kirchliche Zeitschrift, pointed out that the Orthodox Church gave the impression of a powerful society which was conscious of its mission and surged from within new ideas and enterprises.  Let us praise God that the Orthodox Church which has suffered countless persecutions at the hand of barbarians of various times and has been so much mocked by many so-called Christians, today sees the truth being restored and hears it confessed that she is a “Living Church”. In view of this acknowledgment let us be encouraged to continue the effort for this final establishment of the truth. It is time for the propaganda from without, which has done so much harm with slanderous statements about Orthodoxy, to keep silent and acknowledge reality. It is time for the non-Orthodox of the West to put a stop to their proselytizing activities and pay more attention to the life of the Orthodox Church.