THE RIGHTEOUS CERTAINLY SHALL NOT DIE!

“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” 

(Ps. 117:17).

     We see that apparently everyone dies so who can say: I shall not die? There are among men those who cleave to the living God during this present life who can positively say: I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord, also some see the living Lord before them. Scriptures tells us that Enoch and Elias did not die but were taken alive up to heaven and immortal life, which confirms the truth that there is life that never ends.

     Jesus Christ’s all important work during His incarnation is in His death and resurrection, part of His perfect plan for victory. Throughout the Church for two-thousand years we joyously celebrate Pascha, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! Christ is proof of the resurrection of all mankind either  into eternal life or eternal death according to what they choose in the present life, The apostles and many Saints died but many of them appeared to men from the other world proving further that there is life after death. The whole goal of Christian life is to become worthy of everlasting life in the heavenly kingdom. Both those who were taken up and those who died are alive with Christ in the immortal kingdom.

     Each of us Christians must fully realize and proclaim to others that we possess  eternal life which we received by our faith and trust in Jesus /Christ, the Life of the world.  The Devil was the instigator who deceived man causing death to enter the world. Christ destroyed death’s power and through faith in Christ we are granted eternal life in place of eternal death and punishment.  King David with great certainty proclaimed: “I shall not die but live and proclaim the works of the Lord.”  We too, like David must be able to say with conviction: I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.  The risen Lord is the foundation of our Faith and our eyes have seen and our ears have heard more than the eyes and ears of King David.

     The devil is the enemy of both God and man and Christ victoriously took away his authority among men whom he had previously tyrannized. The devil found that he had become similar to smoke following the resurrection of Christ, and death has became like a fog through which we pass into the beautiful sunny fields of immortality.

Death to unbelievers appears to be the end of everything but among all men there exists the concern about what happens after death, there is concern but little genuine interest. For they know in their consciences and too a degree realize that they should somehow prepare for the life which most certainly follows the present life.

     Knowing that there is life after this life, and that we have knowledge of good and evil it follows that we must realize that we are free to think and choose as we will, and will have to answer. With this freedom which God has given us there came a great responsibility, and scriptures speaks of this in many places.  For we will be judged by our works and be rewarded or punished accordingly. He sent His apostles to establish the Church and bring the many people into it. God desires the salvation of all men and all men should desire their own salvation if they desire life. 

Let us rally under this banner: “I shall not die but live . . . ”, for this is the truth which we received from the Lord, who victoriously put death to death and granted us eternal life and the great mercy.  Jesus sent His apostles in this manner:  “and when He had said this: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you remit are remitted unto them,  whose sins you retain are retained to them” (John 20:22-23). The preaching of the Gospel and forgiveness of sins are now about two-thousand years old and are still maintained in the whole Orthodox Church, used both at the  preparation for Baptism and during the mystery of Repentance. 

     If we live the good life in the Church, dedicate our entire lives to Christ, partaking of His honorable mysteries, we may be ranked among the righteous and be enabled to joyously declare: “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.”  Christ is risen from the dead having destroyed death’s authority for He trampled down death by death and gave life to all that had previously died in faith and hope.

CHRIST SAYS: “SON, GIVE ME YOUR HEART!”

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;that you may be rooted and grounded in love, and that you may be able 

to comprehend \with all the Saints, what is the breadth, and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ

 which beyond knowledge.

(Eph. 3:17-19).

     Christ chooses to dwell with love in any human heart, but only if He is welcomed by the impotant virtue of faith of each individual. You cannot bring Christ into your heart just by reading His words or keeping some of His sayings  for Christ must be invited by genuine faith. 

Christ enters the heart when faith calls and with Christ love accompanies Him. Thus man is established and grounded in love.

      First faith followed by love filling the soul with inexpressibly good things. Man is not fully man without faith in Christ so what shall we do  if faith is weak? We must turn to Christ and realize that He is the Lord, the only good one and is totally worthy of the trust place in Him. This will increase our faith and by strengthening our faith we overcome more and more the estrangement between ourselves and Christ the Lord, for it is our firm belief and faith which draws us to Christ, who comes quickly to those who approach Him in faith 

     When the heart is filled with Christ it cannot be separated from Him, just as a lung cannot be separated from air. When the connection of faith is accomplished, tears begin to flow and in the soul  of such a man the prayer ascends: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.” The change taking place in the soul is magnificent and because the heart becomes filled with light while embraced in His divine love.

 

   The words of Christ are powerful, especially when he says: “Son, give me your heart.”  It is a demand and not a plea for the most important thing we can ever do is respond and give our hearts to Jesus Christ, who will reward us with everlasting life. 

     “That you may be rooted and grounded in love . . .” The love of Christ does not isolate itself by remaining with certain individuals, but is meant for each member of the human race. Christ excludes no one for His love includes all men and His invitation to come to Him in faith addresses all those who receive the love of Christ, seek to increase that love by spreading it among as many men as possible, for love always begets more love.

     The love of Christ is described as being “beyond knowledge” for it is not possible to describe it adequately. No matter how much we attempt to describe His love it remains beyond all knowledge and is far beyond our ability. Scripture speak of its dimensions ,such as height and width but cannot  describe it adequately. 

     The beginning of man’s journey begins with his birth, then later He develops faith in Christ and His  Orthodox Church leading to perfection which his love for Christ. He continues his journey and soon  he increases his love for Christ and is peaceful, and lives a life that is beautiful, as is filled with Christ and his love.  

     Our life on earth is short and passes by very quickly and so there is a very limited time for our faith to be to be changed from faith to the love of Christ. The love of Christ is great and is filled with joy and happiness and love is the only  reason and purpose for our living this short and temporary  present life. There is so much more and much to do to be established in firm and lasting faith in Jesus Christ, and we will soon be filled with His love. This will put us on the path to life everlasting life.

 

 

DO NOT INSULT GOD!

“The fool says in his heart; there is no God. 

They are corrupt and become abominable in their doings” 

(Ps. 13:1)

    We are all aware of our own existence however we do not ignore the existence of the rest of mankind who exists together with us. It would be rude to just ignore those around us as if they didn’t exist. How much more is it an insult to God to deny that He exists! For He created everything, the earth, the sun, light and darkness, air and water and everything else, all that was needed for His most important creature – man!   He did not only casually call us into existence but formed us with His own hands and breathed into us His own wonderful spirit which gave us His eternal life, intellectual powers, our feelings, and so much more!

    However there are many who heap great insults upon God, for they recognize their own existence,  and that of all creation, but foolishly deny the existence of the Creator and God of all. Thus they consider the Creator and God of all as a non-being. How does it affect a man to deny the existence of God?  Such a man cuts himself off from everything good and the evil one who knows that God exists, convinces him to deny what is  obvious to him. After cutting himself from the spirit of God, the evil spirit becomes his mentor and so he his thoughts and actions become evil/

    Scripture refers to the denier of God as being a fool, “the fool says in his heart; there is no God.” When a man. becomes a fool, he is also mindless and cannot think properly, but as expected the fool says only foolish things, therefore what he says is to be ignored as being empty words which are worthless.   No matter what their status in life, even if men exalt them as being wise, the fools remain as fools before God and logical thinking men.

    Some men who do not believe that God exists point out that they do many good works, but he who does not believe in God is unable to distinguish between good and evil. If we look closely at the good works done by unbelievers we will see that their works of necessity are corrupt, worthless and transitory being contrary to the will of the living God.    

    Scriptures says of such unbelievers, “they are corrupt and abominable in their doings.” When they think they are doing good it can be evil but they are unable to distinguish, for God is Truth and man has need of God to distinguish good and evil.

    There are others who acknowledge God with their lips but not with their heart and so they are ranked with unbelievers for you must not only have faith in God and believe but also you must love the Lord with all your heart, and if we are right before God then our entire life is right.

Evil thoughts come from the evil spirits and evil thoughts produce evil works and deeds. Lacking faith in the true and living God causes our whole life to become filled with confusion. God formed us in His own image and bestowed upon him every good thing that he possess for everything good comes from God.   We honor the Lord our God and glorify Him, for He is good and the Lover of man.

     Concerning the existence of God, we know that he formed man from out of the earth and gave him intellect, feelings and freedom to be able to decide and act.  He formed the sun with the correct distance and brightness doing everything for the sake of  man. He formed the stars by which man could navigate and the moon  made for the lesser light of night. He put food everywhere and taught man what he should eat. God took good care of man leaving nothing undone for man is the crowning glory  of God’s wonderful creation.                                                                                                                                                                                                       

ON THE FAITHFUL AS ONE BODY AND ONE SPIRIT

“One body and one Spirit” (Eph. 4:4).

     The Holy Orthodox Church is one Body has one Spirit but one Head which is Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul calls on the faithful to be united together as one body and one spirit. The oneness and unity is found among those having pure unadulterated faith without division or heresies and who are not self-willed.

The conditions of ‘one body and one spirit’ are only possible to those who believe everything the Church taught correctly. That is why those who embrace the heresy of ecumenism cannot be one with the rest of the Church, for ecumenism does not seek to unite those outside to enter the  Church through the door of baptism by three immersions. 

     Scripture warns: “A man who is a heretic, rebuke him once or twice and then have nothing more to do with him.” We can rebuke them with love but but we must never falsely address them with names such as “churches” and Chistians, or Christian brothers. Ecumenism opens dialogues with heretics, calling them Christian churches and brothers in Christ. But this cannot be done for it is falsehood and violates Orthodoxy’s exclusiveness as the one and only true Church.

     The papacy calls itself the only true Church and many Orthodox Christians believe this falsehood,

For the Pope exalted himself and broke from the Church, then preached for these hundreds of years, that the Pope must be obeyed, that the Pope has infallibility, and that salvation of man is found in believers of these falsehoods. We could make a long list of the Papacy’s innovations, any one which would cause them to be outside the Church, which we have done before, but will publish it again.

     We will mention one thing only. One day the papal crusaders were attacking the Holy Mount Athos, and at this time an elderly monk was in a wooded area singing an akathist before the icon of the Theotokos. Suddenly She began to talk from out of her icon and said to the monk: “Mine and my Son’s enemies are coming leave from this place and go back to the monastery.” The Crusaders attacked in the name of the Pope of Rome, warming that is the Orthodox didn’t change and join up with the Pope, they would be killed. Eventually many Orthodox were killed producing many martyrs, killed by water and fire and the sword. The important ingredient in this article is that the Virgin Mary, our Theotokos, referred to the Roman Catholics as “mine and my Son’s enemies”. The Virgin’s words are honorable and are accepted by Faithful Orthodox Christians, but probably not by those who seek union instead of conversion and baptism of these heretics and then bring them into the real Church – Orthodoxy!

     The members of the Church  always constitute the one Body, but they also need to be established in one mind and one spirit The Church must be strive to always be united in love and peace, which is what one spirit accomplishes. The strength and power of genuine Orthodox spirit and love is the greatest power in the world, and brings salvation to many. The many church members become united as one man. The love and power found in our unity is the same love and power found in the Church for the last two millenia.

     So we must take a keen interest in all activity and communication in the Church striving to preserve  everything that is holy and true. It is the duty of every Orthodox Christian to take part in this preservation by rejecting innivations and heresies from creeping into the holy Church. Being one in Body, we must strive to becoming one also in spirit. 

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RIDDING OURSELVES OF THE OLD WE MUST BE ADORNED WITH THE NEW

RIDDING OURSELVES OF THE OLD

WE MUST BE ADORNED WITH THE NEW

“Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, evil speaking. 

and blasphemy be put away from you; be kindhearted 

to one another, be tender-hearted, forgiving one even 

as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 5:31-32).

The above-mentioned vices are poisonous when they enter the soul of a man, for they cause  him to be extremely wretched and miserable, and in such misery he infects others with the same disease, rendering them to be the same or even worse than himself. But with the virtues of “kindheartedness, tender-heartedness, forgiveness as did Christ”, these virtues could joyfully rub off onto others, thus spreading more goodness and joy everywhere.

So we must cleanse our souls of every filthy and wicked vice with which we were infected by the evil one. St. Paul in the above thoughts which he received from God advises us to abandon all evil and acquire goodness. But without serious self examination and self evaluation it is not possible for us to change our character and become truly members worthy of Christ’s kingdom. 

To accomplish good things we must first examine ourselves and then cleanse our souls from all impurity. After ridding  ourselves of vices, we must be replace them with their opposite original virtues, such as humility, meekness and holiness peace and all blessings..

Thus St. Paul’s words call upon us  to examine and correct ourselves getting rid of all vices and struggle to eliminate every form of evil from our souls.  The life of man in sin is known as the old man to which sin has become a habit and drags a man into suffering and every form of evil. The old sinful man is fallen  and needs to be done away with spiritually. This is accomplished by first by self-examination, then recognizing the evils getting rid  ourselves of the old man of sin.. St, Paul then advises to put on the new man by being kind-hearted toward one another, to be tender-hearted, forgiving each other even as God in Christ forgave you” 

After ridding ourselves of every form of evil, then we are well prepared to adopt good habits  and acquire every form of virtue, such as humility to replace the vices of arrogance and pride; also putting on the virtue of meekness, as Christ says: “Learn from me for I am meek and humble in my heart.” Meekness is the virtue with which man  rids himself of its opposing vice, unreasonable anger and wrath, and such a man enjoys peace within himself, much relieved for anger is a very heavy burden.

When examining and correcting our lives, it is not the time to examine others seeking to correct their lives as we did ours. This is not what is proper, for we must concentrate all our efforts to correct ourselves. But we must spread this knowledge among as many people as possible and this is accomplished by our example which is the best form of teaching. For good behavior is important and attracts people, especially if they who were formerly filled with anger, change and become humble and meek in their hearts.

Getting rid of all our vices frees us from their evil grip but acquiring virtues fills our souls with light and gladness. Vices describe the many defects of the soul which cause people to appear ugly and gruesome. Vices are unhealthy and cause wretchedness to those imprisoned by them. So we must rid ourselves of all vices and acquire virtues which will restore us to health and happiness.  

This will take much effort, but the Lord will always assist us and the reward is the joy of everlasting life. This is what the Orthodox Church is about, for the prayers, the services and the mysteries are for a congregation of repentant sinners, and every sinner is  invited into the saving realm of repentance which leads to eternal life and the salvation of our souls. If we fail to follow this repentant form of life, we will cut ourselves off from the kingdom, while to follow a virtuous life in Christ is our great hope of everlasting life.

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GREATLY FORBEARING JOB

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; 

blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

     The righteous (or just) have no fear except the fear of God, and they are aware that no matter whatever happens all will change and again go well with them. Here are a few excerpts from the Book of Job the forbearing and enduring one.

     Job, a and righteous man worshiped God faithfully and abstained from all evil and God’s many blessings made him quite prosperous. He had seven sons and three daughters. He also had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, a very great household and a huge husbandry and was ranked among the most noble of men. His sons visited one another preparing banquets frequently bringing along with them their sisters. Job frequently offered up purifying sacrifices for his children in case any of them had sinned or done anything improper or thought evil in their minds. 

     The devil appeared before God, and God told about the beauty of Job. The devil attempted to attribute God’s gifts as the reason for Job’s pure and holy lifestyle. God gave the devil permission to use his wiles to pursue and change Job piety and began the  attack which God gave him against Job. Through the devil’s work messengers came to Job one after the other, telling of very many losses including his servants who had been slain.  While one servant was still reporting, additional servants came with even worse news; they came one after the other. They told of fire coming down from heaven which burnt up his many sheep. This continued until  he lost everything. All his children were killed when a great wind came from the desert and blew their house down upon them all.  

     But Job never hesitated his faithful worship of God, saying about the many evils that came upon him: “I came forth naked from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gives the Lord takes away; as it seemed good to the Lord, so it has happened; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Then the devil went after Job’s body; he inflicted sore boils from his feet to his head and Job sat on a dung heap and scraped them. In all the events that fell upon him “Job did not sin before the Lord, nor did he impute foolishness to the Lord.” The Lord God blessed Job again even more than at the beginning. Then after he had suffered affliction for a total of 170 years, he died peacefully fully restored at 240 years.  Job never neglected his frequent and faithful loving prayers to the Lord even under the most difficult circumstances, His love for the Lord was His life, and by this he set the example for all of us at all times.

                                 

     The very moving story of Job in its entirety is well known and is especially taken to heart by those who are faithful to God in all their works. It is the Lord who we should love with all our hearts, and not just love the material possessions which He has bestowed upon us. Although they deserve our continuous gratitude and thankfulness. God loves us completely even if we oppose or deny Him, for His love is directed toward each one of us. Job prayerful and most faithful life which stemmed from his wonderful patience, endurance, and with great confidence and love for the Lord. He loved the Lord for Himself and there was nothing that could alter his great love. We must all love God for  everything we have is God’s free gift, but the greatest gift of all is that  He gives us our life and existence, our intellect and our love and good feelings, and the noble and joyous goal of being His own image, and there is nothing more He could have done than making us like God like himself, truly a noble destination!

   We must remember that the Lord gives us everything enthusiastically and generously regardless and He continues this whether or not we return His love, and He helps everyone who seeks truth rejecting no one. He gives freely to all for He is good and the only Lover of man. The goodness of God and His many beautiful attributes are beyond our ability to even try to understand and describe..

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed is His holy name.

THE GLASSBLOWER'S SON

     During the reign of Patriarch Menas (536-600) an extraordinary miracle occurred. A young Jewish boy, the son of a glassworker, went with some of his Orthodox companions and received Holy Communion with them. When he went home he told his father, who in a fury and great indignation he placed the boy in the furnace which he used for molding glass.

     The boy’s mother had no knowledge of what the father had done to the boy. She unsuccessively searched seeking her missing child for three days as she went throughout the city weeping and wailing for her son. On the third day by the door of her husband’s workshop, she was crying out her son’s name. Recognizing his mother’s voice he answered her from within the coals and showed her that he was totally untouched by the fire. When asked how he remained unharmed, he told her. A woman in a purple robe had frequently come and visited me. She offered me water and supplied food the coals nearest me kept him cool.


     The Emperor Justinian when hearing of this occurrence, placed the boy and his mother in the orders of the church and they were illumined and baptized, and the Emperor sentenced the glassblower to death for the murder of his son.

IN THE BEGINNING . . .

“In the beginning God created heaven and earth . . .”

(Gen 1:1)

     Before the beginning there existed only eternity for that which exists outside of eternity exists in time and all that exists in time has both a beginning and an ending. Outside of time in eternity there is God the Creator who alone is the eternal one.  “In the beginning” refers to the beginning of creation. God, alone is eternal, all-knowing,  all-powerful and is a perfect Mind. A man has to choose between believing this only possibility or the impossibility that the world created itself, because the world is a creation not a creator. If we accept creation as being existent we must also recognize the Creator who in the beginning created heaven and earth.

     The world could not create itself, is not the creation of many creators and was not created by evil powers. The world comes from God therefore we should rejoice and be gladdened, because we know that God is good and the Lover of man. The world is divine in its origin and for this reason its end will be in God. This realization causes us to realize that God is a great intelligence possessing all knowledge, this we know because He endowed each of us with such a supreme  intellect and memory.

     We know that God called forth the existence of the heavens and the earth with the land and sea, lakes and rivers, the sun, moon and stars, and so many other things that he formed for our sake.     It is astounding to our minds knowing that all that exists in heaven and earth were called forth by God/ But when He created man, He did call Him but He personally form man in His own image. So the greatest creature of God which is man was created above all being as the highest of creatures. Even higher than this is man’s unique destination, which is to become the image and likeness of God. With this in mind, we must act accordingly and struggle to become God’s image and likeness and thus be found worthy to live with Him in eternal life.  Failing to understand our destination to become His image and likeness can be detrimental to our souls.                   

     “In the beginning . . .”  This establishes the starting point and there is a necessary ending point. We all have a starting point of infancy, unable to speak or to walk. and we slowly grow into toddlers and eventually into full grown men and woman. If we are not at this present time living a double life then its time to awaken and start living a genuine spiritual life. Usually our lives last for about fifty to a hundred years generallywithout foreknowledge of the day of our final demise, where we will face judgment. 

     I believe that there are only a small number of people who realize what we are writing here and that they have the most important thing there is to live for, to become the image and likeness of God. This is the highest of all calling that exists. There is no one greater and higher than God, and the highest calling of mankind is to become His image and likeness. As for those who have not yet begun, today is always a good time to start and when you do your whole life will change for the better.

     The Orthodox Church is the central point of the means of our reaching our destination. The Church’s most important book, the New Testament,called also the Bible, is the source of much teaching that we need, the Gospels and Epistles contained therin ought to be read and re-read over and over for they are rich in content of necessary things.

     God is good, kind, sweet, full of compassion, merciful and greatly forbearing. He abounds with great love for all mankind. How much he loves us can be seen by creation. His love for us is far beyond the brilliance of the sun. His kindness is brighter tha the brightest moon. His compassions are more munerous than the stars of the heavens. How much He loves us is also seen by the wonderful fact, that He bestowed the greatest honor possible on the human race – forming man in His own image! 

SOME HE GAVE AS APOSTLES

“And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets; 

 some as evangelists; and some as pastors and teachers”

 (Eph.” 4:11) 

   The original Church of Christ was very well organized and until this day this statement remains true. The above quotation is continued in the Bible and shows this to be factual as you will now see:

     “And he gave some as apostles, and some as prophets; and some as evangelists; and some as pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4.11-13).

    The Church is a divinely organized body and has been wonderfully functioning for almost two-thousand years! And herein its entire purpose is firmly declared: “for the perfecting of the saints”, “for the work of the ministry”, “for the edifying of the body of Christ”; “till we come to the unity of the faith.” The purpose is very well defined and its various members are declared as, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers catechists and catechumens. Each group has its particular function, for the apostles spread the Faith, the prophets declare and interpret prophesies, the evangelists preach the holy Gospel. The pastors watch over the flock and the teachers instruct the faithful. This process forms men and women into Orthodox Christians and this arrangement has been shown to be successful for twenty centuries. It clearly shows that there can only be one Church, the Orthodox and others are not divine but are human institutions. The Church cannot be simply human for its Head Jesus Christ the Godman, is both divine and human. The Church is His body and is therefore also divine and human  which has been demonstrated over the years. Miracles are divine and frequently occur in Orthodox Churches throughout the world.

     In our own bodies different organs have different functions but all act and contribute to the common good of the whole body, and the Lord instituted this system in His Church, His Body, with its various organs and functions. Among them were established the apostles, evangelists, pastors, prophets and teachers etc. for Christ established them in His Church.

     The organization of the Church as described is in need of standardization in every Orthodox Church in the world and there should be no deviations. This ought be done by the bishops but many of whom are too taken up by the modern extreme heresy of ecumenism which denies the exclusivity of the Orthodox Church, and seeks unity with non-churches. For there can never be a church outside the Church, as we all believe and declare in our sacred Creed: I believe “in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church.” The word “one” excludes every other  “church;”  “and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life” So “holy” includes the spirit of God and there is only one Holy Spirit. Catholic means it is the only Church for the human race; nor can there can be another. Apostolic means it is the Church whose teaching is that of the apostles – the original Catholic and Apostolic Church – Holy Orthodoxy.

     The divine human perfection of Holy Orthodoxy which is almost two-thousand years old is seen in its preservation of truth and firmness, having embattled with many heretical attacks over the years, and always preserving the truth, for it is headed by the Truth, the Logos who came down from heaven and became man.

 PASS THE TIME IN FEAR

“Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” (! Pet.1:17).

     There are many things in the world that bring fear to men, but to those who seek the good life in Christ, a single mild fear will do awaywith all other fears. This is the fear of God which is the beginning of wisdom, and is a noble and productive fear.  Let us ask what is the difference in these fears? Usually the fear of things in the world are unknown or threatening, while the fear of God is a delightful fear greatly rewarding to those who have it. But once the fear of God is acquired, it  will become transformed into a sweet and loving fear. Fear of God is a great defense against sinful temptations which frequently attack us. Fear of God and eternal punishment should be kept in our minds together with the frequent question: shall I be saved?

     Lightning flashes and thunder noisily rumbles and causing fear to accost the souls of foolish man who have no fear of God. But a prudent man stands without any other fear except the comforting and saving fear of God. The farmer remains patient and working he awaits in trepidation every day, for he does not know for certain that he will reap the result of his labor. So too we must patiently await in the same way not knowing if we will be deemed worthy to recei                                                 Hh;//////”“”“ve the greatest gift from the Lord, which is life eternal.

     This world imspires us to join it in merrymaking, dancing and good times but these cannot come until the end of this life, for that is when we will celebrate with joy. If we gain eternal life the accompanying happiness will fill our souls to overflowing thankfulness and gratitude to God for His mercy and compassion.

     Peter recorded the words: “Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” acknowledged that all his strength and wisdom were from God, and he had the fear of God deep within his soul, but he had no ther fear. Rather than toeel the fear of God at various times, it is better that this fear should be present at all times. That is why we must frequently ask if we shall be saved, for our salvation is not of our decision but the Lord’s. 

     Let us labor for the Lord during the days of our lives and strive in faith and fear to do His will and keep all His commandments, for our entire lifetime is a time for work and preparation for the judgment that is to come.  Again, though the world makes merry and celebrates during this present life, but we must not do the same for these are days are for better used with much labor and we look to the celebrations in the kingdom of God which is our greatest hope.

     Fear of God is easy to bear and most essential to accomplish our goal of eternal life. Fear of God is always good and rouses a good attitude and zeal within us. Passing the time of our sojourning with fear  and devotion leads us on the right path. Fear of God should penetrate our souls and guide us to good thinking and produces good actions. Peter who wrote this passage, had almost perfect fear of God guiding his soul inspiring good thinking actions.

     Fear of God begins when we have full realization that He is to be our only judge who will determine to save or punish us in the coming judgment. We may lose the fear God when we fail to keep his commandments, but when we struggle and apply ourselves to keeping them, changes in graceful fear will take place and gradually this fear will be accompanied by love and dedication. But because we are sinners and can easily fall into sin, so we must be on guard to preserve the fear of God that it may  never leave us for it a most beneficial saving fear. The phrase “pass the time sojourning. . . means that every day of our lives must be filled this saving and pious fear.

WORST ILLNESS – BEST REMEDY

     We all suffer from various ailments from time to time, but there is one illness that is the worst illness  of all and which also becomes the cause of other illnesses of  soul and body. Man is body soul and spirit and we are all somewhat familiar with bodily illnesses and perhaps with  their treatment, but the most severe illness of all is the illness of the soul, sometimes severe but always curable but it should be the first thing needing cure. Belief in God is most essential to treatment of the soul and belief and trust is found only in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Some ailments of the soul are more severe but all ailments respond to the same treatment, humbling ourselves, sincere repentance, confession and receiving Holy Communion.

      God created us endowing us with freedom of decision and action, and His divine law for us to respect and obey but iy drrmd that we all have all disobeyed the law of God which introduces suffering and misery into our souls and bodies. The best and only remedy is prescribed by Jesus Christ, which is, sincere repentance from the depths of our souls with thorough confession to an Orthodox Priest who is authorized to forgive our sins through the mercy and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ, followed by the partaking of Holy Communion. 

     We may not be familiar with the ailments of our souls, but they are brought about by the things we do against the law of God and our conscience. There are times when they often cause us much unhappiness and  misery  preventing lasting joy in our souls. 

     If any unconfessed sins remain in our souls doing their evil work this must be rooted out.  After sincere repentance and complete confession and Holy Communion,  joy will immediately arrive and delight  our souls for the cure is in now taking effect. We will not be judged by God for illnesses of the body, but we will be judged for unconfessed sins and iniquities which afflict our souls.  But thank our Lord Jesus Christ, who through His sacrifice on the Cross made it cure possible. He is worthy of all praise and adoration for He is good and the only Lover of man.

    Sickness of the soul, due to wrong choices are always our responsibility being more severe and in need of treatment more than ailments of the body. Among theses sins are lying, stealing, cheating, swearing, arrogance, unreasonable anger, fornication, adultery, gluttony and drunkenness. These are just a few of our soul’s many sins and we need to rid ourselves of all of  them through repentance and confession, followed by receiving  the Body and Blood of Christ. Lasting joy and jubilation will come into our hearts and fill us with continual thanks and love for God, overflowing our souls with happiness each day of our life. The former burden of our souls will be lifted and realizing Christ’s forgiveness will remain imprinted in our souls forever. Things that used to bring us unhappiness will now be the cause of much joy. Misery will be gone never to return. The soul’s cure is always treated and cyured by  repentance, confession and holy Communion.

     A new life awaits all who are sick and sinful  in their souls when they respond to Christ’s treatment and are cured. Experiencing the joyous effect of the miraculous cure in our souls we will have a strong desire to share this with as many others as possible, for the delight cannot be adequately  described, so it takes our action toward others.

     With humility and kindness we will enter into communication with those who have not been cured, many of them have never repented and confessed. Some people will  claim that they are Orthodox Christians and go to Church and even to Holy Communion, but they may never have repented. To commune without sincere repentance and confession can become extremely serious, for the Lord makes it clear that whoever eats His Body and drinks His blood must examine himself first and not go without proper preparation. 

     It is important that the virtue of sincerity and humility arise in a person’s inner being, for genuine repentance requires a humble, sincere and contrite soul. One of the important aspects of our Holy Faith is that everyone, bishop, priest, or layman all seek to spread this knowledge of salvation  to many others for this leads to happiness and eternal life. We who have the true Orthodox faith must be always be true to that Faith  by always remembering that there is nothing more important in our lives than our pure Faith.

     As we progress in spiritual life we must always remember that we are repentant sinners, and though we may have stopped sinning, and though we have repented we remain as the worst of sinners, for we are not superior to anyone. This is declared in A Prayer before receiving Holy Communion which begins: “I believe O Lord and I confess, that you are the Christ, Son of the Living God, who came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the first!”

TRUST IN THE LORD AND

NOT IN ONES OWN UNDERSTANDING

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and not unto your own understanding”   (Prov.3:5).

     We must place our trust in the Lord with all our hearts and this should be ahead of everything else, continually remembering Him as our one and only great Benefactor He is the  pure and only Source of all our ability to think, to love and to have  correct understanding.  All material things of this world will one day be gone and only God and our personal relationship with Him will remain. God must be the most important focus of our entire lives for He alone is our bountiful Creator and most glorious Benefactor. 

     If we indulge in our own understanding more than likely we will find ourselves in the depths of illusion, delusion and falsehood. If our understanding of God’s teaching is minimum and if we place our hope and trust in our own understanding will endanger our entire well being, but if we trust in God it will firmly establish us on the proper course of life. If we fail to recognize this at the present time we may  realize it when it is too late, and this life passes by quickly.  The days rapidly pass by  and the years keep sliding by. There are limits already set for the end of our lives, and  we have little or no idea when that day will come. Where are witnesses to this truth which is so important to our well being? That is found in the Orthodox Church and in the New Testament. Everyone of us had a beginning or starting point in this life when we came from our mothers’ wombs, and all that has a beginning necessarily has an end. The end of our lives as we all know are unpredictable and there are many who are shy away from any discussion involving the subject of death. But when we see our deaths with the light of divine understanding we will give more attention to Holy Scripture, which says in the Psalms: “Man’s days are as grass as a flower of the field so shall he flourish . . .  For a spirit passes in him and no longer will he recognize his region.” When we begin to fully understand God’s wonderful and glorious purpose for our lives then our souls will jump with great joy and delight and thanksgiving, knowing that He has a great desire to grant us eternal life, for He is good and the Lover of man.

     Our understanding needs to be rid of all that polluted it from being filled with worldly knowledge especially much of what wwhat was taught in schools, the public press and in entertainment. The apirit of the world teaches us to just enjoy life, accumulate goods and money for old age and then just die and disappear. But the truth from God elevates man to a very high destination. It tells us to prepare our lives here for the judgment of God that will confront us at the end in the end of this life. Radio and television has brought the world’s ideas into our minds which is designed to rouse our many desires. Though TV may seem innocent because we watch only “good” programs, it is not benign for it is among the greatest distractions by taking our minds and hearts away from the majesty and greatness of God.

     From history we learn that before the advent of mass communication, years ago among western Christians in Europe, there were many discussions on the streets and a major subject was death and dying, which shows that at that time this was on minds of many people. Death would be followed by judgment and man did not come from some animal. God created man in His own image and all life comes from God and thus is sacred. 

     “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and not in your own understanding.” We must read the New Testament frequently as it is filled with what our souls really need to understand, for example, Christ says: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory; and before Him shall be gathered all nations; and He shall separate them from one another as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say to them on His right hand, Come you blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thristy and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. Then shall the righteous answer Him, saying< Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and gave you drink?  Or when did we see you a stranger and took you in? Or naked and clothed you or when did we see you sick and in prison and come unto you? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Amen, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me” (Mat. 25:31-40). This divine teaching is so formed that it may remain in our souls preserved in memories.

     We Orthodox Christians will do well to repeatedly study these and similar words of Christ in Holy Scriptures so that the laws and commandments of Christ will be imprinted into our intellects and our hearts, for they are alive and filled with divine grace. Then by trusting in the Lord’s words and with a clearer understanding, we will gradually transform our relatively poor comprehension,  replacing it with a rich and divine understanding. We will find that when we live the life that God has established for us that our souls will be filled with a deep longing for the goodness and  beauty of having His life within us.

KNOWLEDGE  VS  WISDOM

“The fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 1:7)

    Knowledge is plentiful and is practically unlimited and continues to increase in quantity, but wisdom and knowledge are not the same. Many people confuse the two and some think that much knowledge indicates wisdom. Some count and tell us the quantity of fish in the sea and the number of animals on dry land, others count the types and numbers of trees in the forest and how many stars are in the sky, and although this is much knowledge it is not wisdom.

     That is why the Prophets delivers God’s message about genuine wisdom: “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.” We must not lightly dismiss these words for they are divine and most precious. We should not say different for they are from God. If we seek wisdom, God and His representatives are the only ones we need to heed for those who desire and love life, must realize that without a soul filled with fear and love for God, the genuine desire for real and everlasting life will not be present.

     Those who deny that there is a God also do not realize their own purpose for existence and they lack wisdom, because, as God instructs, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Why must man have fear of God?   Simply stated because fear is the source of wisdom. Following the fear of God, the love of God also arises in our souls and as our love grows wisdom increases in proportion. Some say that they do not fear God but that they love Him.  But this is not reasonable for the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God.  Fear is the beginning and the most important first step. For whenever we take a wrong path, we must return to the beginning to get onto the right path, then start all over.

    Why must we fear God?  Because He is our Master and the Source of our existence and is the Creator of heaven and earth and all that exists. Because He is our lawmaker and  our judge for which reason we ought to humble ourselves and offer Him our gratitude for everything. 

.   Why do we need humility? Because nothing we have is our own and humility opens our souls to reception of His wisdom which enables us to keep the law of God. It is interesting to note that men bow down and obey earthly kings and then are reluctant to bow down before God, the heavenly King. Bowing to Him shows our recognition of His majesty and glory. Man is superior to every other creature, not because he deserves it but because God has placed him in that  high position, and has given men the potential to transform and grow into the image and likeness of God. 

     These divine truths cannot be grasped and understood except by those who have willingly humbled themselves and so escape the insidious trap of the evil one who snares men by planting in them a spirit of pride, rendering them unable to accept the simple truths  revealed by God. God’s truths are indeed plain and simple truths but they describe the wonderful revelation concerning man which brings great joy and delight to the souls all the faithful.

     As long as men continue to ignore God and His commandments, there will always be wars and rumors of wars, and revolutions on earth; crime will continue to plague us, nations will dispute and go to war against each other, these and many other evils will prevail, not that man is evil, but by ignoring God he attracts the evil spirit who becomes his mentor and deceptive guide.

     Knowledge has an important place in our lives but wisdom and peace from God completely transforms us being the source of happiness and joy. For then our hearts experience the comfort of truth which comes from heaven and this brings peace into the our souls. If we already enjoy this divine experience we ought to share it with others. If at any time we find ourselves without divine joy and peace, we must turn to God and ask, for when we ask He will respond and comunicate with us,  but we  must keep the door of your heart wide open to His guidance. God loves and helps those who seek to do His will especially by prayer, fasting and almsgiving the basic foundation upon which spiritual life is constructed.

YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF HOLY SPIRIT

“Do you not know that your body is the temple 

of the Holy Spirit.which is in you, which you have from God

 and you are not your own? For you were bought 

with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19-20)

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and we were purchased  with a huge price! The price paid for us should strike great fear into our souls! For the price paid saves each one of us because the Godman being nailed to the Cross.  His own suffering and crucifixion is the price He paid for our salvation and redemption and He was motivated by His great love for all mankind..

     Western Christianity erroneously has claimed that evil men seized Jesus, tortured Him and nailed Him to the Cross. How could this be possible?   Christ is not an ordinary man but is truly God the Logos and Godman. For He is the source of all power and authority both in heaven and on earth. Just by willing it He could defeat His enemies who would fall down helplessly before Him.  But Jesus had a very different plan. He desired to go to the Cross in order to save the human race. For by suffering crucifixion under the law He would eliminate the devil’s power and authority over the entire race of man. Thus the crucifixion of Christ was accomplished because He willed it to be  a voluntary action on His part. He paid our ransom with His suffering and death, and this was the price for liberating all men from the filthy clutches of the evil one. The devil surrendered his power under the law because he had broken the law when he crucified an innocent man – Jesus Christ the Godman.

     Christ established His Church on earth and promised its endure, saying the gates of hades will not prevail against it. This Church then, necessarily has a history that is traceable which is today known as the holy Orthodox Church. According to Christ’s promise the Church has always prevailed over all attacks by heresies and schisms which seeks to distort the divine truths within her. Outside of the original and orthodox Church there is no church for there is only One Church, but many fabricated churches have been established and prevail by those outside the Church.

         These things being so why doesn’t the Orthodox Church of Christ prevail, while the Papacy and Protestants multiply. The answer is that they have zealous promoters of their doctrine and the Orthodox probably fail to realize their great responsibility, which is to live a genuine spiritual life and spread knowledge of the Church to many others throughout their lives. This is the work of Christ and it is also the work of members of the Church.

     Our lives are not our own and they do not belong to us for we are bought and paid for by Christ’s willing suffering and sacrifice, as it says above: “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. which is in you, which you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price”

     When we were baptized by triune immersion we became temples of Holy Spirit who descends and dwells in us, and we no longer are our own, but fall directly under the authority of our King and Savior Jesus Christ, and so we become the property of God who lives in us His temple. The Holy Spirit enters our soul conditionally for to keep Him dwelling in us we must follow all of Christ’s commandments deny our own will and always do the will of God. But if we become careless or negligent we will cause of the Holy Spirit to depart from us. This is extremely serious and  places us in the greatest danger for we sin He leaves us and our former temple will change to a pigsty. For when the Spirit departs from us Satan returns back and our unfortunate souls and bodies and we become his captives, and when our life is over in this world, in such sad and deplorable condition  will we appear at the dread judgment.

WHAT IS GOD TO EACH OF US?

“They will be put to shame . . . who say to a stick, 

you are my father, and to a stone, you have brought me forth; 

for they have turned their back toward Me and not their face, 

but in the time of their trouble they will say, 

Arise and save us” (Jer. 2:26 -7).

     That God exists is indisputable; that people believe God and that many seek to worship him is a  fact.  It is well known that some will offer false worship to another god or gods, some being fashioned with their own hands including those made out of sticks and stones. Why they do these things is not our present subject. The firm belief that  there is a true God and Creator is well established among men.  The truth is that without the Creator, nothing would exist for could there be a creation, for nothing comes from nothing, and creation could not create itself. In fact the creation that has been established is ample proof the Creator who men refer to as God, and He is good and the source of life being all-knowing and all-powerful.

     As the Prophet says above, “they will be put to shame who say to a stick you are my father,”  and claim in their folly that man is derived from illogical and unfeeling vegetable and mineral matter, ignoring his superb and wonderful characteristics such as freedom and nobility, an amazing intellect and various feelings of joy, sorrow love and hatred, which are bestowed upon man by God. Those who deny God become His enemies, for denial insults God of misrepresenting himself with false claims such as what He says through Holy Scripture wherein God speaks of himself. Also God created man for a purpose, and if man is only vegetable matter and there  is not life and judgment after death, then there is no punishment for good or evil thoughts and deeds.

     When they turn away from the fact that there is a God and Creator, they may end up proclaiming foolishly that creation had created itself, but this is the depth of ignorance unworthy of our intelligence. Or they say that nature without knowledge begot man making man lower than mindless nature, which cannot give a mind to man. yes indeed they will be put to shame. Their crime is not only against God, but against man who is subject to very great harm by their falsehoods which originate from the evil one, who always seeks man’s destruction. When lies replace truth usually they have an ulterior purpose, in this case enemies of God’s existence and purpose do very  great harm to everyone who hears or reads the words of God’s enemies and believes them and then abandons God and His blessings.

     God and His Church offer all the beneficial truths that lead people to salvation and everlasting life. Enemies of both God and man fabricate malicious lies which misleads people leading them to eternal   destruction. But if we turn our backs on God, we also foolishly align ourselves with our enemies. When a person is in need of help, it is natural that he seeks until he find it.  But after we leave this world help is no longer available and we cannot change whatever we acquired while in this life. So it will be too late to call out for help when there is no longer time with the words: “Arise, and save us!”

     One of the worst of man’s actions is to ignore God and  to turn our backs toward Him.  The best thing is to communicate with Him directly with complete sincerity for then He will surely respond.

But there are many wrong opinions s,ong men about God which must distinguisedh from the truths.  All ideas which contradict Holy Orthodoxy should be quickly rejected, for they are dangerous and if we adopt them it will be to us a great loss.

     God is not like man, but man is in His image and He is the source of everything that exists and has created everything for His purpose, nor did He create man to temporarily enjoy earthly pleasures and then just die and no longer exist. Nor is this man’s genuine desire, for deep within his soul is a yearning that he live for ever.

     Christian sects outside of Orthodoxy distort the truths of God, ignoring many and also  introducing erroneous ideas concerning both God and man. They overlook the perfection of His justice and His great mercy. The mercy of God forgives those who sincerely seek Him and His justice condemns those who ignore or misrepresent Him. Men dare to speak of God out of their own heads, establishing their own form of worship causing great harm to befall those who listen to them.  They failed to heed God therefore He will not respond when they they leave this world and appear before the judgment and ask God to arise and save us, but they will be too late.

ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE COMFORTER

ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE COMFORTER

“But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance,  whatever I have said to you” (John 14:26).

     We need to pray many times each day and a  particular prayer is that the Holy Spirit will be sent to dwell within us, so as to continually remind us of the words and teachings of the Lord, with the hope that upon our sincere request He will respond to our prayer. In the frequent gatherings of the Church, our first prayer is to the Holy Spirit as follows: “Heavenly King Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who are everywhere present and fills all things; treasury of Good things and Giver of life: come and abide in us, cleanse us from every impurity and save our souls O Good One.”

     Our Lord will certainly respond to our sincere request seeking His Comforter and Spirit of Truth, for it is His good will to bestow every blessing upon us, for He s good and the Lover of man. But words alone will not attract His grace. It is when  when we put his words into the actions of our lives we will attract the Spirit. In the Lord’s prayer we ask the Lord to give us this day are essential bread, but we need the Holy Spirit to prepare our souls thst we may partake of yjr holy mystery.

     The Holy Spirit reminds and teaches us all things. But the teaching of the world is of temporal things of lesser importance and not of everlasting life. The Holy Spirit teaching vital and important things helps us to understand valuable things regarding our present lives and the acquisition of eternal life.

     There are many things to remember about the kingdom of God and our general and individual salvation, and the spirit teaches us everything including old and new things causing our knowledge and love to continue to increase. We can be forgetful but the presence of the spirit in our souls will remind us of many things otherwise forgotten.

“He shall teach you all things necessary.” The Holy Spirit being the source of knowledge knows everything that the Godhead knows. When He dwells within us He reminds us of everything that comes from God who is an infinite source.

     “He shall bring all things to your remembrance which I have spoken to you.  The words from Christ are countless in number for we only have words that were preserved and published.

Sometimes we estrange ourselves from God due to sin and thus fall into spiritual weakness. The Holy Spirit cannot dwell in an unclean vessel, and so will depart from our hearts. When the Holy Spirit leaves us gladness and strength peace and tranquility depart at the same time and this renders us sad and miserable.

When we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we must establish Him as the center and focus of our lives, and we must keep watch over our souls guarding against every attack of the evil one who desires to steal our attention and affections that he might cause us to perish.  Every thought we have of Christ becomes food for our souls and and  gives strength to our bodies, therefore Christ is the best food and drink for our souls and bodies.