“THE LOGOS BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US”

“And the Logos (word) became flesh . . .full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

     The divine Logos is God and it was the Logos of the Father who came down and dwelt in the womb of the Virgin Mary in order to become a man among men. This is among the greatest of events ever to occur, for He the God who thought of creating a man with full freedom to do as He wills and the first man He created was Adam, from whom He also made Eve and married them.

    He had a wonderful way of life prepared for them and everything was beautiful and there was no death. But disregarding the warning of God concerning possible death, Eve succumbed, then Adam to the deceptive words of the Devil who promised that she could disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit, even though God had warned them not to eat of the tree: “On the day you eat you shall surely die.” The Devil who appeared to her in the form of a serpent was successful in deceiving her which caused sin and death to come into the pristine world.

     Of course the Lord knew that this would take place as there is no ignorance in Him, and His eternal plan alone would be successful and would overthrow the Devil’s authority and nullify his power. He would not only overthrow the Devil’s plan but God would also fulfill His majestic plan for the sake of which He established the heavens and earth. The wisdom of God being perfect can never be overcome for it is divine.

God’s original plan is filled with His compassion and love and He will fulfill a double purpose. His original plan is found in the beginning of the Book of Genesis: “Let us make man in our own image and likeness.” This was the destination of the first man, who, instead of becoming  a perfect man, he became a prisoner of sin and death in Hades.

“And the Logos became flesh . . . “

     But God the Son and Logos following His unchanged and original plan would become flesh and become the first man among many being perfect in His image and likeness.  He would strip away the power of the deceiving Devil, who through the power of death tyrannized man, fomenting misery, evil, hatred and death to become a part of their daily lives. Also Christ would save man from death by putting death to death by His own death. “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.” Death is no longer a threat to those who follow Christ, but is the door to eternal live and the joy of our Lord.

CHRIST IN OUR HEARTS

     Many may say that they have Jesus Christ, but this could mean that they have Him on their tongue. Others may have him on a paper icon and say that he has Christ and honors Him. Another may have a framed image of the Lord hanging on the wall telling others that he honors Him as his Lord. But Christ does not need honor from us nor does He accept this as true worship. Christ seeks much more for He seeks the hearts of men as His dwelling place. And those who have Christ feel His presence in their hearts   where they love and magnify Him.  Thus, it is only when Christ dwells in our hearts that He becomes our Master and God.  If we are not aware of His presence within our souls, all we must do is ask and ask again, and if we are sincere, He will come and dwell in us and make us aware of His presence.. 

     What is man composed of  and where is his heart?  Man is the image of God, who was created body and soul from the clay of the earth, and then a breath or spirit of life was breathed by God into the first man’s body and soul, and he received life from the spirit of life and became a living soul. The Bible does not say that God breathed a soul into man for the soul was not breathed into Him, rather the soul comes from the earth.  Thus, God did breathe a spirit of life and not a soul out of himself into man. 

     Man is formed of body, soul and spirit. The soul of man has three faculties which are intellect, affection or feelings and a free will. Man’s intellectual faculty is located in his head, which is also called the mind through which he cognizes, responds and remembers. He has a heart with which he feels love and hate, joy and sorrow, his heart being located in his breast. Man has a will also located in his breast, which decides what to accept or reject, or whether something is true or false. So we must know God through our minds and love Him with all our hearts, and firmly decide with our will to obey and worship Him in spirit and truth. 

     If Christ is not in our heart, but on paper or on a wall, then He is a plaything, for God must be worshiped as the first commandment says “with all our hearts, in spirit and in truth.” Our hearts are small organs but God can does choose to dwell in our hearts and He will fill them abundantly to overflowing if we approach Him in deep and abiding faith and if we open widely the doors of our hearts to Him. God is life and is the source of all life and by His dwelling in us, He causes our hearts to be filled with His life and delightfully enjoy the love He offers to all. We in turn, upon being aware that our life comes from God, will gladly return our deepest and sincere love to Him, and this mutual love will cause our hearts to jump for joy as we thrive on His sweetest love.

For these things to take place, we must  read the Bible every day, giving our attention to the many important things which God clearly tells us; we must with all our strength strive to do all that He commands. We must not have the Lord only on paper icon or in a frame on the wall, but must have Christ living within our hearts and there He will quench our thirst; such consequent delight and joy cannot be found elsewhere. But we cannot we cannot welcome and invite the Lord if we have any contrary or corrupt ideas or thoughts in our hearts for they are poisonous. We must say with David the Psalmist: “Create in me a clean heart O God and renew an upright spirit within me.”

OUR RELATIONS WITH GOD

   OUR RELATIONS WITH GOD

     “God is the Lord and has revealed himself to us, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” The Jewish people were once the people of God or the people who knew the true God and worshiped Him in spirit and truth. But when He came down as the Son and Logos and was born as a male child from the Ever-virgin Mary, the Jews ended up by rejecting Him completely and worked against Him.  They supported the wicked rulers when they decided to kill Him by nailing Him to the Cross, and enthusiastically agreed., crting: Let Him be cricified! They lost the greatest treasure that can ever be known to man and in doing this they condemned themselves to eternal perdition.

     Jesus Christ is the Son and divine Logos of God and therefore He is God and man. When Jesus opens His mouth and speaks, every word is directly from God the Father for He is one with the Father. Jesus said: “I am the light of the world, he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

     When the Jews committed Christ to the Cross, although some did accept Him, the majority did not want him, crying for his death. No man spoke like this man, declared many. Indeed!  Jesus had said: “I am the bread that came down from heaven! He spoke as our Creator and God to us humans, and He spoke with complete authority and extreme love for man. We must remember that Love of the Creator for His humble creatures cannot be neglected without consideration.

     But are not we Orthodox Christians treating Christ with similar disrespect as the Jews who thereby committed their bodies and souls to eternal suffering? Christ did not just speak a few words, He taught a complete change in our way of life. “Depart from evil and do good.” He taught is that the kingdom of God was more important than all food and drink, more important than wife and children, than life or death! We need to train ourselves to completely love God who is good even more than we love anyone or anything else. Our present life may end sooner than we think and we will be judged for what we have believed and what we have done. Today is the day of repentance and prayer to God for tomorrow may be too late!

     In this world we get so used to catering to our body and its desires that we can think of nothing else, and for people who have no faith or hope in the future life, this is their way of live.  We however, if we desire eternal life need to prepare for the future while we are still in this world, for there is no way to change after death removes us from this life bringing us to the terrible judgment. The most important thing is that Jesus Christ teaches us all through the Scripture what we should do, but if we do not habitually read the Bible every day, how can we become informed. Scriptures are filled with life and without them we are dead to spiritual life and to God, who speaks to us through Scripture.

ORTHODOX TEACHING ABOUT GOD 

     There is only one God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in nature and essence. We Orthodox repeatedly confess in our Creed that there is only one God, the Creator of all that exists. The foolish idea replacing God with “Mother Nature” is a modern hoax conceived by unbelievers who in their imaginations invented a fictional character in the attempt to justify their denial of the true God, and Creator of heaven and earth. We also realize that God does everything with a perfect purpose,  most especially His wonderful formation of mankind in His own image, and the freedom for us  to attain to the perfection of His likeness. These thoughts should arouse in our minds the purpose for which God created us, and this in turn should arouse in our hearts extreme love and respect for our God and admiration for all His works, further  it will inspire us to greatly honor and care for all of the Lord’s creation. In turn, we will observe more of the beauty that surrounds us, but we will especially observe  the extreme beauty of our Creator which His creation slightly proclaims and which reveals  some of His eternal beauty. 

     Because God never ceases to be one in three, God is a monad which is important for if the monad did not exist, there could be no numbers nor anything else, for the monad is necessary for additional  numbers to exist; and without numbers there would be no God or creation, in addition everything God made is necessary and  there is nothing superfluous. The firm belief in the oneness of God we Orthodox proclaim in saying the Creed of ourHoly Church: “I believe in one God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten . . . ” All creation by its countless visible wonders, repeatedly proclaims God’s innermost divine beauty.

ORTHODOX VIEWS OF GOD

ORTHODOX VIEWS OF GOD

      We apply the name “God” to the foremost, the most high and self-existent supreme Being, who is the source of everything that exists. God created everything from nothing and thus is the only source of everything.  He is self-sufficient having no needs, and everything that has existence receives it from God.

     God (Theos) exists forever not in time for He is eternity having neither beginning nor end, but He gives existence to everything that exists. When God spoke to Moses he declared His existence to him, saying: "I Am who  I am, or I Am the Being." The Being is a more descriptive name for God for He is the Being from whom everything that exists comes to be.

     God has eternal perfect existence and there is no other god but the Being and Creator of all that exists. Reason testifies that there can only be one God, and it is impossible for any other god to exist. Christianity teaches more about God than Moses and the Prophets, due to increased divine revelation.

     Christ revealed His Father in heaven from whom He is eternally begotten and the Spirit who eternally proceeds from the Father. Therefore Christianity teaches that the one God is a Trinity, three hypostases and one God, or one in three and three in one – Father Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity. The teaching that God is one was taught by God himself in the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods beside me” (Exodus 20:2-3). When addressing Moses, God spoke as an individual, not as a plurality: “I Am who I Am”   “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4) “Before me there was no other God. And after me there shall be none” (Isaiah 43:10). God is one in nature and in essence, and being self-existent He is perfect in every way. 

     This doctrine means that God is the one who establishes to the potential unity and peace of the human race, for w He made us one in Christ, united in the Church which is Christ’s Body and the Church is one there being no other church. We continually confess this oneness and unity of our Church each time we say in the Creed: “I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”

     The perfect life that God planned for man has been maliciously affected by Satan who sneakily introduced violation of God’ law causing  sin to enter the lives of man, followed by the many ills stemming from inevitable death.  Crimes, murder, wars and every ill that afflicts man are not the creation of God. But God permits this condition for a time but in time will destroy them and they will never return. But God’s plans are being fulfilled in the holy Church, wherein are those who seek love and peace with God and with each other, are sanctified.

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 6

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 6

Chapter 17 (this chapter continued from previous issue)

     “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast full of the names of blasphemy and having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and  decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of  the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with   great astonishment.”

     "And the angel said unto me, For what reason did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was, is not and shall ascend out of the abyss and go to perdition. And they who dwell on earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, yet is.  And here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he must continue for a short while. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goes into perdition And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom yet; but receive authority for one hour with the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, and chosen and faithful. And he said unto me, the waters which you saw where the whore sits, are people, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth.”

     “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drink of the wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are increasingly enriched through the abundance of her delicacies.  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that you not be partakers  of her sins and that you not receive her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. How much she has glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give to her, for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”

      “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH". The whore  is a mystery because men cannot really see who she is, instead they see the Pope and his super power and divine authority. "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of  the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with   great astonishment.”

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 5

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 5

Chapter 17

     “And there came one of the seven angels which has the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come here, I will show unto you the judgment of the great whore that sits upon many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast full of the names of blasphemy and having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and  decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abomin-ations and filthiness of her fornication and upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of  the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her, I wondered with   great astonishment.”

     ‘And the angel said unto me, For what reason did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that you saw was, is not and shall ascend out of the abyss and go to perdition. And they who dwell on earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, yet is.  And here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And there are seven kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he comes, he must continue for a short while. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goes into perdition And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom yet; but receive authority for one hour with the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them; for he is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with him are called, and chosen and faithful. And he said unto me, the waters which you saw where the whore sits, are people, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, these shall hate the whore and shall make her desolate, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city that reigns over the kings of the earth. And after these things saw another angel come down from heaven, having great  authority and the earth was brightened with his glory”.

     “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of demons, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drink of the wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are increasingly enriched through the abundance of her delicacies.  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that you not be partakers  of her sins and that you not receive her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she has filled fill to her double. How much she has glorified herself and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give to her, for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and I am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 4

     "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercised all the authority of the first beast before him and causes the earth and them who dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. And he does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the earth by means of these miracles which he had the power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image of the beast which has the wound by a sword and did live. And he had authority to give life to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not adore the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads; and that no one might buy or sell, except he that had the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man; and his number is six-hundred threescore and six (666)" (Rev. 13:11-18).

      The woman clothed with the sun typifies the Holy Orthodox Church; the beast rising from the sea typifies Islam, but the second beast that we see rising from the earth typifies the papacy headed by the infallible Pope of Rome. The differences are that the beast of the sea contains many barbaric-like people, while the beast of the earth represents apparently civilized men. The authority of both these beasts is first religious and second political and warlike. In the same way that Mohammed appeared in the world as the one and only apostle if God, so the Pope appeared as the one and only apostle of God, enforcing his acceptance as a religious and political leader, for he claims to be both arch-priest and king! The objective of both of these beasts is the same, the eradication of holy Orthodoxy.

     The differences is that Islam directly denies and blasphemes Jesus Christ, denying that He is the eternal Son of the Father and is just another prophet; so they deny God as being the eternal Father of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. The Pope comes in the name of Christ as the only custodian of Christianity, and assumes to be the one and only religious and political leader of the entire Christian world.

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 3

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 3

The Beast Coming From the Sea

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns and upon his heads the name of blasphemy . . . and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his wounds as it were wounded to death; and his fatal wound was healed and all the world wondered after the beast.

And they adored the dragon who gave authority unto the beast. And they adored the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given to him a mouth to speak blasphemes and to continue forty and two months. 

And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given to him to make war against the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given to him over all kindred and languages and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall adore him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that lead into captivity shall go into captivity; he that kills with the sword must be killed by the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints” Rev. 13: 1-10).

  The beast described herein was Islam established by Mohammed in 622 AD.,  which in 1299 formed the Ottoman state and in1453 conquered Constantinople, ending the thousand year era of the Byzantine Empire. There are only two entities which continually wage war against the Orthodox Church of Christ, one is Islam and the other is the Papacy, described in Revelation. Orthodoxy is the woman clothed with the sun, the beast rising from the sea is Islam, and the beast rising from the earth is the papacy.

This beast has seven initiated its war against the Church with the first head, with the sacking of Jerusalem by its caliphates and ended it when the seventh head  sacked Constantinople.  It blasphemes the Lord demoting him to be one of the prophets, while he himself, Mohammed, claims to be the last and greatest of all the prophets. He reduces Christ to be a simple prophet, even though He is both God and man, and elevates himself to be greater than Christ the Godman, as the last and greatest of the Prophets.

The first caliphate of the beast sacked the city of Jerusalem. This caliphate was founded in Arabia by Mohammed founder of the new religion which attacked Jesus Christ the Godman, the religion of Christ and of the Gospel. Mohammed’s work goes back to 622 AD.

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 2

PROPHECIES OF REVELATION 2

The Holy Orthodox Church is identified in the Book of Revelation as “the woman clothed with the sun” and she is shown to be pregnant and ready to give birth to her Son. The Devil called the dragon, seeks through his agents, the many heretics, to devour her son when he is born, or dogmatized by the Church, he seeks to destroy the important and divinely inspired true dogmas. The weapons used by the dragon are deception, lies and half-truths, being  the tools by which heretics attack seek to distort and thus destroy truth. 

“And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. He was cast out onto the earth and his angels with him. . .  and when the dragon saw that he was cast out to the earth, he persecuted the woman who had given birth to a man child . . . and the serpent cast out of his mouth water that he might cause her to be carried away and swallowed up by the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”

What is the water that the serpent casts out of his mouth as a river after the woman?  It is the only thing that can come out of his mouth, falsehood, calumny and malevolence. During the heretical attacks of the iconoclasts the Devil’s agents cast insults against icons and branded their adoration as being idolatry.   

The woman clothed with the sun was given two wings of a great eagle to enable her to rise up and away from the attacks of the evil one. Satan soon found out that there was nothing he could do to the woman because of the two great wings, with which she continually evaded him. He cast out of his mouth water which falsehood and distortions in order to destroy truth.  But what was the great eagle and what was the nature of the two wings? The two wings of the great eagle are prayer and fasting and study of the word of God. The Church, during the period of great dragon’s authority, worshiped God in the wilderness in monasteries through prayer and fasting, and they looked forward to the future kingdom of God spurning the temporal and transient things enjoyed by men of authority and wealth and especially by those reigning with the Antichrist.     

Revelation depicts a battle between the evil one and the Church, during the period when it was doing battle with the Devil’s heretics by establishing firm and true dogmas which are held by Orthodoxy until this day.

PROPHECIES OF ABBA AMBO

PROPHECIES OF ABBA AMBO

Speaking to one of his disciples

     An Egyptian ascetic on the Neutron mountain, Abba Ambo, was a contemporary of St. Anthony the Great and was himself great in monastic asceticism.  Born about AD 303, he was one of the first to join Amoun in Nitria. He was illiterate until he was taught the Scriptures as a monk and ordained a Priest in 340. He had two characteristics by which he was especially known; by long training, he sealed his lips, so that no unnecessary word passed through them, and he never ate any bread other than that which he gained by his own labor, plaiting rushes. He was living like an angel of God and, in old age, his face shone as did the face of Moses in ancient times, so that the monks could not look upon it. He did not give a quick answer even to a simple question, without prayer and pondering in his heart.

     This wonderful Saint had clear discernment into the destiny of the living and the dead.  He entered reward in the Lord in the year 374.

      He said to his disciple: I will tell you this, my child, that the days will come when the Christians will add to and will take away, and will alter the books of the Holy Evangelists, and of the Holy Apostles, and of the Divine Prophets, and of the Holy Fathers.  They’ll tone down the Holy Scriptures and will compose troparia, hymns, and writings technologically.  Their minds will be spilled among them, and they will become alienated from its Heavenly Prototype.  For this reason the Holy Father previously encouraged the monks of the desert to write down the lives of the Fathers not onto parchment, but onto paper, because the coming generation will change them to suit their own personal tastes. So you see. The evil that comes will be terrible.

       Then the disciple said: So then, Geronda, the traditions are going to be changed and the practices of Christians?  Maybe there won’t exist enough   priests in the Church when these unfortunate times come?

And the father continued: In those times the love for God in most souls will grow cold and a great sadness will fall onto the world.  One nation shall face-off against another.  People will move away from their own places. Rulers will be confused. The clergy will be thrown into anarchy, and the monks will be inclined to negligence. The Church leaders will consider useless anything concerned with salvation, as much for their own souls as for the souls of their flocks, and they will despise any such concern.  All will show eagerness and energy for every matter regarding their dining table and their appetites.   They will be lazy in their prayers and casual in their criticisms. 

     As for the lives and teachings of the Holy Fathers, they’ll not have any interest to imitate them, nor even to hear them.   But rather they will complain and say that “if we had lived in those times, we’d have behaved like that.” And the bishops shall give way to the powerful in this world, giving answers on different matters only after taking gifts from everywhere and consulting the rational logic of the academics.  The poor man’s rights will not be defended, they’ll afflict widows, and harass orphans. Debauchery will permeate these people.  Most will not believe in God, they’ll hate each other and devour one another like beasts.  The one will steal from the other, they’ll be drunk and will walk about as blind.

The disciple again asked: What can we do, in such a state?

     And Elder AMBO answered: My child, in these time whoever will save his soul and prompt others to be saved will be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.

CHRISTMAS 2015

CHRISTMAS 2015

Christ is born!  Glorify Him!

Christ is on earth! Be exalted!

     Each year we joyfully celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary. The celebration is not simply a commemoration of His birth but is even much more beautiful than this.   His birth of the Virgin Mary without seed is of great importance for through His birth He   was in the process of accomplishing our salvation. No other birth could accomplish what His birth did. For by his Virgin birth, He, being God himself was now in the flesh starting a real battle against our enemy the Devil and the dominion of death. He accomplished this of course and on every Pascha we sing this beautiful hymn: “Christ is risen from the dead trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!” Christ having conquered our enemies did not abandon us and return to heaven, because He is God and is everywhere present at all times, and his battle with evil directly concerns each and every one of us. Yes, He ascended into heaven but not by leaving earth, for He also said: I am with you to the close of the age, until the end of time. 

     Jesus not leaving earth, guides His faithful co-workers and helps them to bring into His holy Church all who desire to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth and how to share in eternal life. And we remember that He is the God man, both God and man and is therefore without limitations ore any form of restriction. We must understand that there are no restrictions in the work of God except those put forth by misled free persons.  Also the fact that God will not force a free person to accept and follow Him against their will. But that constitutes a limitation of the free person and it was God who willingly gives freedom to whom He so wills.

PAPACY BLASPHEMES: MUST NOT RECOGNIZE THEM!

PAPACY BLASPHEMES: MUST NOT RECOGNIZE THEM! 

     Christ utters these divine words:   The Holy Spirit “who proceeds from the Father.” The Papacy challenges Christ and changes His divine teaching by contradicting His words and  adding to their creed that the Spirit proceeds from the Father 

“a n d  t h e  S o n”. In doing this they formed the blasphemous dogma of the Papacy that the Holy Spirit has a double origin one from the Father and one from the Son. That this conception is a modern innovation rising from the foul and evil spirit will be demonstrated.  

     The Father is perfect Mind the Cause and Source of everything that exists. He is beginning without cause. As the Source He begets the perfect Son and Logos and emits the Holy Spirit. So the Son and Holy Spirit derive their being only from the Father (the Orthodox dogma). The existence of the Logos and Holy Spirit, coming from the Father, make it absolutely impossible for the Spirit to be derived in addition from the Son as it does from the Father. For one perfect Spirit comes from one perfect source, the Father, who is one Mind and therefore the only source of the Logos.

For illustration let us assume that one father has two sons, thus both sons owe their existence to the father. It is impossible for one son to owe his existence to the other. It is impossible for a brother at the same time to be the father of his brother and for one son to have two fathers.  This natural impossibility has been made a dogma of faith by the Papacy by the arrogant decision of their infallible head, the pope.

     Father Son and Holy Spirit exist eternally, not in time, for there is no time in the Trinity. The begetting of the Son and emitting of the Holy Spirit are two simultaneous activities and are not successive. By begetting, the Father makes the Son to be and by emitting He makes the Holy Spirit to be. He makes both at the simultaneously and not one after another. The dogma of the Papacy degrades the Father with their addition of the filioque (“a n d  t h e  S o n”) a false and blasphemous dogma. The Latins agree that the Father is self sufficient in bringing forth the Son and Logos, but not in emitting the Holy Spirit. So they introduce a defect in the Father who requires the Son in order to bring forth the Holy Spirit. For they claim, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father must proceed from the Son as well. This is degrading and blasphemous being an assault on the heavenly Father by the Papacy!

THE CHURCH- ITS FORMATION AND PURPOSE

 THE CHURCH- ITS FORMATION AND PURPOSE 

     Our Father and Creator inform us that the Son would now be lead and guide us concerning our responsibilities in the Church. When it was the proper time, when His Son and Logos was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father spoke from heaven to all mankind saying: “This is my beloved Son in who I have well decided, listen to Him.”  Meaning before you is Jesus Christ who will be the Savior and Ruler over the entire race of man. These words of the Father established the fundamental law of the Church founded by the Son.  This means that the Son is the one whom all mankind is required to follow if they desire to gain everlasting life. Following Christ  means to change our own lives to conform with His life. This is a life of struggling to be good and do good without seeking praise and glory.

     When Christ established His Church, He said to Simon: “You are petros (Peter) and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it,” In this Church Christ shall rule as its Head and first spokesman, for the Father established this saying: “This is my beloved Son in whom I have well decided, listen to Him.”   With these words, the Father established that he would be silent and that His Son would henceforth be the divine spokesman.

     The Son sent his Disciples as Apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  They established churches with ruling Bishops and Priests and Deacons to assist them. Christ did not glorify Himself as a great high priest, on the contrary, He was called by the Father to do the glorious work of our redemption and salvation, and in obeying the will of the Father, He denied himself and His own will.

   The Church increased and expanded rapidly in Jerusalem and surrounding territories. This took place despite the fact that they suffered great persecution from the Jews who hated followers of the“crucified one.” Persecutions did not slow the Church’s growth, in fact it contributed to it!

     The genuine members of the Church differed greatly from those who were not true Christians. The attributes of the true Christians are faith, holiness and righteousness. Faith involves being sure and confessing before men that Christ is the Son of the living God.  Holiness consists in the entertaining of pious feelings and thoughts and in a pure disposition of the soul. Righteousness consists in behaving in accordance with the will and law of the heavenly Father. No man can have these three virtues who does not contain Holy Spirit. So a genuine Christian is one who contains Holy Spirit. If we take part in the Church and fail to confess Christ, which is our sacred duty, what can we expect.  For Christ says: “Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, I too will confess him before my Father who is in heaven.” It is evident that we cannot please God without faith, and that we must confess Him to be the Son of the living God before men.

   From the beginning there existed the original Church and many false churches whose purpose was to deceive and destroy men. This remains true to this day for the one Church exists and around us throughout the world are  countless false churches. We are strongly warned with these words from Scripture: “See than no man misleads you; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many; and many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, and shall give signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, were it possible even the elect.”  Today the Papacy stands around the whole world declaring its heresies, posing as the true Church with the claim that the Pope holds the keys needed to get into heaven. With each Protestant sect, the  blind lead the blind as they show others easy ways to be saved without prayer, fasting and almsgiving, without the holy mysteries or sacraments. 

     Those who desire to be saved and acquire everlasting life need to be certain of the way they are traveling. For false churches can save no one but rather they lead to perdition. Only the Orthodox Church can demonstrate that it remains the same Church that Christ founded. It is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, the Ark of salvation. No other Church can make this claim their own.  Only Orthodoxy can establish and show proof of their being the true Church.

  

     Finally, everything we do in this world concerns living and our lives. But if we do not acquire eternal life in this world neither will we acquire it in the world to come, and death is the door to the other world. We will be without excuse as the Lord seeks those who desire what is good and true.

OUR ORTHODOX FAITH

OUR ORTHODOX FAITH

       Orthodoxy is not our possession but it is the true faith existing in heaven and on earth headed by the Godman Jesus Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit, brought to us by  the Apostles, defended and defined by the Fathers and ecumenical Synods, numerous Saints and Confessors, and preserved by all the faithful. We cannot be faithful and treat the Church like a candy store, choosing what we like and rejecting what we dislike. This may take place in other religions but in Orthodoxy we do not have choices for everything it contains is holy and true. The objective of our Faith is to become sanctified and to share in the glory of heaven with all the Saints and Martyrs. In the faith we are always being sanctified and rendered into sons and daughters of God. Peace rules our lives and the continuous struggle for holiness is our daily practice of piety.

   The Church’s originate when Christ responded to Peter’s who declaration: “You are the Christ Son of the living God: Christ replied:  “Upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”  The Orthodox Church remains this church and has preserved all the teaching from the very beginning, and established the dogmas held by the Orthodox Church, which are diligently preserved and guarded by the Holy Spirit.

   During the 2,000 year history of the Church, there have been times of great faith and zeal for truth, and times when the faithful were mostly asleep, or in a state of indifference.  This is the type of era we live in today, but there are small areas where Orthodoxy flourishes. Many leaders of the Church are disinterested and even attacking her truths from within. But the Lord will always protect and preserve the Church which He established.

     There is no superfluity for everything which the Church teaches is of great importance and the Church is the only means of salvation and eternal life available. If we belong to the Church and remain completely disinterested, we can expect no rewards but certain punishment. The Lord did not offer but commanded that we come to Him in faith, for he is the God-man and the purpose of our creation. Jesus Christ teaches us that we must become like Him, saying: “Learn from me for I am meek and humble in my heart.” This is our greatest responsibility while we are on this earth.  If we live mostly for worldly pleasures and just “go to Church” and fail to change ourselves into Christ’s image, we are far from salvation and eternal life.  

     Baptism is Orthodoxy’s unique form of entering the Church founded by Christ and is extremely important, for He established this mystery. Only Orthodox Baptism is performed by three immersions and emmersions in which we die in Christ and arise in His glorious resurrection. We are born from above, that is spiritually and it is a true death of the old man of sin and life in the new man our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are brought into the Church without Baptism are being cheated out of the greatest incoming treasure possible – death into Christ’s death and arising into His Resurrection. They are unbaptized are  still in need of baptism because there is no baptism outside of the Church. The Holy Spirit sanctifies Orthodox waters but not the waters of heresy.

   What is a heretic but one who has no connection with the Church or its head and guide. All outside the Church are disconnected from divine grace which sanctifies the Mysteries through which she sanctifies her faithful. Behind every heresy is the Devil who tries to corrupt the Church with his false teaching and thus render her impotent. Those who promote heresy have abandoned truth and grace and accepted falsehood and emptiness which cannot sanctify anything remaining powerless to all goodness.

     The Church will always remain pure and undefiled because she is divine and human like her Head and this is what distinguishes her from all the groups that call themselves churches. The Lord did not found multiple churches for He said: “Upon this rock I will build my church.” All Scripture refers to the Church singularly as the Lord did. So the idea of many different churches is foreign and thus they remain defiled by the evil one and his helpers. The Church also supplies the necessary food and drink so that the faithful are fed with divine nourishment making them able to do the work of the Church which is to go forth and bring in new members continually, who will baptized and anointed. 

     When we mention that we are going to church this does not refer to the building which is incorrectly referred to as the church but is more correctly called (na-os) or “the temple.” The “church” refers to the gathering of people in the temple. The word used for church in the original Greek is “ecclesia.”

FINE ORTHODOX BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS

FINE  ORTHODOX BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS

BY

Fr. Daniel Sysoev     Moscow, Russia

Orthodox 

Ppriest-Author-Martyr

Instructions For The Immortal

95 pages $7.00

How Can 

I Learn God’s Will?

 89 pages $5.00

Talks on the Passions  

125 pages $7.00

A Sobering Book

(Being an Explanation of parts of the Book of Ecclesiastes)

A Protestant’s Walk Through an Orthodox Church

94 pages  $5.00

How Often Shall One Commune

120 pages $7.00

Marriage to a Believer 

30 pages $3.00

Why Go To Church Every Sunday  

40 pages $4.00

Catechetical Talks 

350 pages $14.OO

(An excellent detailed catechetical source!)

ORTHODOX SIGNING THEIR CROSS

ORTHODOX SIGNING THEIR CROSS 

Introduced to Orthodoxy in the 4th century

by St. Meletios, Patriarch of Antioch 

     For almost 1700 years, Orthodox Christians throughout the world have signed their Cross, as we do now, using thumb and two fingers joined, with two fingers pressed against the palm;  signing to the forehead, to the navel, to the right shoulder and the left. There is nothing in Holy Scripture or the sacred Canons that speaks of this practice of signing, which in the early Church had been made with a single finger, as mentioned by St. John Chrysostom, and this fact bears excellent witness to  the importance of preserving oral tradition.

     It is good to keep in mind that the way we sign ourselves with the Cross was introduced by a great Saint, our holy father, Saint Meletios, Archbishop of Antioch. The way this spread like lightning throughout the Church witnesses its divine inspiration. The Saint was well known for his sincerity and good attitude towards all men, always bearing a radiant countenance and friendly smile, attracting many people to him. He lived and preached the truth about Christ and our Faith, and his character was so outstanding that even the heretical Arians held him in high esteem. The Saint lived during a period when the Arians, who denied Christ’s divinity, were in a majority in Antioch. 

     Erroneously thinking  Meletios to be like-minded with them and their heresy, the Arians cast their votes making him Patriarch of Antioch.  In their battles against truth, the Arians continuously aroused continuous turmoil.  Because of His pure Orthodoxy, the Saint was removed three times from the throne, and driven into exile. His meek and humble nature radiated the grace of Christ from his countenance at all times. 

     There were constant struggles between the Orthodox and heretics which at times became bitter. While St. Meletios was preaching concerning the essential Unity and the Divine Trinity, his own deacon, who was a heretic, ran up and stopped the Bishop’s mouth with his hand. Thus prevented from speaking, St. Meletios raised his arm high, opened his three fingers to their full extent. Then closing his hand he raised his fist, showing the unity and the trinity. The deacon then, took his hand from the Saint’s mouth in order to hold back the Bishop’s hand which enabled St. Meletios to speak again. 

     As the Arians, in a profane manner,  were attempting to obscure the truth with their heretical arguments, God revealed the mystery of the signing of the Cross through this noble man for at the Second Ecumenical Synod, St. Meletios was elaborating the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to the Arians. First he raised his three fingers, separated, but then he brought them together, and at that moment, lightning and fire flashed from his hand before those present. The heretics were put to shame and enlightenment was bestowed upon the Orthodox who witnessed this. Following this, the sign of the Cross with three fingers brought together and the remaining two pointing down, remains the identification of Orthodox Christians worldwide. 

     St. Meletios baptized the young John Chrysostoma and later in 370 AD ordained him as Reader. His acquaintance with St. Meletios had a great affect on St. John’s character, who says about St. Meletios: “It was a truly the greatest delight to see his holy face. Not only when he taught or spoke; when people only looked at him he brought virtue to their souls.” St. Meletios also ordained St. Basil the Great as Deacon. 

     St. Meletios, used the term co-essential (homo-ousios) boldly in his confession of Orthodoxy, for God is known to be three hypostases, one nature and one essence. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in essence and undivided. 

     We greatly honor this sweetest of men, holy and pure, humble and meek who was chosen to be the source of the Orthodox signing themselves with the sign of the Cross. It would be good to remember St. Meletios when we sign ourselves with the Cross.

TO THE HOLYTHEOTOKOS

TO THE HOLY THEOTOKOS

  By St. Nektarios of Pentapolis

Rejoice, Honor of the first-created people
Rejoice, Desire of the forefathers and joy eternal.
Rejoice, Glory of Abraham and of God’s promise,
Rejoice, Sacred daughter, the blessing of all the nations.
Rejoice Ladder of Jacob and radiant dwelling, 
Rejoice, Staff of Aaron and the gate which remains shut.
Rejoice, Graceful daughter, vessel containing the Manna
Rejoice, Throne of the Lord spotless and sanctified.
Rejoice Undefiled Virgin who has been consecrated unto God,
Rejoice, Unhewn mountain burning bush and holy altar,
Rejoice Maiden Full of Grace, my Panaghia.

Through You our race was delivered from the curse
Through You it became worthy of enjoying Paradise.
Through You all of human nature was restored,
Through You, creation which has suffered corruption
was renewed.
Through you, Adam and his offspring were glorified,
Through You, we have received grace, glory, and strength.
Through You, Theotokos, man was reconciled with God,
Through You, Virgin Mother, we are freed from tyranny.
Through You, we became worthy of receiving God’s  
         blessing, 
Through You, the severe and incurable wound was healed.
Through You, we received adoption and salvation,
Through You, we acquired the heavenly kingdom.
Wherefore, I confidently run to you, O Virgin, and from
the depth of my soul, I implore your compassion.

Look upon my humility my Maiden
Send Your aid and strengthen me quickly.
Console me Daughter of the King, my Maiden the Panaghia.
Who are the immediate Consolation of all who sorrow.
The Hope of the hopeless, the solace of the suffering, the
ready Protectress unto those seeking refuge in you.
Remove the sadness and bitterness from my barren soul,
O Virgin and heal me.

ORTHODOX BAPTISM IS CORRECT PROTESTANT DECLARES

ORTHODOX BAPTISM IS CORRECT

PROTESTANT  DECLARES

RESEARCHER OF 1860

SUPPORTS ORTHODOX IMMERSIONS

     Over one-hundred and fifty years ago, in 1860,  a well known Protestant scholar, named T. J. Conant D.D.,  after complete and extensive research, published the results of his work in a book entitled: “The Meaning and Use of Baptism, published by the  American Bible Union, 350 Broome St, Bible Revision Association, Louisville Kentucky, 1860. (entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860.  By the American Bible Union. In the clerk’s Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York).”  

     He researched all possible sources, hoping to solve a major denominational dispute which arose among Protestant sects.  This concerned the meaning of the scriptural Greek word baptizeis (baptize). While some considered immersion to be of no consequence, others deemed it to be of utmost necessity,  the author strongly supports the latter meaning, that the word baptism only means immersion. Confounding the dispute was the biblical passage incorrectly translated:  “baptize with water”, instead of the more accurate“baptize in water.”   Also affecting the discussions was the fact that the Papacy had discontinued immersion and adopted affusion, followed by simply sprinkling. This influenced many Protestant groups to consider immersion as unimportant and even trivial. 

    But the greater dispute concerned the correct meaning of the word “baptize”as used in Scripture, recognized by all as being a Greek derived word.  The author spent years of laborious and extensive research into Church history, the Greek language as used by the ancients, secular sources, poets, Church Fathers, the Old Testament, and Greek writers of old, seeking support for his firm personal conviction that baptism always means immersion. After concluding this extensive research, he became convinced that the Fathers, both eastern and western, and every other source, in every case, used the word to express immersion. He obtained the evidence he sought proving that immersion is the only correct translation of the original Greek word. In further support of baptism’s meaning,  the author quotes this statement of reformer Martin Luther: “Indeed. If you consider what baptism signifies, you will see that the same thing (immersion) is what it signifies.”

   Upon finding the correct meaning of baptism after his extensive  research, the author summed up his findings in these words: “The act of baptism set forth in lively symbolism is the ground or basic thought of Christianity. The change in character of the believer (when baptized) was totally comparable to death . . . the suffering and death of Christ was the cause of the change (in the believer).”

THE LIGHT OF GOD’S COUNTENANCE

THE LIGHT OF GOD’S COUNTENANCE

“They shall walk O Lord, in the light of your countenance.

Rejoice all day long; and in your righteousness shall they be exalted.”            (Psalm 89: 15-18)

     The pious ones of the Old Testament, sang these words with great joy and exultation probably without knowledge of their wonderful meaning. That the Light of the countenance of God which Holy Scripture expresses was delightful to those of old is understandable because that Light is the Son and Logos of God which bears a relation as does our countenance  in relation to our souls. Our souls are invisible and communication is accomplished by our countenance, which includes our eyes, mouth, cheeks, also our hands, voice and various expressions. For through our body we are able to express what we will from our souls. The countenance of God is living and expresses what He expresses so the countenance of man is also living and expresses what our souls will to express.

    No man has seen the Father, but the Son and Logos, who as the light of His countenance expresses all that the Father expresses, hence Christ says: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”  When the Son communicates with us, He expresses what the Father expresses. The Lord says: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).  All the words and teaching of the Lord which come from the Father, need to be imprinted in our minds and hearts that we may  engage and combat our enemies who seek to destroy our souls. For there always exists a war of good against evil, and of truth against falsehood. The present world is a battleground and only those who are victorious will prevail. But if we fail to even to engage in the battle it becomes impossible to become victorious.

     The divine light of God’s countenance shines on and illumines us and brings extreme joy into our spirits and happiness into our souls,  and there is nothing else that exists that can gladden our souls like the light of Father’s countenance, who is Jesus Christ. When the Virgin Mary was informed that she would bear the Light of the countenance of the Father, she being filled with the Light of His countenance cried out: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  

     The soul undergoes complete satisfaction and is always filled with great joy when the light of God the Father’s countenance shines therein. That light being our Lord and Savior Christ will never diminish or leave us if we love Him and strive to keep His commandments and do His will. But if we find that His light does not at the present time shine in our souls, then we need to take action and confess our sins and start again, first byabandoning sins and transgressions, striving to do only good and avoiding all evil.  Then the light of His countenance will immediately shine brightly illuminating our souls filling them with comfort and joy. Through her holy birthgiving, the Light of the Father’s countenance will shine throughout the world, and He would form many other lights among men.

     We Orthodox Christians are extremely blessed because the light of His countenance shines brilliantly throughout our holy Church, enlightening and guiding those who in faith and love follow our Holy Faith.  The divine Light declares himself saying: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

     Whoever fails to follow Christ the light,  walks in darkness, and if he does not become enlightened by that divine light while in this world, that light will in the future life will expose his darkened soul and leave him condemned because he chose to remain in this world’s darkness, rather than in the light of God’s countenance.

     Another source of interior light which man possesses is the conscience which is the voice of our Creator. Think about this. The conscience of every man never fails to speak to him urging him to repent, cease acts of wickedness, and fruitless behavior.  The conscience also urges many good and enlightening things for us to accomplish. When we fail to heed our consciences, its voice seems to grow weaker. When we only disregard our consciences we sin and may fall into many errors which dull the voice of conscience. For example there is a law against theft, and our conscience disapproves with our plan to steal. This is not our own voice or what we have learned, for conscience belongs to every man, being the voice of God within our spirit. If we heed this voice, we will not steal and our conscience will show approval in our souls. 

When the Logos became incarnate, He enlightened the race of man, being the Light of the Father’s countenance.  Although the Old Covenant speaks of the “Light of your countenance”, it did not shine brightly in the world until that light became incarnate of the Virgin and became the Godman. As Orthodox Christians we are very blessed to have this divine Light from heaven shining in our souls and in our churches, enlightening our path toward everlasting life.

     Christ, the Light of His Father’s countenance, shines brightly in the souls of those who with sincere faith worship Him as both God and man–the Godman!  “They shall walk in the light of your countenance; Rejoice all day long; and in your righteousness shall they be exalted.”

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

THE DESTINY OF EVERY HUMAN BEING

 The first created man and woman were given a single commandment not to eat from a certain tree. This is more than just a negative commandment, for it came from the mouth of God.  Man’s sole duty at this time was to keep that commandment and not eat but avoid  the forbidden fruit. They failed for they were deceived and did eat from the tree, and this brought death and suffering upon them, which would apply to their descendants the entire human race. Their disobedience to God and obedience to the Evil One gave him an advantage which he did not have previously. Now he was better able to perform his additional dirty work against God and man as he stoked them to go against God.   

  It is important to show the error prevalent among many writers who claim that Adam was created in the image and likeness of God which was not possible. For a man in the image and likeness of God  would be exactly like God and could not be deceived as was Adam. Adam was a figurative and shadowy man in the image only: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” The contemplated man  in the image and likeness of God is Jesus Christ the Godman, who is perfect God and perfect man.  In the fulness time He, the Logos of God, was born of the Virgin Mary and became the Godman. He is the man which all Orthodox Christians must recognize and in obedience and place their total faith in, emulating Him  as their own Savior, High Priest and the ultimate goal of this present life. 

  After the tragic action of Adam and Eve, and their death sentence, for they had neither repented or expressed sorrow, Adam and Eve had two children named Cain and Abel. They learned from their parents who had been taught by God the proper way to offer worship to Him in the form of sacrifices. God being all-good and loving the man he had created, had given them a means to again draw near to Him and to honor and love Him by their sincere and willing offerings.

  Adam did not know good or evil, thus being imperfect in knowledge he could not see the plot of the evil one against God, nor could he repel the deception of the Evil One. In the beginning the man who would be in both the image and likeness of God was contemplated but not yet created. St. Paul confirms: “The first man Adam became a living soul; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However  is not the first that is spiritual but that which is natural and then that which was spiritual”

  Starting with the first pair, over the years and centuries the race of man was over much of the earth. Abraham due to his faith, received a covenant from the Lord, and his descendants became the Hebrew race. Moses received from God on Mt. Sinai, a covenant between God and the Hebrews. This covenant was filled with prophecies concerning the coming of the messias or Christ. It was the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ that blessed us with the New Covenant and the purpose of this is the salvation and sanctification of all human beings, with a promise of everlasting life to those who remained faithful and obedient. But to those who do not faithfully live as Christ requires and fail to keep all his commandments, there is no promise but the threat of eternal condemnation.

  The Gospels distinguishes two types of men: the man of heaven and the man of earth. The man of heaven is made in the image of God and according to His likeness, and is equal to God in wisdom, power and glory namely our Lord Jesus Christ. The man of earth, which are al men without Christ, is a figure and shadow of the heavenly man, made for sure, in the image of God, but being able only by his free choice to acquire the attributes of the divine nature and to  become also the likeness of God. This is what Orthodoxy is all about. The wonderful good news of the Gospels filled with holiness. divine wisdom, and promises of eternal joy in a life that will never end. The joy and happiness of this life is the potential destiny of every human being that so desires, but the disinterested and those who reject Christ’s commandments will die in their sins and be condemned.

   The leaders of the Church ought to be teaching these things to all Orthodox Christians and the Church should today be growing in leaps and bounds, which is not the case and it seems to be shrinking in many cases. The Gospel needs to be preached more frequently and loudly as the best good news ever heard or ever will be heard.

  The only real joy in this present life is the joyful struggle to begin here our eternal life, which will continue in the next world and which we will enter through the door of death which death was transformed by our Lord. Although it has been recorded herein previously, repetition is most necessary as the knowledge of salvation and sanctification is just the beginning, so putting everything into action is critically important to each of us, for our destiny is to inherit everlasting live in the heavenly kingdom. It takes time and effort, but the struggle is heavenly and joyful.

JAMES (IAKOVOS) THE PERSIAN

     Concerning the name of the great Martyr Iakovos the Persian, in English translations it is erroneously translated as “James” the Persian, but we will preserve the erroneous James because most English-speaking people are familiar with him as James the Persian even though his correct name is Iakovos. Which more correctly translates into Jacob. This is also true of the biblical book of James; for in the original Greek his name is also Iakovos. 

     James was born of Christian father and mother and married a Christian wife. The ruler of Persia, Isdegeris was cruel and vicious in his persection of Christians, seeking to compel them to worship his blasphemous idols. However the king of Persia had great admiration and affection for James and elevated him as a noble. Through much flattery King Isdegerdis successfully induced James to sacrifice to his idols. King Isidegeris and his son Bahram had great love for James and did not want to be separated from him. They treated him as a brother for he was well mannered and came from a prominent family. However they planned to lure him into their  impiety by getting him to worship their gods, not too easy a task as James had been a Christian from his childhood. At first James did resist their attempts, until he succumbed to their many flatteries and benefits, which caused him to fall into sin and adore the king’s false gods in his sad delusion.

       His mother and his wife heard that James had fallen into this error and denied Christ, so they wrote him as very strong letter of rebuke urging him to repentance by abandoning the worship of idols, and return to the true worship of Jesus Christ. The letter, touched the depths of James’ heart, which  caused him to repent bitterly with an outpouring of  tears regretting his great sin of denying Christ and idol worship. The merciful Lord recognized His sincere repentance and readily accepted it.   Energized by this James, filled with faith and courage, went before the king where he courageously confessed Christ as the only true God whom he worshiped with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

    The King was enraged, but  remembering their previous friendship he flooded James with many flatteries and gifts, also he threatened him with promises of extreme punishment and torment. But the King was ineffective for James now was thirsty only for martyrdom, causing the King to sentence him to terrible torture and death.