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HOMILIES on the
BOOK ofthe REVELATION
Volume One
By ARCHIMANDRITE ATHANASIOS MITILINAIOS
Translation, Foreward and Notes by

Constantine Zalalas
“we need to begin our study, our reading, with prayer.
St. Isaac the Syrian says, ‘Do not try to come in touch with the mysteries of God and
the word of God without prayer. So, do not open Holy Scripture; do not start reading
without prayer, without asking God for His help. While praying say, ‘Lord, allow me
to sense; let me feel the power of Your words, the power that exists in Your words.’ You
must consider prayer as the key for your understanding of the deeper meaning of the
Scriptures.” (Chapter two)
+Geronda Athanasios
Homilies on the
Book of the Revelation
By Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Translated by
Constantine Zalalas
Edited by
Eleftheria Kaimakliotis
Assistant Editor
Marie Eliades
Cover/Book Design
Demitrios Handelih
St. Nicodemos Publications

Bethlehem, PA 2009
© Copyright 2009
Constantine Zalalas and St. Nicodemos Publications
1433 West Union Blvd
Bethlehem, PA, 18018-3420 USA
ISBN 978-0-976218-31-9
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any format or by
an means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without the permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
13 Foreward by Constantine Zalalas
19 Introduction
31 Chapter 1. Revelation 1:1

Analysis of the Terms: revelation — must — soon
43 Chapter 2. Revelation 1: 1-4

The Beatitude of the Readers, Listeners, and Keepers of the Divine
Word — Greeting to the Seven Churches

The One Who is and Who was — Grace and Peace from
the Holy Triune God

The Three Offices of Christ and the Faithful:
Prophetic, Priestly and Royal

The Vision of Daniel and Zachariah — I am the Alpha and the Omega
— Sharing in the Suffering and Gospel of the Cross

The Patience and the Kingdom — About the Day of the Lord (Sunday)

The Vision of the Seven Golden Lampstands - the Seven Stars
and the One Walking Among the Lampstands
113 Chapter 8. Revelation 1:20- 22
The Lampstands and the Seven Stars

The First Love — the Threat of Falling — the Fight Against
Nicolaitanism

Promises to the Angel of Ephesus — the Epistle to the Angel of Smyrna
— the Tribulation and Poverty of the Angel of Smyrna

The Synagogue of Satan — the Persecution of the Church of Smyrna —
Promises to Her — Introduction to the Letter to the Bishop of Pergamos
167 Chapter 12. Revelation 2:12-18

To the Church of Smyrna — Pergamos
— Idolatry and Its Relationship to Satan

Balamatism — As An Ongoing Method of Corruption
of the Church and the People of God

Promises to the Victor in the Content of Pergamos
— Epistle to Thyatira — Praise — Criticism for the Woman Jezebel

Jezebel - The Self-Proclaimed Ilumined and Their Delusion
223 Chapter 16. Revelation 2: 24

Freemasonry — The Depths of Satan

Salvation Belongs to the Remnant of the Faithful —
What is Meant by Paradosis of the Church
251 Chapter 18. Revelation 2:26-29 & 3:1-2

The Fifth Epistle to the Bishop of Sardis — Introduction —
Superficial Piety - The Need for Vigilance
The Fifth Epistle to Sardis — The Meaning of Complete Works —
The Power of Memory in Salvation — Virginity — Promises

The Sixth Epistle to the Bishop of Philadelphia —
Introduction — About Missions

The Reward of Missionary Work — The Sixth Epistle to the
Bishop of the Church of Philadelphia

The Seventh Epistle to the Bishop of Laodicea
FOREWORD
he blessed Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios was born in 1927 in Kifisia, a suburb

of Athens, Greece. His devout parents operated a restaurant there, where he
was employed during the years of his youth. He was drawn to a life of deep
piety even before his adolescent years by the holiness and compunctionate
liturgies of his childhood spiritual father and confessor, priest-monk Athanasios
Hamakiotis. After he completed the requirements for two radio-electronics technical
schools in Athens, he received a signal from above, the call for the holy priesthood. He
obeyed and was assigned as an arch-hierarchal advisor to the Metropolis of Larisa.
His first love, however, was the sowing of the divine word. He established catechetical
classes for all age groups in the cities and in the country, in churches and in army barracks.
For ten years, he cultivated the entire county of Larisa, planting and weeding, confessing,
praying, licurgizing, nourishing and serving the people of God. In November 1970, he
gave into the holy desire of his closest disciples to become their Geronda [elder] and re-
establish the abandoned holy monastery of Komnineiou in Stomion, a village thirty miles
east of Larisa, overlooking the Aegean coastline. However, even after his enthronement
as an Elder, he did not abandon his flock in Larisa, but continued to teach five classes on
Sunday afternoons and Mondays. This rigorous schedule, along with sleepless nights for
over forty years, undermined the bodily health of the Elder.
His gift of preaching was such that scores of people, professionals, intellectuals, and
otherwise, would drive from Athens and Thessaloniki to enjoy his atholon pnevmatikon
gala, that is, to be nourished by his pure spiritual milk (Peter 1:3). Dozens of tape
recorders and video cameras recorded over 5,000 homilies, imbued with the Elder's
patristic, ecclesiastical, spiritual, and Orthodox phronema (mindset) given to hundreds of
gathered faithful. Yet, this is only a fraction of his work since most of the Elder’s homilies
were never recorded. His recorded homilies were aired, and continue to be aired, by
several radio stations. Many monks of Mount Athos were elated by the Elder’s great gift.
The Hagiorite intellectual monk, publisher, and writer Theoklitos Dionysiatis said of
Elder Athanasios, “In our days, God has given us a man with the gift of the interpretation
of the Holy Scriptures.”
I met the Elder in late September 1988, on the feast day of St. John the Theologian,
while attending a night vigil service at his monastery. A year prior, I had been truly
enchanted by the holy spiritual wisdom of his homilies, although my Greek was quite
poor at the time. I had immigrated to the United States in 1970 at the age of fourteen,
having brought with me a naive faith, a taken-for-granted faith based on an upbringing
within the insulated confines of Eastern Orthodoxy, on the island of Cos.
14 Homilies on the Book of the Revelation
The multicultural climate of America and its secular lifestyle took precedence over
any concern for my salvation — something for which I had always wished since the years
of my childhood. I used to think, “I am still young. I can always repent when I get older.”
Strangely enough, this call for repentance came much earlier than the time I had thought
through the guidance of Father Nicholas Kossis, whom I met quite miraculously. Fr.
Kossis became my early mentor; and a year later, we planned our first pilgrimage to Mt.
Athos, Mitilini, and to see Fr. Athanasios Mitilinaios, whose talks as of the spring of
1987 were my daily diet. The three-day stay at the Elder’s monastery left an indelible
impression on us, and the Elder became our spiritual advisor for the years to come.
In fact, the impression was so overwhelming that I could not help but share, in
the English language, the wealth of the Elder’s Orthodox Christian knowledge with
relatives, friends and in catechetical classes. I was asked by a number of close friends to
translate some of this wealth for our Anglophone Orthodox; and with the blessing of
the Elder, dozens of these talks were translated and adapted into the English language.
Quite effortlessly, the milk of the word (Peter 3:1) of the Elder began to flow and
nourish great numbers of people in the English speaking countries of the United States,
Canada, and Australia. Among those were also non-Orthodox inquirers, who found the
Elder's message intriguing and refreshing, including many pastors and ministers of non-
Orthodox congregations.
In the early nineties, the prophetic book of the Revelation of St. John was the daily
special on the menu of the mega-televangelist stations. It dawned on me that many of our
Orthodox Christians were satisfying their futuristic metaphysical quests, and sometimes
an unhealthy curiosity, by conveniently tuning into these channels. At that time, I was
listening to some homilies on this topic by Father Athanasios. He had completed a one
hundred hour course on an in-depth study of the book of the Revelation, which took
place from September 1980 until April 1984. Sensing the need to share the much-needed
Orthodox Christian perspective of this most mysterious book, for about six months I
thoroughly studied his homilies and proceeded to selectively translate and adapt a few
lectures, mainly to provide the Orthodox position on such themes as: the rapture, the
Second Coming, the millennium, and the Orthodox understanding of the Antichrist.
I was especially drawn to the deep spiritual content and the Christology of the seven
churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 2-3:19).
I found the Elder's work on the Apocalypse extremely significant for the following
reasons. First, he always supports his exegesis on the most accredited Church Fathers,
such as St. Andrew of Caesarea, Arethas of Caesarea and other ecclesiastical writers
who have analyzed certain pericopes of the book of the Revelation. Second, his work is
characterized by clarity and simplicity because of the employment of expert analytical
exegesis, mobilizing the Elder’s wide range of knowledge of both the Old and New
‘Testaments, to interpret Scripture with Scripture. Third, the Elder does not succumb to
the temptation of becoming a present day prophet by using the procrustean bed method
of prophecy, tailoring the pulling and stretching that seem to abound in most non-
Orthodox and not a few of the contemporary Orthodox commentators, who overlook
Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios 15
the advice of St. Irenaeus: “It is safer and less dangerous to await the fulfillment of the
prophecy than to conjecture and to presage”! (Against Heresies, V5 30.2).
During Pentecost of 1997, in a conversation with the Elder, I conveyed to him that
the content of the analysis of the seven churches in Asia Minor was very edifying and
that I would like to translate some of those homilies. The Elder, with his ever so-gentle
manner, posed the question: “Couldn’t you start from the beginning of the book?” Elder,
it would take me ten years to translate one hundred homilies! Without any hesitation,
the Elder replied, “What if it takes you ten years!”
Ten years have passed and one third of the work still awaits completion. ‘The Elder
slept in the Lord on May 23, 2006. My last meeting with him was on May 22, 2005. At
the end of this meeting, I presented him with eighteen MP3 discs containing all of the
translated work digitized by the efforts of our Romanian team headed by Adrian Toma
of Seattle. He held them, looked at them, and with a child-like simplicity asked, “What
are these things?” Father Polycarpos answered: “Elder, your talks are now international
and they will soon be on the internet!” In a very emotional state, he glorified God and
said, “My children, I assure you that I never expected any of these homilies to make it out
of Larisa! I glorify God for everything!” I am immensely indebted to Elder Athanasios
for those twenty years and for his genuine love and spiritual guidance. He is resting now,
but his homilies are still the daily diet for thousands of people worldwide, especially in
the Greek language.
At this point, I cannot overemphasize the fact that without the voluntary effort
and sacrifice of dozens of people over the years, the circulation of these homilies would
have been impossible. About five years ago, a young teenage girl took it upon herself
to transcribe one of our homilies to pass on in text format. This gave us the impetus to
move forward and to have the rest of the homilies transcribed by a number of volunteers
nationwide, coordinated by the indefatigable efforts of Marie Eliades, the mother of the
girl, a much older teenager now. A number of assistant editors have provided continuous
support to adapt the spoken word into written text, without losing the homiletic
character of the Elder’s work, a very difficult task indeed, made possible by the astute
general editing of Eleftheria Kaimakliotis, a New York native now living in Cyprus. My
thanks go to all of the above individuals and we pray that God blesses them abundantly
and continues to protect us as we proceed with the publication of these four volumes on
the book of the Revelation.
On a final note, we need to mention that these homilies were never intended to be
an epistemological exegesis of the content of the book of the Revelation. Footnotes were
added however to assist the reader with some pertinent information and reference to the
bibliography used. We considered it very important to preserve the homiletic and pastoral
character of the Elder’s work, which should be read carefully, repeatedly, and prayerfully!
Irenaeus, Against Heresies V5 30.2: Ασφαλέστερον και ακινδυνότερον το περιμένειν την ἐκβασιν
τῆς προφητείας ἢ το καταστοχάζεσται και ἀαπομαντεύεσθαι.
? Since then there has been a continued increase of the number of websites offering the Elder’s
work in several different languages.
A misunderstanding and or misinterpretation of the content can easily occur to anyone

who approaches the holy ground of God’s revelation without first removing their sandals
(Ex. 3:5). Finally, we need to thank the Elder’s successor Archimandrite Polycarpos for
his encouragement and blessing to proceed with the publication of this work.
Constantine Zalalas
July 2009
INTRODUCTION
to THE APOCALYPSE
+Father Athanasios Mitilinaios

October 12, 1980
y the grace of our Triune God, we have made it once again to the month of
October, the month when most of us get busy. We prepare for winter and our
farmers prepare the fields to plant. As our farmers go out to their fields to plant
their wheat, in the same manner it is necessary for the word of God to come
forth and be planted. According to the Gospel of St. Luke, 4 sower went out to sow his seed
(Luke 8:5-15 RSV). The word of God comes forth not to till or cultivate, but to sow. The
preparation of the field is the responsibility of man. Now if we come to hear the word of
God, how we hear it, perceive it, and how it affects our personal life, is something totally
dependent on us. However, the Sower comes and sows constantly. This is the exodus of
God, which is an exodus of God’s love towards His creation. God wanted to walk with
His people. He did so through His incarnation, and He continues to come to sow the
word of His divine truth. However, as I told you, how we hear the word of God depends
on us. During this series of homilies, we will come to hear the word of God.
The word of God at times falls on trampled and hard ground, unbroken and untilled.
For this reason it leaves the ground of the heart indifferent. One comes and hears the
word of God but he is not moved at all. The word of God also falls on fickle hearts, those
that become easily enthused. They feel inner joy for the word of God, but when they step
out the door, they forget everything. Other seeds fall on hearts that promise a lot, who
map out a beautiful spiritual life, but one thousand and one concerns of this life come
and choke the seedlings of God and in the end these hearts remain fruitless! We pray that
no one belongs to the above categories.
No, my beloved, the word of God must fall on good and fertile soil so that it can bear
fruit, the fruit of holiness. However, these hearts must accept the word of God with fear
and humility, and in doing so they will produce thirty-fold, sixty-fold and one hundred-
fold (cf. Matt.13: 8-23; Mark 4:8-20). Once again, I hope and pray that there is not one
single heart from the first three fruitless categories, but that all hearts prove to be of good
earth. My prayer is that the word of God that falls on our hearts produces great fruit.
This year, the grace of God offers us the great opportunity to sow His word from the
book of the Revelation. It is the last book of the New Testament; it forms the conclusion
of all of the Holy Scriptures and it corresponds considerably to the first book, the book
of Genesis. These two books form an axis of the fall and salvation. Now, if the book of
Genesis refers to the history of man’s fall, the book of the Revelation refers to the history
of man’s restoration and salvation. In the book of Genesis, we have the description of
the creation of the world and of man. It is the beautiful twilight of the visible created
world.
Unfortunately, the man and woman fell into sin at the instigation of the devil and
since then, in addition to sin, both death and corruption were introduced into the
world. To all appearances, God’s beautiful plan—to have nature draw near to God, to
unite with Him and be deified and sanctified—was negated. However, that which God
creates cannot be nullified or negated. In order to renew the visible created world, God's
economy brought forth the incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity: Jesus
Christ.
The world did not accept Jesus Christ and it crucified Him. Still, the plan of
salvation was not negated. By His death on the cross, Christ crushed the devil; and by His
resurrection, death and corruption were defeated. So, the Church, the Body of Christ,
continues to travel through history facing much tribulation, turmoil and martyrdom
from the God-opposed, God-fighting powers that continuously crucify the flesh of
Christ. In the end, the Church will be victorious, triumphant, because Christ defeated
the devil, the world and death! The Church sanctifies nature and leads it to the Kingdom
of God.
So if the book of Genesis gives us an account of the creation of man and his fall,
the book of the Revelation describes apocalyptically the journey of the Church, of the
faithful through the history of creation and more specifically, the rebirth, re-creation, and
the eternal glory of man and the visible creation. The book of the Revelation, which we
are introducing today, contains the entire mystery of the divine plan, of divine economia,
in the form of a summary: from the incarnation of the Word of God until the Second
Coming of Christ, Judgment Day and the appearance of the Kingdom of God.
To give you a bird’s eye view I tell you this: in one scene alone in the book of the
Revelation, the mystery of incarnation is made manifest. In chapter twelve we read about
the woman who holds a male child. Before she gave birth, the beast was waiting for the
pregnant woman to give birth so he could grab the newly born child and devour it!
When the child was born, the woman was led into the desert, and the beast, forming
a river by spewing water out of his mouth, ran behind her to sweep her away with the
flood. However, he does not reach the child because the child ascends into heaven. My
friends, this is the entire history of the incarnation.
The devil, according to one of our Church fathers, was searching out the virgins even.
from Old Testament times to see which one would give birth to the messiah. However,
according to St. Ignatius of Antioch, the male child escaped the attention of the prince|
of this world (cf. John 12:31,14:30). The devil was not informed about the Son of God's |
birth from the Virgin.’ The devil had no clue. The devil is not omnipresent. Nor does he
know everything. However, he kept a close watch. We see this very clearly in the book of |
> St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ephesians, 19, 1. {
i
the Revelation. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to beara child, that
he might devour her child when she brought it forth! (Rev.12:4)
Now the woman swept away in the torrent signifies the Theotokos, or the Church.
The person of the woman here has two aspects or two applications: the Theotokos and
the Church. One application is certainly the Church because the Church is the Body of
Christ, the body Christ received from the Theotokos,* the Panagia.> Consequently, the
Theotokos and the Church is the same thing, with two different views or aspects. So
here, we have two sides of the same coin.
The Church is persecuted; the disciples and the Theotokos are persecuted, but the
child is snatched up to heaven. In other words, we have the Crucifixion, the Resurrection
and the Ascension of Christ. The devil can no longer do anything to the child. Since
the devil cannot go to heaven, he pursues the woman in the desert. He turns against the
Church, day in and day out, and we can see in this scene alone the cross section of the
mystery of God's holy economy. Scenes like this permeate the book of the Revelation.
So, the book of the Revelation refers to the establishment and the expansion of
the Church of Christ, the Kingdom of God on earth, which is the Church. It refers
to the unfolding of the battle between the Church (or the woman) and the beast, or
the God-opposing powers. We will see what these God-opposing powers are. In the
end, the plagues take place against the beast and against the unbelieving world. The
Church is triumphant. Christ comes and judges the world, the devil is bound, and the
Kingdom of God arrives in glowing splendor! This is the general diagram of the book of
the Revelation.
The central theme of the book is the Second Coming of Christ as Judge and King!
The book begins and ends with this same theme. The Church, or the Bride, and the
Spirit (who remains in the Church) will say, Come Lord Jesus! And the response is,
‘Yes, I am coming soon’ (cf. Rev. 22:20). These words describe the state of expectation,
characteristic of both the book and the Church. The Church is expecting Christ; She
awaits Him as Judge and as King to put away all evil and to expel the devil so sin will cease
to exist. So, corruption and decay will cease to exist; death will cease to exist.
The central idea of the book is Jesus Christ, the Second Coming of Christ, Christ
coming back as Judge and King. We will also notice, as we progress, the repeated usage
of a seven-fold system. This will be more obvious during the analysis of the book. Again,
the central theme is the battle between the Kingdom of God and the God-opposing
power, with the resulting triumph of the Church of Christ. The purpose of the book of
the Revelation is both the preparation of the faithful to face the tribulation that awaits
them, and the consolation and strengthening of the faithful that they might fight the
good fight until the end (1 Tim. 6:12). All the things that I am referring to in a few words
are recorded in the book of the Revelation with visions, images, and descriptions that
make up its symbolic language.
* The most theological title of the Virgin: “ the birth-giver of God”.
> Pan-agia, (all holy, pan-holy) is the most commonly used title of the Virgin Mary among
Greek Orthodox Christians.
To be sure, the book of the Revelation is primarily a prophetic book. However,

prophecy does not only reveal future events, it also reveals the present! Thus, we have here
prophecy in its broad sense. Our Lord Himself instructs John, Now write what you see,
what is and what is to take place hereafter (1:19). According to our Orthodox Christian
Tradition, St. John was exiled to the island of Patmos, where the cave of the Revelation
is located. The cave is still there today. St. John used to pray there incessantly. According
to Tradition, on a certain Sunday (as he will tell us in the beginning of the book) he was
in the spirit (1:10) and he saw these revelations and visions which he recorded following
the command of Christ, Now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter
(1:19). From this we see that the book of the Revelation is prophetic.
We mentioned that prophecy in its broad sense is not limited to the future, but may
contain or include the future, the present, and even the past. We will explain. When a
prophecy pertains to the future, it reveals something that will take place in the future and
which is unknown to every created being. The future is not known to any man or angel,
or even to the devil! In reality, the future is known to God and to no one else! Therefore,
prophecy is a privilege only of the true God, and if you will, it is a privilege of our true
Orthodox Faith.
A prophecy can also pertain to the present and to whatever thing or event escapes
the attention of the people at that time. For example, when St. John the Baptist is called
a prophet, what do you think — did he prophesy the future? No! St. John prophesied
the present! He did not prophesy the future, nor did he prophesy the past. St. John the
Baptist only prophesied the present, and the nucleus of his prophecy was, “Here is the
Messiah! Here is the Lamb of God!” (cf. John 1:29). The leaders of the people asked
him, “Who are you? Are you the messiah?” No, I am not the messiah! I am the voice of
the one calling and crying out in the wilderness! (Isa. 40:3). 1 am here to witness for the
Messiah. The One who has been before me in time, is here now! The One who is more
powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie! (John1: 27). John
is prophesying about Christ, but Christ is already present! John the Baptist is a great
prophet, but he is only prophesying the present. We must add that it is more difficult to
prophesy the present than to prophesy the future.
Finally, a prophecy also pertains to the past if it prophesies those things that the
human eye has not seen. For instance, when Moses records the creation of man and the
world in the book of Genesis how does he know these things? He is writing prophetically!
Therefore, he is a prophet referring to the past.
To add another dimension to the meaning of prophecy, which we set forth above,
prophecy has the element of teaching. It serves to advise, to move people towards
straight paths and repentance, to bring consolation and encouragement to those who are
fighting the good fight of the spiritual life, and so on. Many times the prophets come to
strengthen and help people, to move them towards repentance, and to elevate those who
listen to them. So prophecy does not limit itself to what happened and what will happen,
but it also serves to teach God’s people how they must walk.
For this reason, and I want to emphasize this, please make a mental note of this; we
must not look at the book of the Revelation in the narrow sense of prophecy, as a book
that will reveal the future to us. Not so my friends! The book of the Revelation will
take us back into the past and refer to the present as well. Our Lord said, what is now
(1:19)—those things that exist now—not necessarily the symbolic images that John was
seeing in the vision. No, when St. John writes about Babylon the great prostitute (the
great harlot), meaning Rome, Rome is not limited to that period of two thousand years
ago. What is now is also valid for today, so we must not limit our interpretation only to
historical facts. Thus, what is now is for today and for tomorrow.
We need to understand that the book of the Revelation transcends the past,
present, and future. It serves to comfort, uplift, restore, warn, call out, and to point out
the Antichrist. This is for all times, for all seasons but especially at times when spiritual
awareness is very low. The book of the Revelation is a very graphic book with much
inexpressible grace and freshness despite some of the horrific images. This book has a
freshness about it as well as a certain tenderness. It is a true masterpiece of the Holy
Spirit and it becomes truly delightful for the person who can catch on and see some of its
wonders. It is written in the common dialect of the Hellenistic times.
The scope of its literature is so interesting that foreign scholars claim that the book
of the Revelation employs its own grammar, and this makes it very graceful. It is not
extremely rich in its vocabulary. In this, it is similar to St. John’s Gospel, which although
it has the poorest vocabulary of the four Gospels, flies in the stratosphere of theology.
It is the most theological of all the Gospels. St. John mimics the kenosis (emptying)
of God the Word, Who takes on the poverty of human existence. The very Word of
God became poor, and through these lowly and poor words that St. John uses, the
wealth of theology is made manifest, the wealth of the Kingdom of God. This wealth
is so abundant that it runs over and beyond the meaning of the words themselves. It is
something so fantastic, so amazing, that only the person who familiarizes himself with
this book of the Revelation can discover all these elements and wonders in a way that
they never exhaust themselves.
Again, it is a true masterpiece. It has unity, symmetry, great rhythm; it has
powerful wording despite the poverty of the words. It has wealth - wealth of color
and tone. It has a great variety of topics, a certain flexibility, and a vivacity. Its charm
magnetizes the person who reads and studies it. There is no other book in the history of
humanity that has as many commentaries, writings, and references as this book. A great
number of books have been written, are being written, and will be written about the
book of the Revelation. It is a great treasure, a book of great depth that awakens the
consciences of people!
It amazes people with its wonderful imagery and scenery. The main scene is heaven
and earth. Its place of reference is the entire universe. Its time frame is not limited to the
earth’s history, but moves beyond to the universal history and eternity. This is why we
would be making an interpretive mistake if we would wish to interpret the book of the
Revelation based on a particular topography, a specific geography such as the United
States, Greece, or Constantinople. Many of you who have studied apocalyptic literature
will know exactly what I am talking about. The tendency is to want to interpret events
of this book in the narrow space of New York, Iraq, Constantinople or in the limited
space of the country of Greece. As we said, the book of the Revelation is not just for the
Greeks, or the Americans. It is a universal book. Its stage is heaven and earth. Its period
is the history of the universe and eternity.
Accordingly, as Greeks, let's not try to limit it to our national dreams and aspirations!
It is very pitiable approach, and this is why all those who try to interpret in this narrow-
minded manner have missed the mark! My friends, the claims of all those who wrote books
and commentaries within these narrow boundaries were false, and they were obviously
ashamed! In the Greek history of interpreters, I will mention Apostolos Makrakis® who
interpreted the book of the Revelation in the limited geographical area of the country
of Greece with Constantinople as the center! It goes without saying that when we try to
interpret according to the current events of each century we will not be accurate!
At the beginning of the century, Makrakis tried to interpret the book ofthe Revelation
using Islam as the dark power or the spirit of the Antichrist! There is no question that
the expansion of Islam is included in the entire spectrum of this book. Yet, we cannot say
that the book of the Revelation will deal with this current exclusively. This is a mistake!
Communism, atheism, or materialism cannot take a central theme on the stage of this
book. They are simply links of the chain. They are great factors, and they are included
in this book because these systems take on universal dimensions. However, the book of
the Revelation does not confine itself to these systems alone. So let us never say that the
beast is communism, or Islam! This is not so! These are forerunners of the beast, there
is no doubt about it; but they are not the actual apocalyptic beast. The introduction of
the book aims to attract interest. However, let us be careful. Do not expect to hear, while
interpreting this book, ifand when World War III will take place, or when the Antichrist
will come, and when the Second Coming of Christ will take place! Please do not expect
these things! We need to follow the proven path of our Church.
This path, my friends, was mapped out by three God-inspired people, three God-
inspired Holy Fathers: St. Andrew of Caesarea of the sixth century, who wrote a
commentary, St. Arethas, Archbishop of Caesarea of the ninth century (I have both
commentaries in my hands, glory be to God!), and St. Ecumenios, Archbishop of Tryki
of the sixth century. (I do not have this one.) I have two complete commentaries on the
book of the Revelation, in which one can see the Orthodox teaching of how our Church
interprets the book of the Revelation. It is not mere coincidence (and we will analyze this
more as we go on), that our Church fathers did not overly occupy themselves with the
book of the Revelation. We will see this in our journey of subjects. Panayiotis Trembelas,
for example, interpreted and published commentaries on all of the books of Holy
Scripture with the exception of the book of the Revelation. Trembelas was a great Greek
scholar of the twentieth century. My basic resources include the great commentary of
© Apostolos Makrakis (1851-1905): Greek lay theologian, preacher, philosopher, ethicist, and
writer. The Church of Greece condemned some of his teachings.
Professor Bratsiotis’ (the only one of its kind in the neo-Hellenic theological literature)
along with Sts. Andrew and Arethas. These serve as my guides. All the others have some
hidden dangers. I am telling you all this because I would not want to go astray, neither
would I want to mislead you.
Therefore, I urge you not to let your imagination go wild over what is going to happen
and what new things we are about to learn. No; vigilance is required! We will learn in
our long journey through this holy book how we are to understand this Scripture. I will
certainly try to tell you something about this point; this something will not exhaust itself,
but will continue as we journey through the analysis of this book. In spite of all the things
that we just mentioned, we cannot say that we do not need to look out for the signs of
the times! (cf. Matt.16:3). No, we need to watch for the signs because our Lord Himself
instructed us about this. He spoke to us about the signs of the end of times. He said, As
soon as the twigs of the fig tree get tender and its leaves come out you know that summer is
near! (Matt. 24:32). He goes on to give a number of signs in the Gospel. He tells us then
you will know that the end is near. Which end, Lord?
Here, there is a double image, the end of Jerusalem, and the end of the world. The
book of the Revelation is a very difficult book. The prophecy is unfathomable. It runs
deep. As he was on his way to Rome to be martyred and become food for the lions, St.
Ignatius instructs St. Polycarp in a letter: “Study the times diligently. Anticipate the One
Who is above time, the timeless One, the invisible, but for us visible.”® So study, pay
great attention to the times, and along the way keep expecting the One Who is above
time, Jesus Christ, the pre-eternal Son and Word of God. Keep expecting Him. This
exhortation of St. Ignatius is very important.
However, this should not throw us into the turmoil of curiosity and the consequences
ofa sickly imagination. We must mention that not all people have a healthy imagination.
People can also have a sick, wild imagination and can make a mountain out of a molehill!
Some of you can go out, use this imagination, misquote what we say here, and say that Fr.
Athanasios announced that World War III will be in a couple of years, or it will take place
at such and such a time! People will bring this to my attention. They will ask me and I
will have no clue! This is because some listeners have exaggerated some things that they
thought they heard, and expressed them according to their imagination.
St. Irenaeus said something excellent, “It is therefore more certain and less hazardous,
to await the fulfillment of a prophecy than to surmise and foretell...’? St. Andrew of
Caesarea also tells us something very important, “Time and experience will reveal to the
vigilant.”° Time will reveal these events. Now, you will ask, “Why should we bother and
” Panagiotis Bratsiotis (1918 —1982): Biblical scholar from the University of Athens, a prolific
writer and a theologian of international fame.
® St. Ignatius, Polycarp, 3:2
? St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 5:30.
10 St. Andrew of Caesarea, Apocalypse, (PG 106, 340C): “o xpdvoc aroxaAtyet cat n Telpa ToI<
νήφουσιν᾽.
where is the value if these things will happen in the future?” It is important for me to
know in advance what this book says so I will know how to stand.
Specifically, let us talk about the presence of the Antichrist. When he comes, he will
mesmerize the masses. He will be wise, thoughtful, a philanthropist, extremely civilized.
He will be an amazing personality! He will enchant the entire world! This is what the
Church fathers say. People will boast about his governing abilities, about his wisdom.
He will be a universal king. The unions that are taking place geographically will one day
solidify to a great union, and then the Antichrist will come forth. It may sound strange,
but it is true!
This is the warning that we have from the word of God. In those days, the prophets
Elijah and Enoch (11:3) will appear. These two prophets did not taste death (Gen.5:24,
Heb.11:5). They will serve as prophets of the present, not the future! They will call out
that this is the Antichrist, and people will be amazed. “What? He is the greatest governor
this world has ever known!” “No, he is the Antichrist!” They will prophesy the present.
Those who are vigilant with a pure heart, and who live a spiritual life, will recognize
him instantly! The rest of the masses will seize the prophets and hang them in the center
of Jerusalem (11:7-9).
Now, when will all these things happen? When they happen! When will we know?
When they are happening! We will recognize each event at the time of its outcome.
Therefore,as you see, how we approach and how we study the book of the Revelation is
very important. When we open the book of the Revelation, we feel that we are in front
of some disorder, or standing before an abyss with no beginning and no end, an abyss
of visions, depictions and images. However, in reality, there is no abyss, nothing of the
sort! There is rhythm and order based on a seven-fold system. This is true throughout the
entire book, which is truly amazing. It is like looking up in the sky and tryingto map out
in an orderly fashion, six or seven thousand visible stars! Is this possible for us? No, it is
out of the question! It is chaotic! However, it is not chaotic to the astronomer! He has
mapped out these stars. He studies and he knows how to look for them.
Accordingly, the book of the Revelation is not chaotic. We can easily find the
beginning, the middle, and the end. However, this is the main point; we do not know
how to interpret it. This is the problem! How do we interpret the book of the Revelation
without wanting to go off on a tangent? I must tell you that four different theories or
methods of interpretation have been posited. I will mention only a few. This presents
a dilemma as to which theory to use and you will see this as we proceed with our
interpretation. The first theory, which has been accepted by many Church fathers, is
called cyclical (kyklyki). In other words, when we read the Holy Scriptures we ask about
the things that are reported by the prophet, “Are these things meant for this time, for the
journey of the Church through history, or for the end of time?” In this instance, we also
have the progressive or eschatological method. The cyclical states this: it takes a series of
visions, a circle, or combination of seven events and says these seven apply to the events
of this time frame. The second combination of seven applies to the events of a subsequent
period until we reach the end of time.
The second theory is the chronological theory, which is not repetitive or cyclical,
and does not refer to the seven-fold combination. It is a journey, wherein we can say we
are now at the first chapter, or if you will, at the third chapter where reference is made
to the seven churches in Asia Minor. With this method, we might say that the first three
chapters refer to the time of St. John and the chapters beyond that until the last chapter
refer to the time after St. John until the end of history. In other words, according to the
chronological theory, we could say that every chapter corresponds to a point in history.
Neither of these methods of interpretation is completely accurate. St. Andrew of
Caesarea prefers the cyclical, but he uses all the methods of interpretation. In other
words, we must use an eclectic method. In some areas we will use the cyclical, in some
areas the chronological, and in some the eschatological.
I hope I did not succeed in confusing all of you. However, you must understand
that it is difficult to grasp all of this. Again, some holy fathers use a combination of these
methods and this combination is called the spiral method. To understand this, let us say
that I am ready to climb around a mountain on an uphill winding road. After climbing
in a huge circle, I find myself a little higher; one more circle, and I am even higher; and
as I get higher up the mountain, the circles become smaller. Subsequently, here I have the
combination of the circular and the straight. I start at the base and I end up at the top.
So, a prophecy can begin at the beginning (when the book of the Revelation was
first written) and this same prophecy can actually continue until the end of times,
until the Second Coming of Christ.'’ Consequently, as we see here I have the cyclical
interpretation, but I also have the straight line which progresses to the top. We call this
combination the spiral interpretation.
Let us see how the Church fathers use all these to interpret. Let us look at two or
three examples. St. John says in his First Epistle, Children, it is the last hour; and as you
have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come; therefore we
know that it is the last hour (1John 2:18). It is the last hour. However, what does the
last hour mean? It means that the Second Coming of Christ is at hand; there is nothing
beyond that. It is the last hour because you heard that the Antichrist is coming. Thus, the
Antichrist is a sign of the last hour. Many other antichrists have come and this is how we
know that this is the last hour.
Now we seem to be all mixed up and all confused. How can we understand all this? It
is really simple. We have the main person, the Antichrist, with a capital A. All the others
are small antichrists. They are all his forerunners. So, when is the last hour? The last hour
begins from the moment St. John wrote the book of the Revelation! St. Paul records,
but understand this, that in the last days there will come times of stress (II Timothy,
3:1). Holy Apostle Paul, to what last days are you referring? St. John the Chrysostom
interprets, “The last days begin at the very moment St. Paul writes his Epistle.”
Here is one more example, so we can understand even better. Christ said that
'T See Bratsiotis P., The Apocalypse of John, 10.

12 of. St. John Chrysostom, Acts, Homily 5:2
Jerusalem would be destroyed: Stone will not be left upon stone... Then the powers of
the Heaven will be shaken... The sun and the moon will lose their brightness (cf. Matt.
24:2-30). What we have here is one image that has two layers. The first layer, the total
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. will take place a few years after this prophecy. The
second plane of this same image is the Second Coming of Christ and the end of times.
That is the grand finale of this prophecy. The first phase was, so to speak, the semifinal,
and this is the final. Consequently, at every moment in history we have the last hour,
every moment.
What we see here are circles that get wider and wider, and at the center of these
widening circles we have the procession of the prophecy. At the first circumference of
the circle, we have the interpretation of the prophecy. At a second wider circumference,
we have the interpretation again, and then a third circumference and so on. At the end,
the great circumference of one huge circle will be touching upon the very, very end of
times, the Second Coming of Christ. Therefore, this is how we will study the book of the
Revelation, which means that this book is not something that was, or something that will
be, but something that always is. The book of the Revelation does not exhaust itself at a
given time; it is a universal book that enters the very Kingdom of God.
St. Andrew of Caesarea says something very nice on this. “The prophets of the Old
Testament were interpreted by many interpreters. However, many prophecies remain
unfulfilled without reaching the end or the depth of the prophecy.”!? You may say, “But
don’t the prophets of the Old Testament refer to Christ?” Yes, but they also refer to
beyond Christ, to His Second Coming, and to the Kingdom of God. My friends, let’s
never say that the prophecies of the Old Testament were all fulfilled! The coming of
Christ does not exhaust the prophecies of the Old Testament. Once again on this, St.
Andrew of Caesarea says, “They will not be exhausted, not even in the Kingdom of God
itself because it is in the Kingdom of God especially where we will be able to understand
the full depth of these prophecies.”"*
So, by now you may begin to understand that the book of the Revelation is a
tremendously deep and unfathomable book, and we need to approach it with a great
deal of respect. Now at the closing of this brief introduction, I will ask you not to get
discouraged if we were somewhat difficult. An introduction is always difficult. The
introduction was meant to shine some light on this subject, and I hope that I did not
manage to get you all confused. However, I urge you to have a little patience.
Let us continue, and we will see how beautifully this book will refresh us, how we
will gain greater understanding through this analysis. This book has so many great things
to offer. Thus, as we come to the end of this introduction we must keep in mind a few
basic precepts about how to stand while considering this book of God. First, let us never
forget that we have in our midst the living Word of God, the Word of God Himself, since
15 St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG 106,217A): Twv nada προφητὼν οἱ βίβλοι υπο ποχλὼν
ερμηνευθείσαι τι το βάθος των εν εαυταὶς μυστηρίων τοις πάσι ἐρχουσι εφ᾽ εαυτῶν ἀχρι τῆς ἡμέρας
εκείνης εν ἡ τῆς μερικὴς καταργουμένης γνώσεως ἡ τελεία ἀναδειχθήσεται.
14 Thid.
this book is God-inspired, like all the other books of Holy Scriptures.
Second, this word of God is deep and difficult to interpret. To gain understanding,
one needs to have humility, prayer, attention, tears, and persistence. Let us use the example
of St. John the evangelist, where he says, I heard a voice, “No one can open this scroll, and
I started to cry, because no one could learn about the contents of this scroll (Rev. 5:1-4).
The angel who was guiding him came and told him, ‘Do not weep, the scroll was opened
by the morning star, the Son of God, the incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ. So don’t
weep. Why did He open the scroll? - Because St. John was weeping!
A third point, and something we need to be careful of, is that every conclusion we
will draw from this book, whether ethical, moral, or spiritual, we should not use only to
instruct others. Let us apply these points to ourselves first! When Christ will say; You
are not cold or hot, you are lukewarm! This is why I will spit you out of my mouth! (3:16).
Let us not say that He will spit out or throw up the others! No, we need to analyze and
criticize our souls, ourselves first. I must question, “Am I also lukewarm? Maybe I am!”
and then I will discover, if I have any sincerity, that yes, I am lukewarm and Christ is
talking directly to me!
My friends, this is how we will be able to gain some understanding from the book of
the Revelation so its truth can be revealed to us — at least as much as is humanly possible!
In this way, we can walk this golden and bright journey of the Church in the face of the
blood-shedding and life-killing swords of the godless powers all throughout history.
CHAPTER 1
Revelation 1:1
Analysis of the Terms: revelation — must — soon
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon
take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness
to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he
who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep
what is written therein; for the time is near (Rev. 1:1-3 RSV).
Homily given October 19, 1980

y friends, this book begins with a wonderful introductory outline
in which we can observe a number of essential elements. First, it is
distinguished by its official tone that reminds one of the inscriptions
of the books of the Old Testament. Its beginning can be compared
with the grandeur of the beginning of the book of Isaiah, for instance, The vision
of Isaiah, the son of Amoz which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of
Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (Isaiah 1:1). Second, the character
of the book is made known by the name Revelation and the holy writer calls to our
attention that what we have before us is a prophetic book! Third, the validity and
authenticity of this book is declared because the source of this book is God Himself,
Jesus Christ, whether He speaks personally or through an angel. Fourth, the purpose
of the writing of this book is pointed out where he says it is to show His servants what
must soon take place.
So, we have a record of the purpose of the writing of the book of the Revelation.
Again, the purpose is to show the servants of God those things which must take place
soon! A fifth observation is the identification of the writer, who is none other than His
servant, St. John the evangelist. This is the disciple that Jesus loved, the writer of the
Gospel according to John and of the three catholic epistles.
A sixth point is that the content of the book is revealed, who bore witness to the
word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Therefore, St.
John bears record to the word of God; so the book of the Revelation is the word of
God, the testimony of Jesus Christ and all the things that St. John saw. He will not add
or subtract. At the end of the book John himself will note, anyone who adds anything
to the words of this book, God will add to him the plagues described in this book! And if
anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy God will take away from him his share
in the Tree of Life, meaning he will not enter the Kingdom of God (cf. Rev. 22:18-19).
St. John is very careful to record only what he saw and heard and nothing more!
The central theme of this book is the Second Coming of Christ, which includes
the war of the godless powers against the Church, their great defeat handed to them
by Christ, and the glorious reign of Christ unto the ages of ages. A seventh point, is
that the purpose of this book is made clear by the blessing which it bestows upon
those that read, those that hear, and those that keep the word of God. Blessed is he who
reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what
is written therein.
Finally, what is also recorded here is that the time of the fulfillment of the content
of this book is short, for the time is near. The time is at hand! All these things, in the
introductory outline of this book, comprise a great deal of information in just a few
lines. Now by the grace of God, we will proceed to interpret the Holy Script, word-
by-word and phrase-by-phrase. It has so much beauty; there is so much beauty that
even if they tell us to hurry along, how could we possibly hurry? When the Script
itself stops you, it holds you down fast; it stops you dead in your tracks. It demands
your attention!
The Revelation of Jesus Christ! [Revelation is apocalypse in Greek.] With these
words, this great book of the New Testament begins. However, what is the meaning
of the word revelation? Initially it means that this book is prophetic. It is the only
prophetic book of the New Testament even though the other books of the New
Testament have prophetic elements as well. Whether they have a historical character,
like the gospels, or a letter character like the epistles of Sts. Paul, Peter, John, James
and so on, even though they are full of prophetic references, they are not especially
prophetic. They are historical, advisory, and so on. The book of the Revelation is
essentially prophetic, the only one of its kind in the New Testament, even though it is
full of spiritual counsels as well.
According to St. Andrew of Caesarea, “Revelation is the declaration of hidden
mysteries which take place by the illumination of the nous, whether by divine dreams
or visions, or in a state of wakefulness like St. John.” St. John was not asleep. He was
quite awake! He was not dreaming. Daniel, in the Old Testament however, saw similar
things in his dreams while he was asleep. He saw great images, great visions, but he was
asleep. St. John here is quite awake. He writes; I was on the island of Patmos.... I was in
the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, (Kytiaki, on Sunday) I heard behind a loud voice... Then I
turned around and I saw what I saw, someone like the Son of Man (cf. 1:13), the glorified
Jesus! And He told me, I am the one walking among the lampstands... write these things
that I am about to tell you (Rev.1: 17-19). So, St. John is fully awake.
However, the word revelation also has a deeper meaning. Many times, we use the
term revelation without managing to understand it fully. Generally speaking revelation
means that God is revealing Himself to man and this revelation is either direct or
indirect with its purpose always being to lead people to the knowledge of God.
' St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG 106, 220D): AmoxaAuyic ἐστί ἡ των κρυπτὼν μυστηρίων δήλωσις,
καταυγαζομένου του ἡγεμονικού, εἶτε δια θείων ονειράτων, cite καθ᾽ ὑπαρ εκ θείας ἐλλάμψεως.
God is not unknown. He is both known and unknown at the same time! He is
known because God wants to be in communion with His creation. At the same time,
He is unknown because He is the Unsearchable, the Untouchable, the Unfathomable,
the Everlasting, the Timeless, the One above the corporeal and created nature because
the essence of God will always escape the knowledge of all created beings. This is why
He is the Unknowable Known!
These are all expressions of what is called apophatic theology. This very statement
for example, “I do not know what God is, and the more I learn about Him, the more I
become certain that I do not know God!” is an apophatic stand towards the knowledge
of God; however, God loves to reveal Himself! He never keeps to Himself. He reveals
Himself either directly or indirectly; and the revelation of God can be visualized in
the natural divine revelation or the supernatural divine revelation. The natural divine
revelation has three spheres through which God is revealed within His creation.
First, He reveals Himself through creation itself; second, through man himself;
and third through human history and the history of the creation. God reveals
Himself through creation according to the words of St. Paul, Ever since the creation
of the world his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly
perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although
they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him (Rom. 1: 20-21).
Therefore, within creation we recognize God’s qualities in the cataphatic way, not
apophatic as we mentioned before. Here the knowledge is in a cataphatic way, through
the very creation.
We have such a vast universe, so vast that no telescope has ever reached the corners
of this universe. Even our own imagination cannot travel that far. Science today talks
about two hundred billion suns in our own Milky Way Galaxy! They talk about one
hundred billion galaxies! Andromeda is the closest galaxy to ours, the closest galaxy,
and it is 1.5 million light years away! The diameter of the universe is eighteen billion
light years! Just contemplating these things makes us dizzy! Equally, we are not capable
of imagining a finite universe with limits; we cannot grasp this — yet at the same time
we cannot perceive a universe without boundaries.
Now, if we have such a vast and astounding universe, then what can we say about
our God? Then God must be eternal, everlasting, infinite. God is almighty, all-wise! So
where do we see these qualities? In God’s creation! God is revealed through His creation.
This is why, my friends, there has never been a godless nation in human history,
precisely because God revealed Himself through His creatures! The phenomenon of
the atheism of our times is the sickened state of today’s man who is in desperate need
of a psychiatrist! Every atheist should be the subject of a psychiatric evaluation! The
state of the atheist is not natural. God is revealed to man for the simple reason that
man is the image of God. The nous, the ruling nous, [the higher part of the soul]
the mind, reveals and discovers God not only because man can sense God with his
nous, but because the very presence of man’s mind reveals the eternal mastermind, the
eternal nous.
Speaking for myself, I have a mind and am able to think, which is obviously
not my own doing. People must be very foolish to think that they created their own
minds. They must be real imbeciles. Since I have a mind, we can easily conclude that
the Person Who created me has a mind as well. This is well stated in one of the Psalms.
David says, He who created the eyes, can He not see? He who has made the ear, can He not
hear? Does He not understand? (cf. Ps 94:9). So, we can see now that through created
beings, especially through man, the presence and existence of God is manifested.
Finally, we see the presence of God throughout history. God enters man’s
history. He orchestrates events without affecting the human will. God always has the
final word.
I will use an example so you can understand this very thing. Let’s think of a boat,
a commercial ferryboat, or a cruise liner; in it we have passengers and personnel.
Passengers and personnel move around; they go about their business; one passenger
goes to the cabin; another decides to go for a dip in the pool; the third one goes to the
main deck for coffee; the fourth goes to the dining room; the mechanics stay in the
engine room; the captain is in the captain's chair. Everyone moves about independently
the way they ought to, and according to their own will! Each person has the personal
freedom to move and carry on as they wish within the boat. Their will is not restricted
per se in any way, shape, or form. However, the entire ship is moving towards a certain
point. This is the relationship of history, people, and God. While people in general are
free to choose their actions on their trip through history, the reality is that the entire
cruise liner of history is directed towards a certain purpose, a specific destination!
So in this sense God intervenes through history. He interferes to lead, to direct, to
punish, to destroy, to rescue or to reward. As we have mentioned a number of times,
the entire Old Testament is a theology of history and a revelation of the history of the
nation of Israel.
Even the incarnation of the Son of God takes place within history, and still covers
the entire prehistory of humanity. When God tells Eve that one of her descendents
will come to save her, we see that the incarnation is not placed at a specific time in
history, say two thousand years ago, but that the entrance of God in history through
His incarnation covers the entire history of mankind, from prehistoric times until the
last day. These things are inconceivable, truly inconceivable; and the person who can
abide and live by these becomes full of divine awe before God, before His love and His
providence. Therefore, the revelation of God exists in the personal history of man and
not only in universal history.
Would you like me to tell you my life history? I would not tell you anything
other than how God entered my personal life! Would you like me to listen to your
life history? I could listen to everyone's life history, to the history of people that listen
to or read this very homily. How did all these people find their way here, listening to
or reading the word of God? In answer, of course, the people will relate the history
of God in their lives. So God enters not only our national history, He also enters the
history of every individual, of every human being, whether believer or unbeliever,
pious or impious, young or old.

There is no such thing as luck! Luck does not exist. God governs everything!
However, He never restricts the freedom of the individual. The supernatural divine
revelation fulfills and perfects the natural divine revelation. Mount Sinai, the prophets,
and above all, the incarnation of the Son of God itself makes up the supernatural
divine revelation. The supernatural divine revelation can be internal or external. ‘The
external or outward is already established by the appearance of God in our history in
the Person of Jesus Christ. It is already established and there is nothing more for us to
expect, nothing other than what was revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ.
When I say we have no more expectations, we do not mean that we do not expect
the Second Coming. Yes we do, but in the Person of Jesus Christ (in other words, the
same Person). We do not have anything outside or beyond the Person of Jesus Christ.
The prophets foretold and preached the word of God and Moses saw the glory of God,
but history has now seen the Person of the incarnate Son of God. History will see Him
again, and He will be the same Person.
Consequently, we will not have any new revelation other than what we already
have and this is what we mean when we say that the outward or exterior revelation is
already established. What remains is the inward, supernatural revelation that continues
in the life of the faithful—all the faithful—to help them understand and accept the
outward revelation. In other words, God reveals Himself within me so I can call Jesus
Lord! St. Paul expresses this in these words: No one can say Jesus is Lord without being
in the Holy Spirit (cf.1 Cor. 12:3). This means that the Spirit of God illumines me to
confess Jesus as Lord, or God.
No one comes to the Son if not drawn by the Father (cf. John 6:44), which shows
the equality of the Holy Trinity. I will never be able to come near Jesus Christ if the
Father does not draw me near. How does the Father draw me? Well, this is an unseen
mystical inner matter. The Father draws me and the Spirit of God illumines me to
confess Jesus Christ as God. Those who do not confess Jesus Christ to be God do
not have the Spirit of God! It is more obvious than obvious. He, who confesses Jesus
Christ to be the incarnate Son of God, has the Spirit of God. St. Paul is very clear on
this matter: without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing; we are neither near, nor
should we have hope for, salvation! (cf. Rom. 10:9-11). So, we have this inner divine
revelation in order to accept the outward historical revelation, to accept the incarnate
Son of God, Jesus Christ!
With this last form of the inner revelation, my friends, we are called to study
and understand the book of the Revelation. Let’s not think that while we are leafing
through the pages of this book, while analyzing it, we will be able to understand
anything in it in the absence of divine illumination! Let us not think this because
understanding is not academic, grammatical, poetic, or philological! Understanding
is spiritual. A philologist understands the Bible from the scope of literature, grammar,
and composition. But these are nothing more than external elements. What we
desperately need to understand is that this is the living Word of God Who will speak
in our hearts! So, we are in desperate need of this internal revelation to understand the
book of the Revelation.
St. John, and we need to pay attention to this, accepted a direct inner revelation.
St. John saw Christ face to face, directly! However, we must accept it through the
messenger of Jesus Christ, John, through the Tradition of the Church and the two
thousand years of Church history, through the written word, through the book that
we will read and if you will, through the hearing of the word of God, through the
speaker. So, we must accept this revelation despite all these continuous layers, through
the messenger John, through two thousand years, through Tradition, through the
printed word and through the voice of the speaker. So, I must uncover and strip all
these coatings to accept the revelation of God. These coatings or layers are essential
however; if I disregard these then I am left with nothing! I will accept them and I will
begin to uncover them.
To give another example, let’s say I enter a building. I walk through the hallway;
I go to the door; I open it; I go through and I continue to walk until I reach my
destination. So, here I must move through these layers until I personally find the final
revelation, to find God Who will speak in my heart. Now how is this going to take
place? The only way is through faith, through obedience and submission to the voice
of the Church, all the things that we mentioned: St. John, the Tradition, the time of
two thousand years, the print, the paper, the voice of the speaker, with submission to
the Church and with humility my friends!
Faith in essence is to conceive what is revealed through the spoken word, with the
historical form penetrating the layers that the historical form itself and the Word with
His incarnation have placed over them. We will call upon God to reveal to us all the
factors that we have designated as layers. This is why what is needed is a new revelation
to help us understand the revelation of God; without this type of revelation the book
of the Apocalypse remains sealed, a sealed book with seven seals! (cf. 5:1). Why, you
ask? Because this is how God wants it! Doesn't God have the right to do as He wishes?
—To project something as He wants it? Is He not the Lord? This is how God wants
and chooses things to be.
He wants these coverings to be in place to restrict human haughtiness and
arrogance! Man should not depend on himself and say, “I will find all this out by
myself” or “I am special enough and the Spirit of God talks to me directly! God speaks
through me!” as many of the heretics say. No, you will find things out through the
words of the speaker, through the printed word, through St. John the evangelist who
heard all this! This will bring you humility and will restrict your human haughtiness.
Furthermore, man can only be saved through his fellow men! Man is saved through
the Church, by the Church. Individual salvation does not exist. Let’s understand this!
One who would wish to be saved alone, without the help of the Church and the help
of the brothers and sisters, let’s grasp this, that particular person will never be saved.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him (1:1). So, this revelation, which
is enacted through Jesus Christ, is about Jesus Christ, as God gave it to Him. So, the
source of this revelation, revelations rather, is God Himself! What is significant here is
that the Script does not say: revelation of the Son of God, because the Son of God is of
equal value with the Father. One Person of the Trinity cannot reveal things to another
Person of the Holy Trinity; the Persons of the Trinity are One in essence. There are
no secrets between the Persons of the Triune God. All three Persons are Infinite, All-
knowing, and All-wise, the three Persons of the Triune God!
Jesus Christ refers to the human nature of Christ and the human nature of Christ
is finite. However through the hypostatic or personal union with the Word of God,
the human nature of Christ now can be considered omnipresent, present everywhere,
not by its own merit but by the hypostatic union with God the Word. So, God gives
this revelation to Jesus Christ Who will in turn give it to John; and St. John will pass
it down to the Church. Now, how did Christ receive the revelation from God? And by
God we mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We see it in the very book of
the Revelation that we are studying.
And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a
Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which
are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth; and he went and took the scroll
from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne (5: 6-7). So I saw in the midst
of the throne and the four living creatures (these living creatures are the cherubim), a
slain Lamb but standing up! Slain but standing! This is the very thing that Christ
will tell St. John in a direct revelation, J am the one who died and behold I live again.
Behold I live! (cf. Rev. 1:18). The Son of God cannot become dead! The divine nature
obviously cannot die. So the human body died because of the crucifixion and the
burial in the tomb.
What a beautiful image, the slain and standing Lamb! The ancient Church had
this as a most precious symbol, the most beloved symbol of the original Church, the
standing slain Lamb! To those that deeply study the book of Revelation, the dearest
part is this point of the standing slain Lamb. However, one must progress very much
to come to love these things. Then he came and took something out of the right hand of
him who sat on the throne. He took a scroll. He does not specify who was sitting, out
of great respect. God was sitting, as we will see in our interpretation. So, this is how
Jesus Christ receives the revelation from God the Father, or God generally, the Triune
God, the One Who sits on the throne.
Now who is going to open this scroll? The angel will say in the fifth chapter,
Who is worthy to open the scroll, and to loose its seals? (5:2). No one was found! No
one was worthy to open this scroll and John was weeping; he was crying. The angel
says do not weep; someone has been found; the slain lamb can open the scroll. He
will open the scroll (cf. 5:5). In other words, He will reveal. This is why the book of
the Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, meaning that it reveals and manifests
Christ. Consequently, the revelation takes place through Jesus Christ. This is the
meaning of the words the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto Him.
He gave unto Him to show His servants (1:1). Whose servants are these and what
are they being shown? They are the servants of Jesus Christ, and they are being shown
those things which will define the contents of the scroll. It also expresses the purpose,
or why this scroll was given. What will it show? It will show things that must shortly
take place, those things that must take place quickly, which MUST take place!
This must my friends has great theological dimension in Holy Scripture. Please
allow me to use our remaining time to see this must of the Holy Scriptures. We run
into this must very often. Let’s look at some verses. In Daniel 2: 28,29: ... but there is
a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar
what must be in the last days. In Matthew we read, From that time Jesus began to show
his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised (16:21). He must! Why?
Look, when Christ resurrected He tells His disciples, Was it not necessary that the Christ
should suffer these things and enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26).
This must my friends, is difficult, full of mysteries and inconceivable! We could
simply ask, “Why was it necessary for these things to take place?” These things are not
at all pleasant, like the cross for example, or the persecution of the Church and the
faithful until the Second Coming of Christ. The Church, my friends, needed to set
out on a specialized type of journey through history that would be full of temptation
and persecution from the world. However, we see that this must, this necessity of
the Church, to undertake a journey full of tribulation and persecution parallels
the must of the journey of Christ. It could not happen any differently because the
Church is the very Body of Christ. So, when Christ says that, J must be put to death, I
must be crucified (Luke 24:7), then the Church must also say: must suffer death; I must
be crucified.
Do not panic! Were you baptized? Were we baptized? Do we want to be Christians?
Let's finally understand this: Christ was crucified. We must also be crucified. Christ was
persecuted. We will be persecuted as well, most likely! If they persecuted me they will
also persecute you (cf. John 15:20) and here is the parallel verse. If they persecuted me,
this is the must of Christ; they will also persecute you, this is the must of the Church.
Christ says J must go to Jerusalem (Matt.16:21) to suffer many things, to be
crucified. This is parallel to the verse of St. Paul, through many trials. In the Acts of the
Apostles when they stoned St. Paul in Lystra and the disciples went to bury his body
at night, they found him alive and well. He arose to tell the disciples that, through
many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). The disciples could
have asked him, “Holy Apostle Paul, why must we? Couldn't you have avoided the
stoning?” No, it was a must!
There is great mystery and depth here. Therefore, the must of Christ is to go up
to Jerusalem. St. Paul’s must is that, through many tribulations, we will enter the
Kingdom of God, and the things that must take place quickly in the book of the
Revelation are all parallel. This is because as far as this must of Christ goes, the people
would have opposed the Person of Christ; they would have opposed His mission. In
order to have it transpire, the work of salvation needed to be accomplished by any
means; so Christ made it to the cross and the organ of the negation of salvation, the
cross, became the way of salvation. This is why the Lord said, J must, and the Church
must for the same reason. The world would not accept her presence and it would go
to war against her.
As we are speaking my friends, do you have any idea what the powers of darkness
are orchestrating at the expense of the Church? They are frothing at the mouth. ‘They
are frothing at the mouth and they will continue to do so! So, the Church's lot is to
be in a state of war. The Church had to stand, to be established, and to await Christ's
Second Coming. Doesn't St. Paul say that the mystery of the Holy Eucharist will be
offered continually and will continue to be offered until Christ comes back, until He
returns? (cf. 1 Cor.11:26). Yet, the reaction of the world is incorrigible! The world has
irreconcilable differences with the Church. So this must of the Church is unavoidable!
That is all it is!
In other words, this inability to avoid certain confrontations in the relations
between the Church and the world is expressed by the term must, these things that
must be. So this must does not express the necessity of these events, or confrontations.
Many people may argue and say that there is a certain forcefulness here, a certain
coercion that may bind a person's freedom of choice. This must does not express the
necessity of these events, but the necessity of salvation that all these different events
stem from.
Salvation is an irrevocable action of the love of God. Let’s understand this; it
is irrevocable! God loves and wants to save the world! So what if the enemies of
the Church are frothing at the mouth? What if the devil rants and raves? So what?
God wants to save the world and this is how this must comes into play. The devil
is irrevocable in his actions and unrepentant. The. Church and salvation are also
irrevocable. Therefore, confrontation is unavoidable. This is where the must comes in!
The end result, the events of the past, present and future must take place. But you may
say, “We don't exactly understand these things!” My friends, we understand and we do
not understand! It is truly a mystery.
Now why does God allow this unpleasant sort of solution? You will say, “Isn’t God
capable of finding an easier method?” The great temptation for many Christians is:
Why isn’t God able to intervene? However, if He intervenes, my brother, you will tell
Him that He is controlling you! He is binding your freedom! Why does God choose
this seemingly worse solution? It is because God loves and He wants to show His love.
He offers His Son to be crucified! He could have used another method to save the
world but He wants to save the world with love; and salvation moved by love is a deep
mystery. It constitutes a mere fold of the love of God.
St. Isaac the Syrian? reveals this for us. When I first read it, I was not all that
impressed. I am afraid you may feel this way initially as well. Now, I am totally satisfied
with it. Let's look at his 81* homily, “In the final analysis of all these things, Our God
? St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies, Philokalia of the niptics and ascetics, Vol, 8-3 Hom. 81,
Thessaloniki 1991, 177.
and Lord, due to His strong love for His creation,” ...and this is the key: strong, great
love, burning love. The Greek word is pothos. He gave His Son to a death on the cross.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to suffer death for it (John 3:16).
This was not because God could not save us in a different way, but because this was
the way that God found to show and teach us His immense love. Our mind cannot
grasp this! He touched us; He drew near to us through the death of His Son to show
us how much He loves us! He loves us exceedingly and if He had something even
more precious than this He would have given it to us. All this was accomplished so
our human race could find its way back to Him, to draw near Him.
And because of His great love, He did not wish to bind our freedom. Even though
He could do this, He chooses to let us come to Him in the spirit of love. All these
things my friends express the mystery behind those things that must take place. With
this solution the love of God is made obvious. At the same time, the freedom of the
individual is preserved! God is truly wonderful! These two elements, freedom and
love, espoused and working together in the life of the faithful individual will give birth
to holiness. This is the holiness that we need to enter the Kingdom of God.
Those things that must soon take place (1:1). Soon! How soon? St. Andrew of
Caesarea says, “Some of these prophecies are at hand, ready to happen, and if you will,
they began to happen as soon as the book was written! And those things that will be
at the end of history and are prophesied will not take long because one thousand years
for God are as one day, as yesterday.”? However, in the recording of the Revelation
my friends, those things that will take place start out as a chain that extends until the
close of history. This soon means a quick start, not necessarily a fulfillment of these
revelations, but a constant and continued revelation; and the total fulfillment of this
revelation will be the end. The beginning and the end of these events therefore are seen
under the spectrum of one and the same image.
What is significant is that this pre-Christian must which we have seen in Daniel
and other prophets, is indefinite, chronologically speaking, whereas the Christian must
is definite and in urgent time. For instance, God tells Abraham, two thousand years
before Christ, that he will be the father of a great nation and He reveals the messiah to
Abraham. When we read about these things in the Old Testament we get the feeling
that these events will take place in the very, very distant future. There is no definite
timeframe; it is indefinite. However, these prophecies, which showed no urgency, no
urgency at all, materialized in two thousand years! Christ came two thousand years
after Abraham!
Now remember, the post-Christian must tells us that these things will take
place quickly, which gives us the feeling of urgency. Professor Bratsiotis says, “It is
like we can hear and sense the galloping of the upcoming events, like the galloping
> St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG 106,221A): διότι χίλια ἐτη παρὰ Θεὼ ὡς ἢ ἡμέρα ἡ ex Odes, ἡτις
διῆλθεν λελόγισται.
of a horse on a cobbled street.”* It is understood that these events are on their

way quickly and yet, two thousand years have passed by! Now we can pose the
question, “Might the end of history be near or at least the beginning of the end be
near?” My friends, perhaps.
4 Bratsiotis P., The Apocalypse of John, 69.

CHAPTER 2
Revelation 1:1-4
The Beatitude of the Readers, Listeners, and Keepers
of the Divine Word — Greeting to the Seven Churches
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must
soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore
witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Blessed is he who reads the words of this prophesy, and blessed are those who hear, and who
keep what is written therein; for the time is near (1:1-3).
Homily given November 2, 1980

he author of the book of the Revelation is the holy Apostle and evangelist
John as we see his name recorded, which insures that this book is not
fraudulent or forged, but a genuine work of St. John the evangelist. ‘This is
not of small significance but rather of great significance, and we must pay
attention to it since the Church has accepted this as the work of John the evangelist
and honored it by including it in the canonical books of the New Testament, and
rightly so. It is a book of the Holy Bible, the Holy Scripture.
We must add that the Church has been extremely cautious in this respect. Works
of the apostolic fathers or successors to the Apostles such as Barnabas, for example, or
those of other apostolic fathers were not placed in the canon of the New Testament.
These writings are not material of the New Testament. The Church exercised extreme
caution and allowed many years to pass before including some of the books in the
canon of the New Testament. Or as Origen’ says, books of the first order, which were
written by the hand of eyewitnesses who saw, heard, and touched God the Word Who
incarnated. So then, the author of the book of the Revelation is St. John.
The Apostles commonly use the word servant as they write their epistles. However,
here we have the simple recording of the name of John, simply John, without a title
such as the disciple of Christ or the Apostle of Christ. The absence of these titles
shows that John very likely knew the receivers and the readers of his book. They were
very close to him. It is also obvious that the book of the Revelation is given to the
Church from God the Father, through Jesus Christ, through the angel, through John,
to the Church.
So, what we have here is a living chain of paradosis, or teaching tradition. [Paradosis
means tradition in Greek.] It literally means to pass down, to have one person deliver
> Origen, Ist Against Celsus, BETIEZ (Library of Greek Fathers), V 9, Athens 1956, 103.
and another person receive. So, God the Father gives to the Son incarnate, not God
the Word, but to Jesus Christ, to God incarnate. Jesus Christ gives to the angel; the
angel gives to John; and John passes it to the Church. So, here we have the wonder
of the living Tradition, or paradosis. This is precisely why this living Tradition, along
with Holy Scripture makes up the basis or the foundation of the Church.
As we know, it is holy Tradition that preserved the authenticity and validity of the
Holy Scriptures. Holy Tradition told us which book is genuine and which is fraudulent.
Those who discard and disregard the Tradition of the Church, whether Protestant, or
Orthodox who have been heavily influenced by the non-Orthodox must understand
this; they disregard the Tradition of the Church. The key, and we will mention this
repeatedly; the key to the Orthodox interpretation of the book of the Revelation is to
be found in the treasure chest of holy Tradition. If you do not take advantage of this
key that holy Tradition has given you, then you will never interpret and see the true
meaning of Scripture. This is why the Protestants interpret Scripture every which way,
with the result being the deterioration of their faith into thousands of pieces. They
have no idea what they believe today, what they believed yesterday, and what they will
believe tomorrow.
...And he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to
the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw (1:1-2). So,
John saw visions; he saw images and symbols; he saw these things. He did not imagine
them; nor did he produce them, or fantasize them. He actually saw them. ‘These are
literal accounts of what he actually saw. Christ tells him, Write the things that you see.
Write what you hear, and in one specific instance He tells him, Do not write these things,
these are just for you — seal this information; but all the other things, do write them.
So, we can see very clearly that the holy Apostle, with much simplicity, will record the
things that he will see. He will not add or subtract.
What is a true characteristic of a genuine script is that it is simple and not very
articulate. It is usually the fraudulent writings that need to be articulate and very well
edited because their purpose is to catch the attention, to impress the reader. However,
in the authentic book that records true things, real things from God, there is no need
to be articulate or to have any special fanfare, no need to impress. The truth is the
truth. So, John writes simply what he saw, nothing more, nothing less. If he leaves
anything out he is guilty and he will answer to God. If he writes something more, then
he is equally guilty, no more and no less.
Moreover the book of the Revelation finishes as follows: [ warn every one who
hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds. to them, God will add to
him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the
book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city,
which are described in this book (Rev. 22:18). In other words, this person will not enter
the Kingdom of God. So, if the evangelist himself writes this about anyone else who
would attempt to alter this book, how much more must he be careful? Therefore, in
reality St. John wrote exactly what he saw and what he heard.
Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who
hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near (1:3). This introductory
outline, which we spoke about in an earlier session, closes with this beatitude, this
blessing, heaped upon those who study, hear, and apply the words of this book and
generally the word of God. This beatitude is the first of the seven specific beatitudes
in the book of the Revelation.
To continue, blessed is he who reads and they that hear. He that reads is singular.
They that hear is plural. One reads and many hear. Where was this reading and hearing
taking place? Where else but the Church? It was used, much like the Gospel, and the
epistles of the Apostles, in public worship. This is how the book of the Revelation was
utilized in the early Church. This is why it says: he that reads and they that hear.
Moreover, the purpose of the use of this book in public worship is to strengthen,
to console the faithful, but also to inform them about the content of this book. St.
Justin Martyr’, in the middle of the second century, records for us a very beautiful
picture about the reading of the epistle and Gospel in public worship. He writes, in
one of the first apologetic homilies, referring to he that reads and those that hear. “And
on the day called the day of the sun (It was called Sunday by the idolaters, the name
preserved in the Latin languages until this day.), all who live in the cities or in the
country, gather together in one place, and the memoirs of the Apostles (Gospel and
epistles), or the writings of the prophets are read.” Here we can see that the Church
was following the instruction of St. John, or Christ rather; we see it very clearly. So
after the reader would stop, the proistamenos, the bishop, the one in charge, would
begin to interpret, to preach and explain the material that was read so the entire
congregation would be able to apply these teachings in their daily lives.
We do something similar here. We repeatedly read the verses of the book of the
Revelation. ‘The subject must be read; we read it in the original Greek; then we translate
it into our everyday language, and then we must interpret it. This is the way we stay
in tune with the Holy Script, for our ears to get used to it so that it becomes familiar
to us, and not foreign. It is necessary to hear sermons that inspire the imitation of
good things.
But our Church had to deal with a number of false interpretations circulated by
the heretics, for example the one thousand year reign of Christ. This heresy (one that
still goes on today) brought forth havoc in the Church even in the days of St. John. St.
John was still alive and this book was already being grossly misinterpreted. The first to
interpret it falsely was Cerinthus,’ a child of Gnosticism. He was not even a Christian.
He mixed philosophy and various religions together along with some elements of
Christianity, and he started talking about the one thousand years of the Kingdom of
Christ. St. John the Apostle was quite concerned about these things. At some point,
St. John was in Ephesus and as he was visiting a public bathhouse, someone told him
° St. Justin Martyr, Ist Apology, 67. Parentheses added.
” St. Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History V 4 14, 6: “Φύγωμεν, μη και το βαλανεῖον συμπέσει
ἑἐνδον ὀντος Κηρίνθου του της ἀληθείας εχθρού»"
that Cerinthus was also there. His response, simply because of the presence of the
heretic was, “Let’s leave quickly before the roof collapses and kills all of us!”®
As long as The Apostles were still alive, they not only corrected these interpretations,
but also gave warnings. St. Paul, for instance, says, After I leave I know that many
will misinterpret my words. St. Peter actually defends St. Paul when he writes in his
epistle; there are unstable and ignorant people that distort the words of St. Paul as they
do other Scripture to their own destruction (cf. 2 Peter 3:15-16). Didn't Imeneos and
Philetus distort the teaching of St. Paul about the resurrection of the dead? Weren't
they teaching that the resurrection had already taken place? (cf. 2 Tim. 2:17-19).
My friends, the authors of Holy Scriptures are not at fault. People’s egotism is
responsible here. Why? Simply, my friend, if you want to interpret, that is fine, but
you must have the key. The key, as I stated earlier, is the Tradition of the Church. This
is how the Church interprets. Now if you want to interpret the way you want, due to
your satanic pride, then you will most certainly fail. You will become a heretic, and
heresy is nothing other than the logical interpretation of dogma. When I attempt to
interpret things that cannot be interpreted with logic and intellect, when I attempt
to interpret a deep mystery using my mere mind and my intellect, then I go astray.
So, when I attempt to explain or interpret the teaching of the Church by logical
methods and logical means, then I automatically find myself in the realm of heresy.
The holy writers are not to blame, only the pride, egotism, and selfishness of some
people within the Church.
However, the Church, in the east especially, due to all these inconsistencies, was
compelled to discontinue the use of the book of the Revelation for worship. So, the
book is authentic and the Church has included it in the canon of the New Testament.
We pray that during a true Orthodox Synod, the Church may reconsider and re-admit
this book of the Revelation into the area of worship, so it can be preached at the pulpit,
much like the epistles of St. Paul and the rest of the Apostles. Yes, we can pray for this.
This of course does not hinder anyone from studying and preaching from the book of
the Revelation, or from using verses from this book to help a homilist of the word of
God to teach or support a certain subject. Blessed is he that reads and they that hear and
keep those things; the three actions that St. John mentions here remind us of the words
of the Lord. Blessed are those that hear the word of God and keep it (Luke 11:28).
When an ecstatic woman in the crowd shouted out, Blessed is the womb that held
you and the breasts that gave you milk (Luke 11:27), the Lord said, Indeed,’ blessed are
8 Ibid.
? Luke 11:28 is erroneously translated by every English Bible to date. The original Greek word
Mevoovye is translated: rather. This results in a serious distortion to the true spirit of this verse,
which is aimed at exalting the Most Blessed Theotokos, the Ever virgin Mother of our Lord. cf.
John Pickering, LL. D.,.A comprehensive LEXICON of the Greek Language, Philadelphia 1871:
Menounye (pevodvye), conj. Certainly, truly, surely, assuredly.
According to the Greek text, Christ agrees with this ecstatic woman wholeheartedly! Indeed! Of
course! Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it, like my mother! The abuse of this
word “Menounye” viciously alienates the Theotokos from this great praise given to her by her Son!
those that hear the word of God and keep it or live by it (cf. 11:28). The three verbs in
these phrases: he that reads, those that hear, and keep the words, these verbs — reads, hear,
keep — are stated in the present tense, which suggests that this is to go on continually
and without ceasing. I must a/ways read, I must a/ways hear, and I must always keep
the word of God. It does not say those that heard, but those that hear. This is nothing
like saying, “I heard some sermons or I went to a few classes; I had enough, why
should I go again?” No, the word of God here is direct, “He that reads always; those
that hear a/ways; and those that keep the word of God always.”
Let us consider this threefold combination, of the reading, the hearing, and the
keeping of the word of God. About reading, in order to understand the word of God,
we must be iz God. Otherwise, we cannot understand the word of God. On this St.
Diadochos Photikis” said, “There is nothing worse. There is no worse poverty than to
be speaking about God while being outside and away from God.” This, my friends,
can be seen very clearly in the case of people who do not live a spiritual life, yet speak
about spiritual matters. They make mistakes, and are often quite oblivious. They try
to answer questions, but according to their own thinking. They are not in God and
they do not have a spiritual life.
One who does not live a spiritual life cannot talk about matters of God. It is
not possible. And he can never understand the written word of God because the
understanding of the word of God is not simply academic or philological. One can
be a PhD. He can be a doctor of divinity, and have no understanding of the word
of God. The understanding of the word of God has a different dimension. I am not
saying that philology or some knowledge of literature or grammar is not helpful. All
these elements do help but they are not enough. You cannot say “I have a degree in
literature so I will have no problem understanding the Bible.” You will not understand
anything. The spirit of the Scriptures will be elusive to you; you will be left only with
the letter. The existence of a liturgical atmosphere is also necessary, a prerequisite in
order to study and understand the word of God. What does that mean? It means that
the reading or the hearing of the word of God cannot be reduced to a living room
conversation, or become an academic matter.
There is a tendency (and these tendencies always existed for some people) to discuss
extremely high theological matters in a living room, with all the known accoutrements
of a living room along with the socializing jokes and laughs. The discussions are simply
academic. Again, the discussion can be very theological; however it does not touch the
Word, with a capital W, the Word of God. These discussions stay in the swaddling
clothes, the ones that the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary dressed Him in after His birth.
This is how far these people get. They cannot touch the Word of God, ever.
So, it is not enough just to talk about the Bible. I do not benefit when I do it
Worse yet, the King James translators are not unaware of the true meaning of the Greek “menou-
nye” which they correctly translate “yea doubtless” in Philippians 3:8.
0 St. Diadochos of Photice, Philokalia of the niptic and ascetic fathers, V 9, Ch. 7,
Thessalonike 1986, 118.
outside of the liturgical environment and outside the blessing of the Church. ‘This
is why the word of God must be connected with the liturgical space. Simply put,
the sermon must take place in the Church. We are not saying that it is forbidden
to say it somewhere else, like the street or the mountain. That is fine, but it must be
connected with the liturgical place, after the Divine Liturgy, for instance, or after a
vespers service. The word of God during or after these services has a different effect in
the hearts of the people.
What is also needed is internal and external quiet time for someone to understand
the word of God. St. Gregory the Theologian says, “The Divine is experienced in a
state of quiet.” You need quiet stillness to feel and understand God within you. This
stillness is mostly internal but also external. You need to have peace in your heart. We
will not stop reading the word of God when we have turmoil; but we need to gain our
peace in order to delve into the deep things of God. In order to submerge ourselves
we need to have inner peace and stillness. All our daily cares must come to a halt; they
must be put on hold.
In addition, when we study the word of God we must feel that it is for us, and not
for others. We must see our own shortcomings and not those of others. On this St.
Isaac the Syrian says, “When the man of humble heart studies the Holy Scriptures he
never says, ‘this is for that person, this is good advice for other people.” No, the word
of God is speaking to me.
Sometimes as we speak the word of God, some of you may think, “Is the speaker
talking about me? Maybe he overheard something about my private life.” The speaker
does not know anything; I assure you. God Himself directs the word of God. Sure,
I have prepared myself; but what has been prepared and is being expressed is under
the direction of God Himself in its depth. So, His word can touch many different
types of hearts in a special way. The Word is One. However, He touches each person
differently. St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “The water that waters the flowering plants is
the same for all flowers. But for one flower the water makes a red flower, for the other
it becomes a white color, for the third a yellow flower, and so on, all caused by the
same water. In the same way, the word of God touches the heart of each sincere
listener, and I emphasize, each sincere listener according to his needs. We do not single
out the troubles of a listener and try to base our talk on them as some naive listeners
may think.
Again, we need to have humility, which we lack. For example, we think, “I wish
so-and-so were here to listen to this. It would be so helpful for them.” This shows
pride, and it is a matter of pride when we think that others need to hear something.
Instead, I must say, “This is only for me and I need to improve myself.”
Finally, we need to begin our study, our reading, with prayer. St. Isaac the Syrian
says, “Do not try to come in touch with the mysteries of God and the word of God
Ml Se. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechisms, Catechism 16: “..., εἰς δὲ και υετός κατέρχεται εν παντί τω
κόσμω. καὶ γίνεται λευκὸς μεν εν κρίνω, ἐερυθρὸς δ᾽ εν ρόδω,... μονοειδής ὧν καὶ οὐκ ὧν ἀλλος αυτός
4. 33
EQUTOV.
without prayer.” ? So, do not open Holy Scripture; do not start reading without prayer,
without asking God for His help. While praying say, “Lord, allow me to sense; let me
feel the power of Your words, the power that exists in Your words.” You must consider
prayer as the key for you to understanding the deeper meaning of Scripture.
However, it is important to come to an understanding about the hearing of the
word of God. Years ago many people were not able to read. Only a few people knew
how to read. Today the opposite is true. Almost everyone can read. So in the past, the
basic source of knowledge leading to the truths of God was the sense of hearing, the
ear. People could not read. However, even today the hearing of the word is very basic
for all people because the word is offered through a living tongue. And much like the
Word of God, it is alive; so, when the word of God is heard through a living tongue,
this makes it especially graceful.
The word of God in this case can be presented along with the personal experiences
of the speaker. And this can be a source of courage to listeners as far as the application
of the word of God goes. It is not the same if you hear it on the radio, or if you read
it in a book. It is something very different. This is why we go to hear the word of God
and we do not rely on reading alone. Reading does not replace the spoken word. And
the hearing of the spoken word does not replace reading. These two parallel things are
equally important.
I must also tell you that the hearing of the word of God presupposes the presence
of other people. The word of God is connected with the presence and vision of other
people. In other words, it is connected with the Church. And it is very important,
to have the word of God be heard in the church, very beneficial and of great value.
On the other hand, according to the holy one of Florina, Metropolitan Avgoustinos
Kantiotes, if I sit by myself listening to a cassette, it is like eating canned food. The
canned word of God does not have the same freshness as the live participation. Of
course I will listen to my cassettes; I will read my books; but I will also make it a
point to go and hear the /ving word of God, to get together with the other faithful,
my other brothers and sisters in Christ. This is so I can become a presence and show
forth the Church, not only in its liturgical worship but also in the hearing of the word
of God.
Finally, as far as the application of the word of God is concerned, the statement of
the holy evangelist: And keep those things which are written therein, expresses to us that
the word of God must be applied. We must live it. But we need to live it in its entirety.
Let us not pick and choose. Let’s not say that we will do this, but not that.
For the time is near (1:3). Does this mean anything to us? I will tell you something
from my personal life that pertains to this. This goes back to the early forties during
the horrible German occupation, or siege rather. We were in school, three children at
each desk and we were taking our final exams. The classroom was packed. It was full
so it was certainly not a bad deal for the lazy students. My classmates did not study,
and we were being examined on Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, and mathematics.
"2 St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies Philokalia of the niptics and the ascetics. Hom. 73
My classmates decided not to study Ancient Greek; but I did. I sat towards the back
of the class. So, I started helping the three students behind me, the three in front of
me, and the two on either side. So, finally I was helping a dozen students as there was
no supervision or teacher in the classroom. Instead of writing, I was trying to help all
these students fill in their tests, checking to see if they wrote things correctly,
Suddenly the teacher came in and announced, “Boys, you must hand in your
papers in five minutes.” I do not know how many of you have gone through something
similar to this in your school years, but I cannot describe to you how I felt. I started
perspiring and got red as a tomato from embarrassment. I felt paralyzed, and I screamed
without thinking, “Not yet Mr. Teacher!” My paper was still blank. The other students
were handing in their papers, and even though I was the only one that had studied, I
had written nothing. In the end, I crawled into the office like a little puppy to beg the
teacher to pass me. This is the feeling that a man gets when he realizes that his time is
up. It is a terrible feeling!
St. Isaac the Syrian says that if you did not live the right life, when you see that
your time of death is at hand you will panic. Also, when someone truly allows this
feeling to enter his inner being—+the time is at hand—then whenever he reads this
phrase in Scripture he cannot help but feel what I described from my school years.
But this phrase, for the time is at hand, is of the same meaning as the earlier words of
this chapter, those things which soon must take place. As we remember, we analyzed this
earlier, but what stands out is that this statement is repeated only a few verses later,
which accentuates that the end is galloping towards us. The end is around the corner.
The end is the time of the prophecy, or the fulfillment of the words of the prophecy.
So, blessed is he who reads and they that hear the words of the prophecy because the time
will not be long.
Also, an ecclesiastical development has impressed me a great deal. I do not know
if this feeling of mine is completely accurate but I will share it with you. Until the
fifteenth century, the faithful that shed their blood for the faith were simply called
saints or martyrs. Since the fifteenth century, the martyrs are called new. So, we have
the neo-martyrs. Historically, we have some significant events that divide sections of
history. More specifically, in this case after the fall of Constantinople in 1453, close
to 1500, we have this new phenomenon, this new term, labeling the martyrs after
the fall as neomartyrs. And those that finished their lives peacefully also bear the term
new; so we have St. Nektarios, the Newly manifested, St. Nikodemos the New, or St.
Constantine the New.
Naming a saint a new martyr, or the newly manifested, gives the feeling of the
placement of a boundary. In other words, let us say that we have the arrival of a new
historical time, maybe five hundred years from now. How is the Church supposed to
classify the martyrs and saints five hundred years from now — the new-new martyrs or
the super-new martyrs? It does not make sense. Do you know what this means? When
the Church talks about new, it means that we have the old and now the new. And after
the new, there will be no newer ones. Again, do we know what is happening here? I
am afraid that in the catholic conscience of the Church there is a smoldering feeling
that the end is near. This is why the Church uses the term mew for her saints. We have
nothing else to add to this term mew. The Church always had her eyes on the end,
but for a time she called her elite saints martyrs. In our days, and since the fifteenth
century, she uses the term new, referring to them as neomartyrs.
After this introductory outline, what follows next is the preface of the entire book,
which takes place between verses four and eight. These verses are: John to the seven
churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who
is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the
faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves
us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a Kingdom, priests to his God
and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming
with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced him; and all tribes of the
earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says
the Lord God, who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty (1:4-8).
This is the preface of the book of the Revelation. Up to this point, we had the
introductory outline. In this preface, which is extremely important, and especially
theological, what is made obvious is the epistolary, or letter character of the book. This
book is written in the format of a letter. Moreover, if you will, the Gospel according
to Luke is a letter. St. Luke writes, Zo the most excellent Theophilos, I sent you this
information. The word letter is not mentioned but rather, J sent you this script so that
you can learn the truth of our faith (cf. Luke 1:3). So, it is presented in the form
of an epistle or a letter. The same holds true for the book of the Revelation. It has
the dimension of an epistle, and not only because of the letter written to the seven
churches in Asia Minor, but because this holds true for the entire book. The ancient
form of the epistle is maintained; in other words, the author is announced.
John is the author; the receivers are the seven churches in Asia Minor; and we have
the greeting: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and so on; and then we have
the doxology: To Him belongs the power and the glory unto the ages of ages, amen. So, the
book of the Revelation is a letter. And we pray that some day God allows it to be read
as an apostolic reading in the Church.
So, John to the seven churches in the province of Asia (1:4). John, the sender of the
letter writes to the seven churches, the receivers of this letter. Here again the name of
the author, John, is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and this will be done again
in verse nine. The name bears no titles, no last name, which shows that the intended
readers of this letter know John quite well.
Which are the seven churches mentioned in the book of the Revelation? Which
are the seven churches that our Lord asks that a special letter be sent to each one
of them? These are historical churches, literal churches, not noetic or symbolic. So,
we have: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
These were all cities in Asia Minor, ancient cities, lively cities with strong Christian
populations. They became episcopates, which show a strong Church presence. And to
these seven churches Christ speaks through the book of the Revelation, with a special
message for each one of these churches.
One may ask, “Why is Christ addressing only these seven churches?” Christ tells
John, and to the angel of the church of Ephesus write or the angel of Smyrna. Why was a
letter written to these churches and not to the church in Jerusalem? Or Corinth? Or
Rome? Or Alexandria? These last ones were bigger and most important churches. Only
Ephesus could compare with the grandeur and the title of Rome, or Jerusalem, or the
great church in Antioch. Only Ephesus could come close to these great churches,
because the other six cities of these seven churches were minor. They were very small
cities in Asia Minor.
So why are the epistles directed to and addressing these particular seven churches,
and not the other bigger and more seasoned churches? It is simply because the number
seven is allegorical or schematic and it expresses variety along with fullness. In other
words, the number seven denotes a complete picture of the entire Church from that
time until the end of the age; and these seven representative types of churches represent,
in turn the fullness of the Church. In short, the seven churches are seven different
folds, seven different realities of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
So, we have here two intertwined circumstances. One is that each epistle is sent
to each specific historical church. We need to stress this point of a specific historical
church, which refers to a specific circumstance for each church. For example, when He
says, you are neither cold nor hot, you are lukewarm (3:15); or you have forsaken your first
love. Remember the height from which you have fallen (2:4-5), these are specific flaws or
weaknesses of church A or B. Therefore these epistles, at the first level, have a historical
character. They are exactly that. They aim to cure the flaws of those individual churches
of two thousand years ago.
However, at the second level these elements also serve as warnings for the entire
Church through all the ages. So we have here two intertwined dimensions, the first
one being the historical one which is limited to the topographies of the seven city
churches; and then we have the other dimension which refers to the entire history of
the Church, or the Church through the ages. So, when we read what Christ says for
the church of the Ephesians, or to that of the Philadelphians, it means that all these
points are elements that are pointed out and exist in the catholic Church of Christ.
The cities where the seven churches were located were Greek cities. All of Asia
Minor was Greek and these are historical churches, and historical epistles, with
an historical base. I will repeat this again and again, when the time comes, but I
will mention it now. When Christ says, J will remove your lampstand (2:5) every
church is represented by a lampstand or a candlestand, one candle. So, I will remove
your lampstand means I will move you around. He took these seven churches and
moved them. And, none of these historical churches exists in Asia Minor today! Not
one! Not Ephesus, not Smyrna, not even one. The lampstands were removed
permanently in 1922, during the infamous Asia Minor destruction and expulsion of
the Greek populace.
St. Andrew of Caesarea says, “With the number seven, what is meant is the totality
of all the Churches.” As the seven days of the week are a symbol of the creation of the
world, or our life, the number seven or the seven churches shows the fullness of the
Church.” Therefore, I will ask you to please pay close attention to this point because
whatever we analyze in these seven great epistles to these churches is not limited to the
seven historical churches, but will always refer to the entire Church, which will exist
always until the end of time.
Grace and peace to you (1:4) is the Christian greeting of strong vivid liturgical
character. This greeting of St. John is a shortened version of the greeting of St.
Paul, The grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the communion of the Holy
Spirit (2 Cor.13:14). Here again we see the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Our
God is Triune. |
So, The grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the communion of the Holy
Spirit be with all of you, amen. John does not borrow this type of greeting from St.
Paul or vice versa. It seems that it always existed in the Church and it had a liturgical
dimension. So, the Apostles John, Paul, Peter, and Jude used this greeting which was
common in the Church. This form exists today in our Divine Liturgy in the beginning
of the prayers of the holy anaphora, when the priest comes out to bless the worshippers.
Since the grace of God is a favorable consequence springing from the sacrificial death
of Christ and peace from God the Father, from the One Who is, was, and is coming,
this greeting turns into a liturgical confession of faith, or a symbol of faith.
In the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, Philip the deacon said to him, If you confess
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God nothing will keep you from being baptized, and the
eunuch said, I believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God (Acts 8:27-39). This is
nothing more than a confession of faith. Later, due to a number of heresies in the
Church, the Creed of Faith becomes more detailed. The familiar Creed of Nicea is
used to this day, I believe in one God the Father Almighty and so on.
From this greeting of John, we see that we have a most archaic element of
confession of faith, a confession of faith in a liturgical space. We affirm our faith; we
confess our faith in the liturgical space, in church, in order to celebrate the Divine
Liturgy. Before Holy Communion we must confess our true faith. So, this greeting of
St. John the evangelist is of vivid, liturgical character.
153 St. Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse of Apostle John, (PG 106, 221A): “Av
του εβδοματικοὺ αριθμού, το μυστικόν των ἁαπανταχού εκκλησιὼν σημαίνει".
CHAPTER 3
Revelation 1:4-6
The One Who is and Who was — Grace and Peace
from the Holy Triune God
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who
is and who was and who is coming, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings
on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a
Kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who
pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from
the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ.

hat we have here is a wonderful reference to the Holy Triune God.
In the Greek text, the words Who is and Who was and Who is coming
are grammatically incorrect. Just to give you an idea, the Greek does
not say Who is, but the existing and the existed. This is very strange
grammar and quite unusual for the Greek language of that time. ‘The purpose of this
is to capture and hold the reader's attention. Again this is an intentional solecism [an
ungrammatical combination of words in a sentence that breaks formal rules] and
does not appear simply because it is written by an illiterate person since the following
sentences are quite correct. For example, John uses the genitive correctly and from
Jesus Christ or from the seven spirits. So again, the reason for this solecism is to hold the
reader's attention.
St. Andrew of Caesarea writes on this verse, “Grace to you and peace from the
three persons of the Holy Trinity, explaining that the One Who is refers to the Father.”
Actually let us backtrack to the words from God. [The Protestant translators write:
from Him, Grace and peace to you from Him.) The Greek actually says from God. So, to
understand this verse better, let’s pretend that there is a colon after God so the words
Who is and Who was and Who is coming is the explanation of the word God. Who is
God: Who was God: and Who is coming: is God.
So let us use the x-ray vision of the Church fathers to understand this verse even
14 St, Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary to the Apocalypse of John, (PG 106, 222D): Xdpic υμίν
και εἰρήνη από τῆς τρισυποστάτου θεότητος.
more. God said, AM WHO I AM (Exodus 2:14) to Moses, [The Greek says, Ego eimi
oh ohn — eye ett o wv], which are the same words we find in the book of the Revelation.
This is a great and memorable verse in the Old Testament when Moses asks God for
His name. We have parallel verses in the sixth chapter of Genesis and in the sixth
chapter of Isaiah, Lord, what is your name? Moses asks: What should I tell the people
of Israel? Do you want me to go to Egypt? And the Israelites will certainly ask me,
“Who is this God who is sending you to free us?” And in the answer, | am Who is, the
Existing One, we assume that God the Father is speaking to Moses.
‘Then here in the book of Revelation the One who is refers to the Father. The One
Who was reminds us of some key verses of Saint John in his Gospel where he says, Jn
the beginning was the Word (John 1:1)—in the beginning of creation that is. So, this
Who was refers to the Son. And the One Who is coming refers to the Paraklete or the
Holy Spirit Who came and stays in the Church and sanctifies the children of God
through holy baptism.
However, we would also add that when we read Who is, Who was and Who is
coming, all three include the totality of time. They include the present, Who is, Who is
now and always exists, always existed. It includes the past, the present and the future:
Who is, the present; Who was, the past; and Who is coming, the future. This shows
that God not only moves through time but He also transcends time. God is beyond,
outside of past, present, and future. For God there is no time. God created time. And
this is what John wishes to show with this phrase, that God is over and above time.
Furthermore, the name used by John, the One Who is, Who was and Who is
coming, is theologically very colorful. When he says the One who is coming, it expresses
God within human history, because God does not move about. Long before Christ,
Aristotle was correct, when he said, God is the first mover of all and yet immobile. He
moves it all. God is the beginning of any and all movement, while God Himself does
not need to move. He is stationary, or immobile. Since God is everywhere, He fills
everything. His presence covers every single point in the universe. It is not possible
for Him to move. Movement suggests the occupation of a new area of space that was
not previously occupied. I moved from point A to point B. I traveled from my house
to get to my job. I walk. I come. I go. But as we all understand, God is omnipresent.
He is everywhere; so He does not need to come and go. This come and go refers to the
incarnate Son of God, the God-man.
Therefore, the One Who is coming, refers to the Divine Logos Who assumes the
human nature, God the Word Who becomes man. This is just like the phrase in the
Gospel of John when Christ tells the disciples: I am going and I will come back. ‘This
come and go of God in history always refers to the human nature of God. What is
noteworthy here as well is that in the Greek, the original text says the One Who is
coming, o ethomenos (epyéuevoc) meaning the One Who is always coming. ‘This is
just like the One who is, 0 wn, the One Who always exists, Who was; Who always
was, and is therefore, the One Who is always coming. Thus, the pre-eternal God
Who is always present, always coming, has never left history. He never took a break
from history.
So, He is always coming and yet this always coming has some special cases as well.
We see this in a letter to the Hebrews when we read, In a short while, in a little bit, the
One Who is coming will get here. He will not be long (cf. Hebrews 10:37). The One
Who is always coming, will come. What does this mean? It means that God is always
within our history. He sees the entire world. The entire universe is in God's hands.
But when it says, “He will get here,” it refers to the special appearances of God the
Word, Jesus Christ. So, we saw so far that the expression, Who is, Who was and Who
is coming refers to the Triune God. However, this same expression can also be applied
to God the Father alone. There is so much wealth in these lines and St. Andrew of
Caesarea says once again on this, that “the entire phrase, the One Who is, and Who was
and Who is coming, can also refer to the Father Who is the beginning, the middle and
the end of everything.”
Another name of God is the Alpha and the Omega (1:8), which means
that anything that has a beginning or an end is in God. So, everything that has a
beginning exists in God and everything that has an end exists in God. Everything
begins in God and finishes in God. Therefore, in reality, if this entire phrase refers to
the Father, then peace from God means the One Triune God with the differentiation
of the Three Persons.
We see immediately after the reference to the Father, the One Who is, Who was and
Who is coming, reference is made to the seven spirits, in other words, the Holy Spirit
and to the Lord Jesus Christ, as we will see. From the seven spirits who are before His
throne, what still echoes is the greeting, Grace to you and peace from God the Father and
from the seven spirits who are before His throne (1:4-5).
This greeting refers to the third Person of the Holy Trinity Who precedes the second
Person. What is notable here is that the first and the third Persons are mentioned first,
and the second Person is mentioned afterwards, last. The holy evangelist gives priority
to the two Persons and leaves the incarnate Person last since this Person will serve as
the center of this entire book.
So, here the Holy Spirit is called the seven spirits before the throne of God. The throne
of God obviously refers to God the Father while the number seven reveals the fullness
and the perfection of the Holy Spirit. This is beautifully expressed by the prophet
Isaiah in his sevenfold declaration of the attributes or the gifts or the energies of the
One Holy Spirit. The prophet Isaiah writes: Spirit of wisdom, spirit of understanding,
spirit of council, spirit of might, spirit of knowledge, spirit of piety, and spirit of fear of God
(cf. Isaiah 11:2). All the attributes of the Holy Spirit are reflected in the prayers and
hymns for the day of Pentecost, to honor the Holy Spirit.* The same Holy Spirit, the
undivided Holy Spirit, divides the gifts. But the Spirit remains One and indivisible.
So, the Holy Spirit is expressed with the term the seven spirits, but again as we can see,
? Thid. (PG 106, 224 Α): Του περιέχοντος εν εαυτὼ πάντων των ὀντων τὴν τε ἀρχὴ τὰ τε μέσα και
τὰ τελευταία.
6 cf Pentecostarion, Vespers of Pentecost: third prayer of kneeling service.
it is One Holy Spirit.

At this point, I will refer to the method of interpretation used by our Church
fathers. They let Holy Scripture interpret Holy Scripture. Are the words, seven spirits
mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures and how are they used? This is how we can
interpret the word of God with accuracy. Now why is the Holy Spirit called the seven
spirits? First and foremost, it shows readiness, because it is in front of the Father; it
shows readiness for a mission; it shows readiness to be sent off for the purpose of
sanctification. In other words, this spirit of God waits from one moment to the next
to rush out. Remember Pentecost: suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind
came from Heaven (cf. Acts 2:1). Therefore, the Spirit is ready to rush to the world and
to give the gifts from the tremendous love that He has for the world.
Now what holds the Spirit back? He awaits the will of God, the Father, and the
path that will be opened by the Son. The three Persons of the Holy Trinity work out
the salvation of the world. We mentioned this in the past, how the Spirit of God was
moving above the waters, above the abyss and the face of the waters (cf. Gen.1:2).
Why is it just the Spirit of God? Just as the Spirit took the form of a dove later in
history, now it gives us the image of a giant bird that incubates life out of the waters.
So, the Spirit of God was embracing the waters, so to speak, to keep them warm
much like a bird that sits on its eggs to incubate them; and life springs forth out of the
waters. How beautiful.
Second, the Spirit of God is sent from the Father and from the Son. The Lord
Himself says, But when the Counselor [Paraklete] comes, whom I shall send to you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to
me (John 15:26). The Greek word is ekporevetai, proceeds, from the Father. So the
Holy Spirit is sent out from the Father and from the Son but proceeds from the Father
only. Now if you ask me, what does send out mean? I will tell you nothing. I do not
understand a thing. If you ask me, what does ekporevetai or proceeds mean? I will also
tell you nothing. It is beyond my comprehension. St. Gregory the Theologian says if
you can comprehend that the Son is born of the Father then you can also grasp the
meaning of this ekporevetai or the Holy Spirit Who goes out from the Father. We
simply go on repeating these expressions because they glorify God and they express
an accuracy about the relations among the Persons of the Holy Trinity. But we do not
exactly know how all these things find their application in the unfathomable mystery
of the Holy Trinity.
Also, in the book of the Revelation we read as Christ tells John, And to the angel of
the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven spirits of God... (3:1).
In other words, the He is the One Who has the fullness [of the uncreated energies/
gifts] of the Holy Spirit and sends them out to the world. St. John writes, And between
the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a Lamb standing, as
though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
of God sent out into all the earth (5:6). These are great and awesome images which show
how the Spirit of God [as grace] is sent out full of gifts because the number seven,
again, is symbolic. It shows the multitude of gifts and that the Spirit of God comes
laden with gifts for the world.
In addition, the Spirit of God is before the throne of God as seven spirits because
of Its ability to permeate. The Holy Spirit slips through everything everywhere. The
Lord says the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God. In other words, He is God.
The Holy Spirit as God communes with the essence [ousia] of God. Furthermore,
we read, From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and
before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:5).
These are the seven spirits of God Who is the Holy Spirit. The prophet Ezekiel says
this very beautifully. Now why do we keep using Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Daniel? We use
them to show that there is a great consistency between the Old Testament and the
New Testament. Let us note also, this consistency in Ezekiel, In the midst of the living
creatures there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to
and fro among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth
lightning (1:13). These revolving blazing lamps show that the Holy Spirit penetrates
everywhere, knows all, and that there is nothing that escapes the Holy Spirit.
Grace and peace to you from him who is the faithful witness, the Firstborn from the
dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Here again what echoes is the greeting, grace
and peace to you from God the Father, the seven spirits, or the Holy Spirit, and from
Jesus Christ. And from Jesus Christ; as we see, Christ is placed last because the entire
book will focus on Christ Who is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity.
However, He is purposely mentioned third here with three descriptive names:
first, the faithful witness; second, the firstborn from the dead, and third, the ruler of
the kings of the earth. These three epithets or names refer to Jesus Christ. They refer
to His human nature, not the divine — and Jesus Christ signifies just that; while Son of
God refers to the divine nature: Who is, and Who was and Who is coming and from the
seven spirits before His throne and from Jesus Christ. But here St John wants to present to
us Jesus Christ Who is the center of history and the central figure of all the events he
is about to describe in his vision. These events form the book of the Revelation, along
with all the events that make up human history.
The first name describes Jesus Christ as the faithful witness. Now, why the faithful
witness? This is simply because a faithful witness can only tell the truth. Everything He
says is true. However, faithful witness is the name of God in the Old Testament; and as
the moon is to endure all through the age, so is the witness in Heaven faithful (88th Psalm-
Septuagint). The faithful witness here in the book of Revelation is Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is Yahweh or Jehovah. This is the same faithful witness in Psalm 89:37, Yahweh,
whom the Jehovah’s Witnesses call Jehovah. Jesus Christ is Yahweh, or Jehovah, the
Lord. When are the blaspheming Jehovah’s Witnesses (the false witnesses actually)
going to see this? They believe Christ to be a creation. What a terrible blasphemy!
So, Jesus Christ is the faithful witness or the faithful martyr for two more reasons.
The first one is because He gave witness to the Truth, as for example when Pilate asked
Him, Who are you? and He answered; For this I was born, and for this I have come into
the world, to bear witness to the truth. Every one who is of the truth hears my voice. (John:
18:37). Poor Pilate asks, what is truth? (18:38) and Christ does not answer. Some have
ventured to say that Pilate should have asked, “Who is the truth?” and that he would
have probably received a response.
At any rate, the truth is a great subject. This is why we are struggling, to come
to the truth. Poor Pilate had the entire Truth in front of him. The Truth is not some
abstract idea or thought. The Truth is a Person. J am the Truth, Christ announced. He
did not say, “I came to tell you a few nice things about the truth to help you along.”
He said I am the Way and the Truth and the Life! (John 14:6).
Two things will always trouble and interest mankind, the great subjects of truth
and of life. The axis that all humanity revolves around has in its two poles, in its two
ends, the subject of truth at the one and life at the other. This axis of humanity is
Jesus Christ. J am the Truth and the Life. So, 1 came to bear witness to the Truth. So,
I Am the Truth Christ says, which means, everything He says, everything, will always
be true. The truth about God, the truth about man, the truth about the world and
the true worship of the True God and the love of the True God can only be found
through Christ!
Outside of Christ, there is deep darkness. Philosophers are struggling. They not
only contradict each other but they often contradict themselves. They go around in
circles, full of uncertainty. My friends, if we do not know Christ, we are living in deep
darkness. We should feel very privileged; we should feel ecstatic, because we know
how to get to know Christ or at least we know the way to get to know Christ in His
fullness. So, He is a faithful witness for everything He will say. This applies whether
written or unwritten and of course, everything that is written in the book of the
Revelation is trustworthy and true.
St. Paul says: Zhe Word of God is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance (cf.
Tim.1:15). But we must mention that Christ is often called a faithful witness in the
book of the Revelation. For instance, we read, And to the angel of the church in Laodicea
write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness (3:14), —three names for
Jesus Christ. First, the Amen is a Hebrew word and what is interesting is that this
word does not take an article; but here, strangely enough, we see the article the in front
of it. Saint Paul will do the same about Jesus Christ and call Him: the Amen, the Yes,
the Sure and so on. Amen in Hebrew means: let it be; pray that it is so; that is how it
is, certainly. The Amen here means the sure One, the faithful and true Witness. These
are all synonyms that show the faithfulness and the credibility of this. witness.
It is not by accident that in the Greek language the word witness and the word
martyr are the same. We use the same word; the word martyria also means witness. So
Christ is also a true witness, a true martyr because He martyred on the cross. He was
raised upon the cross for the sake of the true witness or martyria. Since the martyria
or witness of the truth is indispensably connected to sufferings and to fierce attacks
of the devil — the devil-held world rather — the word martyrion in Greek means both
witness and suffering.
A true witness will witness during peaceful times and during polemic times. So,
a faithful witness or a martyr, not only tells the truth but dies for this truth. When
the truth is offered to the world, it is offered with martyrdom. Truth and persecution,
truth and suffering are very closely connected, so closely that the same word: martyria
expresses both. This is why the evangelist will write, When he opened the fifth seal, I saw
under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for their martyria (6:9) or testimony
that they gave. They were slain, of course, for the Word of God. They gave the martyria
or the true witness, the true testimony for the Word of God, and the devil-ruled world
killed them. Above all of them, we have the absolute martyr, the absolute witness,
Jesus Christ Himself, because He brought to us the entire truth. Moreover, for the
sake of this truth He became the first martyr with the martyrion of the cross.
The second name for Christ is the first-born from the dead. There are so
many names throughout the Scriptures for Christ, so many that they call for our
attention. He is called: a snake, a thief, a shepherd, the sheep-pen, the amen, the
faithful witness, the truth, and the life. We find a plethora of names attributed to
Christ in Holy Scripture.
So, Jesus Christ who was the faithful witness, was also the first-born from the dead
(cf. 1 Cor. 15:20). Here, a great testimony is given. The identity of the One witnessing
to John is fully certified here, and it is none other than Jesus Christ. Now it may not be
very clear here, but towards the end of this chapter, Christ will say, J became dead and
behold I am alive again. He is alive again, through His holy resurrection. This refers
to the human nature and more specifically to the body because the soul does not die.
So the first-born from the dead is the pre-eternal God Who became man, died on the
cross, resurrected and now lives as God-man forever and ever.
We also read, J am the First and the Last (Rev. 1:17), another name for Christ,
and the Living One. But when He says, [ am the First and the Last, He speaks as God
because no human being can be the first and the last, the alpha and the omega. The
alpha and the omega does not exist in any creation, in any human being; it is an
attribute only of God. And the Living One does not apply to a human being. The
Living One refers to God. So, Christ can say, “I became dead, as a human being and
behold I am living; I am alive; I live.” In other words, He resurrected and lives forever
and ever as God-man, not as God and not as a human being but as God-man forever
and ever. And He has the keys of death and Hades.
Christ defeated death and Hades. He destroyed the bonds of Hades. One of the
Church fathers expresses this very nicely, he says, “Christ is called the first-born from
the dead being the first one to burst out from the belly of Hades.” The verb burst
shows the power of Christ Who pulverized Hades. He destroyed the bonds of Hades.
He smashed the chains, the locks, and the doors of the eternal gates of Hades. So, He
is the first that exploded through the doors of Hades, as first-born from the dead. St.
Paul also uses this term. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the
first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent (Col. 1:18).
He has supremacy because He is first in everything. He paves the way and we
follow. He is the first dead to resurrect and we will follow; we will be the second,
the third and so on. St. Paul says Christ comes first and He guarantees our own
resurrection. He writes, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits
of those who have fallen asleep (I Cor. 15:20). So, He was raised first and many will
follow Him.
And finally, we come to the third name for Christ in this verse, and from Jesus
Christ who is the faithful witness, the first-born from the dead and the ruler of the kings of
the earth. This title serves as an echo of the meeting with Pilate, where Christ offers His
great martyria or testimony, that yes, He is truly King. St. John the evangelist records:
My Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Pilate asks, “So are you a king?” Christ
answers, You say that I am (18:37). This means simply that yes, you are correct; I am
a King. Therefore, Christ is King, a ruler, and the Ruler of history. He is the universal
judge. He is victorious. This last name for Christ fully denotes the central theme of the
content of the book of the Revelation. We read, they will make war on the Lamb, and
the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings (Rev.17:14).
So, again in this verse we have three epithets for Jesus Christ. ‘These names seem
to form a natural sequence between them. He who came to bear witness to the truth
died for the sake of this truth. He resurrected, gaining victory over death, not only for
Himself but for all mankind for whom He will finally be victorious as God-man, King
and Lord of all the kings and all the rulers of the earth.
These three names for Jesus Christ: the faithful witness, the first-born from the
dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth serve as the diagram of the entire journey of
God the Logos throughout history. He comes; He gives the martyria or the testimony;
He suffers a martyr’s death and He exits human history. In reality, He takes human
history along with Him through His resurrection and Ascension; and He transforms
it to the Kingdom of God. Let’s pay close attention to this. He enters history, martyrs
and dies for the truth, resurrects, ascends, and with the final judgment He assumes all
of history, all creation and changes it to the Kingdom of God.
Now what other book can compare to the magnificence of the book of the
Revelation? What other book can even come close? Is there any other book in the
entire world of literature? What book? None, absolutely none can even come close to
the splendor of the book of the Revelation.
These are tremendously vast subjects. My friends, we often insist on some
theological points. We understand this can be a little tiresome but we need to develop
patience. We need to emphasize, we must emphasize, that we need to raise ourselves
up. We must lift up our minds. We must elevate spiritually, raise our spirituality; our
spiritual standards need to get higher. Let’s not limit ourselves to some basic morality.
No. Christ did not incarnate to make us nice people. Let us stop telling ourselves that
we are good people and that that is sufficient, resting in this self-sufficiency, which is
nothing more than a spiritual starvation limit. We are the cause of the starvation limit
when we are content with a few crumbs of some religious knowledge.
No, my friends, the children of God must become filled with the bread of God
and the bread of God is the bread that came from heaven (cf. John 6:32), God the
Word Who gave Himself for food, real food! So we can see God the Word, through
this heavenly bread. That is why my friends, you should not protest if we offer
some theology here. It is not very much, but it is the bread that nourishes the children
of God.
CHAPTER 4
Revelation 1:4-7
The Three Offices of Christ and the Faithful:
Prophetic, Priestly and Royal
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who
is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne,
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of
kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made
us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen.

herefore, glory belongs to the One Who incarnated, Who became a faithful
witness, Who shed His blood to wash us from our sins because He loves
us. So to Him, Jesus Christ, be glory and power forever and ever, as we
read at the end of John’s introduction to the book of the Revelation. Again,
the Word of God took on flesh. The Word became flesh. He proved to be the faithful
witness, 0 waptus o TtoTtdc, (o martys o pistos) and the first-born from the dead, only
because He loved us. He shed His blood to wash our sins only because He loved us.
There was no other reason God did this. God does not have any other motive outside
of His love. God, desiring to express this love to us, gave His incarnate, His only Son,
to die on the cross.
He did not only wash our sins, which pertains to the negative aspect of the love
of God. Negatively speaking, He washed our sins. God proceeded to go beyond
this washing. Moreover, for those of us who believe and accept this washing by His
blood, He makes us members of the royal priesthood; (Bacihetov tepatevpa - vasilion
ieratevma), and thereby makes us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father; to Him be
glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
My friends, this is an extremely important verse. It is extremely theological, a
most theological verse. We need to give it our utmost attention. So, He has made us
to be a kingdom of priests. Christ has made us a kingdom of priests to His Father.
In this verse, what becomes very clear, most evident is the essence and the purpose of
Christianity. We see here that Christianity is not simply a religion, but a kingdom.
This is the essence of Christianity. Christians are kings and priests. This describes the
content of Christianity. If one would ask you, “What is Christianity anyway?” You
should answer, “It is a kingdom.” And if anyone would ask you, “What is the purpose
of the Christian community?” You should answer, “It is to make its citizens kings and
priests.” This sounds colossal. You may believe this sounds like a very high calling. It
is a very high calling, indeed, as high as the heavens.
Now once we come to the realization that being a Christian means that I am a
citizen of a kingdom, that I am a king and priest, then how can we ever say again that
Christianity is one of the religions? How can we compare it to man-made religions?
Christianity is not a religion dreamed up by men. It is a revelation, and therefore a
kingdom. So, as a Christian, my purpose is not to use my faith to make my life easier
and more pleasant here on earth. A Christian is not the person who pays his taxes,
obeys the laws of the country, and raises a good and a nice family. It seems that this
is how we have been taught to size up today’s good Christian: a good and honest
member of society.
There is no question that being good and honest are fruits of the Christian life.
It is clear that a Christian will be a good person in the society. But is this why Christ
came into the world, to make us good and honest people, like Plato used to say, to be
good and honest, kalos kai agathos? If this was the purpose of Christ’s coming, then
He did not have to come into this world. The ancient Greeks could have helped us to
accomplish the objective of becoming good and honest people. We have and have had
many good people, even before Christ.
My friends, the mission of Christianity is not to make me a good and honest
citizen, but to make me a king and priest of God, something that escapes the thoughts
of all those outside of Christianity. Again, this escapes the imagination of even the
greatest philosophers. Christians are super-privileged to have God establish a Kingdom
for them on earth. When we pray we say, Thy kingdom come (Matt.6: 10). By the way,
this has nothing to do with a political, earthly kingdom. We have said this before.
This Kingdom is not of this world. We often see Christian political parties with an
agenda to elect Christian leaders and Christian presidents. Many think that this would
automatically make the earth a better place. The truth is that the Kingdom of God is,
as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), compared to these Christian parties
and Christian coalitions.
So we pray, Thy kingdom come. The Christians reign together with Christ. They
become priests who offer their worship to the Holy Triune God. Now, Who is the
source of these great privileges? Initially, the source of this privilege is the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. While coming into the world as a human being, Christ was anointed
by the Father. In saying this, we refer to the human nature, and not God the Logos
Who does not need to be christened by the Father, being equal, of one essence with
the Father. Jesus Christ refers to the human nature. Therefore God the Father anointed
Jesus Christ with this triple office: the Prophet, the Archpriest, and King. The Old
Testament and especially the New Testament profess this triple office of our Lord.
We will not look into many verses other than the ones that we already interpreted last
week. We mentioned the three descriptive titles, epithets for Christ.
The faithful witness refers to the prophetic office of Christ, because He came to
profess the truth and to talk about the truth, to prophesy. A prophet is not always
someone who sees or foretells the future. This is only true in the narrow sense. In the
broad sense, a prophet is he who talks about God. The word prophet in the broad
sense can be found in the ancient Greek literature, as for example, Homer saw a
prophet as a person who prophesies or talks; and yes, a prophet can also talk about the
future. We covered this earlier. The greater challenge of a prophet is not to foretell the
future but to interpret the present.
So, Christ is the faithful witness Who came to bear witness to the truth, and He
is the Teacher par excellence of heavenly things. Second, He is the first-born from
the dead. This is a characteristic of the Archpriestly office of our Lord; combining in
His Person both the One Who offers the sacrifice and the sacrificial Lamb. We say
this in the Divine Liturgy, “The One who offers and the One being offered,” and
this is quite difficult to grasp, to be the One who offers the sacrifice and at the same
time is the offering. Nevertheless, this is understood in the scope of the God-human
nature of Christ. Third, the Ruler of the Kings of the earth is a characteristic of His
royal office.
Combined, the three offices of Christ work out our salvation. These three offices:
the prophetic, the Archpriestly, and the royal, procure our salvation. With the first
office, the prophetic, the true God is revealed. The second, the priestly office, is what
lifts humanity to God: the oblation, or the anaphora. The priest during the prayer of
oblation, or anaphora," lifts the holy Gifts to God. He offers the Gifts to God, “Thine
own of Thine own we offer to Thee...” But in Christ we have the lifting, the raising -
the anaphora - of all humanity. Christ offered this anaphora on the cross. He offered
this oblation through His Archpriestly office. He exercised His priestly office on the
cross. He lifted, raised, offered [We use all these words for the Greek word, anaphora.]
the human nature to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With the third office,
the royal office, nature becomes a true Kingdom of God ruled by God.
The holy baptism and holy chrism that each faithful receives incorporate him
into the Body of Christ, that is the Church, so that he becomes one body with Christ.
In this manner, each faithful participates or takes on the three offices of Christ to a
certain degree. Christ is a prophet, so the faithful becomes a prophet, to a certain
extent. Christ is the Archpriest, and the faithful becomes a priest, to a certain
extent. Christ is the King, so the faithful becomes a king to a certain extent. This
means therefore, that the Christian receives these offices from Christ, Who in turn
received them from the Father. Christ was anointed with the three offices, the triple
office, and now we can see that St. John talks about this type of thing in the Revelation
after the triple office of Christ, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve His
God and Father.
When did Christ make us a kingdom and priests to serve God? He did this after
17 St. John the Chrysostom, The Divine Liturgy, Prayer of the Cherubimic Hymn: ...Zv yap o
προσφέρων και ο προσφερόμενος...
18 1014.
He proved to be the faithful Witness, the first-born from the dead, and the Ruler
of the kings of the earth. We find this position in the Old Testament as well. God
Himself says through Moses, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel (Exodus 19:6).
Can we grasp the meaning of these words, my friends?
God wants His nation to be holy. That is what the prophet Isaiah says, You shall
be called the priests of the Lord... ministers of God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their riches you shall glory (61:6). So first, you will become priests of God;
second, you shall eat the wealth of the nations; and in this wealth you will be glorified.
This does not mean, as the Jews totally misinterpret, to dominate and extract all the
wealth from the nations [by controlling and abusing the world’s banking system].
What a shame! This is how these blessed people of the Old Testament, how these
pitiful people, God’s elect of the Old Testament, misunderstand the Scriptures.
The true meaning is that you will become kings and priests, and the true meaning
of the king and the priest will only be given to us in Christ Jesus. If I do not have the
presence of Jesus Christ, and if I study the Old Testament without the light of the
New Testament, I can interpret Holy Scripture according to my selfish, national or
racist ambitions and interests. So if I am a Jew and I reject the New Testament, I reject
Jesus Christ; then I can say, “Here it is. God tells me to be wealthy, to rule the wealth
of the entire world, and to govern the entire world.”
But this is a horrible mistake, a terrible misunderstanding of the word of God;
and the elitist group, the Zionists, have been moving in this direction for years. They
are worth many tears, because they will never rule the world, and they will not get
much joy out of this wealth because when they finally accomplish this — and they
will accomplish it — they will bring the Antichrist and then they will be destroyed.
Therefore, they will not enjoy any of these efforts. They are truly fighting the wind
and the Psalm describes their plight. God will laugh at them. The Lord has them in
derision (2:4). He is mocking them. This is an anthropomorphic expression. It is like
God telling them, “You poor, pitiful people! You plot in vain all these centuries, all
these efforts to become a dynasty, to lord it over the world! Now it is all over. The end
is here.” This is not the spirit of the Old Testament verses.
Let's move on to see what the spirit of the New Testament is, and how St. Peter
explains these verses with the light of Christ. St. Peter takes these Old Testament
verses, and he renews them in the light of the New Testament. We read, But you
are a chosen people (1 Peter 2:5-9). Who? Here, you means the Christians, not the
synagogue. But you (the Christians) are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God.
So the holy nation and the royal priesthood are no longer for the Jews but for the
Christians! This is the new dimension under the light of the New Testament. So you are
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people in God’s care that you may
declare the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light!
Do you see here any hint of materialism and earthly, monetary riches? There is not a
trace! This is why the people who would like to support and form Christian political
parties, whether they understand it or not, while they are doing this consciously or
not, fall into the same trap as the Jews. They act like people of the Old Testament.
So every baptized and chrismated Christian is a prophet, a priest, and a king. Now
what does all this mean for me, the baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christian?
First, being a prophet is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and Its many gifts. For
this reason, St. John the evangelist in his epistle addresses the newly illumined, the
newly baptized Christians, But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know
everything (1 John 2:20).
What, exactly, do they know? They know all those things that are necessary for
one’s salvation. What does one need to know? One needs to know the delusion of
the world, the methodology of the devil, the traps of ones own self; so that by being
watchful, he will see his way clear to the path of his spiritual interest. So the Holy
Spirit — which we receive by chrism, and we have this chrism of the prophet — is our
internal teacher Who opens our mind to understand the truths about salvation while
helping us to escape the delusions of the world and to understand its schemes and its
evil traps.
Now, is this important? Jt is extremely important I do not know if I should say
it even louder so you can hear it again! One can see this in the people outside of
Christianity, or in people who are Christians but who have extinguished their Holy
Spirit. They render their chrism useless because they live, think, and abide by the
precepts of the world. How these people act in their everyday lives! One can see their
outrageous, foolish, dangerous and reckless acts, and question, “Don't they understand?
Don't they see? Are they blind?”
Today a verse caught my attention, and I will mention it here, / saw people persist
in their foolishness; I began to melt inside (Psalm 119:158). I was burning inside.
Something was eating me inside! Truly, today, the widespread foolishness eats away,
gnaws at the innards of the God-fearing individual. Unsurpassed foolishness! It is like
a tree-climber who climbs the tree, sits on a branch, and suddenly takes a saw and
cuts the very limb that is supporting him! He does it very naturally, not giving it any
thought at all. Obviously, he is going to go crashing down!’
Our times show strong signs of decadence, signs of a fall. The western world is
slowly dying, and the average person today does not see this. They think that our times
are simply the best, splendid. You melt inside if you have any sensitivity. You burn
inside to see all these people live their lives without a single thought for their eternal
) This is very applicable to our country, the United States of America. As a nation, we have
been cutting our supporting branch for decades. Our school systems have worked fervently to
remove the name of Christ from the school grounds. They have expelled the guardian angels,
and replaced them with police officers, metal detectors, and drug rehabilitation programs.
Heretical and atheist teachers have done all they could to take the fear of God out of their
students, and now they fear for their lives from these God-fearless students. Most of our Chris-
tian children today are brought up by MTV, Blockbuster Video, internet, ipods and all sorts of
video games.
souls. These people are strangers to the Holy Spirit.

On the other hand, the people that are anointed with the Holy Spirit energize
their chrism. They have the general prophetic gift to be able to see, to discern, and
to use God-given common sense. People in the world today lack even this very basic
common sense, and many times these individuals talk in the name of a deep and
impressive philosophy. Philosophy of fools! Foolishness! What comes to mind is the
verse stating that God turns those He wants to destroy into fools. And it looks like God
is planning to destroy us, so He allows this widespread foolishness! This is because
we have left God. I brought this up as an example to show what it means to have a
prophetic spirit, to have the spirit of God my personal teacher to illumine me and
show me how to walk.
Now we will look into the gift for the office of priesthood, and here we need
to make a clarification. The general priesthood that exists in the faithful — the royal
priesthood in which every baptized Christian is a priest, cannot substitute for the
liturgical priesthood. It cannot replace the mystery of the holy priesthood. This is
something that the Protestants have done. They acknowledge the general priesthood,
but reject the specific or liturgical priesthood, and this is why they have eliminated the
mystery of priesthood. What a tragedy!
I must tell you that the sacrament of priesthood is the mystery of the Church.
And the mystery of the Church is the mystery of salvation! This is why the mystery
(sacrament) of the priesthood takes place during the Divine Liturgy. The Divine Liturgy
can only come forth from the priesthood, and it can only exist and co-exist with the
priesthood. We are talking about the liturgical priesthood. In other words, the bishop,
or the archpriest, celebrates the Divine Liturgy, enabled by his priesthood, and at the
same time, within the Divine Liturgy, the mystery of priesthood is acquired. This is why
the mystery of the Church and the mystery of the priesthood are almost synonymous.
Yet, they have their distinct differences as well. This is extremely important.
The Protestants spurn this mystery. So, in reality, because they spurn the mystery
of the priesthood, they do not have the Church. The Protestants, and this includes
denominational and non-denominational Christians, are not a Church. They are
simply Christian communities. We repeat that they are not canonical because they
do not have the mystery of priesthood with this specific meaning. As you can see,
we place great emphasis in this area about the liturgical and the general priesthood. |
However, Christ initiates both the liturgical and the general priesthood. They are |
fulfilled in Christ and they are offered to Christ.
Both of these priesthoods, general and liturgical, are linked together to present the
offering. For example, the faithful brings the bread, the prosforon, for the consecration. :
He prepares it, he kneads it, he shapes it, he bakes it, he brings it to the church, and| !
he offers it. He offers it to the priest, who will present the final offering. So the priest|
will celebrate the completion of the offering, but the first offering comes from the |
faithful. Therefore, the initial offering of the bread takes place when the layperson |
uses his general priesthood. The priest using his liturgical priesthood completes the |
final offering, or anaphora. As we can see, the faithful, with his general priesthood,
offers the gift and the elements of the Divine Liturgy but something more; he has a
spiritual partnership with the priest. In other words, he offers through or by the hands
of the priest.
So that you will be better able to understand it, in practice it works as follows.
Can the priest celebrate the Divine Liturgy by himself? Can he take a prosforon, enter
the church, wear his vestments, and begin, “Blessed is the Kingdom, of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit”? Can he do this without a layperson? No, he cannot!
This is not just for technical reasons because there is no chanter, or because there is
nobody to help with the censer. That is not the case. Again, it is not for technical
reasons, but for ecclesiastical reasons.
The priest is not allowed to celebrate the Divine Liturgy without having at least
one faithful present, at least one layperson present, one more person. Again, ecclesiastic
reasons are all the things I have been talking about. No, the priest, the bishop, or the
patriarch cannot celebrate one single liturgy by himself. You, the layperson must be
present, because your general priesthood, combined with his liturgical priesthood,
will complete the offering to the Lord. The laity must be present. This is why the laity
partake Body and Blood, as the priest partakes Body and Blood.
Please pay attention because we are living in the age of the dialogues: dialogues
with Protestants, dialogues with Catholics. Previously we talked about the Protestants,
and now we must mention that the Roman Catholic Church does not allow the laity
to commune the Blood of Christ, only the Body. What does this mean? It means that
she gives privileges to the clergy, privileges above and beyond the faithful; this is why
the Roman Catholic priest can celebrate mass every day in his room. His private mass
can last anywhere from ten minutes up to an hour.
So within ten minutes, the papist priest can receive his holy communion, and
can go about his business. Our Orthodoxy has never permitted these things. ‘This
is because the papists, the clergy of the Roman Catholics, ignore the lay people by
practicing these erroneous innovations. The presence of the faithful, the presence of
the laity, is of great, basic importance, and our Church expresses it by this method.
“My priest, you cannot celebrate the liturgy without at least one single lay person.” Do
you see how important this information is?
We must also mention that the very language of the liturgy is written in the first
person plural: We offer. We ask. Let us ask of the Lord. Save us. Have mercy on us.
The entire congregation, the entire church, clergy and laity, presents the offering to
the Lord.
St. Peter calls the faithful living stones, who build among themselves a spiritual house
(cf. 1Peter 2:5). St. Paul calls the faithful temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).
Temples of the Holy Spirit! Remember this thought. What does it mean that I am the
temple of the Holy Spirit? My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. This means
that in this living temple of God, each faithful is for himself — for his temple — its
guard and its priest. Every faithful is a temple of the Living God. St. Paul repeats this
many times, but when he talks about a temple, he also insinuates a priest. Who is the
priest? I am the temple; I am the priest; and I am the guard, the watchman of the
temple of God.
Now in the Old Testament the sacrifices had this meaning: they substituted for
the guilty party. A man would bring a lamb and offer it as a sacrifice in place of
himself, to avoid sacrificing himself. The blood of the animal would be poured out.
The animal, which did nothing wrong, sheds its blood in the place of the guilty person.
However, here in the New Testament, we have a sacrifice far and beyond those of the
Old Testament. If they took a sheep and sacrificed it, they were right by God — not
now. In the New Testament, as a Christian, the sacrifice of worship that I must offer
to God is my own self, my own selfishness, and my own ego. Let us consider how St.
Paul expresses this. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of Gods mercy, present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom.12:1).
Present your bodies has a liturgical dimension. It is like presenting the holy bread,
the prosfora, to God, like taking them to the north entrance. Long ago, the prosfora
were offered at the Royal Door during the time of the epistle reading. What is left
from this as a reminder is that the priest comes out at this moment and censes,
because the priest used to cense the offerings of the faithful before he took them
inside. This is called the presentation of the gifts. This is why St. Paul uses the word,
present: present your bodies. Again, this of a liturgical dimension and it stems from the
Old Testament.
So, present not your wine or your bread but your dodies. Your bodies are a living
sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship. Therefore, I offer
myself and when I offer myself, I am a priest. St. Peter says, and like living stones be
yourselves built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5). Jesus Christ, of course, is the
Mediator. Therefore, the sacrifice of the celebrant faithful is the sacrifice of the faithful
with the general meaning of the priesthood, meaning all of us, all the laity. ‘This
sacrifice is primarily a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of the lips, as St. Paul calls it. Through
him [Jesus Christ] then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the
fruit of lips that acknowledge his name (Heb. 13:15).
We also have the sacrifice of righteousness. We read in the Psalm: [f you wanted
a sacrifice, I would have given it to you. You do not delight in burnt offerings (animals
thrown in a fire, etc.), because the sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit. A broken
and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise, you will not reject. Then you will delight in
the sacrifice of righteousness, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings (cf. 51/52). What
is the sacrifice of righteousness? This Psalm tells us: it is the sacrifice of repentance. It is
a great sacrifice to God. We offended God with our sins and we saddened and grieved
the Holy Spirit. Now we offer our sacrifice of repentance.
Righteousness also means virtue. It is the sacrifice of virtue. I will place my virtues
inside the altar, upon the charcoals so they will rise, like incense, to heaven. Do we
not always chant in our vespers service, Let my prayer rise like incense before you? (Psalm
141:2). So I do not offer You incense; I offer You my prayers. If You will, Lord, I
offer You incense as well, along with my prayers. However, as the incense rises at
this moment, let my prayer rise as well, and let my virtues rise in the same way — my
virtues, my holiness. What is the sacrifice of righteousness? It is the sacrifice of my
virtues. My calling is to be a holy person.
Third, we have the sacrifice of almsgiving. St. Paul says, Do not neglect to do good
and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Heb. 13:16). Therefore,
we have: first, the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips, chanting, singing to
the Lord. Second, we have the sacrifice of righteousness, and that is our repentance,
our virtues. Third, we have the sacrifice of giving and sharing, almsgiving, for the
priestly office. These comprise the general priesthood that we all have.
Now, I will talk about the office of royalty. During our baptism, we receive as
betrothal the seal of the Holy Spirit. The priest says very clearly, “the seal of the Holy
Spirit.” We are marked. What is this mark? This mark is the cross by which the faithful
is marked noetically, thus receiving the seal of the Holy Spirit. This I do with my own
free will when I am baptized and when I become a Christian. When I receive this seal
of the Holy Spirit, then I become the person who accepts the betrothal, a promise that
I will become a king, not a servant but a king! Would you like to see this?
In the book of the Revelation, Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and
seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns
upon their heads (4:4). The number twenty-four is twelve times two, which denotes a
great number. Elders means mature Christians, mature in holiness. There is so much
greatness in these visions of St. John, and we will study them very closely when the
time comes. These twenty-four elders were dressed in white, and they had crowns
of gold on their heads. So the faithful is not a servant, but is crowned with a crown
of gold. He wears a king’s crown. He is a king! And the Lord says: The righteous will
sparkle, will shine like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father (cf. Matt. 13:43).
What does it mean, though, to have the royal office here on earth? I can understand
the crown in heaven, that is okay, but what is the meaning of this royalty here on
earth? It means to reign over my passions!
It also means to be the ruler of all creatures, the ruler of all creation. God told
Adam and Eve to rule and dominate all creation, and He certainly did not mean the
type of domination, or abuse rather, that goes on today because this sort of domination
is also digging our graves. When I conquer atomic energy, I open my grave to enter it
from cancer because radiation kills me. When I try to conquer the secrets of nature,
and I set them loose to use them, they end up killing me. What are we eating today?
What are we drinking? What are we breathing? All these things are slow killers. [Look
at the number of drug stores in your neighborhoods; look at the statistics on disease
control, the many types of cancers, and all this in the last hundred years.] This is not
the type of conquering that God had in mind.
Being the ruler of nature means that I am the highest being of all creation, and
there is not a single creature higher than I am. Everything is below me. I am the ruler
of nature. We can see this in our past and present ascetics. They are lords of nature.
Even the beasts and wild animals do obedience to them. St. Moses the Ethiopian,”
for instance, had some visitors and being in the desert, he had run out of water. He
wanted to feed his visitors, to cook some vegetables for them, but had no water. So
he took his pot, went outside, and asked God very simply and very naturally, “Lord,
please send me some water.” Immediately a cloud came, stopped over his pot and
rained enough water to fill his cooking utensil. He took it, boiled the vegetables, and
treated his visitors. This is how man reigns over nature. I am the ruler of nature; but I
must recognize that above me is the absolute ruler, my God, who rules over all. We do
not get ahead by ignoring God. We do this in our arrogance. We want to unlock the
secrets of nature and they are killing us.
Tam the lord of nature but I must also be the lord of my passions. I must govern my
passions, and uphold myself with a royal, governing spirit — hegemon nous. [Hegemon
in Greek means king.] So I need to uphold myself with a royal nous. I need to let
my mind be the king and governor of my existence, not my emotions — so I do not
become a prisoner or a slave of people, or become enslaved by some ideas or fads — so
I do not become a slave of materialism. This is the meaning of having the office of
king in this life.
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced
him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen (Rev. 1:7).
So, my friends, the One Who makes us kings and priests is coming. Behold, He is
coming. He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see Him, every one — even
those who speared Him. [The Greek says, all the people who speared Him.] All the
people of the earth will mourn because of Him.
These two verses serve as the conclusion of the introduction of this book, but
they also include the central theme of the entire book of the Revelation. What is the
central theme of this book? It is the Second Coming of Christ [not the rapture, not the
millennium, not the taking up of the Church, not the Antichrist]. The central theme
of the book of the Revelation is the Second Coming of Christ. Everything that this
book will tell us will revolve around this theme of the Second Presence of Christ.
Christ is coming! Behold! With this behold the writer wants to get our attention.
We find this behold in the gospels very often, when the word of God wants us to zero
in on some key event. Here; behold! Look! He is coming! But here in these verses, we
have an awesome picture: Christ coming back slowly on the clouds while the entire
earth sort of freezes and all people, every eye on the entire earth sees Him. Moreover,
people will begin to wail and to beat themselves. Here we have an awesome image,
an awesome picture of the Coming of Christ, and a troublesome and fearful picture.
Here we come face-to-face with two Christological prophecies both from the Old
Testament; and they are combined. The one belongs to the prophet Daniel, the other
to the prophet Zachariah. ‘These two prophecies are what gave St. John the inspiration
to verbalize this vision and prophecy, by which vision he closes his introduction to
20 Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite, Synaxaristes, August 28, 285.
this book.
When we come to the realization at some point in our lives, when we truly realize,
truly and not sensationally, and to have it be a heart-felt reality that Christ is coming
back, then we develop the strong nostalgia, a strong love, a hope, that nothing in this
life can hold us. We do not desire to die, no, or to just leave, not so. Simply, Christ
is coming! It is such a strong hope. Christ is coming back! This should excite us! We
must place this reality deep in our being. ‘This was the reality and the experience of the
first Christian Church. With this reality, the Church lived and gave us the martyrs and
the saints. With this reality, the Church will once again give us martyrs and saints. I
pray for this with all my heart.
CHAPTER 5
Revelation 1:7-9
The Vision of Daniel and Zachariah - I am the Alpha
and the Omega - Sharing in the Suffering and Gospel
of the Cross
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, every one who pierced
him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. I am the
Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,
the Almighty. I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the
kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

As we were saying last time, these two verses serve as the conclusion of the initial
introduction of the book; but they also include the central theme of this book, which is
the Second Coming of Christ. These verses also contain two Christological prophecies
from the Old Testament, one belonging to the prophet Daniel and a second one to
the prophet Zachariah.
From the prophecy of Daniel, we see that he did not only prophesy the First
Coming of Christ but His Second Coming as well. More specifically we see that his
prophetic eye reaches the end of history and he tells us in his seventh chapter, J saw in
the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a Son of Man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him (7:13). Here we do not
have the First Presence or First Coming, but the Second because One like the Son of
Man refers to the incarnate Son of God, the God-man who is positioned next to the
Ancient of Days or God the Father.
The Lord Himself verified this in front of Caiaphas after Caiaphas questioned
Him under oath and the Lord said, J am assuring you, I tell you that after this you will
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power [meaning God the Father]
and coming with the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64). In simple terms, “You are now
condemning me; you can go ahead and do that, but you will see that I will be coming
back to judge you.”
About Christ coming back as a Judge — this identity of our Lord is spelled out in
the book of the Revelation, Then I looked, and lo, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud
one like a Son of Man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hana
(14:14). This verse informs us that He is coming with a sickle in His hand. He is not
coming as a Savior but as a Judge. At His First Presence He came as a Savior; so His
First Presence pertains to the salvation of the world, and the Second to the Judgment.
Christ Himself said, I did not come to judge the world but to save the world (John
12:47). He also said, when the Son of Man comes to judge the world (Matt. 25:31).
Consequently, we have these two attributes, which pertain to the two appearances of
the Lord.
This also brings to mind the words of St. John the Baptist, Behold the winnowing
fork is in His hand and He will clean His threshold and He will gather the wheat in His
storehouse, while the chaff He will burn up in unquenchable fire, fire that never goes out
(Matt.3:12). Also in the parable of the weeds, the Lord advises, allow the wheat to
grow with the weeds and at the end of time the sorting out, the cleansing’ will take place
(Matt. 13:25-40). The wheat will be collected and placed in the storehouse while the
weeds will be thrown into the furnace, meaning the pious people, the Christians will
be gathered into the Kingdom of God and the godless and the impious in the eternal
Hell, or eternal torment.
So, the first verse refers to the prophecy of Daniel while the second verse refers to
the prophecy of Zachariah. Zachariah writes, And I will pour out on the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace (12:10-14). This verse refers to the First
Presence of Christ. J did not come to judge but to save (cf. John 6) is indicative of a spirit
of grace and compassion. And they will turn to look at Me and they will mock Me.
But they will repent when they see Me as they see Me. They will see Him, of course,
on the cross. They will begin to beat their heads and their chests; they will uproot their
hair. And they will wail as someone wails and weeps bitterly over the death of a first-
born. Zhe land shall mourn (Zech. 12:12). Which land is this? It is the land of Judea,
not the entire earth; it is each tribe, each individual, and each family by themselves.
The Messiah will come with much grace. The people of Palestine will scorn Him.
They will laugh at Him, but after the signs on the cross, (the darkness, the resurrection)
they will beat their heads. This is but a very small preview, a small foretaste of what will
take place at the end of history. Let us all understand how.
You do remember that the Centurion saw the earthquake, the darkening of the
sun; he saw all these strange phenomena. When he heard the words of Christ, Father
forgive them for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34), he saw His calmness, His
meekness. He was not cursing, angry, or complaining about His enemies. He was
praying for them, in the midst of the most excruciating pain on the cross. Then the
Centurion said, This man is truly a Son of God (23:47). St. Luke the evangelist tells us
that the crowds were beating their chests (23:48). This was an action of repentance.
“What did we do? Who did we crucify?” However, even though Israel did not believe
this preview, those that sensed who He was in His First Presence began to wail.
Now St. John the evangelist says that when Christ comes again, He will be coming
with the clouds and every eye shall see Him, everyone, even those who pierced Him,
or actually, speared Him. Then those who pierced Him will wail because of Him. They
— all the tribes of the earth, meaning all of humanity — will beat their chests. In the
first plane of the fulfillment of this prophecy, (the prophecy of Zechariah) we have the
twelve tribes of Israel. In the second plane we have the whole earth, the entire world.
What is significant is the fact that they will see the One that they pierced; but
historically one man, a Roman soldier pierced Him. This was his duty to verify the
death of the executed. It was sort of a practical death certificate that needed to be
given. All of these events occurred because the Jews condemned Him; they wanted
Him dead. They wanted Him executed. But what does this mean: Every eye shall see
Him? Every eye refers to everyone who pierced Him, all those from the entire earth,
all those who denied Jesus Christ. The person who denies Christ spears Christ. ‘This is
not simply rhetoric and I will bring up some examples from Scripture, one from St.
Paul and some others from holy Tradition.
St. Paul writes to the Philippians, J grieve for those whose God is their belly (Phil.
3:18,19). These are baptized Christians who made pleasure their god. According to St.
Paul, these Christians re-crucify the Son of God; they do the same thing as those who
pierced Him. Now how do I take part in this awful piercing of the body of Christ?
There are two ways: first, if I have denied His God-human nature, and second, if
after becoming a Christian I continue to live a life of sin. When St. Paul talks to the
Philippians, he is not referring to a matter of faith, but a matter of lifestyle. He talks to
baptized Christians who live for their belly, who make their belly their god. Their life
was such that it did not agree with the cross-bearing spirit of the gospel.
We will take the second example of what it means to pierce Christ from the life
of St. Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria who was a contemporary of the heretic, Arius.
Archbishop Peter had a vision in which he saw Christ as a child with a torn outer
garment. His garment was torn in half. St. Peter was greatly troubled and horrified, and
cried out: “My Savior, who has torn Thy garment?’ The Lord replied: “That madman
Arius.’2! [St. Athanasios later defeated Arius, the heretic who denied the Lord’s God-
human nature.] In ancient frescoes here in our monastery, we have such a fresco of the
vision as seen by St. Peter, but it was unfortunately, not very well preserved.
Do you see what it means to pierce or to spear Christ? Initially, under the cross
one person speared Christ at the recommendation of the Sanhedrin. Now all the
people throughout history and from our time, of course, (and we hope that none of
our listeners or readers are included in this number of people) will say one day: “T
pierced the body of Christ, I pierced Him. I speared Christ by denying Him.” This
denial can take place in the area of faith, in dogma, or in the daily practice of the
Christian lifestyle.
The Lord says, and this is very significant, then will appear the sign of the Son of
Man in heaven (Matthew 24:30). What is this sign? The cross is the very sign that the
heretics and the scoffers, all through the ages, sneer at and mock. Among these are the
chiliasts or Jehovah’s Witnesses, who mock the cross of Christ.
What will appear is the suffering, wounded Christ. Is Christ still suffering? Yes.
Christ is in heaven, forever suffering, forever wounded with His bruises. These wounds
I St, Nikolai Velimirovic, Lives of the Saints, Prologue V 4, Nov. 25th.
are incurable. They are the very wounds that Thomas touched and felt. ‘These wounds
are the trophies of the Lord. These are the identifying insignia that will show everyone
Who Christ is, and there will be no question whatsoever that the One Who is coming
is the One Whom they pierced. The wounds are staying and they will continue to be
present, not only until the end of history, but beyond history as well.
When we proceed with the book of the Revelation St. John will present us with an
awesome vision, a great scene, which is a bit peculiar. He will see the Word of God as a
Lamb because He was sacrificed. He will see the Son of God as a slain Lamb, standing.
Again, this is rather strange. How is He standing if He is slain? This shows that Christ
bears the wounds, and at the same time, He is alive. It is the same thing that Christ
will tell St. John. We will probably go over these things in our next session. J became
dead (egenomin nekros) and behold, I am alive again.
So as we see, the wounds stay; they are the war medals of the great victory of the
Son of God. He saved the world with these wounds. At the same time, these wounds
will be the terrible, condemning evidence for all those pitiful people who did not
believe in Him as the Son of God. Now they have to come face to face with the One
they pierced, the One Who is the Son of God incarnate.
Now every eye shall see Him; every eye shall see Christ when He comes. ‘The pious
will rejoice; the godless and unrepentant sinners will be cut to the heart. They will
wail. At the present time the opposite is true. The Christians, the pious, are distressed;
they are crying, “Lord, how long? How long must we wait? When are you going to
free us from this miserable, rotten world?” All these things will certainly be happening
during the Second Coming of Christ, but we also had a bird’s eye view, a small glimpse
of this during His First Coming. He told His disciples during, or a little before His
Passion, The world is full of joy and laughter, and you are crying and mourning. In a
short while the world will be wailing and you will be laughing (cf. Luke 6:25). In a short
while, the few days from Great Thursday night until Pascha Sunday, the distress of the
disciples was gone. As you can see, the mourning, the distress, the tribulation, and the
pain — none of these last forever. They are connected to a time-period, and time passes.
So these are not permanently fixed. Christ is coming and the faithful will rejoice while
the unbelievers will weep.
The Lord Himself tells us these things that St. John writes of in the book of the
Revelation, Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven and all the nations,
all the tribes of the world will see Him and they will lament (Matt. 24:30). All the tribes
of the earth, all the nations will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky
with power and great glory. By the way, do we notice how much the gospels agree with
the book of the Revelation? There is not a single point of the book of the Revelation
that does not agree with the gospels, not a single point. There is absolute agreement
in the spirit and sometimes, quite often, even in the /etter between the book of the
Revelation and the four gospels.
So Christ is coming back, and here St. John the evangelist makes a special
declaration that Christ is coming back cloud-borne; He is riding on the clouds. ‘The
verse closes with the words, So it shall be, amen. This verse serves as the seal of the
introduction. The Greek text here uses two words: Nai (nai) and ayjv (amen). This
ending has a liturgical character. St. John uses the Greek word vai (nai), which stands
for yes. This means for sure; Christ is definitely coming back. Then he uses the Semitic
or Hebrew word: amen, or Ayn (amen), which means the same thing. It also means
yes. But it is a prayerful yes, expressing the wish that it be as soon as possible. Yes, He
is coming back, yes, and the sooner the better. Nai (nai), Aujv (amen).
St. Paul will use this same expression, For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we
preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No; but in him it is
always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen
through him, to the glory of God (2 Cor. 1:19, 20). His promises are yes and amen. In
other words, everything will come to pass; everything Christ said will materialize;
nothing will change, not an iota. Do you see how the books agree? ‘The spirit of the
books is in total agreement.
Sometimes we see an author contradict himself, often in the same book. However,
here we have various authors, in different times, in total agreement. This means exactly
what Christ said, that the heavens and the earth will pass away, but My words will not
pass away, not even an iota (Matt. 5:18). Not even an iota will pass by unfulfilled by
the words of Christ. Christ said that the heavens and the earth will vanish but my words
will stay forever.
Christ said, I will return; I will come back, and He is absolutely faithful. St. Paul
says TIaTé¢ ο λογός (Pistos o Logos), meaning the Word of God is trustworthy and
worthy of full acceptance. Christ will come back. The heart of a faithful man who feels
all these things becomes full of hope, becomes solid in this hope, and lives with the
hope of Christ, the hope that truly rejuvenates and refreshes: yes, amen.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who
Is to come, the Almighty (Rev.1:8). Who is and Who was — remember when we said
something about the strange grammar used by St. John in this book? In Greek,
he uses an article before the verb. The English language is often limited, but then
again so is the Greek and any language is insufficient to describe the Pantokrator.
There are no words in this world that can express the magnificence of the Almighty,
the Pantokrator.
Yes, amen, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, Who is and Who was,
and Who is coming, the Pantokrator (or the Almighty). I am the Alpha and the Omega.
This is another name for God. As we said earlier, God has very many names precisely
because He has no name. It is impossible to define God with one name; giving God a
single name will somehow restrict His infinity. When man gives an entity a name, it
is to describe or define, so when we name something we give it certain boundaries or
limits. However God is without boundaries.
God has no limits; and that is why when Moses questions God about His name
on Mount Sinai, he receives the answer, J am Who I am (Exodus 3:14). He [Moses]
wanted a name to take back to Egypt and God told him J am the One Who is. God
gave no name, but we can say this is one of the many names for God: the Alpha and
the Omega. Thus because God has no name we say that He is anonymous and yet
polyonymous; He has many names.
The spiritually illiterate and rather blinded Jehovah’s Witnesses, or false witnesses,
think that they have discovered God’s name. In Greece and in different countries they
present themselves as the students of the Scriptures. They are the authorities of the
Scriptures, bar none, and they claim that God’s great name is Jehovah. Well, Jehovah
in Hebrew means Lord. However, Lord is one of the many names that the Scriptures
use to talk about God. It is certainly not the exclusive name of God as they argue.
There is a plethora of names for God, as we will see soon. What is this meaning
of the Alpha and Omega? It is the commencement of everything created, the
commencement of the entire creation. Consequently, when He says J am the Alpha and
the Omega He is really saying that I am the Lord of space and time. More specifically
God is outside of the Alpha and the Omega. The A and exist in God.
The beginning of the entire creation belongs to God and God alone will cause the
possible termination of the entire visible creation. It is in God. Only God can create
from zero. God is the only real or ontological beginning. St. John says, εν ἀρχὴ ἣν ο
Λόγος (en arhi ein o Logos); Jn the beginning was the Word John 1:1). This is what it
means. The Word is the Alpha; the Word, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, was
present when the beginning of Creation took place from zero, ex nihilo. Now God
does not want to destroy or annihilate His creation, but He can bring His creation
back to Omega.
He can end it if He wants to. He could bring it back to zero because He is the only
Entity, the only Being that can relate to the idea of zero. Not a single created being
can relate to zero, not the logical man, nor the angel. No one can bring to existence
something from zero; nor can someone reverse something that exists back to zero. It
is impossible not only to do, but also impossible to understand or grasp. God is the
Alpha and the Omega. Everything exists and is contained within Him. He is Lord of
space and time.
By the way, God is not limited to Alpha and Omega, but the Alpha and Omega
exists in God, which is the beginning and end of all creation. God has no beginning
avapxos (anarhos), and is simultaneously ἀτελεύτητος (ateleftitos) or interminable; He
has no ending. Creation has a beginning and an end. Thus, the Alpha and Omega are
in God and God is the Lord of time and space.
Accordingly, in this last verse of the introduction of the book we have an
accumulation of divine names. ‘The first one is: the Alpha and the Omega; the second
name is: Lord; the third is: God; the fourth name is: The One Who is and Who was
and Who is coming; and the fifth name is: the Pantokrator — the One Who holds
everything. With this accumulation of divine names, we see that the source of all the
divine Revelation is God and consequently anything and everything that is written in
the book of the Revelation is trustworthy and true. God reveals this as man (in His
human nature).
What is astonishing is when we see that these revelations, these prophesies come
to pass in the progression of the centuries, then we can truly say with conviction that,
yes indeed, God is the source of this book, that the book of the Revelation is of divine
origin. Here, my friends, the introduction of this book ends. We must say that the
introduction is equally worthy of this book’s depth and also of the book's writer, the
depth of the writer, the flying eagle of our ecclesiastical theology, St. John.
Now the main theme of this book begins, which is the appearance of the Lord
Jesus Christ facing the shocked, fearful and shaken St. John to show him the future
journey of the Church, the future struggles of the Church: its adventures, its wars, and
its final victory. The book of the Revelation will mainly deal with these events.
At this point, with God’s help, we will enter the main topic. J John, your brother
and companion in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patience of Jesus Christ, was
on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ
(Rev.1:9). The evangelist is attempting to declare and reassure the historical evidence
of this book. It is of great importance to have the historical background of any book.
So in order to do this, he follows the example of the prophets of the Old Testament
like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets, and records the place where this
prophecy was revealed; and this place is the island of Patmos.
John also reveals the time and day of his Revelation which was on the Lord’s Day;
Lord in Greek is Kdptog (Kyrios) and Kuptaxy (Kyriaki) is the Lord’s Day, or Sunday.
St. John, along with revealing the place of his vision, reveals the reason he found
himself there and the time; and again, all this is to certify that this book is a historical
reality. These are the elements necessary for giving this book a historical dimension. In
other words, this is not a myth or science fiction.
We can go to Patmos and into this very cave, which is open to Christians and
visitors from all over the world. We say all this to eliminate any doubt, and to defend
our faith when those outside of this reality will argue as to the validity of these historical
events. If they question, simply ask them to go to Patmos. Send them to Patmos and
they will see everything there with their very own eyes.
According to our Ancient Christian Tradition St. John the evangelist was exiled
to Patmos during the persecution by the Roman emperor Domitian (51-96 A.D.). 1
found myself on the island of Patmos, the evangelist says, for preaching the word of God
and witnessing for Jesus Christ. He does not use the word exile, but we can derive that
from the word ©Ahvy (thlipsi) or suffering, or affliction. He says your brother and
companion in the suffering because if Patmos was on his missionary agenda and he had
gone there voluntarily to evangelize to the inhabitants of Patmos, then he would not
use the word suffering.
In the word suffering he hides the reality of his exile. On this St. Irenaeus, who
lived only one century later, says the book of the Revelation has not been in existence
for very long; “it came about during our generation and towards the end of the reign of
Domitian.”” St. Clement of Alexandria records, “After the death of the tyrant (meaning
22 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 5:30.

Domitian) John left Patmos and came to Ephesus.”” St. Andrew of Caesarea further
adds, “St. John was sentenced to live on the island of Patmos. He was sentenced to
exile on Patmos.” However, Eusebius of Caesarea, in his chronicle,” places this exile
during the fourteenth year of the reign of Domitian which corresponds to 94 or 95
AD and that is when the book of the Revelation was written.
It was written on Patmos and not in Ephesus. This is important to note because
the Lord tells him to write and send a letter to the Bishop of Ephesus; and a letter
presupposes some distance. Hence, St. John writes his Revelation right then and there
on Patmos where he saw the vision. Again, all of the above shows that John while
exiled on the island of Patmos wrote the book of the Revelation.
What is interesting is the beginning of the sentence, J John (eyw Ἰωάννης -- ερο
Ioannis). He does this to accentuate the name, and this is of paramount importance,
especially in a prophetic book. The identity of the writer and the origin of this book
need to be made known. Now this is something that he does not normally do in his
Gospel, where he tries to hide very gracefully behind the disciple whom the Lord loved
(cf. John 19:26), and the one that fell on his chest to ask Him, ‘Lord, who is the one that
will betray you? (John 21:20). However, here the content is very serious; this book is
prophetic and the evangelist must record his name for the sake of authenticity.
I John, your brother. This beginning reminds us of the book of Daniel, who uses
the same technique in order to declare and certify that he is the writer of his book and
the trustworthy witness of his book. Daniel writes in his eighth chapter, Jn the third
year of the reign of King Balthazar a vision appeared to me, Daniel (8:1).
The verse of John starts out with very tender words, words of endearment, J John,
your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom; this is so beautiful. I John,
he does not use his apostolic title; J John an Apostle of Jesus Christ (or the servant
of Jesus Christ) as apostles do in other books. He prefers to use only John and this
is possibly because Christians everywhere were being persecuted. All Christians were
in tribulation; they shared this common suffering; and common suffering brings out
the brotherhood of all people. Disasters, tornadoes, floods tend to bring out the spirit
of brotherhood in many small towns even today. Consequently, the recipients of this
book are under fierce persecution and John is a communicant, a participant; he shares
in this persecution.
I John your brother and co-participant xowwvdg (koinonos) or companion in the
tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance, and here my friends, John unfolds
before us, three enormous points, three great subjects: tribulation, Kingdom and
patient endurance: 9Ainic (thlipsis), Baotreta (vasilia) and vmopovh (Ypomoni). These
are three great chapters in the Christian life and St. John lays these before us. Let us
23 Clement of Alexandria, Who is the rich man that shall be saved — section 42.
24 St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG 106, 226D): Ilatpov oixeiv thv νῆσον καταδεικασθεὶς.
25 Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History: Book 3, Chapter 17.

look at the first one: 9g (thlipsis), which literally means to compress, to squeeze,
to pressure. The soul becomes greatly distressed. However, if the joy in the Lord is the
fruit of the Christian identity then this distress or this OAc (thlipsis) is the skin of
the fruit; distress on the outside, but joy on the inside; outside, the shell, but inside the
almond. The almond or any fruit cannot survive without the protection of the shell.
Consider this oxymoron; distress protects inner joy. Did you ever imagine this?
This is only possible in the Christian realm. If we do not live and experience these
things, we need to doubt our Christian identity. In other words, it is not possible
to develop and maintain the joy and spirituality in the absence of this distress. ‘To
be distressed in the Lord is not something that comes from within since it is the
exterior covering of the fruit of joy; it is something that comes from the outside. ‘The
faithful find themselves in this state because of the external reactions of the world and
the devil.
As you know, the Lord warns us about this, but how many of us remember it?
He says, they will deliver you up to tribulation (Matt. 24:9). So, this is from external
factors. This distress is persecution, jail, suffering, death, and martyrdom. All this is
from the outside and not from the inside. The Lord has named this state: the narrow
gate; and even more clearly, In the world you have tribulation (John 16:33), In this
world you will have distress.
However this distress brings forth ineffable, indescribable and overflowing joy —
so much so that St. Paul writes, J am filled with consolation. With all our affliction, I am
overjoyed (2 Cor. 7:4). Dear St. Paul, overflowing with joy in the face of great distress?
Well, that is why joy is the fruit to be found inside the shell of distress. If you eliminate
and do away with this distress you will lose this inner joy. If you remove the shell you
will lose the fruit.
Please pay attention: §Ahjtc (thlipsis) or distress is a characteristic of those who
will inherit the Kingdom of God. St. Paul once again says in the Acts of the Apostles,
after his stoning at Lystra, We must go through much distress before we can enter the
kingdom of Heaven. This must is the connecting link of the inner with the outer and
these two cannot be separated. The two go together. Actually, he says not just distress
but many distresses, plural. We need many O)tyets (thlipses), many distresses to enter
the Kingdom of God.
However here, I must warn you about something. Our times, my friends, are
attempting to create (and here we must all pay attention very closely because we are
all infected) a Christianity with no distress, a Christianity full of compromises and
comforts. We refuse to hear about any discomfort or distress. This is one of the two
great dangers that threaten our Church today. The first danger is secularization, and
the second danger is ecumenism, or religious syncretism. These two great dangers
threaten the Church as we speak. I will repeat. Secularization compromises the Gospel
to fit the formulas of this world. It allows the phronema or the mindset of the world
to enter the Gospel.”
6 It offers a politically correct gospel, so we do not offend those who are in love with their pas-
The second danger is ecumenism, or religious syncretism, which is peace at the

expense of Truth.” ‘Today's Christian is looking for a Christianity that does not cost
anything — a spirituality in opposition to the cross, a spirituality that shuns sacrifice.
This ceases to be holy spirituality because it lacks the presence of the Holy Spirit;
and it simply becomes a cheap substitute, a bankrupt form of spirituality. Such a
spirituality does not have the Holy Spirit of God and it ends up as a humanistic
spirituality, the one used by the psychologists. This term, spirituality, used loosely by
the psychologists, artists, soloists, poets, and opera singers of today has nothing to do
with the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit has fled from this sort of spirituality.
The book of the Revelation, my friends, warns us, the beast was allowed to do
battle with the saints and defeat them; he was allowed to open war with the faithful and
overcome them. Did we understand this? God allowed the beast to defeat the faithful,
the Christians.
No one will be able to buy and sell without having the mark. This is financial
boycott. You will not be able to do business: to buy, sell or trade, unless you are a
member of the Masons, the Lions, or Rotary Club. By the way, every anti-Christian
philosophy or activity includes this mark. Let’s not think the mark is only limited to
the last three and one half years of history. The mark de-Christianizes people. It always
has. As a result, if you go along with these anti-Christian allies of the beast, you will
be helped. If not, you will not be able to buy or sell, unless you have the mark of the
beast, or the number of his name.
Here is the faith and the patience of the saints, who are the ones who will stand,
who will have the spiritual nerve to say, “No way; keep your money. Keep your property.
We will not be marked.” This will translate into fierce battle and persecution to force
the faithful into extinction. The Antichrist will seek to destroy the true believers of
Christ. All such things constitute the area of 9Ati¢ (thlipsis) or distress, which is the
skin of the fruit of joy and the prerequisite of the Kingdom of God. ‘The holy Script
here does not talk about comfort or compromises but emphasizes: here is the faith and
the patience of the saints. My friends, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Let's
begin to prepare.
sions; and it presents a gospel that embraces the homosexual, the lesbian, the adulterer, and all
liars (cf. Rev. 21:8) without any need for repentance.
27 The disease of ecumenism (called pan-heresy by elder Philotheos Zervakos) has infected a
number of Orthodox bishops. In 1989, the Patriarch of Alexandria affirmed that the Prophet
Mohammed is an apostle and a man of God, and those that are against Islam and Buddhism
are not in agreement with God. It is evident here that the Orthodox Patriarch of Africa took
some lessons from the liberal Episcopalian-Anglican Archbishop of South Africa Desmond
Tutu, disregarding the Orthodox position of Saint Gregory Palamas and the Church Fathers
who saw in Mohammed the work of the Antichrist.
CHAPTER 6
Revelation 1:9-11
Patience and the Kingdom — About the Day of
the Lord (Sunday)
I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and
the patient endurance.
Homily given November 30,1980

ere, St. John uses three terms to show how the Church advances on
her journey. These three elements will always exist in the Church, even
in peaceful times: suffering, patience, and kingdom. However, we must
note that here the evangelist is not referring to the everyday sufferings
and patience that even the worldly people need to have. We often hear the statement,
“Boy, life is tough, and full of problems.” But this is not what St. John is referring to, as
we will see in this lesson. Previously, we mentioned a number of things about thiipsis,
or distress. Again, different translators translate thi/ipsis as suffering, tribulation, or
distress. We need to look at patience and kingdom. Patience is the second subject of
the Revelation, which is indispensably connected to the element of distress.
Many times, when a brother is suffering, there is nothing we can do for him.
We cannot do much, let us say, when a person has a physical illness. We often find
ourselves telling that person, “Have patience.” Or, we may be unable to solve someone's
financial problems. In any event when we cannot come up with a solution to someone's
needs, we tell that person to be patient, to hang in there. Oftentimes this may be, or
may sound like, a way out because of our helplessness and our inability to offer our
services in a constructive and positive manner. Moreover, usually to the person that
repeatedly hears advice like — be patient; something will happen; you never know —
the advice begins to sound like simple rhetoric with no substance. How many times
do we tell people in distress to have patience, and they bite their lips and repeat, “Yes,
patience.” like “Thanks for nothing.” However, my friends, this very simple expression
that people take for granted, if placed in its proper context, would be the best advice;
nothing could be better than this.
Our times lack this element of patience. Today patience is considered a virtue,
but not necessarily a dynamic quality. It is something rather passive and unimpressive.
The patient person who holds back and exercises control may be considered weak. I
do not know what to say, but the people of our days are terribly impatient. People are
busy today, always running, always chasing after something. Our civilization today is
one of fast food, convenience stores, and three-minute microwave dinners; everything
is quick, fast, in a hurry. We are all running, and we are always looking at our
watch to make time, to do more, to cover more ground; this eliminates the element
of patience. We have difficulty coping with the everyday adversities of life due to this
lack of patience. Yet, I will maintain my position and tell you that patience is the
best medicine for suffering. With patience, we carry the cross of suffering and finally
win the battle. Christ tells us, the one who will stay patient until the very end will be
saved (Matt. 10:22).
However, every distress that visits us in our daily life and every display of patience
needs to be connected to Christ. Otherwise, there is no value or meaning, and such
patience does not hold water in the afterlife; it is useless. Granted, a few things can
be accomplished in this life if someone handles his life’s challenges with patience. The
first one, which is not of small importance, is to avoid nerve pills, to avoid treatment
for nervous breakdowns. This is not insignificant you know. Many times, I cross
myself and pray, “My God, protect me, so I don’t end up in a psychiatric clinic at
some point.” Our times are horrible. Sometimes, disasters strike in the family one
after another and we do not know what tomorrow will bring, so practicing patience is
definitely to our advantage even in the mundane sense. However, this does not carry
any weight in eternity if these things are not related and connected to Jesus Christ. So
both the suffering and the patience, which is the stretcher that carries us through our
suffering, need to be connected with Christ.
St. John the evangelist says, “...in the suffering, and kingdom, and patience, in
Jesus Christ.“ Moreover, in Jesus Christ means that the cause of my hardship is because
I persist and insist on living a life of the gospel. Please tell me, what is the value of
suffering if I went to the casino and lost my life’s savings? Or I lived a life of sin and
now I am sick or now I am hurting; or I lost some opportunities in life due to my
foolishness or laziness? All these sufferings not only will not be rewarded in eternity;
but on the contrary, Christ will reproach and judge people who waste their God-given
talents. We will be judged if we were prodigal, foolish, and unworthy servants. My
tribulations must be due to my spiritual life, the result of living a life of the gospel. If
I am scorned, or if I lose an opportunity, or if I am not included, or if I am ignored
due to my Christian identity, or if someone loses a promotion, or loses an opportunity
because he refuses to become a Freemason — aren't these forms of financial sanctions?
Yes, they are, and in the days of the Antichrist, they will be strictly enforced.
Christians will either worship the beast or go hungry. This goes on behind the
scenes vow, but in the future this will become increasingly obvious. So, when I am
facing persecution; when I suffer in my life because I am holding on to the true gospel,
and to my Christian identity, then this suffering will be posted in my eternal report
card, so to speak. This is suffering in Jesus Christ; the patience that I must endure
must be in Jesus Christ. As we know even the thief, the robber or the criminal employs
28 Here, the King James translation states: Jesus Christ, while the NIV, which is more prone to
evangelicalism, states only: Jesus.
agreat deal of patience. He waits for hours until the homeowner drives away so he can
break in. Needless to say, this patience has no value and is highly punishable.
The third element is the kingdom. Hence, we have suffering, patience, and
kingdom in Jesus Christ. What is this kingdom? It is the mystical sharing of the
faithful, throughout history, in the sufferings of Christ. The genuine Christian shares
in the sufferings of Christ. These three, which have social and ethical consequences,
are characteristics of the genuine Christian and form an unbreakable chain. To persist
in the suffering, patience is needed. The suffering and the patience in Christ will lead
us to the Kingdom of God. When we advise someone to be patient, as we said earlier,
the advice often is ignored. The reason for this is because when we offer this advice to
the other person, we offer it and suggest it on its own merit, and not in the context of
its fruit, which is the Kingdom.
I believe we are all very guilty of this. When we advise our friends, neighbors or
relatives to hold on and be patient, do we ever tell them that the Kingdom of God
awaits them? We go to the hospital or visit a sick person at their home; we talk with
them and encourage them to be patient. However, we leave the Kingdom of God out
of the conversation. Since we do not mention that the purpose of their suffering is the
Kingdom of God, the other person is left sighing, repeating, “Yes, I know, patience.”
We need to mention that our saints always write about these adversities, worries, and
troubles, saying that they are holy visitations preparing us for the Kingdom of God.
This is the second time the word kingdom is mentioned in this chapter. ‘The entire
New Testament is full of this term kingdom, Kingdom of God. We see this so often
and truly my friends, Christianity is a kingdom, not a religion — a kingdom and a
typology of Christianity as kingdom is the God-governed kingdom of Israel of the
Old Testament. As you know, when the Jews inhabited the promised land they did
not have a leader. They did not have a king or a president. They had what they called
judges, people who governed by the statutes of God, and God would make His will
known to them. God was their Lord and King. The King of Israel was God, the
Almighty. When Nathaniel first came face to face with Christ, Christ told him, J saw
you under the fig tree, Nathaniel said, You are the Son of God, the king of Israel (John
1:48-50). This king of Israel is something that echoes the spirit of the Old Testament
and how the Jews considered the king, because for them their king was their God; the
two were intertwined. God asked Moses to record this because later the Jews asked for
aking from the last judge, Samuel. The cause for this was that the neighboring nations
had kings and the Jews became jealous.
So the kings of the neighboring nations influenced the Jews, who started asking
for a king. Samuel asked them, “Is God not enough for you?” God even told them
the same thing. Where did I let you down? Where did I fail you? So, you want a king?
Very well then, I will give you a king, but a king will sit on the shoulders of your sons and
your daughters (cf. 1 Samuel 8-9). Nevertheless, they insisted anyway. ‘The first king
was Saul; then came David, and then Solomon. Solomon was the peaceful king. He
reigned for forty years with no war, and he taxed the Jews so heavily, so heavily that
the Jews were groaning under the pressure of immense taxes. God had warned them
ahead of time. At any rate, these details about the kings of Israel are not of interest to
us at this time. What is of interest to us is the fact that historical Israel had God as its
King, but the existing kings of Israel were enthroned under a certain term. They could
not act on their own. They could not act on anything unless they asked God through
the archpriest. The king would be punished if he exercised his own authority. Saul
was dethroned because he was acting independently, ignoring the commandments
of God. Thus, the human king was a representative of God who was always the King
of Israel. ‘This serves as a historical typology to the great truth that Christianity is a
kingdom and the King is Christ.
As we said, Christianity is not a religion. Moreover, religion means that man
worships the divine for expiation, or to have some petition satisfied and some needs
fulfilled, without necessarily taking part in God’s life. We all need to understand this.
Again, religion means to petition God for a number of things, for my needs, whether
God would give them to me or not; but it does not mean that I have to necessarily
participate in the life of God. This is the definition of religion, and it corresponds
to all religions on the face of the earth, all religions. Now, what is the meaning of
kingdom? It means that God governs every aspect of the life of the Christian. There
is nothing in the life of the Christian that excludes God. God is all-inclusive and the
Christian enjoys all the good things of God. The ancient Greeks, for instance felt that
they were in good standing with their gods as long as they offered them a sacrifice.
‘They assumed that a sacrifice was all their gods wanted.
Now, what was the lifestyle of the person offering the sacrifice? That did not matter
much. They thought that their own lifestyle was not really any of the gods’ concern.
That is why certain people would offer great and massive sacrifices, sometimes an
entire estate, or one hundred bulls. Now this person could have been a murderer, an
adulterer, a fornicator, a thief, and a criminal. Such things did not matter. At least,
that was how they perceived things. The ancient Greeks imagined that their gods were
not interested in their lifestyle, as long as they offered a sacrifice. The gods would
look favorably on their human offering and sacrifice. The gods would grant what was
requested. This is the meaning of religion, but Christianity is not a religion; it is a
kingdom, and in this kingdom we are called to participate in the life of God.
When we talk about theosis, being God-like, Christ-like, becoming one with
Christ, it means that we enter the life of God, which is what God wants us to do,
how He wants us to be. That is why there is a vast difference between Christianity and
the average religion. Unfortunately, today most of us live Christianity as a religion
and not as a kingdom, and this presents a number of problematic consequences.
First, we have separated ethics from doctrine, or the faith from the lifestyle, thereby
reducing our faith to a sense of duty. Moreover, today there are people completely
un-churched, not even Christians in some cases. They may be Buddhists, spiritists,
Masons, or agnostics, and still call upon and utilize the moral teachings of the Gospel.
These people consider Christianity to be a religion with good morality. They think
that morality is the central core of Christianity. By doing this we separate and divorce
the doctrine from morality.
We often hear women say that their husbands who do not attend church are
better Christians than they are. They go on to say that their husbands are gentler,
calmer, more patient, less angry, that they keep the Commandments and they even
remind their wives (who do attend church regularly) of how much nicer they, the
husbands, are. After the husband repeats this often enough, the wife, who obviously
is not aware of correct Orthodox praxis, agrees with him. She even advertises the
goodness of her husband or her children. “Oh, my children are the best; they really
love God. The only thing is that they never step inside a church, but they love Jesus.”
However, the issue is not if people are good, better, or best. There is no salvation under
these circumstances. The wife cannot go to church in place of her husband. The wife
cannot perform religious duty for the entire family. We often hear, “Mom goes to
church often enough for all of us.” Well, this is problematic and what this does is to
separate doctrine from morality. It reduces Christianity to a sense of religious duty.
Is there any wonder why Christianity today does not attract many converts? It is
because it is presented as a religion of rules, regulations and a performance of duty.
Today's man hates and despises the idea of duty. He is on duty enough with his work
and with all his preoccupation. People also try to separate worship from their lifestyle.
Some people think, “Well, I go to church Sunday morning; I give my morning to
God; at nighttime I can have the freedom to go to any nightclub I want.” In doing
this we fall into the area of superficial worship, or, to put it in everyday language, we
are just going through the motions. Our heart and our mind are not really involved.
We are simply going through the motions. The motions are necessary, but once inside
I must concentrate on the substance, because the substance behind all these forms and
motions is what we need to get at. Now, if I do not discover the substance because my
life is separated from this substance, then I will be left with a shell. Then I will say, “I
must go to church because my mother went to church. I must light my candle, and I
must do these things, and so on.” Then I end up being a superficial worshipper, going
through the motions without understanding the essence of these things.
The second setback stemming from reducing Christianity to a religion from a
kingdom is that of syncretism or the tendency to compare Christianity with other
religions, even though we may consider Christianity as a higher and better form of
faith. It is a mistake to compare our faith with other forms of faith. For example, when
a young man begins to look at Buddhism, we try to convince him that Christianity
isa much better religion, much better than Buddhism or Islam. It becomes a serious
mistake the minute we begin to say Christianity is better. We cannot compare. There
is no comparison. All the things offered by other religions do not deliver. Nor do they
save. They are all of this world; they are products of human imagination, products of
the human intellect.
Accordingly, let us understand this once and for all; Christianity does not exist to
compete or measure up to the other religions. This is a very timely subject, especially
in our days when syncretism and ecumenism are on the front burner of many religious
conferences and meetings. Christianity does not exist to take a stand above the other
religions but to neutralize and replace them. True Christianity does not say, “Well,
there is something good in every religion.” No, the truth is that all the religions of
the world are works and inspirations of the devil. Do not tell me that Buddhism is
not a work of the devil. At least the Buddha lived before Christ and he has some type
of an excuse. However, now that the light came into the world, isn’t it a shame for
Buddhism to exist? What is worse than this? It is a great and miserable shame for
baptized Orthodox Christians in Europe and in the West to become Buddhists, to
leave Orthodox spirituality for Eastern philosophy. Christ came to destroy all these
things, to destroy the works of the devil.
The Lord used very strong language regarding this matter in the Gospel of John:
All those who came before me are thieves and robbers (10:8), all of them. He did not
make any distinctions or any exceptions. He did not say, “Oh, the philosophy of
Plato was valuable and nice.” Or, “Buddhism and Confucianism have some wise
sayings. True, they are not perfect, but they have some wonderful teachings.” Or “Yoga
and T’ai Chi are helpful spiritual exercises,” Or “IM (Transcendental Meditation)
can be of some help.” Let us understand how far this type of thinking is from the
Truth of Christ.
Everyone, everyone that came before me are thieves and robbers. What did they steal?
What did they rob? They stole the human soul, which is a possession of the living
and true God, and its place is in the Kingdom of God. This is Christianity! Try to
remember the vision of Nebuchadnezzar who saw a great statue with bands of various
materials — gold, silver, copper, iron, and clay. These are the kingdoms of the earth
and, if you will, the religions of the earth as well. Daniel saw a rock cut, not by human
hand, but self-cut, self-hewn, from an unhewn mountain. In the Akathist Hymn to
the Theotokos” one of the Salutations says, “Rejoice, unhewn mountain.” The Most
Holy Theotokos is this unhewn mountain in the vision of Daniel. The self-hewned
rock signifies the virgin birth, and this rock is Christ.
This is how Daniel interpreted this dream of Nebuchadnezzar. A heavenly king
came and fell upon this statue; he pulverized the statue and turned it to dust. The dust
was blown by the wind, and the statue was nowhere to be found. This is Christianity.
It did not come to travel and journey along with the other religions or to coexist
peacefully with them, and to learn to get along. It came to dissolve the false faiths once
and for all. Now, after acknowledging all these truths, all these correct positions of
Christianity, how can we compare Christianity to other religions? How can we possibly
compare it with the false religions of this age? How can we talk about syncretism?
Christianity is a kingdom and an inheritance.
A Christian is not the religious man, the man who stays at a ritualistic worship
29 A most beloved service held each Friday evening during Great Lent in anticipation of the
feast of the Annunciation of the Theotokos (Birth-giver of God). Akathist means to pray
without sitting.
or a habitual worship. A Christian is a citizen of a kingdom. A Christian is the

person who keeps calling upon the Lord. He is the disciple. He is the Christian.
He is the holy one. So, we have tribulation, patience and then, the kingdom.
Along the way, we do have companionship or koinonia. This companionship not
only exists between the faithful in the form of fellowship, but also between the
faithful and Christ because Christ is the one who suffered. St. Paul captures this
very beautifully. The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with
him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him (2 Tim. 2:11). It is this living,
enduring, and reigning of which St. John also writes, using tribulation, patience
and kingdom.
Now St. John writes to his brothers and companions, to the Christians, On the
Lords Day, I was in the Spirit. | was in a state of ecstasy. The evangelist with much
simplicity notes that he entered into a state of ecstasy. To be in the Spirit is an isolation
of the man of the spiritual world from his normal external environment. He does this
in order to encounter the supernatural world. However, there are two possible cases
here. A person can be subjected to the active or the passive type of ecstasy. The second
one, the passive type of ecstasy is a demonic ecstasy. Does this mean the devil can
create an ecstasy or a trance? Certainly. We need to be careful.
There is much talk these days about out-of-body experiences. These are mostly
demonic. This means to be in an ecstasy, but to be outside of oneself, to be in a place
where I lose awareness or consciousness of my external environment. In this case,
the subject has no clue where he is. Someone can be talking to him, but he sees and
hears nothing; and the devil can do this. Again, this passive state is demonic. When a
person is subjected to this type of ecstasy, this person is isolated; his consciousness is
inactive, and his subconscious is inactive. He cannot perceive, and at times this is all
erased from his memory.
What is the significance of all this? We call attention to this issue because this is
the method used by all mediums or psychics. Mediums or psychics are mediators.
They go between the external environment and the world of the spirits or the demons.
The medium goes into ecstasy and gives us fantastic information and when he comes
out of this trance, the medium remembers nothing. Not only does he not remember
anything, he does not know anything, nothing at all. This is because in a demonic
trance there is isolation of the consciousness. The consciousness is pushed aside.
On the other hand, during divine ecstasy we have complete control of all the
powers of our soul. Another example of an ecstasy, aside from St. John here in the
book of the Revelation, who sees, talks, and listens, is that of St. Peter, when he saw
the screen with the animals being lowered. The Apostle not only sees, knows, and
feels, but he also reacts. When he hears, Peter, kill and eat, he says, Never, Lord. I will
never kill and eat something unclean. Before all this, the book of the Acts of the Apostles
relates that he fell into a trance or an ecstasy (Acts 10:10). He sees the sky open, and
unclean animals are lowered on a screen. Peter, kill and eat. “No, never, Lord, would
I eat anything unclean.” He reacts. He is in complete control; he remembers the Law
of Moses. He does not have any memory loss. This is significant because this is what
occurs in a divine ecstasy. This is divine ecstasy.
Therefore, St. John the evangelist was in the Spirit. He says, J was in the Spirit.
In other words, the powers of his body were somehow inactivated, subdued. ‘This is
similar to when we concentrate on something; something intense and we may lose
our perception of noise, hunger, thirst, or even danger. A snake could crawl right next
to us, if we were outdoors, and we would have no clue, because our mind was in a
state of deep concentration. This is the meaning of the statement; J was in the Spirit.
He goes on to tell us the time. J was in the Spirit on the Lords Day, (Rev. 1:10) or
Kyriaki. In addition, this is the only verse in the entire New Testament that refers to
the name of the first day of the week. In the Gospels, the holy evangelists refer to the
day of the Lord, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, as Mia ton sabbaton or simply the
first day of the week.
However, here in the book of the Revelation, we have the first instance where the
day of the resurrection took its name from the Tradition of the Church: Kyriaki, or
Sunday, the Lord’s Day. As we know, in the Old Testament, the Sabbath was the day
of the Lord, but in the New Testament Sunday is also called the day of the Lord, or
Kyriaki in Greek. It was on this day, the first day of the week that the Lord resurrected
from the dead. He created light on the first day. He said Jet there be light. On this day,
he sent his Holy Spirit to establish the Church — on the day of Pentecost. The Holy
Spirit descended on the Apostles and the Church on the first day of the week, on
Sunday. In the Old Testament, by the Sabbath, or the seventh day, the entire visible
creation was completed. The entire creation was completed in six days, and on the
seventh day the Lord rested.
Now from the first Christian century, we have the institution of the Lord’s Day,
ot Kyriaki, which is the first day of the week. It is not the seventh day, but the first day
after the seventh, and the Church Fathers use a special term for this. They call the first
day after the seventh: the eighth day. Thus, the eighth day represents the day of the
second creation, the re-creation, or the renewal of nature, since the old nature became
just that — old from corruption and death. So on this day, we have the resurrection of
Christ, the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the belief that the second appearance of
Christ will be on Sunday as well. Now you may disagree with this and say, well, the
Lord said, No one knows the day or the hour of the coming of the Lord (Mark 13:32).
Although this is true, no one knows which Sunday it will be. Therefore, this belief
of the Church does not contradict the written word of God about not knowing the
day or the hour. However, is it not interesting that St. John also received the book
of the Revelation on the Lord’s Day? The resurrection, Pentecost, and the writing of
the book of Revelation all occurred on the Lord’s Day, and quite possibly the Second
Presence of Christ will also take place on a Sunday.
We must also add that our Church celebrates the resurrection of our Lord every
week, every Sunday, and for Christians this is the specific meaning of a holiday. Sunday
is a true holiday, a real feast day. The service of the matins centers on the reading of the
Gospel, or cothina sections of the Gospel read during matins, which always refer to the
resurrection. All these remarkable events work together to make Sunday a great day for
Christians. In addition, the epistle of Barnabas tells us in the fifteenth chapter, “This
is why we must make the eighth day a day of great spiritual joy, in which day Jesus
resurrected from the dead.” In the ancient book of the Teachings of the Apostles,
in the fourteenth chapter we read, “When you come together on the Lord’s Day,
break bread,” or “When you congregate on Sunday, celebrate the Holy Eucharist,”
or more simply, “Celebrate the Liturgy.” “Receive Holy Communion, the Body and
Blood of Christ.”2!
Here one can ask how did some Christians get the bright idea that unless they fast
from oil they should not receive Holy Communion? Unfortunately, they maintain
some erroneous positions and some people do not receive holy communion on Sunday
because they cannot fast from oil on Saturday, or because they cannot fast for two,
three, or five days from oil. The Canons of the Church forbid fasting from oil on
Saturdays. These are heretical positions that keep the faithful from the medicine of
immortality. Fasting is great in and of itself and necessary in our Christian discipline,
no-doubt. However, due to a lack of knowledge and much confusion, we have lost
the substance of the Day of the Lord, which is the ideal day for being partakers of our
Lord’s Body and Blood.
So, on the Lord’s Day, the Book of Didache, (the Teachings of the Apostles) says,
“On the Lord’s Day, celebrate the Divine Liturgy. ‘Take Holy Communion — not just
the priest. With the fear of God and faith and love, draw near.” Everyone draw near,
all the Orthodox faithful who are eager and properly prepared to partake of the Body
and Blood of Christ. Therefore, the Lord’s Day, or Kyriaki, is for the Christian a day
of the resurrection, a day of celebration, a feast day, a day of rest, but also a day of
good works.
The holy evangelist now continues, J was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard
behind me. This tells us that what he heard was something sudden. When something
appears in front of us, in our visual spectrum, there is no element of surprise but this
noise was sudden and loud, very loud. It startled St. John. Somewhere else he will tell
us that the noise was loud, like the thundering of waterfalls. If you have ever been to
Niagara Falls you can understand the thundering noise of falling waters. Thus, the
voice of God is compared to the sound of water that falls from a great height. A voice
such as this will be heard at the final moment of history, at the last trumpet, when the
tombs will be opened and the dead bodies will resurrect.
St. Paul says, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command,
with the archangels call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first (1 Thess. 4:16). These are great mysteries. Generally, the voice or the noise
of the trumpet is the voice of God. On Mt. Sinai, when God spoke, it was a noise of
30 Barnabas, 15:8b.
31 Nidache, 14:1.
a trumpet call; a noise of thunder, and the people trembled while hearing this voice.
The voice told St. John, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches
(1:11). So, write this entire vision, everything you see, in a book and send it to the
seven churches. Does this mean send the same book? No, it means write everything in
a book and make seven copies.
In the Old Testament, there was one book in the temple and everyone went to the
temple to hear the word of God. Not too long ago in some of our villages in Greece
and some other Orthodox countries, no doubt, the only Gospel would be on the holy
altar. This is unfortunate. The Word of God clearly tells us, Write this book and send
it to the seven churches, meaning, copy it over and over again. Spread it all over. Yes.
We need to print books and pamphlets and spread our faith to every corner of the
earth. This is the will of God. Now we have: print shops, tapes, [cds, dvds, mp3s
computers, the web, YouTube...] Let us use everything to spread the word of God all
over the earth.
Here the evangelist uses the words: heard and saw. At one time he will say, J
heard the voice; and at another he will say, J saw the voice. Both of the senses of seeing
and hearing are at a high level of excitement. St. Andrew says, “In spiritual matters,
hearing and seeing are the same thing, because vision and hearing show the dynamics
and the power of the revealed images.”?* When we tell someone “I heard it with my
own ears and saw it with my own eyes,” we want them to understand the seriousness
of these revealed events. The evangelist wants to stress here that he is an eyewitness.
He is an eyewitness of all the events that he will write about. Not only did he see them
with his eyes, but he heard them as well. Thus, write all this in a book is a command,
but it does not end there.
If the writing of the book is a command, then the reading and studying of this
book is also a command. Of course, books are written to be read and studied and not
to be displayed, to decorate the shelves in our libraries. My friends, we must study the
word of God. Day and night, we must study the word of God. However, let us expand
on this book writing that St. John was instructed to do. Here we must mention that
according to our Tradition, John could not write! We need to remind ourselves of this
in our title-hungry days. St. John did not have a degree in theology from any of the
divinity schools. John’s writer was Prochoros, one of the seven deacons. In our holy
iconography, St. John is depicted in a cave receiving the vision of the Revelation and
next to him is St. Prochoros, the deacon, acting as his stenographer. St. John is not the
writer, St. Prochoros is. So, the original copy of this book was written on Patmos in
the cave of the Revelation, which is perfectly preserved to this day.
Now whatever happened to that original book written by Prochoros? Do we ever
wonder if that very first book is still in existence? Can we find it in the archives of the
Holy Mountain or on Patmos? My friends, even though we have an abundance of
ancient manuscripts, nothing — not even a tiny piece of paper or membrane on which
the original book (which was in the form of a scroll) was written — has been preserved
>? St. Andrew of Caesarea, PG V 106, 228C: “ravtév eoti n mvevpatixh axon Te Kal Opacte.”
from it. If you will, there is not a speck left from the Gospels, or the epistles of Peter
and Paul. There is not a single piece of paper from the entire New Testament. The
original books written by the very hands of the Apostles have all vanished.
This is not of great significance. The same thing happens with the virtue of
almsgiving. We give someone a glass of water or a loaf of bread and these actions do
not carry much weight in the course of one’s life. The person that we helped will thirst
again and go hungry again in a few hours. But the Lord said; He who gives a glass of
water in my name will not lose his reward. I was hungry and you fed me. I was naked
and you clothed me (Matthew 25: 35, 36). This action, or rather the energy of this
action, this insignificant action, will take on eternal dimensions. It will stand forever,
because it was connected with the will of God as a virtue. The virtue will stand.
The spirit of this action will stay even though the material thing will disappear. The
material is the carrier, the vehicle of this virtue. This applies to the original books
of the New Testament as well. It does not matter that the material carrier was not
preserved. Yes, it would be awesome and monumental to have a few pages from the
handwriting of Sts. Paul, Peter, or Luke. This would be very exciting, but it is not
significant. The important thing is that the Word of God is not bound to a few pages.
The Word of God is alive. We have the Word of God. We have millions of books of
the word of God.
However, I want to add something more to this thought. We try to build certain
things in our lives that will stand forever. We build a great house. We build a church.
We buy things that last; we want them to last forever. We buy clothes, for instance,
that will last an entire lifetime. We are tempted in this way. This is a great temptation
- to build a monastery, let us say, in such a way so as to last until the end of time. We
build a church to last until the end of history. Again, God is not bound to material
elements. The important thing is to preserve the spirit of Orthodoxy. We have built
hundreds, if not thousands, of Orthodox churches in this hemisphere. This is not
a guarantee that the Spirit of God will be bound to them. The Spirit of God is not
bound to stones and walls.
Each generation must work to preserve and keep the spirit of Orthodoxy ablaze.
Today, we do not have the hermitages of Sts. Anthony and Makarios, the hermits of
Egypt and Sinai, the hut dwellers, and the stylites, or pole dwellers and tree dwellers.
These people and places are all gone. However, the ascetic spirit has not left the
Orthodox Christian Church. The true members of the Orthodox Church dwell in a
spirit of asceticism and this spirit will always be in the Church. So let us not get caught
up in the schemes of the material forms; let us stay in the spirit. We have the book of
the Revelation. It does not matter if it is the first book or the zillionth copy. We have
the Revelation of God before us, which will give us the message of God, the message
for our salvation.
CHAPTER 7
Revelation 1:11-19
The Vision of the Seven Golden Lampstands - the Seven
Stars and the One Walking Among the Lampstands
Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to
Smyrna and to Pergamon and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to
Laodicea (1:11).
Homily given December 7,1980

he One — the Lord Jesus Christ — who appeared to St. John told him to
write what you see to the seven churches. These are seven historical, actual
churches of Asia Minor. Obviously, they were not the only churches in Asia
Minor, nor were they the greatest or largest of the churches compared to
those established by the Apostles. There were churches like the church of Jerusalem,
or Antioch, or Rome, or Corinth, but initially, these seven churches were in the visual
spectrum of St. John the evangelist whose home base was Ephesus.
St. John was exiled from Ephesus to Patmos. Patmos, almost directly across the
sea, is a relatively short boat ride from Ephesus. These seven churches were under
the spiritual supervision of St. John. However, as we will see, they simply represent
folds of the historical reality of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. They
do not exhaust the geographical and historical local churches of the first century.
However, they also describe the historical journey through the centuries of the one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me (1:12). The voice was behind
him, as he had to turn around. This is significant because the One speaking was not
in front of him; only by turning around could he see the entire awesome and frightful
image that would leave him terrified. The evangelist says; I turned to see the voice, an
interesting expression because we usually turn to hear a voice, not see it. Here the
evangelist turned around to see the Person that the voice was coming from. However,
we can also find this expression used by the Israelites in the desert.
Moses records; Now all the people saw the voice, the lightning flashes, the sound of
the trumpet, and the smoking mountain, they trembled and stood afar off: (Ex. 20:18 -
Septuagint). So, all the people saw the voice of God. Can a voice be seen? No, but this
expresses the vivacity of the vision where between the voice and the person, between
hearing and vision, a confusion takes place and it is only because the vision under
these circumstances is dominant over hearing. A voice cannot be seen. It is simply a
method of expression used to vivify the image.

St. John turned around to see the voice. He writes, and on turning I saw seven
golden lampstands (1:12). If we need to see these lampstands, we can be helped by
our iconography. They were special candleholders, very tall, placed in such a way
that the one speaking could walk among them. These candles were lit. The evangelist
will describe this in more detail and explain the meaning of the lampstands later on.
However, here we have seven golden lampstands.
This reminds us of the seven-candle lampstand that existed in the temple of
Solomon. The seven-candle lampstand symbolized God Himself or the seven spirits
of God, which is the multitude of the gifts, graces and energies of the Holy Spirit — in
other words, God. In addition, the seven lights of the lampstand symbolize the light of
God, the One Who lives in the light. He is light, so He lives in the light. St. Paul also
referred to God as the unapproachable light (1 Tim. 6:16). In the temple of Solomon,
the seven-light lampstand was one lampstand with a single axis, one single pole. On
the top, it branched out into seven different branches or oil lamp holders. Olive oil
was used then. Here in the vision of St. John, there are seven separate lampstands, not
one seven-light lamp.
So, these golden lampstands symbolize those seven churches of Asia Minor, or
the entire Church. Again, we must mention that Asia Minor did not only have seven
churches. It had many more. When we say church, we do not mean the buildings,
but the area overseen by a bishop. So, we are talking about episcopates or bishoprics.
‘These were regional churches, with their bishops. Thus, although there were numerous
churches, the number seven represents the fullness of the one, holy, catholic, and
apostolic Church. At the same time, the seven churches correspond to actual historical
churches. They are not allegorical or mythical, but real churches.
‘The prophecies that will be announced to the seven churches refer to the realities
of each one of these historical churches; and at the same time, extend to and transcend
the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church through. the ages. Therefore, these
prophecies reveal what will happen to the one Church throughout history. ‘This is
amazing because we see over and over again in the prophecies of the Old Testament
where a prophecy will not only serve that historical forum but will also continue to
echo and unfold throughout the depth of history, to talk about something more general
or something specific, or eschatological, depending on the type of the prophecy.
So the seven golden lampstands are those seven churches of Asia Minor or the
one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. And in the midst of the seven lampstands,
there is One like a Son of Man, Son of Man meaning a human being. However, when
he says like a Son of Man, he means not exactly a man, but something /ike a man;
there was something supernatural about this man. So, this man was seen in the midst
of the seven lampstands. The lampstands were arranged in such a way that the One
like a Son of Man could walk among them, walk about and not simply stand. Here
we have the image, taken from Daniel, of the Messiah as a Son of Man. This image
serves to fulfill the prophecy of Daniel and to identify Him, as the gospels already
portray the Messiah as one hundred percent human. John the evangelist is very clear
on this matter; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He does not use
the word, man; he insists on the word, flesh. St. John wants to make especially clear
the human nature of Christ, while at the same time accentuating the divine nature of
Christ; for he writes that He is the Word who was with the Father. In other words, He
always existed; the beginning of all things exists in the Son. The Son was when the
beginning of all creation took place both visible and invisible.
Since St. John shows, within infinity and eternity, God the Word, Who is the very
God, and consubstantial with the Father, he will at the same time show the human
nature. The evangelist wants to take every precaution so that the reader will reject any
possible [docetist] notion that the human nature was imaginary, or anything else, so
St. John writes in this verse, like a human being. Again he wants to avoid any notions
about an imaginary or surreal human nature, so he purposely states, the Word became
flesh, to show the reality of the Incarnation of God the Logos. Therefore, in the Gospels
we have the actual Jesus — the One who drank, walked, talked, slept, became tired,
hungry, thirsty, felt pain, was crucified. His blood ran out of His Body. All this proves
that the One on the cross was a real human being, one hundred percent human.
Now, in the book of the Revelation, the incarnate Logos is elevated above time
and history; He appears triumphant over history. This is why He is human, but more
precisely He is God-man, Zheanthropos. The God-human nature is revealed from both
views. While in His earthly life, only His human nature was more obvious, much
more so than the divine. His divine nature was camouflaged or somehow hidden,
having emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. Slave generally means man.
He emptied Himself. This does not mean that He was emptied of or separated from
divine glory. This is never possible. However, He simply hid His divine glory. Every
year we celebrate the birth of Christ. This feast is nothing less than the emptying of
the Word.
As we plainly see, He does not enter history with any visible glory. Surely, there are
some signs-and elements that bear witness to the divine glory like the angels singing
praises in heaven and the star that leads the Magi. However, what is notable is that
Jesus is a natural infant — totally and naturally born of a woman, the Most Holy
Theotokos. Thus, the divine glory was hidden then but now, after the crucifixion and
resurrection, the divine glory is no longer hidden. Jesus appears as the One above time
and history, full of glory, as He appeared, brighter than the midday sun, to St. Paul on
the road to Damascus. St. Paul’s eyes beheld this glory; so he became blind. He heard
Him and he believed; St. Paul became the Apostle of the nations. In that incident,
Jesus is One Who stands above history. He transcends human history and this is how
He now appears in the book of the Revelation.
John the evangelist recognizes the historical Jesus, but simultaneously he recognizes
the glorified Jesus, the Lord of history. This is why he does not run to fall on the chest
of Jesus as he did at the Mystical Supper. If you remember, at the Mystical Supper
john fell on his chest and asked him, Master, who is the one who is going to betray you?
(John 21:20) John repeats this phrase in his Gospel, the disciple that Jesus loved (13:23).
This time St. John does not have this boldness. Nor will he approach Jesus to tell
him, Lord, can you arrange it so we can sit to your right and to your left when your
Kingdom comes? (cf. Mark 10:37) The Apostles had even utilized their mother to
succeed in this matter.
However, here, John is full of fear. He is terrified. He is petrified by what he sees
unfolding before him. For this reason the description of the Messiah by St. John as one
like a Son of Man refers to the deification or sanctification of the human flesh. Jesus
Christ is glorified and He moves among His churches. In other words, He exists within
His Church; and this is why He is seen walking among the lit golden lampstands.
Jesus appears always in control of human history, and actually stands above history.
Nevertheless, within human history we still have the Church militant. We are the
Church, the historical Church. We see Jesus Christ intertwined with His Church.
We can get a glimpse of this intertwining in the epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians
when he refers to the Church as being the Body of Christ. The Church itself is the body
of Christ (1:18), because Christ resides in His Church as God and as man, as God-
man. St. Paul further adds, For we are the temple of the living God. And God said, I will
live in them and move among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people
(2 Cor. 6:16). This is also found in the Old Testament (cf. Gen. 17:8, Jer. 24:7, Jer.
31:33, Jer. 31:38, Ezek. 11:20, Ezek. 37: 238 27, Zech. 8:8) but the Apostle renews
this in the New Testament. This is a great verse! It is a descriptive phrase of the stance
of God and it denotes God was in His Church in a dynamic and powerful way. As you
can see, I repeat this over and over so we can all understand that our God is a God of
touch. He is next to us and between us. God knows everything. He is not static and
untouchable or immovable. We also need to add that the existing light and the life in
the Church springs forth from Christ who is the source of light, the source of life who
is constantly present with His faithful.
Now we continue with John’s vision. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking
to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands
one like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast
(1:12-14) He was wearing a robe all the way to His feet, to His ankles, and a very wide
golden belt which was close to His breast. ‘This vesture brings to memory the biblical
and arch-priestly vesture of the Old Testament. What is made manifest in this verse
is the arch-priestly and royal authority of Christ. The long robe serves to reveal all the
magnificence of the One wearing it. A long robe always adds splendor, and through it,
the arch-priestly and royal office is made obvious to the one who ‘sees’ the voice. His
head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow (1:14).
The evangelist takes two natural images here to show the whiteness of the hair
of His head. He uses white wool and white snow. Now what is the meaning behind
this whiteness of the hairs of His head? It signifies the ancient and eternal existence of
Christ, an ancient existence shared in common with the Ancient of Days, reminiscent
of the heavenly Father whom the prophet Daniel describes. Ancient of Days means
someone very old, the first One; and He appears to be old for this reason. We see God
the Father in some of our icons as an old man with white hair; this image is taken from
Daniel. ‘The white hair, again, is used to portray deep old age. Here in this verse of the
book of the Revelation we see the deep old age of the Son. This is precisely why Christ
appears here with white hair, to demonstrate that both the Father and the Son are
Ancient of Days; consequently, the Son is of equal honor, isotimos, with the Father.
All this escapes the understanding of the pitiable Jehovah’s Witnesses who attempt
to interpret the birth of the Son, but without understanding. These poor people have
no understanding. How can they understand this when St. Basil says, “This birth, this
begotten of the Father, is an unfathomable mystery. We only accept the phrase as it
is, but we understand nothing.” The heretics, always interpreting by the gray matter
of their brain, conclude that if He is a son then He is younger and somehow lesser
than the Father. Simply, my friends, these are deep mysteries of God and they are not
meant to be grasped by our intellect. We accept mysteries. We do not search them.
Based on this mystery, both the Father and the Son are Ancient of Days. So in this
instance, which will recur in many areas of the book of the Revelation, this image of
the Son portraying His ancient existence shows that Christ is Yahweh, the Lord, equal
with His Father. ‘The method used by our Byzantine iconography, which is not natural
but dogmatic, is very impressive. Our iconography does not depict our Lord or the
Theotokos in a natural way; it insists on surrealism, on a dogmatic method. In some
icons of the Pantocrator, the one especially on the dome of the Monastery of Daphne,
Christ is depicted with dark hair but a very old face. The aim of the iconographer here
is to teach dogma. Initially, one might find this icon quite offensive compared to the
pretty drawings of the west that dwell on natural or earthly beauty. However, whatever
is earthly, whatever is of this world must die. Christ came to make everything spiritual,
new, sanctified, glorified, and transfigured.
Furthermore, Byzantine iconography proclaims: the kingdom to come, the
renewal of human nature, and the transfiguration; while naturalism, or Renaissance
art dwells on or embellishes the external, fallen, human nature. However, when
someone develops the eye and the taste for Byzantine iconography (and this can take
a little time), and knows what to look for, then he will not even want to take another
look at the pretty ones; he will never have any desire for western religious art. He
can even come to the point of finding naturalism very distasteful. So, in this icon at
Daphne, the person of Christ is very old, wrinkled, and yet the hair is black. Now
what is the iconographer attempting to do here? He wants to show that the Son is the
eternal God, but with eternal youth. God is called the Ancient of the Days, but my
friends, God is not old. Old age is only a human factor. God is ageless. He does not
get old. Thus, the writer of this icon very expertly expresses the eternity and the ever-
youthfulness of God. God is always the same, unchangeable, immutable.
His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow. His eyes were like a
flame of fire. Now how are we to imagine this flame of fire? Perhaps it is something like
the flame used by welders, or the flame produced by acetylene, or propane torches, a
very bright and truly awesome spectacle, enough to strike terror in the evangelist of
love. Now why are the eyes of the One like a Son of Man like a flame of fire? The Wisdom
of Sirach, (one of the Deuterocanonical or Apocryphal books for the Protestants, but
canonical for all Orthodox Christians) says; The eyes of the Lord are ten thousands times
brighter than the sun (Sirach 23:19). With this, the Word of God tells us that God sees
everything. He is All-knowing; He is omniscient. St. John the Chrysostom says, “He
foresees at a glance all things together and each thing separately.” This is the reason
for this awesome appearance — to declare to John that the One like a Son of Man is
the One Who incarnated, the eternal God, the One Who sees it all, and especially all
the things that are before the lampstands, everything that takes place in His Church.
He sees it all.
My friends, we will mention this in our future sessions, but we will say it now as
well. Many times, we think that God does not see what is happening in His Church.
Unfortunately, some people like to believe that they need to use their power to
somehow save the Church — poor, pitiful people. You are not here to save the Church.
The Church will save you. Do you know how terrible this attitude is? It is blasphemy,
blasphemy of the first degree. We are being ludicrous when we think that we can save
the Church. We will save the Church, the Ark of salvation all through the centuries?
The Church needs salvation? Then the Church does not save if she is in need of
salvation herself from time to time! My friends, the Church does not need your help.
Simply put, if you work for the Church you will save yourself, not the Church. The
Church saves, always. I say this because there are many people who even organize
groups to save the Church.
So, the eyes of Christ were like a flame of fire. We often refer to God as a consuming
fire. What is this flame of fire? St. Basil explains, “This flame of fire that radiates from
God’s eyes becomes a flame of illumination for the saints. It shines light on them, but
the same flame burns the infidels and the unrepentant, the unrepentant sinners and
the godless.” In reality, the flame is the divine glory or the uncreated divine energy.
The uncreated divine energy reaches the Kingdom of God as pure light. It envelops
the place of the saints. It sanctifies them. It illumines them, granting them all the gifts
because this divine glory is the carrier of all the gifts of God.
At the same time this uncreated divine glory also reaches the depths of Hell -
without its property of illumination, but as burning fire. It is the same source. The
divine glory is light in the Kingdom of God, and it is unquenchable fire in Hell. This
is the lightless fire. You may ask, “How can you have fire and yet be in deep darkness
in Hell?” It is simply because this energy is devoid of its light. The light is somehow
filtered, so to speak, at the boundaries of Hell, so that all the light of this same energy
of God stays in the Kingdom of God, while the burning quality of this filtered light
passes into the area of Hell. St. Andrew of Caesarea also comments on this with a very
beautiful explanation. He says, “His eyes were like a flame of fire granting light to the
saints while burning the wicked.”
33 St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG V 106, 228D-229A): “Elvat ot οφθαλμοὶ avtod ὡς φλόξ πυρός,
His feet were like burnished brass, glowing in a furnace (1:15). The Greek word
is halkolivanon, and according to Eustathios of Thessaloniki who comments about
this in his work on The Odyssey, alkolivanon is a mixture of gold and silver.* Now
imagine this mixture of gold and silver glowing in a furnace — all metals, iron and
others, glow when they melt and, of course, when they are red-hot, but not like gold
and silver. Gold and silver become brilliant. They shine like the sun. This is how the
feet of the Lord were. This description shows the brilliance, the stability, durability,
and might of the feet of the Lord. This is quite the opposite compared to the clay feet
of the statue of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar (and this
can be found in Daniel) saw a huge statue, but the feet were unstable. They were made
partially of iron and partially of clay, so that when an uncut stone broke off from the
mountain and fell on its feet, the feet of the statue were pulverized. The statue became
dust. Then wind blew the dust all over the earth. This shows the outcome of the great
dynasties, the great empires of the earth.
The Babylonian empire was the gold head; the Medo-Persian Empire was the
breast and arms of silver; the Greek empire of Alexander the Great was the bronze
belly and thighs; and the iron and clay feet reflected the Roman Empire. Again, the
unhewn stone, a stone uncut by human hand, pulverizes this statue. As we sing in
the Akathist, this stone is Christ and the mountain is the Theotokos. Thus, these
four empires turned history upside down and they passed. But in St. John’s vision,
the feet of God the Word are from /alkolivanon, gold and silver — very brilliant,
glorious, powerful, and stable. In other words, the Son and Word of God is the ruler
of history. He rules because He is above history. History is in His hands. Now the fact
that His feet are gold and silver also shows the two natures of Christ, the Divine and
the human.
And his voice was like the sound of many waters (1:15). If you have had the
opportunity to visit Niagara Falls, you may remember that one can hear the noise
of the waterfalls from miles away. Accordingly, the voice of the One speaking was
very impressive. This vision of St. John shares similarities with the vision of Daniel
as described in the tenth chapter of that book. Let us see how Daniel saw the Son of
Man. We will not interpret, for the sake of time; we will simply read. And behold, a
man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz, his body was like beryl,
his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like
the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the noise of a multitude
(Daniel 10:5, 6). The noise of a multitude is for example, like the noise at a football
play off game. Again, this is a great image of extreme grandeur.
And in his right hand he held seven stars (1:16). The Lord Himself will give us the
interpretation of this phrase, As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my
right hand, the seven stars are the bishops of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20), the seven
τους μεν αγίους φωτίζοντες, τους δε βεβύλους φλογίζοντες:"
¥ St. Eustathios of Thessaloniki, Odyssey, 4th Book, 150:13.

churches of Asia Minor. From his mouth issued a sharp, two-edged sword (1:16). ‘This
is the word of God, which is portrayed here as a two-edged sword. St. Paul uses the
same image of the double-edged sword to talk about the word of God. For the word
of God is living and overt and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the depth of
soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the
heart (Hebrews 4:12).
The word of God is awesome, truly awesome. It happens very often, whenever the
word of God is spoken or preached, that members of the audience are touched to the
depths of their being. The word of God pierces the soul, stirs the subconscious, and
extracts mountains of baggage; it cuts up and breaks down a person and touches him
to the bone marrow of his existence. Yes, the word of God has this astonishing quality.
Consequently, when we see a two-edged sword coming out of the mouth of the One
speaking to St. John, it symbolizes and wants to impress upon John the straight and
fast judgment of Christ as Judge of the universe.
However, we will return to the topic of the two-edged sword later when we look
closely at the special message to the church of Pergamos. St. John continues, And
his face was like the sun shining in full strength, in full splendor (1:16). This brings
to memory the event of the Lord’s Holy Transfiguration when He shone more than
the sun. John the evangelist had the experience of the Transfiguration, since he was
an eyewitness. However, this glorious appearance of the Lord leaves him petrified
with terror and he falls at the Lord’s feet as dead. When I saw him I fell at his feet as
though dead (1:17). Here St. John undergoes the natural consequence, as have all those
spectators who witness supernatural phenomena, theophanies, or Godly appearances.
Isaiah, for example, was amazed while encountering the divine glory of God and cried
out, Poor, pitiful me, I am pierced. I am a mere man with unclean lips. I live in the midst
of people with unclean lips (6:5). The prophet Daniel also notes, When I saw this great
vision, all my strength left me in my soul, and my face changed, my color changed. As he
was speaking to me I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground (7:28). Daniel passed
out. We can see here the similarities of the reactions of these prophets when dealing
with theophany.
And the hand of the One I saw touched me and raised me to my knees. The same thing
happened to the three disciples on Mt. Tabor. Our iconography beautifully depicts the
scene when James, Peter, and John, blinded by the divine glory, fall abruptly to the
ground. It is a fact that men always become startled when they come in contact with
the supernatural world. But he laid his right hand upon me saying, “Fear not.” (1:17) This
laying of the hand of the Lord on John and the words fear not most likely refreshed the
memory of the disciple, bringing to mind that unforgettable night and the struggle of
all the disciples to stay alive in the stormy waters of the Lake of Tiberius.
At around three o'clock in the morning, the fourth watch of the night, the Lord
appeared, walking on the waves of the sea. ‘The disciples, thinking they were seeing
a ghost, cry out, while the Apostle Peter said, Lord, if it is you, tell me to walk on the
waves like you. And the Lord said to him, Come. Peter obeyed and he started to walk;
but at the sight of a big wave, he lost heart and the Lord held him and stabilized him.
What did he say to the disciples? Fear not. Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. It is
I (Matt. 14:24-30). Here again, the Lord will repeat the same words to John, Fear not.
Fear not. Do not be afraid. I am your teacher.
Fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one (1:17) Here the Lord’s purpose
is to encourage John with three of His attributes, the first being, / am the first, and the
last, and the living one. l am the first and the last. [The Jehovah's Witnesses will never
be able to wiggle their way out of this one. If we go to Isaiah 44:6, we will read, /
am the first and I am the last. Besides me there is no God. The Jehovah's Witnesses have
no trouble attributing this verse to God the Father, the God of the Old Testament,
Yahweh. However, here in Revelation 1:18, we read, J am the first and the last; I am the
living one, and I became dead. Who became dead? The first and the last became dead.
However, the first and the last in Isaiah is God the Father. God cannot die.]
Once again, we see the equality of the Father and the Son. ‘The Son is the first and
the last. The Son died in His human nature. More specifically, Christ's body died. So
Christ is the Lord, the first and the last, Yahweh, God Almighty. The Son is the first
and the last; and the Father is the first and the last. This holds true for the name, The
Living One. The Father is the Living One and the Son is the Living One, O Zoy, in
Greek. Peter told Christ, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God Matt. 16:16).
The prophet Hosea says, there they will be called sons of the Living God (1:10). In
the Gospel of Matthew, Caiaphas will also interrogate Christ under oath, J charge you
in the name of the Living God (26:63). Therefore, the living God is the Father; but the
living God is also the Son. Our Lord says; J am the way, the truth, and the life (John
14:6). The equality of the Father and the Son is crystal-clear!
This is very, very important. Please remember these things firmly to ensure
yourselves, not only from the Jehovah’s Witnesses but also from all the workers of the
devil, who wish to reduce Christ to a creation, or to a servant, or to an archangel, or to
a prophet. There is no higher blasphemy or dishonor than for someone to deprecate the
Son of God. This is why heretics, especially the Jehovah’s Witnesses, are blasphemers.
‘The second attribute used to lift up the spirit of John is J became dead and behold, I
am living unto the ages of ages (1:18). I became dead refers not only to His Incarnation,
to His earthly life, to His real death, to His resurrection, to His ascension, but also to
His eternal life, as God-man. Again, what is very significant here is that the first and
the last, an attribute belonging to God, is One with Him who became dead and now
lives. In other words, He who has been living eternally, and yet died on the cross, the
first and the last who died on the cross, now lives as God-man, not as God only, but
as God-man. Again, we need everyone to be crystal-clear on this, that Jesus Christ is
Yahweh, the Lord, Who is the source of life, Who lives unto the ages of ages.
We stated this before, but it will not hurt if we repeat again that our purpose here
is not to present lectures but to help us learn. Whenever the Scripture says unto the end
of the age or unto the age, it refers to the present age until the end of history. Now when
the Scripture says unto the ages of ages it refers to eternity. For example, Scripture says;
The earth will endure unto the age and will not be shaken. The poor Jehovah's Witness
say, “Do you see, the earth will endure unto the age and will not be shaken?” They
think that it will endure forever - not so. They distort and falsify the Scriptures. Unto
the age only refers to this present age, the boundaries of time allotted by God for the
existence of His creation in the present form. Truly, the earth will not be shaken or
blasted, or self-destruct until the Second Coming of Christ, when the entire form of
the universe will be altered. Christ says about Himself that J am living unto the ages of
ages or in other words, unto eternity.
In the third attribute Christ says, And I have the keys of Hades and of Death (1:18).
Oh my friends, I wish we could have more time to look into these attributes more
closely. We would receive so much consolation. However, we need to run along so
the majority of you do not become tired and bored. So, J have the keys of Death and
Hades. This brings us so much hope! Here one can visualize Hades as the residence
or the personification of death. Christ descended into Hades. He defeated death. He
repossessed the souls held imprisoned in Hades. By His eternal resurrection, death no
longer rules. Moreover, through His resurrection He will ultimately resurrect all the
dead. Consequently, He is the Master, the Lord of life and death.
The embodiment of this Lordship over life and death is the phrase; I have the keys.
In reality, the person who has the keys to a vault, a treasure safe or box, is the lord of
that object. So J have the keys of Hades and Death. He is telling us that He is the Lord
of life and death. Our Lord already proclaimed this. J am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone living and believing in me
will not ever die (John 11:25). Also, For the hour is coming in which all who are in the
graves will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of
life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28). In reality,
the Lord holds the keys of death and Hades. An outline of the above three attributes
of Christ which served to disperse the fear of John the evangelist, and also of every
person regardless of the century, would offer us the following three conclusions: first,
Christ is the eternal God. Second, He is God incarnate Who drew near us through
the flesh. Third, He is the God-man, Jesus, victorious over history, time, and death, as
He is the Lord of eternity.
Write, therefore the things which you have seen and the things which are and the
things which will take place after this (1:19). Here we see that John is instructed to
record the present prophecy unfolding before him, the prophecy which makes up the
entire book of the Revelation. In this prophecy we can distinguish three time-periods.
The first time-period refers to the things which you have seen or the things which are
already present in the Church. As we discussed at length in our earlier sessions, a
prophecy does not only extend itself into the future, but it also covers the present.
It seems, and this is historically obvious, that it is equally difficult for someone to
prophesy the present along with the future. In addition, as we mentioned, it may even
be more difficult to see through the present than to the future. As proof of this, we have
St. John the Baptist who pointed out Christ, Behold, the Lamb of God (John 1:36).
Again, John is considered a great prophet, as great as Isaiah, who gave a most detailed
description of the passion of the Lord in his fifty-third chapter.
Notably, in the prophecy of St. John the Baptist, the present and the future
coexist. When he said, Behold the lamb of God who lifts the sins of the world (John
1:29), this behold refers to the present; and when he says the one lifting the sins of the
world, he refers to the sacrifice of the Son, especially when he uses the name: Lamb.
The lamb was a sacrificial animal. Therefore, he is looking ahead about three years
to the Crucifixion of Christ. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is
a prophecy pertaining to the future. Therefore, the vision or the ability to see and
interpret the events of the present is a quality, a specific quality, of a true prophet.
We will see much later, if we are still alive, that the two prophets that will identify
the Antichrist will be prophets of the present and not of the future, just like John the
Baptist when he pointed out Jesus Christ.
The second time-period, the things which are, refers to the things that take place in
the present and immediately thereafter. These things cover the first three chapters of
the book of the Revelation. The third time-period, all the things which will take place
after this are the things that belong to the future, and they will comprise chapters four
to twenty-one of this book. Now let’s be very careful, however, because in the subject
matter of this book—a chronological reading order—does not exist. It is possible for
verses in the first three chapters to belong to the immediate present without excluding
their validity to the most distant future. The reverse holds true for the other seventeen
chapters. In other words, one can perceive the entire prophecy as present, as immediate
future, and as most distant future in the book of the Revelation. What follows next?
What are the stars? What are the lampstands? Who is the One walking among them?
The One speaking Who is Jesus Christ will interpret these. He will interpret these to
John the evangelist, and we will see all of the above, God willing.
CHAPTER 8
Revelation 1:20- 2:2
The Lampstands and the Seven Stars
The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden
lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
Homily given December 14,1980

nd the seven lampstands, as you have seen, are the seven churches. Our
Lord continues, at the end of the first chapter of the Revelation, after having
appeared to St. John on a Sunday, in an awesome vision that left John almost
ainting with fear. Now the Lord Himself provides the interpretation and
explains the exact meaning of the images that John had just witnessed. It can be seen
here that a number of images will be utilized and serve as the substance of prophetic
sayings. The images that are called stars and lampstands are mysteries. They needed
to be revealed and interpreted; and the Lord proceeds to do just that. Apparently, He
does it because no one else will be able to interpret these mysterious images.
We see this very thing in the parables of the Gospels. We see the element of
mystery; they are mysterious as far as the meaning goes. As you know, there are two
basic elements in getting people to understand something, the definition and the
parable, or the image, because a parable really is an image. Therefore, we have the
definition and the image. The Greek literature almost always uses the element of
definition, while the Hebrew literature makes use of the image. The definition is quite
accurate in its description, but it can never exhaust the entire depth of a substance.
On the other hand, using an image can indeed exhaust this depth. ‘The image however
has a disadvantage because it always hides a mystery, an area not yet discovered. One
needs to have the know-how to grasp the meaning of the image, and not having this
know-how can be a disadvantage.
However, when we have the password, the key, to enter into the meaning of the
image, then the image is incomparably better than the definition because it gives
many more elements and details than a mere definition; and most importantly, it
allows the space and the flexibility for the introduction of a mystery. It allows for the
depth, width and height of a particular subject to be continually researched by the
reader or the researcher. This is the advantage of the image. For this reason in the
Holy Scriptures, we always have the use of the image. You will not find a definition
anywhere. And one could wish to prove me wrong by bringing up what seems like a
definition in Hebrews, Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
not seen (11:1). This is not necessarily a definition. We simply have some elements
that refer to the subject of faith. A definition supposedly exhausts the subject; yet the
subject of faith is not exhausted by what St. Paul writes here; consequently this does
not necessarily comprise a definition.
However, when the Lord uses parables in the Gospels, they contain mysteries.
And when the disciples ask him at some point to explain He answers, To you has
been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables
(Mark 4:11), which shows that the parable can elucidate, shine light on a subject, or
it can obscure or darken the subject. For the believers, elucidation takes place and for
the unbelievers, an obscuration. This is a very useful element in the hands of God
for these two categories of people. Apparently, the disciples were quite aware of the
difficulty of the mystery of a parable. This is why they ask, “Lord, explain this parable
to us.” However, the Lord did not explain every parable of the four Gospels. He
only interpreted two of them, the parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds.
Nevertheless, the method by which he interpreted these parables provides the key to
interpretation, something very useful and valuable.
Accordingly, here in the book of the Revelation He says the seven stars are the
bishops of the seven churches (The word angel in this context is the bishop.) and the
seven lampstands are the seven churches in Asia Minor. After explaining these two
points, He does not explain the rest of the book of the Revelation. He does not explain
it, but he gives the key to St. John to enable him to interpret the visions. St John then
passes this same key to every reader in the Church throughout the centuries. So, my
friends, the Lord gives the key to St. John, and through him, to all of us. However,
even if we happen to hold the key of interpretation, (and you can see how emphatic I
am on this matter) we have an entire book before us with a plethora of images. How
will we explain all these even if we are holding the key of interpretation? It is not
enough if the reader, the interpreter, does not have the spirit of God. Not only the
book of the Revelation, but every word of the Lord remains sealed with seven seals in
the absence of the Holy Spirit.
So, the seven lampstands according to the Lord’s interpretation are the seven
churches in Asia Minor. They are gold like the seven-light lampstand of the Old
Testament. In the Old Testament, this signifies the chosen people; and in the New
Testament, it signifies the new Israel of grace, the Christians. The seven stars are the
seven angels, and the seven angels are the seven bishops of the seven corresponding
churches of reference. These seven bishops are the representatives of the one Church.
In the book of the Revelation, one of the definitive characteristics of the Lord and
His relationship to the bishops and churches is that we see Him walking among the
lampstands, among His churches. This shows maneuverability and power; it also
shows that He exercises direct supervision over His churches.
The Lord governs His Church regardless of the savage attacks of the powers of
darkness in history, such as heresies — and to use a contemporary term, all the Zionist
masterminds who have never stopped undermining the Church, day in and day out,
in its two thousand year history. From the moment of the Lord’s death the Jews of the
dispersion or of the diaspora, those who believed in Christ, comprised the people of
grace. Ihey became the new Israel along with the gentiles. They formed the Church.
Those that did not believe, however, always turned against the Church.
In describing their attitude, the biographer of St. Polycarp of Smyrna relates that
the Jews influenced and advised the local government to burn the body of the saint so
the Christians could not take it. Moreover, the governor abided by their wishes, such
that the Jews were the first to light the fire. The holy biographer here comments, “The
Jews were especially energetic, as they usually are, in lending a hand in such works (of
darkness).”*> By the way, this biography of St. Polycarp was written slightly prior to
150 AD, the first half of the second century.
Again my friends, I said that despite the fierce attacks against the Church by the
Zionist masterminds, (a contemporary term) and by the many dark powers reacting
against the Church, the fact remains that Christ governs the Church. He ascertained
this when He said, And the gates of Hades will not overcome her (cf. Matt. 16:18).
If all the hot caldron of Hades could surface, they would not be able to overtake
the Church. Orthodox Christianity will stand regardless of evil schemes and of its
enemies. ‘There is only one concern: that souls are being lost. This is most unfortunate,
sad and worth many tears.
Another definitive characteristic of the Lord’s relationship to the bishops and the
churches is that the Lord holds seven stars in His hand. He holds the seven stars in
His right hand, which means that He holds the seven bishops in His right hand.
Consequently, the bishops do not govern the Church as representatives of Christ, but
Christ governs the Church and the bishops govern in the presence of Christ. The Greek
word for spokesperson is ekprosopos, while the word for representative is antiprosopos.
We need to make this distinction and to plainly see the spirit of Orthodoxy and
compare it to the spirit of the west or the church of Rome. According to Roman
papist thought, Christ governs in heaven and the pope governs on earth. So, following
Roman papist thought, Christ is not on earth. He is in heaven and the pope of Rome
serves as His representative here on earth. But, does this not contradict everything
that we study here in the book of the Revelation? Christ holds the seven stars in His
right hand and walks among the lampstands, the churches. That He holds the stars in
his right hand is a clear indication that the bishops do not govern the church. Christ
governs it.
The spirit of Orthodoxy is this: the bishop, the priest, etc. is zot the representative,
antiprosopos, of Christ but the spokesperson, ekprosopos. He serves in the Person of
Christ or from the Person of Christ. The Greek prefix ek- or ex- can be translated as
from. Therefore, the spirit of Orthodoxy is that the bishop and the priest serve in the
Person of Christ and in the presence of Christ. Christ is present. Christ is present
when for example a priest celebrates the Divine Liturgy. He gives his hand to Christ.
He offers his hand to be used by Christ. In one of the prayers, the priest prays to
35 Martyrdom of Polycarp, 13:2. “τὼν ὀχλων παραχρήμα συναγόντων... μάλιστα Ιουδαίων

προθύμως, ὡς ἐθος αὕὔτοις, εἰς ταὑτα υπουργοὐντων᾽.
Christ, “You are the One who sacrifices and the One being sacrificed.” “You are the
One who sacrifices,” refers to Christ and not to the priest. You offer and are being
offered. So, Christ offers this offering, the bloodless sacrifice, and the essence of the
Divine Liturgy.
Now what is the role of the priest? He simply moves his hands. He is Christ's
servant, nothing else. Christ is present. He is the One Who offers and is being offered
simultaneously. We also see this in the sacrament of holy confession. The Latin or
the papist priest will say, “I forgive you.” This is a natural consequence for the papist
priest. Since Christ is in heaven, now he, the priest has taken the authority and he
forgives on earth. The Orthodox priest will say, “May the grace of the most Holy Spirit
through my lowliness, (elahistotitos), forgive you and loosen or unbind you.”
Yes, the priest hears our confession, but he does nothing else. He simply reads
the prayer of absolution. God is the One Who searches the heart to see if we made a
sincere confession. God, Who is omniscient, Who knows it all, sees it all, and knows
the heart, will grant us forgiveness. Let’s not think my brother that by extracting a
priest's absolution prayer we also receive forgiveness if our confession is not sincere.
No, Christ will not forgive us if our heart is not sincere. The priest is a human being.
He can be fooled. He can be influenced. He can be tricked but not Christ. So, who is
present and the grantor of forgiveness? Christ. Christ is ever present. Do we see what
Orthodoxy means? This but a minor point and quite insignificant compared to some
huge doctrinal differences that separate us from the church of Rome.
Through all this my friends we clearly see that Christ is He Who holds the
holy bishops in His hands. He holds the holy priesthood in His right hand. This
can be quite intimidating, but at the same time very reassuring and encouraging -
intimidating indeed because at any given moment the clergyman who is in Christ's
grasp can receive the pressure or a squeeze from Christ's powerful hand. ‘The priest
can be spurned or rejected by Christ. This is very intimidating. However, we have the
consolation that everything that takes place in the Church is not placed solely on the
shoulders of the worker, but that most of the weight falls on Christ’s shoulders. Christ
lifts the weight of the Church because He also lifts the worker. The sincere worker of
the Church feels secure in the palm of the hand of the Lord. It is of great significance
to know that I am in the hand of Christ. So Christ oversees the toil of the worker.
He can see his faith. He can see the faith and the love, but He also sees the injustice
and the rejection that he, the priest, receives from those around him. And in His
omniscience and omnipresence, the Lord justly rewards the sincere worker by placing
him in the Kingdom of God.
So, as we can see, to be held in God’s palm offers not only consolation but
trepidation as well. However, before I begin to go forward with the epistles that St.
John is instructed to write and send to the seven churches in Asia, I find it necessary
to offer a brief analysis of the seven epistles sent by our Lord. It can be seen that a
number of basic elements are repeated in these epistles. For example, when the Lord
says; To the church of Ephesus write it does not mean these specific epistles were sent
separately. The entire book of the Revelation containing the specific epistle referring
to each specific church was sent to each church.
So, the church in Ephesus could find its own epistle within the book, but each
local church received the entire book of the Revelation. From what we said earlier,
the seven churches in Asia Minor make up classic representatives and they are classic
typologies of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. This catholicity of the
Church becomes apparent from the words of the Lord, which seem to be repeated at
the end of each specific epistle. He who has ears let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. So, even though each epistle is sent to the corresponding specific church, the
Lord closes by calling the attention of a// the churches. He who has ears let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches. This shows, my dear friends, that all the epistles do
have their specific character; but at the same time they are intended to instruct the
entire Church of Christ.
We must also mention that each epistle has a specific historical basis. When the
Lord speaks about Bishop Antipas, He speaks about a historical reality of the church
of Pergamos. Antipas was a historical bishop of that church. When he refers in the
epistle of Ephesians to the phenomenon of the Nicolaitans, the heretics who involved
themselves in the church of Ephesus, they are a historical reality, entirely backed by
historical evidence. Through all of the preceding, we see that the prophecy serves at
least two objectives: the present historical state of the specific churches and the future
state of the entire Church, the one Church. |
Consequently the seven epistles to the seven historical churches serve as seven
folds of the one, holy, catholic Church which were of great concern, not only to the
seven historical churches back then but also continue to concern the Church today
and for every age up until the end of the age. So, for this reason we say that these
epistles serve as a truly classic representative form of the Church. This is so because
in the Church we will always have the existence of zeal, faith, luke-warmness, sloth,
scandals, persecution, distortion of faith and ethics. Generally the people and events
of light and darkness will always make their presence felt in the Church.
Now since these realities are exposed here in the seven churches, they also
comprise realities of the entire Church. All seven epistles are basically the same in
their composition and general format. There is a distinguishing high tone and a strong
language combined with great simplicity and plainness. All seven epistles share at least
eight common points between them. First, all seven epistles have the same opening
line: To the angel of the church of such and such write. This is a common opening line
for all seven epistles.
Second, there is a common introduction, These things says He who: and so on; He
who holds the seven stars; He who has the keys of Hades; He who has eyes like a flame of
fire. The introduction is always the same: These things says He who. This reminds us
of the introduction of Old Testament prophecies. The words, these things says refer to
Christ both here in the book of the Revelation and in the Old Testament, these things
says the Lord. Here the Lord introduces Himself with characteristics taken from the
inscriptional outline — verses four and six of the first chapter, and from the introductory
lines of the vision — verses eight through twenty. For example, These things says the true
witness, the first-born from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. All these things says
He who is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end and so on.
The third point, J know your works is a stereotypical phrase in the seven epistles.
It reveals the all-seeing eye of Christ. J know your works. Christ knows it all. At times
He gives praise and at times He reprimands. Of the seven epistles, one of the epistles
does not have a single praise but only reproach. Another epistle has no reproaches
at all but only praise. The other five epistles contain both praises and reprimands.
The fourth point is the stereotypical phrase, He who has an ear let him hear, which is
used to draw the attention of the receivers, readers and listeners of the book of the
Revelation. The fifth point is another common phrase, He who overcomes or He who is
victorious which is used to make promises to the faithful and to the fearless fighters of
the faith. The sixth point is that Christ appears victorious over the world because He is
coming quickly. The seventh point is that the seven churches of reference appear to be
in a position of crisis which is seen when Christ says, if you do not listen, if you do not
repent, I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. \ will uproot
you and move you around.
Consequently, the position of each church appears to be critical at any given
moment. Finally, the eighth point is that each church has a specific geographical
position and it maintains the very position that Christ has given it. Christ plants,
erects and stabilizes the churches. We can say that He established us here in Larisa. He
establishes others somewhere else, just like He planted the apostles and they established
the Church. Remember the Apostle who wanted to go to Ankara to chart eastbound
in Asia Minor? This was when he was in Troas near Dardanelles, but the Lord told him
no, I don’t want you to go east. You will go west towards European soil. So, the Lord,
Himself orchestrates the geographical positions of the Church. The Lord establishes
the churches and the Lord can also remove their lampstands from their place.
Now after these very few comments on the seven churches, by the grace of God,
we are entering the second chapter. So far, we used eight homilies to cover the first
chapter and believe me we could expand on it even more. We were running through
these verses. As you can see, we are running. Now by the grace of God, we are entering
the second chapter which refers to the seven epistles sent by the Lord. The first epistle
is sent to the church of Ephesus.
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The words of him who holds the seven stars
in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. ‘I know your works,
your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear evil men but have tested
those who call themselves apostles but are not, and found them to be false; I know you are
enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’ sake, and you have not grown weary. But
I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then
from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to
you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have, you
hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life,
which is in the paradise of God (2:1-7).
What a beautiful letter. And it is even more beautiful in the original Greek. What a
great privilege for those of us who share the Greek nationality to know that these exact
words were written in the Greek language by St. Prochoros who was St. John’s deacon.
Again, it is a great privilege to be able to understand the very words, precisely the way
they were spoken by the Lord. First, you may have noticed a very masterful element
used by our Lord, quite skillful indeed. He begins the epistle with a compliment. He
praises the angel of Ephesus and then he uses the necessary criticism, nevertheless I have
something against you, that you have left your first love. But this you have to your credit as
well, He uses a most pedagogical method, praise followed by constructive criticism.
Praise is followed by the necessary correction. You are doing well here, this is very
good; but I would like to call your attention to this area of weakness. Again, praise
followed by reprimand. Naturally, the Lord will point out with sincerity his good and
bad points. All that unfolds in this epistle constitutes elements of our Church found
in the clergy and the laity.
Now by God’s grace, we will proceed to interpret. To the angel of the church of
Ephesus write: To the bishop of the church of Ephesus, write... and Ephesus is selected
first from the seven churches. Ephesus was a great city and the capital of the area of
Asia Minor. The temple of the Ephesian goddess of fertility, Artemis (the equivalent
Demetra of central Greece) was a great attraction in the city of Ephesus. This temple
of Artemis was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was beautiful
and of great architectural value. Herostratos burned it down to make a name for
himself and that is unfortunate. Ephesus and the temple of Artemis attracted all the
tribes of all the people of Asia Minor. Artemis again, was not the same goddess as the
Greek Artemis, which was the goddess of hunting; the Ephesians’ Artemis was the
goddess of fertility. This was important because knowing the historical background
of this city will give additional insight to understanding the challenges facing the
Christian Church.
St. Paul writes about the worship of Artemis in his epistles. People from all over
Asia were drawn to Ephesus not only for commerce, but also for the worship of
Artemis. St. Paul taught great numbers of people daily at a school owned by Tyrannos
(Acts 19:9) in Ephesus, one of the busiest trading centers in Asia. This city was also the
hub of St. John’s missionary endeavors. ‘The first bishop of this great city was Timothy
who received two epistles from St. Paul. What remains unknown however, is if at
the time of the reception of the epistle incorporated into the book of the Revelation
Timothy was alive or not, or if the bishop was Onesimus, who is acknowledged and
praised by St. Ignatius.** Regardless of this, they are both great saints.
The fact is that the Lord addresses these saints with their deficiencies, calling them
on the carpet so to speak and this is encouraging to us. This is very encouraging. Let us
36 St. Ignatius, Ephesians, 1:3.
never think that holiness means infallibility; the perfect man is nonexistent. Holiness
is in the area of struggle, not perfection. No one is perfect. Perfection does not exist.
What exists is the struggling man, the one who keeps striving. We must understand
this. I say this because at times we may think that holiness, which is our calling by
the way, is so far out of our grasp that it is unattainable. This is not so. It is a delusion
and the work of the devil, to tell us that holiness is unrealistic and we cannot reach it.
The devil wants to destroy us. No my friends do not listen to this. Holiness is iz the
struggle!
In the city of Ephesus, even before the time of St. Paul, Judaizing and Gnostic
heretics had appeared. When St. Paul called for the gathering of the presbyters of
the church of Ephesus in Militus, he was in a hurry having come from Greece and
heading towards Jerusalem to get there by the day of Pentecost. He talked to them
and instructed them with the following verses, J know that after my departure fierce
wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; (They will tear the flock apart,
these savage wolves.) and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse
things, to draw away the disciples after them. (They will take them, and make them their
subjects and alienate them from the church.) Therefore be alert, remembering that for
three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears (Acts 20: 29-31).
He also writes to Timothy, who was the bishop of Ephesus, As J urged you when I was
going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus that you may charge certain persons not to teach
any different doctrine, nor to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which
promote speculations rather than the divine training that is in faith (1 Tim. 1:3-4).
These other doctrines: false teachings, fables, and endless genealogies refer to
the followers of Gnosticism. About these endless genealogies, Gnostics used to say
that between the good god and the world there are at least thirty different deities,
thirty different gods. According to them, the last god who communicates with both
the twenty-ninth and with the earth is Jesus Christ, the last deity. So these endless
genealogies were the attempt by the heretical Gnostics to explain how the one god
gives birth to the second, the second to the third, the fourth to the fifth and so on.
These were the fables and genealogies of the Gnostics who combined Christianity,
Judaism, philosophy, Egyptian mysteries, Zoroaster, and made a smorgasbord out of
all these different religions. With St. Paul’s comments we begin to develop a picture of
the state of ancient Ephesus. Saint Ignatius also writes in his epistle to the Ephesians,”
and he singles out these Gnosticizing heretics whom he calls rabid dogs (Docetists).
So far, we have approached our subject from a cultural point of view to see
how Christ will direct His epistle to the church of the Ephesians. In addition, the
epistle sent by the Lord has an introductory line used to identify the sender and His
characteristics. Ihe Lord uses this inscription, These things says He who holds the seven
stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. As we
can see this image is taken from the introduction of the initial vision of John, but
there is a difference in the wording. In the initial vision, in the sixteenth verse of the
37 St. Ignatius, Ephesians, 7:1.
first chapter we read, He had in His right hand, seven stars. While here the Scripture
says, these things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand. This holds is much
more intense than simply having the seven stars in His hand. Holds is much stronger.
Also, in the initial vision He is in the midst of the lampstands, whereas here He walks
in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Now He gets to the point after having
introduced Himself. J know your works, your labors, your patience. I know your works.
Christ knows. Christ knows everything.
Sometimes people may ask, “Doesn't Christ see what some priests are doing to His
Church. Can He not see what the bishops and the patriarchs are doing? Can He not
see our Church scandals, the problems, and the injustice? Christ sees these things! He
knows these things. Now why is he allowing these things to happen? Well, He knows
why. But we also know this much. Priests are a product of this society. We cannot
expect priests to jump into their holiness suit after the seminary. They are citizens of
this society. We often say the priest of our parish is not up to our standards. Why? Is
the parish good? Are the people of the parish spiritual?
My friends, we are at the point where a member in good standing in our church
has been reduced to anyone who adds a couple of hundred dollars to the church
treasury annually. Consequently, these are the members who give birth to the priests.
The parish brings forth the priest. The children of this parish will become the future
priests. Again, our community provides the priest, and the priests fashion the people.
So there is a reflection between the priest and the parishioners. So, God sends priests
according to people’s hearts and at times they may be bad shepherds.
Of course, it goes without saying that God will deal with these bad shepherds,
as well. J know your works. The works are the entire attitude, the entire conduct and
behavior directly regarding the bishop himself and indirectly regarding his flock. J
know your works and your labor. The labor is devoted to ministry; to the effort to
fulfill the spiritual needs of the flock; and to patience, the necessary patience to labor
and keep guiding the flock. It takes great patience to keep guiding people spiritually.
Without patience nothing can be accomplished. Patience is also needed to overcome
the unavoidable collisions with the opposing powers which will undermine his mission,
And how you cannot bear evil men (2:2). The evil ones that the bishop cannot bear are
the bad Christians, those that keep their evil ways while members of the Church. ‘The
bishop is certainly not responsible for the people of the world.
Sometimes, people ask me, what should I do when I hear people curse and take
God’s name in vain? What can you do? If you argue with them, they will curse even
more. So you will not accomplish anything. Tell me, what can you do? The only thing
you can do is to stay quiet and if you happen to know this person, wait to approach
him or her in a different setting when his nerves are settled and his tongue is inactive.
Then you can tell him in a few words that he is doing something awful and dangerous
to his well being. My friends, today the world and the Church are all mixed up. There
is a lot of world in the Church. What we mean by this is that the secular spirit has
infiltrated our Church. There is so much secularization that people who do not have
any relationship with the spiritual life of the Church are called members in good
standing only because they have fulfilled their financial obligation.
So here when Christ praises the bishop of Ephesus because he cannot bear those
that are evil, He means the Christians who do not follow the way of Christ. He
does not mean the people of the world because in those years the Church was totally
separated from the world. Today unfortunately this is not so. When He says, you
cannot bear this evil in the Church it shows that the bishop of Ephesus is very sharp in
the area of ethics. He cannot bear to see unacceptable behavior in the church. To use a
contemporary term, the bishop of Ephesus is very intolerant of situations arising and
existing in his church that are unacceptable.
And you have tested those who say they are apostles but are not and have found them
liars. Here the bishop of Ephesus follows the exhortation of the Lord about the trial
period of those who are coming to be workers in the church. What is this trial? We
find it in Matthew, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing but
inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from
thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil
fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that
does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by
their fruits (7:15-20). You will know them by their fruits, their lifestyle, their words,
and their actions. You will understand what they are all about.
What does this mean? What is the deeper meaning of the words of the Lord
here and His reassurance to the bishop of Ephesus? The Lord reassures the bishop of
Ephesus who tested his shepherds and may have said to certain Christians that they
were not qualified to become a priest. If you have slipped through the ranks, I do not
want you. I want you to leave the priesthood. You are not to continue as a priest. You
must do something else. You are a false prophet, whether in the area of faith or in the
area of ethics and practical virtue. The Lord praises this bishop because he stood his
ground in this area which means, my beloved, that a layperson has the right to tell the
priest, my Father, you are not allowed to do this innovation. I will not follow you. I
will not listen to you when you do not practice what you preach and your lifestyle has
become publicly scandalous. You also have ears and understanding and you can see
what these words are telling us. The word of God is quite direct here. We are simply
helping to bring these conclusions to the surface.
We must mention that St. Paul is quite clear on this issue as well. And what I
do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to
claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men
are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no
wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his
servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to
their deeds (2 Cor. 11:12).
Now who are these false apostles? In those days the culprits were the Judaizing
heretics. St. Peter writes about these Judaizing heretics, But false prophets also arose
among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in
destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1). In our times, Judaizing heretics are the Jehovah's
Witnesses who insist on the Old Testament name of God, Jehovah. Do they deny
the Master Who bought them? Do they deny Christ as God? They most certainly do.
They deny the divinity of the Master Who bought them. But please pay attention
to one very important thing here. It is quite evident, more than evident that Holy
Scripture accentuates and insists on dogma, the accentuation of dogma and doctrine.
Unfortunately, our times are characterized by an eagerness to lay dogma aside,
to downplay doctrine. Our times are so undogmatic. Our Christians are quick to
lay doctrine aside. This includes members of our Orthodox Christian leadership —
the very members who are supposed to safeguard our dogmas also lay them aside.
This is abominable, a true betrayal of Christianity. Even more strange and bizarre is
the attitude that in the name of Christian unity doctrinal and dogmatic differences
become irrelevant. What are you, Protestant? What am I, Orthodox? What are you,
Roman Catholic? Look, let’s just forget our differences; let’s put them aside. Let's just
forget our histories and what brought us here. All that matters is the present and a
peaceful future. “Love is what counts. Love is what’s important.” This is the sermon
of modern ecumenism. This spirit is so widespread. It is this spirit that is preached
in our congregations: in our Sunday school classes, youth camp programs and from
the pulpit, especially in Orthodox parishes in the west. When doctrinal and dogmatic
teachings are curtailed, overlooked, and placed on the back burner, the result is not
only a time period of no absolutes, but also a sudden rise in immorality, since relaxed
dogmas invite loose ethics. False dogmas will introduce bad ethics.
If you remember about ten years ago we worked on these same subjects. I still
have the notes. I spoke to you about ecumenism, which was at its peak back then
in the late 1970's. I told you back then what I repeat now. ‘The result will be a great
increase of Christian immorality, a super slide of ethics. Wasn't I telling you all this
back in 1971? Now ten years later, we are in the year 1980 and our times are faced
with widespread immorality. Worse yet, our people cannot even see this. You try to
tell or advise someone, “My son this is not right. This is bad.” “Why is it bad? What's
wrong with it?” We have lost our sense of good, bad, unethical, ugly. People do not
always understand the differences anymore. These are the fruits of ecumenism.
My dear friends, one thing I will proclaim to you. Dogma and ethics, dogma
and spiritual life are very closely connected. Whenever this close connection of dogma
and ethics is severed, the balance of Christian piety and true spirituality falls away;
or in the absence of this union of dogma and ethics, true spirituality will definitely
suffer. We will see this addressed in a few moments in the epistle to the bishop of
Ephesus. It will appear that something similar took place in the church of Ephesus. A
great deal of energy was allocated to defend against the heretics, so much so that the
bishop of Ephesus overlooked something else — the essence of the spiritual life, which
is love, love and worship for Christ, not for the fellow man. Love and worship for
Christ is first.
Our time is now up but I would like to use the few remaining minutes to say a
few words about the feast day of the Birth of Christ which is coming in a few days.
Every year we celebrate these feast days. One day we celebrate Christmas. One day
we celebrate Pascha. My friends these feast days, just like all the major feast days,
are nothing but opportunities to take spiritual inventory and replenish the supplies
that we find lacking and necessary to rekindle our spirituality. So during these days
let us separate ourselves from the worldly and secular entanglements that we find
ourselves in.
Kala Christougenna! We will see you on the 11th of January.
CHAPTER 9
Revelation 2:4-7
The First Love — the Threat of Falling — The Fight
Against Nicolaitanism
Homily given January 11, 1981

t our last meeting, we began to analyze the epistle of our Lord to the
bishop of Ephesus, to the angel of Ephesus. He praises the angel of Ephesus.
He tells him that He knows his works, his labors and his patience.
evertheless, the Lord says, [ have something against you, that you have left
your first love (2:4).
First, we notice a most pedagogical element used by our Lord in nearly all of these
epistles, praise followed by correction. He praises the strong points of His bishop;
He praises his labors, his patience, his works against the heretics, but He also has a
complaint about the weak point of the congregation. This seems to be very important,
because the correction is followed by the threat of a very serious punishment. J have
something against you; you have left your first love. Your initial, burning love is cooling
off. What had happened is something that happens to all of us. As we stated earlier,
these epistles address different folds of the one catholic Church. They present the
qualities and virtues, as well as the faults of the faithful clergy and laity. All of us can
discover ourselves and conceptualize our inner strengths and weaknesses here.
So, the bishop of Ephesus focused most of his energy in the area which Christ
Himself pointed out. Christ knows that he cannot bear those who are evil and that he
had persevered, had labored and had patience for His name's sake; he had not become
weary. The bishop of Ephesus worked extensively to cleanse the Church of evildoers
and especially of heretical teachers. Somehow, the anti-heretical struggle became the
focus, the main preoccupation, of the church of Ephesus.
However, in the process something else was overlooked. What was overlooked
was love for the Lord Jestis. My friends, did it ever occur to you that this happens very
often in our Church? We only need to glance around us and we will see this. We often
focus a great deal and spend a tremendous amount of time on apologetics, to learn to
counterattack the Jehovah’s Witnesses when they come to our door, for instance, or to
learn to defend against New-Agers or some other occult movements. We often notice
some of our faithful who exert a great deal of effort against the heretical movements.
However, they ignore their own spiritual life.
I am very much afraid that this could be the case with a number of people in our
audience who fight against evil, against false faiths. However, they fail to develop their
own spirituality. I have noticed this to be the reality among many of today’s Christians.
I am being very sincere in saying this. We need to become especially watchful and take
up the necessary measures to correct this. You come to report to me your endeavors
against the unorthodox, but your own spiritual life is not well taken care of. There is
fickleness in this. We need to understand that the love that was forsaken, about which
the Lord says, you left your first love — this love is not meant to be exhausted only in
orthodoxia (true faith), but in orthopraxia (true works) as well. We cannot reduce
our faith to the chasing of the heretics. I must especially focus on how I live. What is
needed is something that was lacking in the bishop and the church of Ephesus: the
very special ascent of the loving heart towards God.
Many times, we notice this in people who are very active in the life of the parish.
They lack this spiritual ascent and vice versa; people who have this spiritual sense do not
have much involvement. They do not seek any involvement; they keep to themselves.
The Lord reproves both. We will see in another epistle that He reproached the church,
which allowed heretics to coexist with it. So, both of these are necessary. We must not
gravitate towards one sector; we must work in all the areas of our spiritual life. We will
work to defend our faith, but we will not ignore our own spiritual development. Just
because I am active in the fight against the heretics, I cannot feel content that it is an
indication that I am doing well spiritually.
Again, all this is certainly helpful, but it cannot be the extent of one’s spiritual life.
To confess orthodoxy only does not mean salvation. What happens to orthopraxia?
The phrase, J have this against you, shows the complaint of Jesus, which is the cooling
off of the first love. What is this first love? It is the enthusiasm, zeal, the burning of the
heart, devotion, the worship of Jesus Christ, which we usually find in the newcomers
to the faith. You may have seen a person brand new to the faith. He comes to know
Christ and he is full of fire, full of enthusiasm, full of worship of Christ. He weeps
when you speak to him about the Lord. He begins to cry; these are the tears of the
person who goes to confession for the first time. How many times do we encounter
this? We often live this. We feel their pain and we come to love these people when
we see them weep during holy confession, when they show true repentance. In other
words, this is the spirit of the total sacrifice that takes over the soul.
However, when some time passes, and we have many years in the faith, then this
love may desiccate, and the result is a superficial form worship. Our life enters the
mold of the daily routine. There is nothing worse than to reduce spiritual life to a
routine and to keep going through the motions. Believe me, the death of the spiritual
life is this routine. Today this routine exists in many areas of our lives, our jobs, and
our relationships with other people. This should not be, even though some of these
>8 In the last twenty five-years the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been converting entire villages in
Greece, especially where the priest was illiterate or needed to work in the fields all day. Most
village priests in Greece work long hours on their farms, and they still keep up with their
services. The catastrophic Jehovah’s Witnesses dressed in sheep’s clothing go door to door
during the day. To counteract this threat, Orthodox brothers and sisters volunteer to re-visit,
warn, and strengthen those approached by the heretics to neutralize and minimize the damage.
Special anti-heretical centers organize lay people to assist in this endeavor.
are repeated every day: the same movements, the same people, the same work, the
same lifestyle and the same old things. We owe it to ourselves to invent ways to fight
this. Routine in our lives shows the death of our vitality. How can we improvise a way
not to fall into living life as a routine? This is something that can be taught, but each
person can also work on this independently.
When one always looks for something to make things interesting, for some depth
in whatever he does, then he does not become bored-to-tears. You may have heard
the story about the three stonecutters of a certain foundry. When asked about job
satisfaction, the first one cynically said, “How would you like breaking stones all day
long, anyway?” The second one said, “Yes I’m happy with my job. I make good money
and I can support my family.” The third one said, “You know, it is so interesting to
see that every stone is so different. No two stones are alike, just like people. These
stones have their own characteristics; and I get excited thinking that my stones will be
dressing up the walls of a church, or the walls of courthouses and schools. I feel like I
have my signature on every stone.”
As you can see from this story, if one can open the eyes of our God-given creativity
and look for something new, for something different in everything we do, then we
will be putting to death this enemy called routine. When we expel the routine, or the
mundane, we become full of life. We are rejuvenated. This is of great importance in
our everyday life, but of paramount importance in our spiritual life. To say: I go to
church everyday, the same liturgy everyday, vespers, same prayers everyday, the same
thing everyday, the study of the Scriptures, I run into the same people every day,
greet them and ask them how they are... Now, if I can find something new in all this
everyday, then this daily routine will not become part of my life.
Protect yourselves from this danger of the routine, because we can slip into the
mode of superficial worship, and simply go through the motions. Woe to us if we
left our first love, which is life, variety, interest, excitement and life itself — everything
that the word life means. Then woe to us if we lose this first love. This holds true
on both the individual and the universal level. We need to raise this issue because
as contemporary Orthodox Christians we have great reasons for concern. We have
fallen into the depths of typo-/atreia, or the habitual transferring of our bodies back
and forth from church every Sunday morning to satisfy our sense of duty without any
thirst or hunger for something more.
This is very evident in the life of most of our faithful. The spirit has left; the
spirit has become extinguished, even though the Lord commands it, for His word
says, Do not put out the flame of the spirit (1 Thess. 5:19). This is why we can see
that most of our people go to church without having an understanding or interest in
spirituality. Fasting, for example, has lost its meaning for many of our Christians. Most
of them think that they must fast from oil three full days before they can take Holy
Communion; or at the other extreme, they do not fast at all. They even eat on Sunday
mornings and then receive Holy Communion. The true meaning of fasting has been
lost, or reduced to giving up chocolate for Lent. In the same way, holy confession, the
great sacrament that truly rejuvenates us, has become for most people a fulfillment
of duty, something we need to do now and then: with no compunction, no tears, no
fear. In some states and faraway regions people were never even told about the great
necessity of confession. My friends, the word duty does not exist in Holy Scripture,
not even once [at least, not in the Greek text]. Nor is it in the patristic philology, the
writings of the Church Fathers. You will not find the word, duty even once.
On the contrary, you will find this word used excessively in the area of
philosophy and philosophical ethics. We often read in our books about duties and
rights. The word duty expresses a spirit of heaviness, an obligation that we need
to force ourselves to do, something we must do but not necessarily by choice. My
brothers and sisters, these things are foreign to the word of God. This spirit is foreign
to the Holy Spirit-filled Christians. In our days especially, Holy Communion has
become an act of habit for many of our Christian brothers, even though they may
have started out with good feelings and intentions. Their entire spiritual life lacks
a spirit of holiness. This occurs precisely because we have left our first love.
The epistle continues and the Lord says; Remember then from what you have fallen,
repent and do the first works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your
lampstand from its place, unless you repent (Rev. 2:5). As you see, love for Jesus Christ
appears to be a very crucial element, very important, and rightly so. It is our life. The
fact that it warrants such a heavy punishment: J will remove your lampstand, shows
the seriousness of this first love. What a dreadful position for someone to be in. We
all need to pay special attention to this and to take some self-inventory. Such self-
criticism and self-examination is extremely profitable.
When the Lord says, Remember then from what you have fallen, He means that
we need to look into our own heart and take our own spiritual temperature. John
was the only one that heard it, but the epistle encourages all of us to undergo this
self-assessment, much like the bishop of the church of Ephesus. The Lord reminds
us of this with a little slap, with a threat of punishment, to shake us up, to get our
attention, to make us see from where we have fallen. We have a need to question
ourselves. We need to ask ourselves where we came from, what we know and how we
fare. We need to assess ourselves spiritually. Our only path to salvation is the way of
repentance. Repent, and do the first works. The return to the first works is the proof of
true repentance.
I must tell you that this fallen state, if prolonged, becomes very dangerous because
it brings forth a spiritual indifference, a spiritual anesthesia, which according to
its degree makes it very difficult for a person to bounce back. Here I must confess
something to you. Many times when I am writing these words; as I am reviewing them;
and even now as J am saying them, I ask myself, “Do I have spiritual indifference?”
By the way, this is not very easy to detect. It is not very easy for me to know if
I have spiritual indifference. If we read a homily of St. John of the Ladder, St. John
Climacus, we will be panic-stricken, because we will all find ourselves guilty in varying
degrees. We fit this bill, all of us, with no exceptions. We suffer from an epidemic
of spiritual anesthesia. I am sorry for this assessment, but it is true and afterwards,
punishment comes. If we do not repent, repent and do the first works, or else I will come
to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
As you remember, the seven golden lampstands were in a certain place, and the
glorified, the historical and super-historical Jesus was moving among the lampstands.
These lampstands were tall individual candleholders and Jesus was moving easily in
the midst of these lit candles. When He says, J will remove your lampstand, He means
He will physically take it and move it elsewhere. Now what does this mean? The
removal of the lampstand means to become divest of divine grace, according to St.
Andrew, to become bare, naked of God’s grace,® to lose the grace. I cannot know,
my friends, if I have been stripped of the grace of God. I cannot see it, but others
around me can see it. A person cannot always have knowledge of this; sometimes
he can. Now what does it mean to be stripped of the grace of God? It is something
very dreadful. We pray that God never allows this to happen to us.
You may have seen other people, clergy and laity, who have been stripped of
God’s grace. God took His grace from them, and you can see these people move about
without God’s grace. It is an awful sight. I cannot describe it. I am not able. We can
only say that these pitiful people find themselves in a state worthy of many tears, as
we say in Greek. St. Andrew continues, “When the grace of God is stripped from a
person, then the demons rush in along with their servants, the evil people, and they
introduce a very unstable state in this person or in a congregation of persons.”
In our times, we have some excellent people, very serious people, clerics and lay
people. We have some true saints out there. But we also have many clerics in our ranks
and lay people deserving the many great tears and lamentations that we talked about.
These people become organized. They flock, or they pack together rather — we are
talking about wolves here. The demons rush into these people. ‘They literally dance
inside these people and it is quite a sight to see the demons dance inside these people,
these poor people, who were stripped of the grace of God. My friends, I say these
things and I need to hear them as well. I need to hear them myself. I need to remind
myself because we all need to sound the alarm, to ring the bell, to sound the trumpet
to warn ourselves away from such dangerous and miserable plights, or predicaments.
Such states are a true disaster.
In addition, the removal of the lampstand can also mean the elimination of
the topical or local church, a reality that found its fulfillment in our century after
one thousand nine hundred years of history for the seven churches in Asia Minor.
These churches were indefinitely uprooted from the geographical space that they had
occupied for one thousand nine hundred years. This particular threat from the Lord
found its fulfillment in 1922, when the seven churches were erased from the face of
>? St. Andrew of Caesarea, (PG V 106, 233A): “n tg Galas ydprtos yopvwars.”
[0 τρι4. “Δι' ἧς εν σάλω και κλύδωνι υπο της των πονηρίας πνευμάτων καὶ των υπουργούντων
αυτὴς πονηρὼν ανθρώπων καθίσταται:
the earth. Where is the church of Smyrna? Where are the churches of Ephesus and
Thyatira — blossoming churches, beautiful churches? These were some of the most
beautiful churches when they were established. Not a single one of the seven exists.
This threat, or else I will remove your lampstand, became reality. The lampstands have
been removed. We are to note that all the things spoken by the Lord here find their
application in the years and time of the Church. And the time of the Church (and
please remember this) is the time between the two appearances of Christ, the First
and Second Appearance, or parousia of Christ. This time consists of the one thousand
years of apocalypse.
Why one thousand? We will touch on this a number of times, because it is extremely
important, especially in the western hemisphere. Why one thousand years? Well, one
thousand is the number that was then used to avoid giving exact information. The
Second Coming of Christ is mysterious. We do not know when Christ will come
back. So, by using this allegorical number (one thousand), by which a great period of
time is meant, without hinting when Christ will come back, the time of the Church is
represented. These are the one thousand years or the millennium.
Again, this is an allegorical number, just like in the case of the ten virgins. Ten
virgins, the number ten, five foolish and five wise, is used so we do not start thinking
percentages. If the number was eight and two, let’s say, we could be thinking, “Well,
maybe eight stands for the eighty percent of the people that will be lost and twenty
percent stands for the people that will be saved.” The Lord says five, and five precisely
to keep us from drawing any conclusions based on percentages, so you will not think
along these lines. These are symbolic, allegorical, round numbers. Unfortunately, the
Jehovah’s Witnesses and most Protestants take these numbers literally. They fall into
the heresy of chiliasm or millennialism, which was condemned by our Church in the
Second Ecumenical Council of 381 — but we will speak on this at length when we
reach that chapter.
For now, we need to bring up the point that within this time frame of the Church,
all these events will take place. After one thousand nine hundred years, in 1922 to
be exact, the seven historic churches were uprooted from the grounds of the Church
of Christ. There is also a third type of movement of a lampstand, by which a church
does not lose its place. It stays in its geographical area but it loses its orthodoxy
and orthopraxia. I must tell you that this has been fulfilled historically as well. Can
you tell me, where are the blossoming churches of North Africa? Where are they?
There is not a single one left! The glorious churches of North Africa, which wrote
some of the brightest pages of Church history and for whose benefit St. Peter through
St. Mark wrote his gospel, are no more! The fury of Islam with its hordes of Arabs
leveled those churches. They were not removed and planted elsewhere. They lost
everything they had.
Some Orthodox churches that have lost their orthodoxy are the Coptic Church and
the Armenian Church. ‘This brings us to the church of the west. What are Protestants?
What is Rome? To stay in your place as a church and to lose your orthodoxy and
orthopraxia, is, I believe, the worst of all three kinds of lampstand removals. I must
also add to this last case, and what I am about to say may seem frightening. Let’s not
think that the lampstand of the Greek Orthodox Christian Church, the local Greek
Church (and we have historical evidence regarding this), is exempt from this removal.
By a removal of its lampstand we mean the loss of orthodoxy and orthopraxia; and
this could occur because all of us — the clergy and the laity — are itching to change and
modify the very character of our Orthodox Church. By the grace of God, we still have
people in the ranks of the clergy and laity who are struggling, holding on — even with
their teeth — to maintain both the orthodox identity and orthopraxia, meaning true
orthodox spirituality.
My friends, orthodox spirituality is not a luxury. When one argues, “Why do we
need to hold onto fasting?” and then single-handedly and officially writes fasting off
— it is a distortion, a mutation of orthodox spirituality. We are in danger of losing our
orthodox spirit, the orthodox phronema (mind set), faith or doxa and the orthodox
lifestyle. I am very much afraid that some day Central African Orthodox missionaries
may have to come to Greece to teach us the orthodoxy that we gave them a few
decades ago. I am very much afraid of this, which brings to mind the very thing that
St. John the Baptist told the Jews, God can raise children out of these stones, and do not
say that you are children of Abraham, because God can push you aside and He can raise
children from the stones for Abraham (cf. Matt. 3:9).
Along the same lines, let’s not boast about our Greek heritage and the fact that the
Gospel was written in Greek, and that the Apostles taught in our Greek cities during
the golden years of Christianity and established the great Greek churches of Ephesus,
Smyrna, Antioch, Thessaloniki, and Corinth. Let’s not boast, because Christ is quite
capable of raising Orthodox missionaries from Central Africa who will come here to
teach us orthodoxy and orthopraxia. All of this, my friends, in a nutshell, I relate to
help us understand the meaning of the Lord’s words, Be careful, because I will come and
remove your lampstand. We can see the chronological fulfillment of Christ's promise
move freely throughout the centuries since He is the eternal God.
But you have this in your favor; you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate. You see the same method that we had talked about: correction followed by
compliment. Christ uses some harsh words for the bishop of Ephesus, but now to
keep the bishop from despair, to keep him from kneeling and saying, “I am lost,”
Christ helps him; He softens the blow and lifts him up. “You have this good thing
going for you. However, this good thing that I am about to tell you does not exonerate
you from the wrong thing which you have. As a matter of fairness I must tell you that
you have this good element. But take care to correct what is lacking, or else as I told
you, I will remove your lampstand. So, take care of this. But you have something
good; you hate the works of the Nicolaitans which I also hate.”
Now who are the Nicolaitans and what are their works? The Nicolaitans, my
friends, whom we will deal with in subsequent verses as well, were gnosticizing
heretics. We do not have much information about them, but we will mention what we
know. They were gnosticizing heretics and fruits of the Gnostics [pronounced “nos-
tics” in English] or Gnosticism. It comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means
knowledge. Gnosticism was widespread during the third century before Christ, and
continued to trouble the Church openly until the third century, AD. It did not die; it
still exists and will exist until the end of history.
Gnosticism attempts to create a melting pot of all the ideologies of all times. It is
a mixture: a little philosophy, a little Christianity, a little Buddhism, a little bit of this,
a little bit of that, a little idolatry. It is a smorgasbord of all religions that maintains
the name of Christianity; but it is a Christianity of maximum distortion. They were
classified as heretics because they attempted to give themselves a Christian garb, a
Christian color, while their abuse and distortion of the Gospel was horrendous.
This horrendous distortion of the gospel takes place in our days as well. Freemasonry
is a revival of Gnosticism. As I have told you very many times, the Church recognizes
in Gnosticism, with its many forms, her biggest enemy, her greatest threat. The Church
fought her hardest battles against the Gnostics, much more so than against the other
heretics. Gnostics are very dangerous because they present many lures to enchant the
faithful and drag them to the abyss of perdition. It is not a simple heresy with a simple
denial of this or that doctrine. It is a conglomeration of many things, and therefore
escapes easy recognition. They tell you that they are Christians and they have no
trouble accepting everything you throw at them. They agree with everything in theory.
In practice they spurn just about everything.
So, the Nicolaitans were gnosticizing heretics and they were considered to be
Antinomians. Please pay attention to this because these are not things that existed
only way back then; these fallacies continue to repeat themselves throughout history.
Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun. Let’s not forget this. We have the
same phenomena with new names and new forms, but the substance always remains
the same. As Antinomians, these people had a very lax attitude towards idolatry and
carnal sins. They were quite open and receptive to elements of idolatry, but they had
great difficulty accepting the commandments of God in the area of ethics, spiritual
life and more specifically, in the area of bodily sins. They were tremendously loose in
this area, saying that the things that the law of God teaches are quite unrealistic and
inapplicable, specifically regarding the subject of abstinence or sexual control.
For example, young men and women are called by the law of God to stay pure
or abstinent until the day of their marriage, and within the marriage to practice
monogamy. Adultery is forbidden and it is a great sin. The Nicolaitans said, “We
cannot accomplish this. It is very difficult. Therefore, we need to use a different
strategy.” They thought to themselves, “Now what is the purpose of keeping God’s
commandment? The purpose is to destroy the flesh and to save the spirit.”
This is a great falsehood. The purpose of God’s commandment is not to destroy
the body. When the Church tells you to fast, to abstain, or to even hold night vigils,
the purpose is not to destroy the flesh. These are not aimed at the death of the
body, but at the death of the passions. I do not fast to destroy my flesh as if it were
something evil. This is Gnosticism, dualism, a gnosticizing heresy. So they misinterpret

it in this manner. Since they need to destroy the flesh and cannot accomplish it by
abstinence, they must improvise another method to achieve this result. This is what
they believed.
So, they felt that it was their duty to destroy the body. Plato used to say the same
thing. He was a dualist. Actually, all philosophical systems to this day are grounded
in dualism. They accept two forces, one of good and one of evil; and these forces are
in constant battle with each other. So, for me to destroy the flesh, something that I
cannot do with abstinence, then I will use the opposite approach, not the one of nomia
(with the law), but antinomia (against the law). Thus I am called an Antinomian. As
an Antinomian, I will indulge; I will keep eating, drinking, and stop a little before
my stomach explodes. I will fornicate until I drop, and this is how I will destroy my
flesh. ‘Their motto was, “The flesh must be abused.” “The abuse and misuse of the
flesh is a must. By using this method, I will find my happiness and my spirit will
become free.”
Now you might tell me, these things sound preposterous, unbelievable. My friends,
let's look around. These things are happening in our days. What was the Woodstock
era, the hippie movement? What are the young people today accomplishing with drug
use, or abuse, rather? Are we trying to find our paradise and happiness? We cannot
find it with the law of God, so we seek paradisiacal experience with different methods,
by rebelling against the law of God. These methods include drugs, alcohol, and all
sorts of evil entertainment. “It does not matter if I corrupt my body and poison my
flesh as long as I find my happiness.”
The Nicolaitans existed, they exist and they will always exist. This verse did not
enter the word of God by chance. The Nicolaitans became a symbol, a wave, an
ideology. Unfortunately, in our times, Nicolaitanism has reached its highest peak. We
see our youth today, and in reality, we see a youth under the sway of the sermons of
Nicolaitanism. Christ uses another name for the Nicolaitans a few verses later. He will
call them: Balaamites. Christ will refer to Balaam, their patron, and there we will make
some additional comments about the Nicolaitans.
Here we need to pay attention to two points. The first is that Christ makes a
distinction between the works of the Nicolaitans and the Nicolaitans. This is very
important and we need to pay attention to this. Here we have a distinction and a
directive against the sin. In other words, He differentiates the works from the
Nicolaitans themselves and directs this hate not against the Nicolaitans but against
their works.
My friends, this is of extreme importance because we often fail in this area very
miserably. I will break it down so that we can all understand it. Let's say that a person
is sick, suffering from a disease, a deadly virus. So we call a doctor, but the doctor
cannot differentiate between the microorganism causing the illness and the patient.
The microorganism and the patient are two different entities; so the doctor will fight
the microorganism so he can save the patient. Now if the doctor fails to diagnose
that there are two different entities and he treats them as one, he will not kill the
microorganism, but he will succeed in killing the patient. This may sound strange, but
even the worst doctor would not act this way because every doctor is trained to make
a distinction between the patient and the virus or microorganism.
Here, however, even though we are dealing with the same thing, we do not make a
distinction between the sin and the sinner. We criticize the sinner when we see the sin
in another human being. We do not get angry against the sin, but we attack the sinner.
We are guilty of this mistake. Christ is most clear when He says, “I hate the works of
the Nicolaitans.” It is because He wants everyone to be saved and to come to the full
knowledge of the truth. If I see a drug addict, how do I react? What do I say? “Look at
him; he is a burden to society. Let him die so that we can be done with him. We will be
better off.” There is a difference between what he does and what he is. He is a person.
We must save him! We must help him. Do we see this difference? Here in this verse,
the Lord makes this distinction, one which we must also learn to make.
There is something else as well. Christ said; I hate the works of the Nicolaitans.
The second important point Christ makes concerns the works of the Nicolaitans,
specifically the excessive freedom employed by the Nicolaitans. Now if we look at this
short phrase, we will call on those who like to believe, in the name of liberation, that
everything is permissible. I forgot to tell you that the Nicolaitans acted the way they
did in the name of liberation; and our times are unparalleled as far as the complete
misunderstanding of freedom goes. There was never a time that had such a sick sense
of freedom as our times.
I would like to add something to this point. Please forgive this insertion, but ]
overlooked this point, and I believe I must give you this information. St. Peter writes
his entire second epistle and Jude the brother of God comes forth with his entire
epistle to counter the subject of Nicolaitans. When you read the second epistle of
Peter, do you ever suspect that he had the Nicolaitans in mind? Of course, he does not
refer to them by that name, but he does refer to their lifestyle, and I will give you a few
verses on this. St. Paul writes, Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.
Everything is permissible butI will not be mastered by anything (cf. 1 Cor. 6:12). Here he
is referring to the Nicolaitans who said, “Everything is permissible” period.
This reminds me of a young man who was shopping at a store. I forget now how the
conversation went, but I told him something along these lines, and he asked, “Why?”
He acted like I was talking about taking his rights away from him or destroying the
idol of his freedom. He said, “Why? I’m free to do whatever I please.” I responded,
“The truth is that you are free to do whatever you want, but it’s not in your best
interest.” I am free, as are my friends, to use narcotics, or to be a drug addict. Is this in
my best interest? Is this beneficial? No, it is not. I use the subject of drug abuse because
it is a clear-cut example, and at least after we do it, we still have some health left in us
to realize that it is a terribly destructive habit, and a tremendous evil. So, if everything
is permissible, we are free to do it, to do it all. But is everything to my benefit?
Here the subject of freedom needs to be addressed. What is freedom? Does having
tights, and more rights help me? What is freedom, this hot topic of freedom and
independence? Our adolescents today want freedom, freedom, and more freedom. I
do not know where one should climb, maybe to the top of the tallest building in the
center of the city of Larisa, the tower of the Muslim mosque next to the museum. |
do not know where, but a very high part of Larisa, to call out at the top of his lungs,
“Fveryone in this city, young people listen. Be careful, the meaning of freedom is not
what you understand it to be and how you idolize it.”
But who will listen? Will anyone listen? The worship of freedom is so powerful
that anything you will dare to say, which would somehow curtail the goddess of
freedom, will make you an immediate enemy of your listener. But the wages and fruits
of this freedom are quite evident today. The holy one of God, Paul, said, Everything is
permissible to me but not everything is beneficial. 1 can do it all, give all the liberties to
my flesh, but would this benefit me? No, they are not in my best interest. Everything
is permissible, he continues, but I will not be enslaved by anything. I will be the master
of myself
St. Peter also talks about carnal sins, sins of the flesh, and apparently, here he
singles out the Nicolaitans. As I told you, For when they speak great swelling words of
emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have
actually escaped from those who live in error (2 Peter 2:18). They entice people to do
away with purity and to live the great and new life, the very thing that we witness so
intensely in our days. They are promised freedom — freedom in matters of the flesh.
Enjoy your flesh; do whatever you want; eat what you want; build whatever you want,
while you become slaves of corruption. So, while they speak about liberation and
freedom, they are slaves of depravity. They are in bondage.
So as we can see, my friends, the subject of the Nicolaitans is not old. It is very
new and it will always be new. Also, we need to watch something else here before we
close the subject. How should we feel for the sinners, our contemporary Nicolaitans?
We need to feel a hatred for such states, not for the sinners, but for the sin. Christ
said; I also hate the works of the Nicolaitans. If we mention this phrase to some people,
they may say, “Christ spoke only about love.” The answer to these people is: Do you
remember the hippie era when people took to the streets asking everyone, “Do you
love Christ? Christ has something to tell you.” And along with Christ came drugs,
nakedness, wild parties in the countryside, erotic relations, and much, much more.
This happens today with the Children of God, a heresy in Greece. They ask you
if you love Christ and then, they all live together and of course, they commit all kinds
of sins. This is a new occult movement in the country of Greece, where they live in
community houses in great corruption. There is evidence of this, so I am not making
this up. We need to feel sorry for these people and pray for them, but we will hate
the things they do. Unfortunately, we have some Christians in our ranks — I have
heard some of them, and even some official lips — saying, “Well, these people have
something to say as well.” Such talk means that we need to be alarmed that we are in
danger of loosening our moral and ethical standards. When we hear, “Well, let them
be. Let them express themselves. They have something to offer,” it means our ethical
guidelines are being compromised. If one of us dares to say, “I hate these activities”
people will frown and tell us that we are intolerant. We are people of hate. However,
Christ said, I hate the works of the Nicolaitans. He who has an ear let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches.
Why does He speak to the churches and not to the church of Ephesus, since this
happens to bea personal epistle to that church? Even though it is a personal epistle and
it addresses the historical, geographical church of Ephesus, it also addresses the entire
Church. In other words, it addresses all of the churches, and it asks their attention. He
wants them to know what the Spirit says.
The Spirit of course is the Holy Spirit, which opens the spiritual ears. On this, St.
Andrew of Caesarea says, “Every man has physical ears, but spiritual ears belong to the
spiritual man only.”*' We pray, my friends, that God will grant us these spiritual ears.
When we begin to possess these spiritual ears, then they will enable us to screen all the
waves and sounds and different pied pipers of our times. And by this screening process
we will be able to say, “This is dangerous. That can be classified in that category.” By
using this spirit of discretion, which happens to be one of the greater gifts of the Holy
Spirit, we will be able to stand in our turbulent times. We have a great need, to stay
standing in a time unprecedented in its corruption. My friends, we will continue next
Sunday, God willing.
41 St. Andrew, PG, V.106, 233C. “Σαρκικόν μεν ους πας ἄνθρωπος, πνευματικὸν δὲ ο
πνευματικὸς μόνος κέκτηται".
CHAPTER 10
Revelation 2:7-9
Promises to the Angel of Ephesus — the Epistle to the
Angel of Smyrna — the Tribulation and Poverty of the
Angel of Smyrna
he epistle of the Lord to the church of Ephesus closes with the finishing
phrase most common to the epistles in the book of Revelation. 7o him who
conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God
(2:7). As I have told you, this. phrase is repeated at the end of each epistle,
with some small variations corresponding to the variations in the epistles themselves.
Therefore, to him who wins in the struggle against Satan it will be granted to taste of the
kingdom of God. The certainty behind this victory is the victory of Christ and our faith
in Him.
The tree of life promised by the Lord is a reference to the tree that was forbidden
to Adam and Eve before they were expelled from paradise. In fact, their expulsion
was precisely for this purpose, to keep them from eating from the tree of life, so they
would not become immortal in their sin, thus making evil immortal, as the Church
Fathers interpret. As we all know, the door of paradise remains sealed and shut. Simply
speaking, death entered creation.
Now, however, the fruit of the tree of life is offered, by Christ Himself Who opened
the road leading to the paradise of God. This expression: of my God is similar to what
He said to the Myrrh-bearing women, J am ascending to My Father and your Father, to
My God and your God (John 20:17). This refers to the human nature of Christ, Who
opened the gate of paradise as God-man. It would be peculiar for Him to open the
door as God, since God kept mankind away from immortality, far away from eternal
life. The incarnate Son of God, in essence—the human nature—was the Person Who
struggled, worked, and led mankind back again to the Kingdom of God.
Now what is the struggle that every Christian must try to win? Each Christian
must apply himself to all the things that we covered in our last two subjects on this
epistle, the rejection of and struggle against every dogmatic and ethical derailment,
and persistence in the first burning love. This love is the one that the Lord complained
about saying; You left your first love. Naturally, you understand that the Lord’s promise
— to eat of the tree of life — is directed against those illicit carnal pleasures permitted by
the Nicolaitans. The Lord expressed hate for their works. We now close the first of the
seven epistles from the book of the Revelation.
And by the grace of God we enter the subject matter of the second epistle, referring
to the bishop of Smyrna. We feel especially touched when we hear the names of these
cities which are so close to us. Not only close, not only Greek but, if you will, across
from us! So close, that if you climbed to the top of Tirnavos, our mountain here, and
you screamed at the top of your lungs, you would be heard in Smyrna! Here! Across
from us, to the east, our Smyrna! Many of you in this audience left Smyrna as refugees.
We are especially touched, more so than someone say, from China, Africa, or San
Francisco, California when we read these lines. We also have this great privilege; just
consider that all these great truths of the Lord, the God of the heavens, take substance
and color from our immediate geographic area, this Mediterranean Sea, this area, the
Greek area of Asia Minor! This is, once again, especially touching to us.
The epistle to the bishop of Smyrna reads: And to the angel of the church in Smyrna
write, The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. I know your tribulation
and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and
are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the
devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you
will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who conquers shall not be
hurt by the second death’ (2:8-11). |
As we said previously, Smyrna was a great Greek city. Its name is also Greek. It
is located eight miles north of Ephesus (the church that received the previous epistle
from the Lord). It is south of Pergamos, another church that will receive an epistle. So,
Smyrna was in between these two cities and competed with Pergamos and Ephesus in
the social, economic, and cultural sectors. In the city of Smyrna, there was a Jewish
synagogue that proved to be very intolerant of and polemic toward Christianity. The
major part of this epistle will deal with the intolerance propagated by the synagogue
against the Christians and their bishop in Smyrna.
By the way, the epistles to the bishops of Smyrna and Philadelphia are the only
epistles without any sort of reproof; they only have compliments. There is not a single
criticism, only praises. These epistles are full of praise and consolation.
The first bishop of Smyrna was Bucolus. The successor to Bucolus and recipient
of this epistle was most likely the Apostolic Father and Hieromartyr Polycarp who was
martyred February 23, 155 A.D. This epistle of our Lord to the bishop of Smyrna
serves as a classic example for the heroes of the faith. These are the words of the First and
the Last, who became dead and lived. The introductory phrase of Christ, the Sender,
is taken from the initial vision, which we analyzed previously. It is relevant to the
entire theme of the epistle: persecution, martyrdom and death. It advises those who
will be subjected to this persecution, martyrdom or death, not to be afraid. Fear not,
because the One who sends them this epistle, and for Whose sake they are suffering
martyrdom and death, is the One who became dead and lived again. In other words,
what can they fear? Death? There is nothing harmful about death. They will resurrect
by the power of the resurrected Son and Word of God.
St. Andrew of Caesarea writes, “As God, He is first. As human being, He is last. He
is first, because He is the One who existed before all beings. He is last, in the context
of the human nature because He received the created human nature at a later time as
last or eschatos.” In addition, the phrase, the First and the Last echoes the Alpha and the
Omega, as He told us in the beginning of the book, [ am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end... the first and the last (cf.1:8). He contains everything that is of
a beginning, and everything that is of an ending. All the creations exist in God.
I know your works and your affliction and your poverty. But you are rich. Initially
this may sound contradictory. How can you be rich and poor at the same time? ]
know your poverty, but you are rich? Maybe someone who works on Wall Street, one
who limits himself to financial matters and does not have any spiritual orientation
whatsoever, one who fails to recognize allegorical language, such a one could say here,
“Well, maybe he had money hidden somewhere, a hidden treasure buried somewhere.
Maybe the Lord is telling him, ‘you are poor, but I know you are rich because you are
hiding your money and you are hoarding it somewhere.” Obviously, this is not the
case here. “You are poor. I know it. I know your works. I know your affliction, your
persecution. I know your poverty. Despite all this, I will show you that you are rich.”
And here, my friends, we are presented with the three-stranded rope that pulls the
Christian on the journey of holiness. I will ask for your special attention, because this
spells out the journey of the Church. It is very pertinent to the journey of the faithful.
I must also remind you to kindly acknowledge that what you will read in a moment is
not for some other people out there, but will speak to a// of us. Again, let us look into
this triple strand of works, affliction, and poverty.
When the Lord says, [ know your works, by works He refers to the dynamic activity
of the bishop of Smyrna. These works include works of love and philanthropy, but also
the works of Christ on earth. Interpreting only good works as philanthropy, by the
way, is a very limited and narrow explanation. In the full sense of the word, works are
the life and the conduct of the faithful. We need to know this, because a certain person
may not have the means to give alms, to give money or to pull strings, to influence
people in high offices and high places, to visit senators and government officials, to
solve people’s problems and needs when they come to see him. One can be bedridden,
a mere pauper, and be full of good works. What are these works? ‘They are his life and
his conduct. The way he lives, the way he exists with his patience, endurance, faith,
love, lack of grumbling, joy, regardless of pain and poverty — all these are works.
The Lord will tell us some day; J know your works. What works? He will tell us, I
know the way you lived, how you thought, how you talked, how you moved about,
how you influenced other people. One can be full of great feelings of philanthropy,
but he may not be able to express them. Many times we see certain people and we
want to help them. We would love to help them, but we cannot. However, we can feel
pain inside. We can cry to God and pray to Him; Lord, it is such a rough winter out
there! It is so cold, and there are so many people who are homeless. They may live in
tents, or they may be earthquake victims, refugees, or jobless.
42 St. Andrew, PG 106. 2340. “Πρῶτος ἐστιν ὡς Θεός, ἐσχατος ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτων των
καιρὼν γεγονὸς και δια τῆς τριημέρου νεκρώσεως ανοίξας ἡμὶν τὴν ζωὴν την αἰὠνιον:ἢ
When the snow covers everything and the poor birds cannot find food, one who
sees them can say, “Oh my Lord this is all my fault. The poor birds suffer because
of me, the human being. If man did not sin in paradise, creation would not have to
suffer like this. I am at fault.” Man is at fault for this difficult state of nature. Now tell
me, aren't all these good works? These are expressions of philanthropy. A person can
open his window and place a few crumbs on a windowsill or use a bird feeder and
help the birds in times of deep snow. Aren’t these expressions of a loving heart? Please
believe me, and do not let your mind always turn to money when we talk about good
works. Do not let your mind think that one must build hospitals and orphanages,
that one must give huge sums of money — not necessarily, my friends. It is the life and
citizenship of a person that matter. So, God knows the works of every person and of
the Church.
The second strand in this threefold package is affliction, or persecution. This is
the condition created by the contrary and God-opposing forces in the presence of
God’s works. It is the hate, jealousy, and the extreme opposition of Satan. When the
devil and the people of Satan, the servants of Satan, see man doing God’s works, they
become full of hate. They attack him. They create situations, and problems. It is this
affliction that results from the attacks of the devil, the jealous and Godless people
which defines the affliction of the faithful. We need to understand this.
We have said before that it is impossible to be a true Christian and to be without
affliction. The Lord never gave us the assurance of salvation before our death, like
some sort of salvation certificate issued by some Protestant sectarians. That is a heresy.
The Lord’s assurance is, In this world you will have affliction. Now, what kind of
affliction? It would not entail the affliction caused by our sins — that would be worldly
affliction. It would not mean to have affliction if for example: my business failed, or
to be afflicted by loss of money, or loss of a career, or because someone stole my car
or my belongings, or because I suffered damage from an earthquake, or because a
flood destroyed my farm, my cabin; all these afflictions are not in the name of God.
These are everyday worldly afflictions, and being distressed in this manner does not
necessarily give me a ticket to the Kingdom of God.
However, if your affliction is related to the work of God because you live a godly
life, and this invites the hate, the jealousy and the malice of Satan and the God-
opposing people, and if they then create difficulties and problems in your path, then
you are blessed. However, to expand on this, when I suffer everyday worldly distress:
accidents, diseases, the loss of a home to fire, the loss of a job, the loss of ten acres of
corn to drought, and I do not grumble, I do not curse God, then this can turn into
a blessing as well. So when I take even my mundane and worldly distresses patiently
and do not grumble against God, then even this circumstantial and worldly stress
takes on spiritual dimensions and counts as an asset in the realm of eternity. Likewise,
grumbling, cursing at God, and blasphemy will also be accounted in eternity.
We now come to the third aspect of the Christian journey, which is poverty. I will
speak extensively on this, and I would like us to pay careful attention here. What is
the meaning of poverty? Initially it means material poverty. I will clarify this. It clearly
means to not have many material goods, to be poor. In the gospel, we come across
two forms of poverty, or two expressions. The first is the seeking out of the poor, and
the provision of the necessary aid to victims of this poverty. In other words, poverty
is a sort of social evil that needs to be cured. St. James, the brother of God writes, [fa
brother or a sister is naked and they even lack their daily food, (if these brothers or sisters
are cold, if they do not have clothing, or if they are out in the cold and hungry, if they
do not have their daily food) and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and
filled (James 2:15-16), —if you simply wish that they find warmth and food, but do
not respond to any of their needs, then what is the use?
This is something that we may find ourselves saying. “My friend, I feel bad for
you. I feel sorry for you. I pray that God helps you and blesses you.” We do not
criticize this person. We do not ask him to leave. We are polite to him. We do not shut
him out. We show compassion. But we do not give him anything either. We let him
go empty-handed. What is the use? St. James says this kind of religion is useless. Pure
and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows
in their trouble. So, do not only show compassion by words, but also make provision
to heal and cure some of the great needs and troubles created by poverty.
What is significant is that the criterion of our entrance to the Kingdom of God is
love expressed in almsgiving. The Lord said, J was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty
and you satisfied my thirst, I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed
me (cf. Matt. 25:35). These words of the Lord express the lowest step of love, however
they are expressions of love, and they will be rewarded. These expressions constitute
the criteria for the judgment on the last day. So, we conclude that we need to provide
a cure for the social evil of poverty. Poverty, in itself, is something very bad. I will
repeat this. Poverty in and of itself is something evil. Poverty is a bodily evil, and it
is the result of the ethical evil that we previously mentioned. The small birds suffer
because I sin, and through the disobedience of human kind, death and corruption
enter nature. Therefore, poverty is a result of the ethical evil—the distancing of man
from God—initially in the persons of Adam and Eve and in the continued personal
sins of their descendants.
As we see, lack of rain, drought, and fruitlessness of the earth are a curse, while,
on the contrary, fruitfulness of the earth is a blessing. The lack of fruitfulness of the
earth is the cause of poverty (the lack of wheat or the lack of oil) and is not limited to
Greece. When drought afflicts the entire continent, or the entire planet, then hunger
takes on universal dimensions. This is a serious matter, and in those instances, we
pray to God to put an end to this plague, this drought, this curse, etc. In the Divine
Liturgy, as in the mystery of marriage, what do we pray for? We pray for abundance
of the fruits of the earth, for favorable weather. In the sacrament of marriage, we pray
for the newlyweds to be blessed with earthly goods. We pray for this officially in the
church! It is not a simple wish, but a prayer of the entire congregation. The entire
congregation prays to God to keep the pantry of the newlyweds filled so they do not
lack anything.
From all this, my friends, we see that the subject of poverty is a serious one. That
is precisely why we pray to God for its extinction. We do not want this plague to exist.
We do not need to use Scripture verses to show that it is a plague. I will only refer
to the fourth seal in Revelation. We will see that, at the opening of this seal, hunger
prevails. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with
hunger, with death and by the beasts of the earth (cf. 6:8). Do we understand this?
Authority is given for one fourth of the earth to be killed! And at the time of the
writing of this book, we have to remember that the weapons used for battle were the
slingshot, the bow and arrow, and the spear. It would have been inconceivable that
one fourth of the earth could have been killed! Today, with the weaponry that we have
stored in different arsenals, not only the one-fourth but also the entire population of
earth could vanish! The population of all five continents could vanish from the face
of the earth in the matter of a few hours. I say this because two thousand years ago
one could see these numbers, one quarter of the earth, as an exaggeration. By today’s
measures, one fourth of the earth does not seem much at all. It is really minimal that,
out of the four or five billion, one to one and a half billion would die by the sword—
meaning from states of war, from hunger, and from the beasts of the earth.
Incidentally, beasts are not only the lions. When we get to these chapters, I will
explain what the beasts of the earth are. A beast, my friends, is also a virus, or a
microbe, a pathogenic microbe. Never mind that it is invisible. These are much more
dangerous than the beasts of the field like the lion or leopard. But the bottom line
is that people will die from hunger, and that this is one of the seven plagues. On
the other hand, if you will, one of the miracles of our Lord was the feeding of the
five thousand in the desert! Doesn't the evangelist write, Everyone ate and they were
filled, and they collected the leftovers and filled twelve large baskets to the top? (cf. Matt.
14:20) This shows bounty. The Lord said, do not want these people to be exhausted on
the way and be overcome by hunger (cf. Mark 8:2). He also said, I have compassion on
these people, on the multitude, because they have now continued with me for three days
and have nothing to eat (cf. Matt. 15:32, Mark 8:2). So, the Lord wanted to cure this
state of hunger, and He eliminates this evil from His brothers. Yes, when you see your
neighbor in a state of poverty you must help him. The other person must not be poor.
At the very least, he should not be cold and hungry.
However, there is another aspect of poverty that we find in the Gospel that is not
considered an evil, but on the contrary, it is considered a blessing. In fact, it is a great
blessing, and a much sought after blessing. The first link of the chain of the Beatitudes
is the Beatitude of the Poor. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven (Makarioi oi ptochoi to pnevmati.) (Matt. 5:3). Blessed are those who are poor
by their own will, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
My friends, you may have repeatedly heard that the poor in spirit are the humble.
No, my friends, the poor in spirit are not necessarily the humble, even though we may
interpret this Beatitude to include the humble as well. If we take the time to study
this Beatitude very closely, we will discover that this is not the central meaning of this
verse. I will prove this to you in a few minutes. You may argue the point that there
are a number of Fathers who have spoken and written about the first Beatitude on the
basis of humility. I accept this. But I will also name you a number of Fathers who have
written and worked on this Beatitude on the basis of poverty—simply poverty, and
not humility or humble-spiritedness (tapeinophrosini). It does no harm if someone
takes this verse allegorically.
I will show you that the spirit of the verse is not about humility but poverty, and
that poverty is portrayed as a great and real blessing. [It is clearer in the Greek where
the grammar allows for much more detail and accuracy.] Makarioi, Blessed are the
poor - to pnevmati. Not in spirit [as we translate in English] but the poor by their own
spirit meaning, “Blessed are the poor by their own free will, for theirs is the Kingdom
of Heaven.” This to pnevmati in the Greek grammar is the third declension of a noun,
and it shows method. First declension, to pnevma; second declension, tou pnevmatos:
third declension, to pnevmati — first, the spirit; second, of the spirit; third, with, by,
or through the spirit. The third declension shows method.
So here, the Scripture refers to voluntary poverty and not humble-mindedness
or humble-spiritedness. This reality of the poor being blessed becomes crystal clear in
the words of our Lord to the wealthy young man, Go, sell all your possessions, give it to
the poor and come and follow me (cf. Matt. 19:21). Simply put, do not be rich. Come
and become poor. Stay poor. Give your possessions to the poor. We see here that the
Lord encourages voluntary poverty. However, more importantly, when the Gospel
of Luke records the Beatitudes, it does not even mention the word spirit. It simply
says, Blessed are the poor. And what is most significant is that St. Luke writes about
the poor in the positive and the negative sense. Blessed are you poor, for yours in the
kingdom of God (Luke 6:20). Here we have the positive aspect. In verse twenty-four,
we have the negative aspect: But woe to you who are rich. For you have received your
consolation (Luke 2:25). You have this luxurious lifestyle: your beautiful homes with
all the amenities, your expensive cars and boats, gourmet foods and the like. You have
received your consolation.
Do we remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? You have received on
earth, but the poor did not (cf. Luke 16:19-31). It makes no difference that poor Lazarus
was in that state involuntarily. He did not linger at the rich man’s doorstep for any
reason other than to give him the opportunity for almsgiving. He did not abandon his
wealth somewhere and take refuge at the rich man’s doorstep to be licked by his dogs.
Poor Lazarus was in great need and he did not do this by choice. However, his poverty,
and the poverty of every poor person, takes on spiritual dimensions because he does
not grumble against God. He does not complain.
St. Luke does not stop at this. He continues in verse twenty-five, Woe to you
who are full for you shall hunger (Luke 6:25). Here he talks about those who have full
stomachs, not about those who are full of righteousness. In Matthew, the Gospel says,
Blessed are those who are hungry for righteousness sake. [τ refers to voluntary poverty. So,
here in Luke we read, Woe to you who are full, which certainly does not mean those
who are full of righteousness. This would be nonsensical. We believe the text to be
quite clear. Woe to the rich, but woe to the rich who does not care for the fact that
poverty may exist for others.
Furthermore, we see that the Apostles were very poor as they moved about
the world. The Apostle Paul tells us...sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making
many rich, (spiritually that is) having nothing yet possessing everything (2 Cor.
6:10). We possess everything because we have you. By having you we do not lack
anything. You supply us with our needs so it does not matter that we do not own
anything. Here again we need to stress two very basic points from the above. First,
and I emphasize this, is the voluntary element of poverty, to choose to be poor
even though I do not have to be. Let’s be careful here; I do not enter into poverty
by foolishness or stupidity. If I choose to gamble my money away or waste it on
alcohol at the local pub, it is depravity. I stay poor for the sake of the gospel and
not for the sake of my passions. I stay poor for the Kingdom of God.
The second point is to choose this poverty for Christ's sake, poverty for Christ
Jesus, for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Involuntary poverty, forced poverty is
something bad and if you will, a very heavy burden. Voluntary poverty, but not for
Christ, is poverty without meaning or purpose. It may be eccentricity or philosophically
motivated. Voluntary poverty for Christ is what has value with eternal dimensions. I
want to emphasize this. I repeat voluntary poverty is for Christ's sake, for the sake of the
gospel. I can be voluntarily poor without Christ. For this poverty to have any eternal
dimensions, it must be voluntary and grounded in Christ. This voluntary poverty for
Christ has a great theological dimension and we need to stay on this subject for a little
while. This theological dimension is based on the following reasons.
The first is because it frees the wings of the soul for spiritual flight from the
material weight of wealth. The Church Fathers often repeated and accentuated that
the inflow of blood, or materials, goes along with the outflow of spirit. The intake
of blood equals the outtake of spirit. In other words, these are reversely proportional
sums. The more money you try to make, the less spirituality you will keep. According
to the words of the Lord, wealth and spirituality are not compatible. The rich man and
the spiritual man are so incompatible that the Lord’s words astonished the disciples
when He stated, Jt is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a
rich man to enter God’s kingdom (Matt. 3:4, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25). By the way, in
ancient Greek camel was also the name for the thick ropes they used to tie ships on
the dock. Interpreters use both of these possibilities when responding to the disciple’s
astonishment. The Lord said, what is impossible with men is possible with God (Matt.
3:6, Mark 10:27, Luke 18:27). Some rich people will enter the Kingdom of God,
like Abraham, but they are few, very few. The odds are dangerously low and only the
person who understands these realities of the gospel may be saved even though he may
be wealthy.
The second reason for the eternal, theological dimension of spiritual, voluntary
poverty is that it is an excellent and irreplaceable guide or escort for one in the
spiritual life. St. Paul provides us with a wonderful picture of this with what he says in
Phillipians; and this by the way is an immortal page of the immortal St. Paul. He was
in jail when he wrote this. He was in Rome and he could not work to earn a living.
He worked with his hands as a tent maker. So, the Phillipians sent him some money
and he writes to them, “Why did you send me money? Okay, you did well because
this shows the fruits of your spiritual life but I have learned to be self-sufficient with
the things I have.” This is a great chapter in man’s life, self-sufficiency.
I know both, to be abased and to abound in everything, and in all things, I have
been conditioned. I know how to be filled. I know how to hunger, both to have plenty
and to go without (cf. 4:12). In other words, when I have plenty of food, I do not eat
like a glutton and when I am hungry, I have learned not to blaspheme God. I have
learned the lesson to have plenty, to be rich without being attracted and attached to
these things; but I can also go hungry without doubting God and questioning what
is going to happen to me — maybe God forgot me or maybe God died. No, St. Paul
says, I have everything I need and then some. J have everything I need and I abound!
(cf. 4:18) Holy St. Paul, you are in jail! You are in jail for three years! Two years in
Caesarea and one year in Rome, what do you have? He says, J have everything and I
abound. St. Paul is not lying. Do you see how a person can discipline himself, how he
can be conditioned?
My friends, what are you doing when you keep filling your children up with
chocolate, ice cream, cakes, cream cheese, and fresh butter? What is going to happen
in a period of hunger? We need to teach the children to fast, to learn, even with all
of today’s technical means, to withstand some mild suffering, so they will be able to
survive some difficult days if they happen to come upon us. If they are trained in this
way for the difficult days of their lives, like St. Paul, they will say, J know how to live
with plenty and I know how to survive with next to nothing.
The third reason for the theological dimension to one practicing voluntary poverty
for Christ is that he establishes dependence on Christ at each moment. He depends on
the providence of God; and by this method self-confidence and self-assurance is wiped
out. It is arrogant to say, “I have plenty. I don’t need anyone. I have a full refrigerator
and my bank accounts.” Such self-confidence and self-dependence are both forms
of idolatry. We are not talking about social security and some provisions that are
necessary to cure involuntary poverty so that we do not have poor and destitute
people. We are talking about the people who boast, “I have everything. I have stocks,
bonds, insurance policies, and bank accounts. I have nothing to fear.” It is a terrible
thing to put your hope in pieces of paper. My friends, we must depend on God. One
who is voluntarily poor has no choice but to put all his trust in God. When he is in a
tough situation he says, “God did not die. He is watching out for me. He is watching
over me. The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Psalm 23:1). The man who is confident in his net
worth says, “So what if God dies? So what if God does not exist? I don't care. I’ve got
money.” He depends on himself.
The fourth point to the theological dimension of voluntary poverty for Christ is
that the hope of the faithful is placed in heavenly wealth. My hope is not in earthly
riches, but I stay poor and in this way, I transfer my wealth to heaven. When I give
up my riches for Christ, I transfer them to heaven, whereas the rich man of this age
does not transfer anything to heaven. Remember the words of the Lord and you will
see that this is the meaning of the Gospel. Do not store up treasure on earth. He does
not suggest for us not to have some economic base, something saved, for a time of
need, for a rainy day. But He does say do not treasure hunt. Do not have your hope
in your earthly wealth, where moth and rust destroy, but store up your treasure in heaven
where there is no danger of it being stolen by thieves (cf. Matt. 6:19). They cannot break
in there. There is no rust, no moths. But the treasury of heaven is forever safe and it
even earns interest!
The bank of heaven pays great interest, great dividends — if we only knew. It is the
very thing that the Lord said; make friends with the mammon of righteousness. Give
alms before you leave this life so that when you go there these friends will welcome
you (cf. Luke 16:9). What He means by this is that I will receive my capital there
with interest. I will have wealth there. St. Paul writes to those Christians who lost
all their belongings when their properties were seized because of persecution by the
anti-Christian authorities. This is another great chapter. Please read it and you will
see. St. Paul says; You joyfully accepted the confiscation of your belongings (Heb.10: 34).
What strange behavior. Who feels joy when their belongings are being confiscated or
stolen? Here is the secret; knowing that you have earned, for yourselves, much better and
lasting possessions stored in heaven (10:34). And knowing this you are not saddened. Do
you see that voluntary poverty for Christ leaves a man feeling joy in the most adverse
conditions? His hope is not in his possessions, but in his God.
The fifth reason for voluntary poverty for Christ is that it makes the faithful person
flexible and very receptive to the Christian confession, mission, and martyrdom. The
one who burns with faith for Christ does not think about financial statements. He
sacrifices everything in a heartbeat. Do you know how difficult this can be for someone
who needs a large income, who has amassed great wealth? How can he suddenly
confess Christ? We see this every day as Christians but we stay silent, more silent than
fish, because we do not want to create waves. We do not want to have any negative
repercussions in our personal interests, meaning our income-producing abilities must
continue. Nevertheless, when you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear, so
you can easily undergo martyrdom. You will truly be as free as a bird. You will have a
tremendous flexibility when you choose not to have possessions.
The sixth reason for cultivating voluntary poverty for Christ—and please pay
attention to this one—is that poverty is the denial of the recreation and remodeling
of a very old world, a world that will vanish in its present form. None of it will be
left when we enter the new world of the Kingdom of God, nothing at all, not our
homes, offices, farms or boats, absolutely nothing. Look at what the Apostle says; But
this I tell you my brothers because time has been shortened. So those who buy something as
if it was not theirs to keep and those who use the things of this world as if not engrossed in
them... (1Cor. 7:30-31)
We can use the things of this world. We will use cassette recorders, our watch, the
bus, and electricity. But let’s be careful. Let’s not get attached to and be glued to these
things. We will simply use them, because the form of this world is passing. So, why
should we go out and work, work, work, buy, build, invest? What for? First, death
is just around the corner. Even in the absence of death, I must wonder, what am I
striving for? What am I going to gain? I will gain nothing more than an old world, a
world on its last legs, a world that will burn up. This world will be replaced by a new
world with a new form and a new dimension. This world will be the Kingdom of God.
Every old thing will be renewed. Everything as we know it. This is why the man who
chooses voluntary poverty is exceedingly theological. He considers all these things.
The last point is even more profound. Voluntary poverty makes the faithful similar
to the One who became poor voluntarily. And Who became poor voluntarily other
than Christ our God? God becomes poor because men became poor through sin. Now
man, emulating God, Who became poor by His Incarnation becomes wealthy. Let's
see how St. Paul puts this, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich yet for your sake he became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich
(2 Cor. 8:9). So, man becomes an imitator of God.
We truly see this in the full dimension of the gospel. This is how all the saints
lived. Look at the lives of all the saints and you will see this. What are saints if not the
iconography of the gospel, or if you will, the gospel in moving pictures, the gospel
in action? This is the work of the saints. Do you have a hard time understanding the
gospel? Then read the life of a saint and you will see the gospel in action. Just like
in past times, when the people could not read and long before the printing press,
the dogmatic teachings of our Church were all over the walls of the church in icons
and frescos. One can find the entire service of Salutations on the walls of the church,
for example, and through this the people were able to understand Orthodox dogma.
Similarly, just as icons have been used to teach the gospel, the Orthodox gospel in
application is the lives of the saints.
However, St. Paul provides us with a wonderful presentation regarding both of
these forms of poverty: involuntary as something evil that needs to be cured, and
voluntary as something good that needs to be sought out, in essence the theology of
poverty, poverty for Christ. You will find this in Second Corinthians chapters eight
and nine. You may want to look into both of these chapters in your daily reading time.
We must mention my friends that today more than ever we live in a time of comfort
and secularization. The spirit of this age is: living for the day, what counts is now, eat,
drink, be merry, make money and enjoy it anyway you can; life is short and you would
be stupid if you do not take advantage of the opportunities to become wealthy. It is
precisely because this spirit of comfort and material success captivates them, that the
Christians of our day fail to see the value of voluntary poverty for Christ. Perhaps they
understand this or they want to see this poverty in the area of the clergy.
As you know, our people would like to have their priests very poor. They do not
want to have their priest have many possessions and they certainly do not want to see
him with much financial success. The minute the priest buys an expensive car or an
apartment building or a luxurious home, the news travels at the speed of light. [The
gossip may even take international dimensions thanks to the internet.] Our people
want our priests to be poor and they respect and honor the poor priest. Do we see the
double standard here? The laity loves to have a poor priest, but they themselves do
not want to hear about voluntary poverty for Christ. Well, this is kind of ridiculous
because we want our priest poor and that is commendable, but why just the priest?
Do we have one gospel for priests and a different gospel for lay people? The gospel is
common for everyone, the same gospel!
My friends I would not be exaggerating if I told you that the reason we do not
understand Christianity today is precisely because we fail to understand the concept
of voluntary poverty for Christ. This is not an exaggeration. I repeat, today people do
not understand Christianity because they fail to see the point; and since they do not
see this point, they do not understand the mystery of the Incarnation. It seems strange
to them and they feel the same about the mystery of the Cross. All these things remain
not only mysteries but sealed mysteries. Since they do not comprehend the mystery of
the Incarnation or the mystery of the Cross, they find themselves denying Christ and
the Cross. This is the cause of the denial because these things are incomprehensible to
the Christians of comfort. We are talking about eternal truths here. And you may be
thinking, Father Athanasios, forgive me, but could you get with the 80’s a little bit?
We're almost at year 2000. Can't you be a little more realistic?
My friends, the gospel is always contemporary. The gospel does not get old.
There are no old-fashioned ideas in the gospel. The gospel is life. The gospel does not
respond to fashions and fads. This is why we suffer today. If we contract a disease,
we would want to get well. We must find the cause. Can we say no, we do not want
to use penicillin because it is not very modern, because it was invented many, many
decades ago? The medicine is always the medicine. If it cures and it gets people
well, then it does not get old. Are we going to stop drinking water just because it
is as old as creation? Water does not get old-fashioned because it can quench the
thirst of a person. So if water does not get old, then the ving water, the gospel, does not
get old.
My friends, the standard of this voluntary poverty for Christ is the very thing that
St. Paul tells us so that we will not be alarmed. What is great wealth is the combination
of piety with self-sufficiency. Godliness with contentment is great gain. To be self-sufficient,
content; I have some things, thank God, these things serve me well, having enough to
eat and coverings - in these let us be satisfied (cf. 1Timothy 6:6-8). This applies to
all Christians, clergy and laity alike, even though this is the minimum level of our
sacrifice and offering, it is a good starting point for every Christian. Exactly this type
of poverty combined with distress and works was the wealth of the bishop of Smyrna
that was praised by Christ. Despite all the wealth of the city, this bishop chose to be
very poor. Smyrna had great wealth, but its bishop lived the voluntary poverty for
Christ. That was his wealth. May it be our wealth as well.
CHAPTER 11
Revelation 2:9-12
The Synagogue of Satan — the Persecution of the Church
of Smyrna — Promises to Her — Introduction to the
Letter to the Bishop of Pergamos
And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last,
who died and came to life. I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and
the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you
into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful
unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death.’
Homily given February 11, 1981

€ continue now my friends, with the epistle of our Lord to the bishop
of the church of Smyrna. We see that He praises the bishop. He does
not find any blemishes or criticism but only praises. He praises him
because he is poor according to the measure of the world despite
the wealth of that city, but rich according to the measure of God. Previously, we
took a close look at the subject of poverty; now, together with Our Lord, we enter a
new subject.
The Lord exclaims, I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are
not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Initially we need to pay attention to the language of
the Lord, a language that we would not dare to use today. If we were to use this tone
we would be labeled as harsh, polemic, fanatical, insensitive people of hate, loveless
people. Unfortunately this is the spirit of our times, in our ever so undogmatic and
handholding times of unions and unmixable mixtures. These lovers of all accuse and
criticize those who use the language of the gospels of speaking harshly. They want our
language, the language of the gospels, to be godlier than God, more lenient than God,
and more polite than God. We need to remind our listeners that whenever we use this
language it is God Who speaks not me. Now if Christ speaks like this, if the Word of
God uses this language, who am I to speak in a different tone than the one used by the
Lord? Who am I? We must speak with the same language and in the same tone of our
Lord. He labels these Jews of Smyrna a synagogue of Satan, a synagogue of the devil.
They blaspheme when they call themselves Jews.
Now let’s look at these things more closely. What is this synagogue of Satan? It is
the synagogue of those Jews who did not believe in Christ, simply the unbelieving
Jews. The title Jew is a title of honor. The Lord Himself was a Jew in His human nature
and during His dialogue with the Samaritan woman He told her that salvation would
come from the Jews. However, this title of honor, to be a Jew, to be a member of the
tribe of Judah was more specific. It is not just a Hebrew or an Israelite but a Jew, a
descendant of the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe from which Christ came forth. This
is why Christ told the Samaritan woman that salvation would come from the Jews.
Here, however, this title becomes meaningless simply because the Jews did not believe
in Christ, at least not in their great majority. By losing this place of honor, they now
remain the fleshly descendants of Judah. The true Jews, those who believed in the
prophets, also believed in Christ. These Jews who believed in Christ became the true
synagogue, the Church. But those Jews who did not believe in Christ remained the
synagogue of the Jews.
Now why didn’t they believe in the messiah? It was because they failed to
comprehend the true meaning of the message of the prophets. They lived according
to the flesh, having a fleshly perception even of the messages of the prophets. They
desired a messiah that would shower them with wealth and provide them with their
national freedom. Their desires required a fleshly messiah. Unfortunately, these Jews
have maintained this mentality until this very day. So, this synagogue of the fleshly
Jews who did not join the Church are still in a state of expectation about the coming
of the messiah as a descendant of David, specifically as a national leader, as a ruler
not only of their country but of all the nations. However, since Christ is the true
messiah and the true messiah has come, their expectation is in vain. If we go back to
the profits, beginning with Abraham four thousand years have elapsed. Now if we
consider Moses who spoke about the great prophet, about the messiah, anyone who
would fail to believe in this great prophet would have been destroyed and cut off from
the people of God. That was three thousand five hundred years ago.
What is significant is that up until the third century before Christ we have a
sequence of prophetic voices. From the third century B.C. until now, two thousand
three hundred years have elapsed without a single prophetic voice in the camp of the
Jews. So where are the prophets who are to prepare us for the messiah? There are none.
Why? Simply because the messiah has come! These unfortunate people have realized
that their messiah is quite late. They thought that they must interpret the prophets
a bit differently, something that they had already done to begin with. But now they
are thinking that they should interpret the idea of the messiah not as one of a single
person but as a nation. In other words, their messiah is not a person but an ethnicity,
a group of people that will bear the role of the messiah. So, their idea of the messiah is
the nation of Israel, which must take matters into its own hands to secure its political
rights and to demand these rights from the nations that betrayed them and withheld
their rights until today.
Please pay attention, because these issues are not only important but are also quite
contemporary. What I am saying to you will be helpful in interpreting a number of
things about the events that are unfolding before us today. By the way, these are not
my own interpretations. The synagogue itself gives this interpretation of the messiah
as being the secular state of Israel, or simply the state of Israel. They publish these
things in their own periodicals; they themselves interpret in this fashion. I repeat. 1 am
not the one who interprets this way!
Now since these people failed to believe in Christ, consequently they became
witnesses of the great advancement of the Christian nations, watching the Christian
people overtake their lands while they seemed to abide under something like a curse.
They became extremely jealous of and vindictive towards the Christians. If you
want, look at how the Lord prophesied this in the parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke
15:11-32). Their attitude is the attitude or the psychology of the older son. As you
know when we preach about the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we always seem to
gravitate toward the younger son. Perhaps his character is more sympathetic to us,
and understandably so. We always seem to dwell on the actions of the prodigal son
who came to his senses. He repented and returned to the father and so on. We do not
often analyze the psychology of the older son. This older son represents the Jews, who
became very jealous, when he saw the younger son welcomed, embraced, and justified
by the father.
The prodigal son is the nations who had distanced themselves from the true God
and who had lost the salvation of their souls, their great inheritance. They lost their
souls to sin and idolatry. God calls the nations; now remember the historical evidence
of this. When St. Paul spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem they were willing to listen. But
when they heard the word nations, when they heard this word come out of his mouth,
they were demonized. They grabbed handfuls of dirt and threw it at the sky. They rent
their clothes; and they yelled to the Roman Centurion, “Kill him. Get rid of him.
Clean the earth of him. Kill this apostate!” They acted like this when they heard that
God sent him to the Gentiles.
My friends this parable of the Lord with its psychology of the older son towards
the younger son continues to work itself out in history. We see this in the lives of the
Apostles and especially in that of St. Paul when he attempts to preach for example,
in the synagogues of Antioch, Pisidia, in Thessalonica, and in Corinth. Everywhere
he went the Jews were after him. They were out to do him in. They gave him no rest.
St. Paul could not rest anywhere. They were always persecuting him. When he was in
Corinth, at some point he was forced to travel by land back to Thessalia/Macedonia
and then Syria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
He needed to go to Jerusalem because he had the responsibility of delivering the
money he had collected from the churches to the poor in Jerusalem. He wanted to
help the churches of Jerusalem because there was great poverty there at the time. He
found out that the Jews were conspiring against him at the Port of Kechreon. He
was planning to go by boat, which would have been the reasonable way to go, but he
found out that a number of Jews were planning to sail with him in order to drown
him. They were planning to throw him overboard during the dark of the night. St.
Paul had to go by land, walking all the way through Greek Macedonia. He traveled to
Troas and boarded a ship there. Finally he made it to Jerusalem where he was arrested.
There he had the adventure described in the Acts of the Apostles.
Do you see the thinking of the Jews then — how they chased St. Paul? They were
possessed by a murderous jealousy against the Christians. On one hand, they had
prolonged frustrations that their messiah had not come and on the other hand, they
were jealous. They found themselves in a horrible state. About one hundred and eighty
years ago, they created the Zionist movement in order to deal with this frustration.
This is nothing more than an attempt to take back their rights, and punish the nations
under which they were humbled as Hebrews of the dispersion, so as to hold their
heads high over all the nations and dominate them. This is a terrible reality and it is
something very powerful, a very dark power with many tentacles that are spread out,
embracing the entire world with the sole purpose of subduing and infiltrating nations
of Christian majority.
My friends these are not myths. This is not anti-Semitism. We are not prejudiced
here. This is international news [that does not make it onto television in the United
States]. In 1970, the United Nations brought the phenomenon of Zionism to the
surface. The U.N. one or two years ago exposed this subject. It is a terrible thing. Also,
let us not forget that chiliasm, the heresy of the Jehovah Witnesses; Free Masonry,
and Ecumenism are works and children of Zionism. They are works of Zionism and
they are on their way to gripping the entire world through this evil pastime. They
have succeeded in turning Christians against each other by having them fight within
and against their own faith, their own country, etc. When a person becomes a Mason
or a Jehovah Witness does he not turn against his faith, against his country, against
his flag? When he says Yahweh, why is it Yahweh? My dear sir, where do you see the
word Yahweh in the New Testament? Yahweh, or Jehovah as they say, is not written
anywhere in the New Testament. Don’t you understand that you are serving foreign
and non-Christian interests?
At this point the synagogue of the Jews is in its highest fury. The important thing
here is that the Lord himself classifies the Jews who maneuver using these schemes.”
He flat out calls them a synagogue of Satan. I do not believe that there could be a more
proper and more appropriate, clear and revealing description than the one given by
the Lord. We will see why this is the most revealing description. The fact is that these
people infiltrate the political system, the political engine, in every nation, in every
country. They attempt to control the economy of the nations, the stock markets, the
government, and if you will, the press and mass communication. It is proven that they
control the news media. The greatest newspapers of the world are in the hands of the
Jews. They offer the news exactly the way they want it. They write exactly as they wish
and whatever they want. This is the way that they lord it over the nations. It can be
seen very clearly in ‘The Protocols of The Wise Men of Zion, a book published in the
43 The Elder’s comments pale compared to the anti-Zionist rabbis on the web: www.jewsagain-
stzionism.org
last century [and now considered only a myth in this country]. Do not be fooled! This
book is widely published in every language in the European nations. It is quite well
known.“ By reading the content of this book, one can easily see that their objectives
and schemes against the nations have been fully revealed and met.
But why does the Lord describe them as a synagogue of Satan? He does this, and
it is a most revealing description, simply because the one behind this synagogue of the
Jews is Satan. The Lord at some point called the Apostle Peter Satan simply because
Satan was behind Peter. If someone goes along with the will of Satan, he becomes one
with Satan. So, when the Lord said, Get behind me Satan (Matt. 16:23, Mark 8:33),
He was stating two positions. The first position is that behind the Apostle Peter was
the devil. The devil came again to tempt the Lord; the first time he came to tempt the
Lord was in the desert. The Gospel of St. Luke says he left Him for a time.
When we say the devil we mean Lucifer, not a simple demon, not a dark angel,
but Satan. There is only one Satan. The others are demons. He is the first, Lucifer,
the leader of the demons. So, Lucifer now comes to tempt the Lord through Peter.
Naturally, he did not succeed because the Apostle Peter repented. He later denied
Christ but he recovered. He repented again. Judas, on the other hand is the pitiful
being who became the victim of the devil. However the first position is the revelation
that behind the Apostle Peter is Satan. The second position is that the Apostle Peter,
at that particular time, was an organ of Satan.
Therefore, by calling the Jews a synagogue of Satan He reveals that behind them
is the energy of the devil. However, because they become servants of the devil, they
become one with the devil and they become satanic beings. This is why He calls them
a synagogue of Satan. This is a terrible description my friends, and I must remind you
that J am not saying this. The Lord uses this term! Let's be careful; what can we say?
Please take a look at the second Psalm when you get home. ‘There it says that
the nations turn against God and against His Christ. All these nations that become
servants of the Zionists turn against God and against His Christ, meaning God the
Father, or the Holy Triune God and the Christ of God, in other words the God-
human person of Christ. So, the nations turn against God and His Christ. God will
laugh at them and He will crush them the way a potter dashes his unwanted vessels of
pottery into pieces with a rod of iron. It is very easy to smash a vase of pottery with a
hammer. Well, that is how easily the Lord will crush these disobedient nations. He will
laugh at their expense. He will laugh at them. And this is tragic to hear God laughing
at your foolishness, you pitiful being. You flex your muscle to fight against God, to
curse God, to tell Him that you do not need Him and that He does not exist. Now He
will laugh at your expense. He sees these demonic ploys of the Jews. He sees them in
the most prophetic second Psalm that refers to all the things we are discussing. Please
read this Psalm.
But do not be afraid of these things which you are about to suffer, the Lord continues
to instruct the bishop of Smyrna, indeed the devil is about to throw some of you in prison
44 There is now abundant information about this book available on the internet.
that you may be tested and you will have tribulation ten days (2:10). Behold, the devil
will put some of you in jail for ten days so you can be tried, so you can be tested. You
will face tribulation and distress for ten days. Here He is referring to a new tribulation
different from the one of poverty, where He says, J see your distress, your poverty, and
your patience. This is a new tribulation in the form of persecution that is foretold to
the church of Smyrna.
It is noteworthy here that this persecution is being brewed by the devil. But his
immediate operatives will be the Jews. This is not surprising because here they are
characterized as a synagogue of Satan, or if you prefer, an anti-synagogue of God in
line with antichrist, anti-synagogue, or anti-church of God. However, the figurative
number ten makes it obvious that this persecution will be of a rather short duration.
This is a figurative number. Please pay attention to this because I want to slowly
introduce you to the use of figurative numbers in the book of the Revelation and
in the Scriptures in general. Christ says ten virgins in the parable of the Virgins, five
foolish and five wise. Why ten? Why five and five? These numbers are used so that we
do not begin to play with numbers and percentages. They are figurative numbers.
They asked Christ at some point, Lord, are many people going to be saved? The
Lord answered, Agonizesthe eiselthein... Keep struggling to enter (cf. Luke 13:23-24).
He did not say that many or few would be saved. He just said keep struggling to enter
through the narrow gate. He did not say how many will be saved. So when He states
in the parable of the ten virgins that the wise enter while the foolish are not saved,
they do not enter the Kingdom of God, He uses five and five so people do not begin
to apply numbers or percentages of those being saved or lost. So, He uses the number
ten — ten virgins — figuratively, which means you cannot extract any theories from this
number. So here He says ten days. He does not mean ten actual days. The number ten
is figurative;_it points out that the duration will not be very long.
On the contrary, when He says that Christ will reign on the earth for one thousand
years, which is taken literally by the chiliasts, and a great number of Protestants (that
Christ will come and live on earth for a thousand years after the resurrection of the
dead), the number one thousand is figurative or allegorical and indicative of a very
lengthy duration. It does not stand for exactly one thousand years. It stands for the
time of the Church, the time of God’s Kingdom on earth. Remember the beginning of
our Divine Liturgy, “Blessed is the Kingdom...” More specifically, the one thousand
years represents the time of the First Coming of Christ until the Second Coming.
These are the one thousand years. Now if you ask, “When will Christ come back to
earth?” We don't know. The one thousand years — a figurative number of years — is
the time between the two appearances of Christ. Ten days is used for the church of
Smyrna because it is something very short, while one thousand shows that it would
be a lengthy time, many hundreds of years. Truly, until now twenty centuries have
gone by.
I would like you to fully digest the subject of figurative numbers so that the
heretics do not deceive you. In reality this persecution of the church of Smyrna took
place in 155 A.D. during which St. Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was martyred.
Of course St. Polycarp was not the first bishop of Smyrna; but this persecution took
place in the time of St. Polycarp. Please take into account that when the book of the
Revelation was being written, he was quite advanced in age. Do not forget that St.
Polycarp was of great age when he was martyred. So, if the Apocalypse was written
in 95 A.D. and his martyrdom took place around 155 A.D., we have a lapse of sixty
years. Now St. Polycarp lived more than eighty years if we go by his statement when
he was asked to deny Christ. Polycarp said, “I’ve served Christ for eighty-six years
and in no way has He dealt unjustly with me; so how can I blaspheme my King who
saved me?” Now how are we to understand these eighty-six years? Whether they are
the years of his service as a cleric or as having been born of Christian parents, the fact
remains, that he was a man of great age. Consequently, in his person we find the reality
of the persecution. His execution took place February 23, 155 A.D. His martyrologion
or the record of his martyrdom is the oldest recorded martyrologion preserved to this
day. The fact is that this persecution took place according to the description given by
our Lord in this epistle.
Now let's see how St. Polycarp’s biographer describes these things. He writes in his
martyrologion, “The whole crowd of idolaters and Jews living in the area of Smyrna
overtaken by great anger were crying out with a great voice wanting Polycarp to be
burned alive. This was all orchestrated and energized by the Jews.” The biography
further on adds, “for the fire took the form of an arch like the sail of a ship filled by the
wind and encircled the body of the martyr like a wall...when the lawless pagans saw
that his body could not be consumed by fire...they plunged a dagger into him.”
So they were forced kill to him by the sword and his blood extinguished the fire.
The Jews advised the idolaters, “Do not allow the Christians to take his body for
they may create a new Christ.” So, they requested the body of St. Polycarp from the
idolaters so that they could somehow burn it. At this point of his biography, the holy
biographer records, “As it is usually the style of the Jews to want to stand first in line in
these atrocious works.”*” However my friends let us understand one thing, persecution
is the constant lot of the Church in this world. A Church under persecution gives
clear proof that it stands well and is embraced by God. Christ has already reproved a
Church that bypasses persecution by forming an alliance with worldly powers.
We see this very clearly here where Christ praises the persecuted Christians. And
we must thoroughly comprehend this because someday — near or far, I do not know,
but someday sooner or later — the stage is being set for the great tribulation against
Orthodoxy. This great tribulation is what we see described by the most dreadful images
and darkest colors in the book of the Revelation. So, let's prepare ourselves. We could
be next. Become faithful until death and I will give you the wreath of life. He who has ears
45 Polycarp, Martyrdom, 9:3.

4 cf. Martyrdom of Polycarp, 15:2, 16:1.
* Ibid. cf. 13:2.
let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. The one who wins will not be harmed by
the second death. Here we have the conclusion of the epistle. Become faithful even unto
death and I will give you the wreath of life. Stay faithful, dedicated.
Truly my friends, only the true disciple of Christ remains faithful until the final
moment. This dedication to Christ must continue to the point of death. Even to
the point of death means until the end of one’s life. Whether his life ends by natural
means or not, he remains faithful to Christ. He lived a Christian life; or he lived this
Christian life his entire life. However, he is faithful also when it is necessary to give
his life, to be put to death for his dedication and his love for Christ, in other words to
suffer a violent and untimely death. This is what He means by becoming faithful even
unto death. Stay faithful even until the last moment of your life! Even if your life is
threatened by untimely death you need to stay faithful.
St. Paul comments on this very thing in his epistle to the Hebrews. And frankly my
friends I do not know if we can bear to hear what the Gospel exhorts and admonishes
at times. However, this passage happens to be one of our Sunday epistle readings and
no one can say that they have not heard this verse. In your struggle against sin you have
not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood (Heb.12:4). Yes my friends, we have
not reached this level. We have not reached the level of shedding our blood while
struggling against sin. This against sin is very serious.
In the martyrologion of St. John of Monemvasia, who was martyred here in Larisa,
(His holy relics are here in our church of the Forty Martyrs.) we read this scenario:
St. John was a slave to a wealthy Turk who was trying to force him to eat meat during
the fast of the Dormition in August. He did not give him bread but only served him
portions of meat. He continued to do this daily, but John did not touch it. John’s
mother was also a slave in that house and she begged her son, “My child, eat. Go
ahead and eat.” “No.” said John emulating the Seven Macabees who suffered a most
gruesome and painful death—before Christ in the Old Testament—only because they
refused to eat pork.
Of course, the Christian people of our day would say, “Wow, such fanaticism!
What would be so wrong with eating a little bit of meat? What is the big deal?” ‘This
is what St. Paul is talking about, You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your
blood in your struggle against sin. This agas, this Turkish official, impaled John with his
sword. The sword missed his vital organs, so he died a slow death after bleeding for
two days. Can you imagine the pain? Well, we can truly say that St. John struggled to
the point of shedding his blood. Now, what about us? May God help us! When we
say no to sin today no one asks for our blood; and for this reason my friends let's try
as much as we can to struggle against sin. However, the fact is that the crown of life is
given to the one who struggles until the moment of death.
St. John the evangelist states this beautifully, And they defeated him (cf. Rev.12:9).
The church of Smyrna defeated the devil because the devil initiated their trial. His
servants were the Jews. The poor Jews who decided to fight the Church of Christ are
48 Included in The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha.
worth many, many tears. So, the Christians of the church of Smyrna defeated Satan
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. The wreath of life is
the uncreated glory. The wreath is always the symbol of glory, the symbol of victory.
Smyrna was known for its great athletic competitions. Much like the Olympians, they
competed for honor and glory for a simple wreath. So, that is where this image is
taken from. That is why He talks about a wreath, not of olive branches or bay leaves,
but the wreath of life, the wreath of eternal life — perhaps because this wreath of eternal
life is the uncreated glory in which the faithful live. This also takes place in this present
life. This is not obvious in the eyes of most people. Perhaps our Byzantine iconography
has borrowed the illumined wreath or the halo of the saints from this. If you notice —
around the heads of the saints we always have a lighted golden wreath. ‘This is nothing
less than the wreath of glory, the glory of the uncreated light.
He who conquers shall not be hurt by the second death. These last phrases in the
conclusion of the epistle are promises of our Lord. What is the second death and what
is considered to be the first death? The first death, my friends, is the common death,
the death that we all have to go through. We are all subject to biological death or the
separation of the soul from the body, the common death that will visit all of us. All
the saints died this first death. Now what is the second death? The second death is the
eternal separation of the soul from God and not only the soul. Let us pay attention
here. This is true until the general resurrection. After the resurrection of the dead,
the resurrection of the body, then the entire human being—body and soul— will be
eternally separated from God. This is the second death. St. John presents us with this
reality in the book of the Revelation. He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will
be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for
murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that
burns with fire and sulphur, which is the second death (21:7-8). Again, the second death
is the eternal separation of man from God in a state of everlasting hell.
However, the word of the Lord makes this quite clear, if anyone keeps my word, he
will never see death (John 8:51). So, the person who believes in Christ and keeps His
commandments will never taste death. Which death? They will not taste this second
death because all those who believe in Christ taste the first death. The Lord explains
this even more clearly, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me, has
eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life John
5:24). Here my friends, we have the conclusion of this great epistle. It is full of praise
sent to the bishop of Smyrna, whose first bishop was St. Boucolus. The second bishop
was St. Polycarp who was martyred during the fulfillment of the persecution of the ten
days, the relatively short persecution.
Now we come to the third epistle of our Lord to the Church of Pergamos. And to
the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The words of him who has the sharp two-edged
sword. ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; you hold fast my name and you
did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was
killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you: you have some
there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before
the sons of Israel, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. So you
also have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaiitans. Repent then. If not, I will come
to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who conquers I will give some of the
hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone
which no one knows except him who receives it (2:12-17).
Pergamos was located only eight kilometers north of Smyrna. The city was famous
not only for its material wealth but for its spiritual wealth as well. During the time
of the writing of the book of the Revelation, it was a center for civil, commercial,
and religious activities as well. Pergamos was the city in which the world-renowned
special writing membrane was invented. Articles were written on this modified leather
medium. With this, Pergamos competed with Egypt which had the monopoly on
papyrus. Having the monopoly on papyrus meant that Egypt could charge as much
as she wanted and also refuse to sell it at any given time for reasons of jealousy. This
is what prompted the invention of this writing substance out of leather skin which
was extremely expensive on the one hand, but on the other hand much more durable
than papyrus.
Thank God that a great number of books were written on membranes and not
on papyrus because the latter deteriorate century after century. They break down so
that today we have very few books left on papyrus. To unwind the papyrus from the
scrolls takes a great deal of painstaking work since they crumble easily. However, the
membranes, or the pergamenes as they were called, had the format of our books.
They had pages much like our books today. Many ancient manuscripts are beautifully
preserved on these pergamenes first developed in the city of Pergamos. Now you can
imagine the material and spiritual wealth available in the city of Pergamos to be able to
develop and create the methodology of pergamenes. In reality the biggest library in the
world was the library of Pergamos which competed with the library of Alexandria.
Pergamos was also known to be a spiritual center, second only to Ephesus. In
Ephesus the goddess Artemis was worshiped. She was the equivalent to Demetra of
the Greeks. In Pergamos the citizens worshiped Zeus. There was an enormous altar
of Zeus on top of the hill in the center of the city much like the Acropolis in Athens.
The altar of Zeus was on top of this three hundred meter hill, the grandest of all altars
in the then known world. During the time the book of the Revelation was written,
Augustus, or the caesar of Rome, was worshipped along with Zeus and the rest of the
gods. The goddess Rome, the city of Rome, was given a divine dimension. Asclepius
was the god of medicine, and very many people were attracted to his altar to find
cures. Goddess Rome and the reigning caesar—in fact, every reigning caesar—were
worshipped. So, this city was not only inundated with widespread idolatry, but also
with caesar worship.
In the past I believe we mentioned why the Roman emperor needed to be
worshipped. The reason was one of national unity. This is precisely why when the
Christians refused to offer sacrifice to god-caesar they were accused of high treason.
They were declared to be atheists. Consequently, a crime of treason was a crime of the
highest degree. This may help you understand, if you were not aware, why the world
of idolatry turned so viciously against the Christians. There were other reasons as well
but this was the primary reason behind the fierce persecution against the Christians.
In the midst of this unbelievably idolatrous city was the biggest altar on the face of
the earth, the altar of Zeus. In a center that worshipped Rome and the caesar, in a
city basking in idols, in a city that most likely housed the government headquarters
of the Roman governor of all of Asia Minor—in the midst of this city—the Church
of Christ begins to sprout, grow and move forward. The church of Pergamos now
receives the epistle of the Lord.
Now we can see the circumstances behind the development of this church. These
things says He who has the sharp two edge sword, is the opening line of the epistle. All
the epistles have different opening lines befitting each church. Here, this opening
line is taken from the introductory vision of Christ. It is properly stated here that He
holds the two-edged sword, which according to the vision of St. John, comes out of
the mouth of Christ to show with this imagery that Christ is the One who judges. ‘The
two-edged sword is the symbol of judgment but also the word of God the word of
God that will overthrow the altar of Zeus, destroy the idol and establish the Church
of Christ. This is the reason for the placement of this symbol in this particular epistle.
Also it was necessary to fight against the devil with this sharp sword. Please remember
that St. Paul wrote in his epistle to the Thessalonians about the Antichrist, The Lord
will destroy him with the sword of his mouth (cf. 2 Thess. 2:8). So, here the devil is
behind the mask of Zeus. Behind the various faces of divinities, what is worshipped,
really worshipped, is the devil. The devil needs to be fought. And now my friends, after
this opening line serving as the introduction of the epistle of Pergamos, we will enter
the main subject and we will do so at our next session.
CHAPTER 12
Revelation 2:12-18
To the Church of Pergamos — Idolatry and
Its Relationship to Satan
And to the angel of the church in Per gamum write: ‘The words of him who has the
sharp two-edged sword. ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; you hold fast my
name and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful
one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

s you remember my friends, last week we started the epistle of the Lord to
the angel of the church of Pergamos. He told him, I am the one who has
the sharp two-edged sword. I know your deeds and where you live. You live
in an area permeated with idolatry and you did not deny My faith — just as
in the earlier days, when My servant Antipas did not deny My faith but confessed My
faith. He held My name and he became My trustworthy and faithful martyr, there,
exactly where Satan lives. I know your deeds and that the throne of Satan is located
where you live.
The Lord truly knew the environment that surrounded the church of Pergamos.
This was the environment experienced by St. Paul when he was in Athens. St. Luke
points out to us; His spirit was irritated. He was frustrated because he saw that the city
was full of idols (Acts 17:16). The city of Athens was filled with idols and the Apostle
was feeling a bit of holy anger and disgust. What was lurking behind this city of
Pergamos? The Lord reveals that there in that city was the dwelling place and throne
of Satan. Consequently my friends, as we see here we have a revealing testimony of
our Lord about idolatry in every form and age. So when one poses the question, what
is idolatry, we have this revelation, this very testimony which truly reveals that when
people worship idols, whether now or in the past, we know exactly what they are
worshiping. How would they accept this truth if we were to tell them exactly what
they worship? No one could really define what it means for a person to worship an idol
except the voice frorn heaven. The voice from heaven then, reveals what idolatry is. So
now, we will see, my friends, that this relationship, which exists between idolatry and
Satan is a most direct relationship because Satan is enthroned in idolatry according
to the Lord. |
But let’s look into the very nature of idolatry. And please do not fall prey to thinking
that all this belongs to a distant past, that idolatry does not exist today, or that all this
may not be of interest to us. Let’s not forget how St. John ends his most theological
epistle: My children, keep yourselves from idols (cf. 1 John 5:21). So, even though you
are spiritually advanced students, living and understanding this area of theology, do
not think that it is impossible for you to slip into idolatry. Simply, St. John means that
you, my children who are in a high enough spiritual state to understand the high level
of theology invoked at the beginning of his Gospel; In the beginning was the Word and
the Word was with God and the Word was God... (John 1:1) and that God is love. God
is light and the One we heard, we saw, etc., must also understand that it is possible to
slip into and out of idolatry without realizing it.
Idolatry exists and it will always exist — not only in the nations that never got to
know Christ but in the Christian nations as well. Every form of idolatry can be found
in the Christian nations. This is why I ask you to pay attention, as we will analyze the
very nature of idolatry. Afterwards we will see how it relates to Satan. As you know,
creation_is the external reflection of God and technically speaking, it is the idol of
God. It is something that is created by God. However, this creation is not of His
essence; it is outside of His essence. This is the difference between something born
and something created. Jesus Christ, God the Word, is from the essence of the Father
consequently, we have the expression, born of the Father. Nature is the work of the
hands of God. The essence of nature has no relationship whatsoever with the essence
of God. For this reason it is expressed as creation, as something fashioned from the
hands of the Person Who creates.
Now when we use the term idol to describe nature, we say that it is the external
reflection of God. Here, we need to refer to optics (something we studied in physics)
to help us along because this is exactly what happens in the study of optics. When
we place an object in front of a mirror, the mirror obviously does not duplicate the
object. But it simply presents the idol of this object. When I place a clock in front of
a mirror, it will show a clock; however, this is not the actual clock but the idol of the
clock. Before I have an idol I need to place an object in front of this mirror. So, we
remember from our physics class: what is in front of a mirror is called an object and
what is displayed or reflected in the mirror is an idol. Idol is the scientific term for this
reflection. This idol serves to give me some of the characteristics of the object, the size
and the time, if the object happens to be a clock, but all these characteristics are not
my clock but its idol.
A similar relationship exists between God and nature. The energies of God are
reflected in His creation such as His wisdom, His infinity, His divinity, and His might.
These energies are reflected in nature with nature being the mirror and the object of
this mirror being God. God being outside of creation is reflected in this creation. For
instance, God is wise so it only stands to reason that whatever He creates He does
according to His wisdom. So, I see the wisdom of God in nature. I see the energies of
God in nature. I see for instance, that one-gram of matter encompasses an awesome
power. The matter that explodes in an atomic bomb is very small, a few grams if that,
of a nuclear atomic substance. The power behind these few grams is awesome! Now |
ask you, what kind of power is hidden within the entire universe? Furthermore, if this
power of the universe is inconceivable, then how do we conceive the power of God?
By this, I come to see the omnipotence of God reflected in nature.
Similarly, I see the infinity of God when we begin to ponder the dimensions of
the universe — what dimensions? We cannot even grasp what is there! Our mind, our
eye will never reach those distances! Our poor mind is so limited. It is only designed
to function between zero and infinity, actually greater than zero and less than infinity.
It cannot grasp these two extremes. So whatever is greater than zero my brain can
understand. My brain can understand whatever is less than infinite. But the design of
the human mind cannot understand the idea or the meaning of zero or the idea or the
meaning of infinity. So the universe may appear to us as infinite. But it is not infinite;
it only appears to be so in our mind. The One Who is truly infinite is the One Who
created this universe.
However, these works cannot be done by any other entity except the One Who is
called God. So, divinity, infinity, pan-wisdom, omnipotence, and all those attributes
and energies of God referring to His Person are reflected upon His creation much like
an object is reflected in a mirror. Therefore, the wisdom that exists in the natural world
is the idol of God. The omnipotence that exists in the world is the idol of God. When
I see the wisdom behind the beauty of a flower, I cannot say that the flower is God;
but it is something that reflects the wisdom of God. So we cannot confuse God with
nature which is the plight of the new-age movement.
Nor can I say that God has no relationship whatsoever with nature; that is atheism.
I will not equate God with nature nor would I remove Him totally from created nature
and isolate Him at some point or place since He has no relationship with nature. But
God is reflected with His energies, His characteristics, within His creation; and the
purpose of creation which is full of the reflections and energies of God is to elevate
me, the logical and sensible human being, step by step like a ladder to find the object
which is reflected. Again, let’s not forget that the very design of our mind is limited.
Unfortunately, there is arrogance in some people who think that if today we do not
understand something, tomorrow we will. Yes, but is this something within our given
capabilities? Because if it is, great; but if it is outside our given capabilities then this
something will escape our understanding tomorrow, next year and forever.
When it comes to the capabilities of the human intellect science itself; and
philosophy, is quite aware of the limits. It is important to know our limits so that we
can overcome this intellectual arrogance. Therefore, the purpose is for me to use the
capabilities of my mind so when I see all these energies of God reflected in nature I
begin to ascend as with a ladder. This is so I can discover the object that is reflected and
more specifically the Person that is being reflected in nature, the Person of God. When
I see a person in a mirror, I do not continue to look in the mirror but I turn around
to see the real person that is reflected in my mirror. This is what man is supposed
to do. He is not supposed to limit himself to nature but at every moment he needs to
turn his eyes beyond nature to find and see the reflected Person, the Person of God
within this nature.

Now if man removes God from his visual spectrum and limits himself only to
nature, (In other words, people see these reflections of the energies of God but they
do not bother to search further to discover God for reasons that we will expand upon
a bit later.) then man begins to observe only the idols. He stops at the reflections and
he equates these attributes: infinity, omnipotence, wisdom, with a mirror, much like
a cat or a dog that when they look in a mirror they are very curious about this other
cat or dog staring at them. This is because they equate the idol with the object. They
think that there is another animal inside the mirror, but it is only the idol as we have
been explaining all this time.
So, if man confuses these two, the object with the idol, and he confuses the
reflections of God in nature thus saying, “How wise is mother nature...Look what
beautiful things it makes...” then the idols within nature become one with God for
that person. Man no longer looks at God but at nature, the nature which he now
deifies. ‘This is called idol worship. Man in his confusion worships the characteristics of
God expressed in nature — which are not God, but the characteristics of God reflected
in nature. So, man created the goddess Athena to worship wisdom based on this
confusion. He created the god Apollo to worship fine arts and beauty. He created Zeus
in his quest to worship power. He made up the goddess Demetra to worship mother
earth. But all these are characteristics of God, the One God. Obviously there is no
god Apollo, Athena, or Demetra. I will not worship wisdom. I will not deify beauty. I
will not deify earth. I will attempt to search beyond these reflections to come in touch
with the true God.
Again, you may be thinking, why are you telling us all these things? We are not
idolaters. We are Christians. These things are quite simplistic. My friends, we only
need to recall that some very wise people passed through this world and they were not
able to differentiate between God and creation. They equated God with His creation.
They worshipped the creation instead of the Creator. Then you tell me that we are
justified in mentioning these things even though these things took place in the distant
past in some remote areas of the earth. My friends, what ifI were to tell you that the
same thing happens even today? What if I was to ask you about those people, who
slip into Freemasonry, who are educated and have college degrees? How do they come
to believe in idolatry? Freemasons are idolaters. Do not forget this. Freemasonry is a
religion and specifically a religion of idolatry, of ancient mysteries. They admit this
themselves in their journals. So, how can an educated person become attracted to the
faith that believes that the sun, the great architect of the universe, can be God? How
can he confuse the power of the sun, its energy, its light, and the wisdom of its make-
up with God and admit that this is God?
I was reading the other day about Origen, a great writer of the early church,
and you may laugh but Origen, who excelled in some areas in the church, reached
a very sad moment in his life when he wrote that the sun, the moon, and the stars
have understanding, that they are noetic beings.” Now, if in Christian philology, the
Christian domain, we have this sort of tragedy, we can understand that delusion is
commonplace in the lives of everyday people despite the light of Christ. From the
moment that I deny Christ, I automatically become an idolater. Today the Christian
nations in general have denied Christ and they automatically fall into idolatry—
idolatry of both the crude form and of the fine form, which is not so obvious. All these
things are summarized by St. Paul to show us the plight of the ancient world and their
relationship with God. Unfortunately, these things apply to our world today as well.
He says, “the knowledge of God has become apparent to people because God
revealed Himself to them.” St. Paul explains his invisible energies even the ethical energies,
if you will, even love, were stamped in the universe (cf. Rom. 1:19-23). The love of God,
the mercy of God — all these are obviously stamped in the universe; and as we see,
nothing can be lost. The universe appears to be the same even after the fall. Nothing is
being lost, simply because the providence of God is always active and the love of God
is always combined with wisdom. The providence of God consists of the power, the
love, and the wisdom of God. So, St. Paul says that because His eternal power and His
divinity and even His invisible qualities can be seen very clearly from the time of the
creation, it is expected that they should be perceived through the creations.
But, what became perceived through the creatures is exactly what was worshipped.
Instead of this being used as the means for a person to discover and worship God,
(and this would render them inexcusable) St. Paul says that having this knowledge
of God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful. But, they
became futile in their thoughts and in their foolish hearts. Professing to have become
wise, they became fools. Their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to have
become wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God
into corruptible images like man, birds, four-footed animals, and creeping things.
So, coming to the conclusion that God is a human being, they create His statue, or
that of a bird or a snake or a cow and so on and that is the depth of the foolishness of
the darkened man.
So idolatry is the state wherein a man limits his spiritual horizon to anything
created without expanding beyond and past what he sees towards God. This is idolatry;
this anything created can now be beyond the works and creations. I can deify the stars,
the heavenly powers, and a river like the Nile, or I can deify the oceans in the person
of Poseidon. It seems that even to this day we worship the sea. Even today, here in
Greece, when we have rough seas people say that Poseidon must be stirring up the
sea with his trident. Of course, these are mere phrases. But as we explained earlier,
even educated people come to believe these things sometimes. Now people may not
9 Origen (185-254 AD), considered Christianity’s first systematic theologian, wrote extensively
on mysticism and the scriptures. He produced an edition of the Hebrew Scriptures, providing
six translations in parallel form. His works significantly influenced many theologians after him.
The 5th Ecumenical Council condemned some of his teachings as heretical. Laura Swan, The
forgotten desert mothers, 184; Despina D. Kontostergiou, The Ecumenical Synods (Thessalo-
niki, Pournara, 1991), p. 151.
worship the statue of Poseidon, but they do come to believe in the power of the sea or
the power of mother nature even saying, “You can’t fool mother nature.” Eventually
people come to believe in the power of their intellect. People even depend on their
inner power and idolize themselves, deify themselves, or worship their egos. This is the
tragic dilemma of the poor pitiful man of today.
Beyond these created or natural things of the world, idols can also be wealth,
fine art, architecture, technology, science, or a luxurious lifestyle. Some of the super-
optimists and philosophical minds of the last century had said that we would not have
to worry about anything because science will solve all the problems of society. Long
live science. We no longer need God. God is dead. Long live technology and science.
Now you decide if science and technology solved all our problems or if it complicated
and multiplied them. I think we do not need to comment on this. Just look around
you. There is a drug store and a psychotherapy clinic on every corner.
We now exist in the nightmare of the super-optimists, of those who had promised,
“Give us one hundred years and you will see how this world will evolve.” We see the
fruits of science and technology and we will see much more if we avoid World War
III in the twenty-first century. We have replaced God and the providence of God with
our faith in drugs and science. In general, we have come to idolize the conveniences of
our scientific progress conveniences, which are not bad in themselves, as long as we do
not idolize our lifestyle, insulate ourselves from God, and replace the true God with
these idols of our days. It is common knowledge that the true God always destroys and
overturns all idols. But, we might as well extend the point a little bit further here, since
we are also talking about idols. We must also say that our home can become an idol,
along with our children and our relatives. How many times have we seen ourselves
making the ultimate goal and purpose of our lives the focus of our life, a happy family,
a beautiful home, and a happy home so we will be the ideal family?
Now let’s not trick ourselves just because we may transfer this family back and forth
to church every Sunday. Let’s not be deceived because we may take Holy Communion
now and then, and go to holy confession. Yet, in our depths we are idolaters. Idolatry is
in our bone marrow. If you will, we believe in our careers. We believe in our home. We
believe in our children. We idolize these things. This is precisely why we are destroyed
if we lose them. Take, if you will, the object of worship from the eyes of a worshipper
and you will see his immediate response.
So, if your home, your children vanish in front of your very eyes you will be
devastated. Now we are not talking about the natural grief, the natural shock that
we all feel. This is human nature. When I lose a loved one, a member of my family,
or if I lose my home, it is natural for me to feel grief. | am not going to be laughing.
However, when I cannot cope, when I consider suicide, when I want to jump off a
bridge, or when I want to end it all, it means that the things or persons that I lost
were my idols and I was worshipping them without realizing it. So, as you can see,
idolatry can easily slip into our lives. For this reason and from the analysis that we
have presented so far you can understand the depth of idolatry that exists in the lives
of the people around us and in our own lives; and we are specifically referring to the
Christians of our times. So this is idolatry.
Now let’s see what is behind this state of idolatry. For instance, when I say that
I am a sun worshipper, what is behind this or behind the moon and the stars, which
guide peoples’ lives today? What is behind a luxurious lifestyle or my child or my
wealth or technology or fine arts? What can hide behind all this? We see how the Lord
characterizes this condition: the throne of Satan, there where Satan lives. Now how is it
possible for Satan to place his throne behind the very things that reflect the qualities of
God? Satan enthrones himself behind these things; he lives there — and that is what is
specified here in the epistle to the bishop of Pergamos. Satan was enthroned in a huge
statue of Zeus in the altar in a magnificent temple.
Pergamos was considered the city with the most idols in Asia Minor. Pergamos
was well known for its multitude of altars. Now the Lord says that the altar, found on
that three hundred meter hill within the city limits, was the throne of Satan. Let's look
at an explanation for this. Satan, Lucifer, the one who brings the morning light, was
an angel of light, but he fell because of pride. He fell from the heavens, as the prayer of
exorcism says. He lost his light-bearing quality. He fell into the visible created world.
He was preliminarily sentenced here in this created world, having been expelled from
the heavenly realm. All the evil spirits were expelled because of their pride. They lost
their God-given light, unfortunately we do not understand how. We do not have any
more details about this. The only thing is that the angels are not light in themselves.
They are not sources of light; they receive their light from the source, from divine
glory, from divine energy because God is Light. Now the devil lost this light of God
and he has been isolated from divine glory. Divine glory is the uncreated light, the
light of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
So the devil lost his light and now he remains dark. Now you may wonder or
you may ask, how can he change into an angel of light? Well, I will answer you that
this demonic light is not the uncreated light but created light, the very light that
we get from the sun or from a light bulb. Now how can the devil gain access to
this created light? How can he envelop himself with it? How can he take different
forms? These are all mysteries of the spiritual world which we do not have the
capabilities to comprehend. The important thing is that the light of the devil is created,
and it deceives people; this is what our spiritual elders, the ascetics of the Church have
the ability or gift to discern. St. Paul says that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is
diakrisis or discretion. St. John also emphasizes testing the spirits to see if they are from
God. The devil appears as light and I need to ask: is he an angel? Is this uncreated
light and the appearance an angel, or is this the devil with some created energy? If I
do not have experience or discretion, I will be deceived. However, the spiritual ascetic
who has the spirit of God and the gift of discretion—which is never something very
easy; I am being very sincere—will say: this is the devil. They can discern; they know
right away. When they think that this is the devil, the minute they say it, the devil
disappears instantly.
So, the devil fell and he is being preliminarily sentenced in this visible world. His
fall and his having been sentenced are seen clearly in the verses of the demoniac of
the Gadarenes where the demons pleaded with the Lord not to place them in hell but
to allow them to stay in this world. This was because the demons know that they are
guilty and their final punishment will be hell, which was created for the devil and the
demons. ‘They pleaded to stay here in the visible created world. They asked to enter the
pigs and to continue to live here in the material visible world. This is why they asked
the Lord, Have you come here to torment us before the time? (Matt. 8:29) From this we
see that the demons know that their final destination is hell and that now they are in
prison. They are bound here on earth. We will have much more detail on this bondage
and loosening of the devil in future discussions.
The reason behind the fall of these angels who became demons (and Lucifer was
the first one) was pride. Remember this, because this is the key to our entire discussion
on this subject. Now when men lose God they automatically begin to worship nature.
How do people lose God? We know that Adam and Eve did not lose God. They had
communion with God in paradise, the same communion that we will have with God
in His Kingdom, indescribable communion. We do not exactly understand how. What
we read in those verses of Genesis, During the evening the Lord came to Adam and Eve...
(cf. 3:8) shows a regular visitation of God; but we cannot conceive of how exactly we
will be in full communion with God in the Kingdom of God. Unfortunately, this
communion was lost. Our predecessors had this communion in paradise, and even
after the fall they did not lose God because they had this tremendous experience of life
in paradise. Although their children lived in sin — like Cain who killed Abel — they did
not lose God totally, because of the tradition of their parents. They began to lose God
after the third generation. Cain did not forget God completely because we see him
speaking to God. Abel also speaks to God and offers Him sacrifices and so on.
But as the generations advance, the knowledge of God is becoming more vague
and somewhat nebulous. The cause of the darkening of this knowledge of God is
nothing else but sin, a heavy smoke that covers the horizon, where we would be able
to see the face or the Person of God. So when man loses God and he begins to observe
nature, oblivious to the fact that there may be someone who created this nature, and
that nature simply reflects the quality of the Creator, then man begins to worship the
created beings. Now since the devil is preliminarily sentenced to this present world,
when he sees man ascribe worship to a tree or a river or a mountain or a stone, then
because he is incurably proud, he goes and enthrones himself inside this object. In this
way, a man who worships this object worships him.
So, in reality when a man worships an object, he worships the devil behind or
inside that object. So the devil nestles, he forms a nest, within these objects. He
wants to satisfy his incurable passion, his need to be worshipped. As you know the
greatest satisfaction of an incurably proud being is the desire to be worshipped. If he
is worshipped, he feels like he has won a great victory, it is the epitome of success. For
the proud there is no need for money or anything else. He wants to hear his name
and to see his name in lights. There is a Greek proverb that says: many lost interest in
creating money but no one lost his love for glory. Pride, vainglory, egotism, and self-
promotion — these can be incurable passions if someone does not fight against them.
For the devil, pride is incurable. He wants to be satisfied by lurking and enthroning
himself within natural objects, which are worshipped by people who have lost their
true God. So these poor people begin to worship the reflection of the qualities of God
in nature and without realizing it, they are worshipping the devil. However, idolatry is
not only the worship of a particular object. Idolatry is not limited to the worship of a
tree, a mountain, or a statue. It can be the worship of technology, science, wealth, and
money. All these can become idols that man can worship. The miserable devil nestles
within all these things.
Consequently, many other things can serve as elements of devil veneration. Sexual
reproduction, for example, is something planned by God; God designed it, and this
plan of God is placed within the context of two elements, the element of pleasure
and the element of purpose. Again, this is the plan of God, even though it was the
secondary plan of God enacted after the fall. It is still the plan of God. Now from
the very moment man separates these two elements of pleasure and purpose, from
the time man becomes focused on the pleasure aspect while displacing the purpose,
being child bearing, then he worships the very thing that God would not want. He
worships pleasure; and the miserable, filthy devil slithers and conveniently buries
himself right there!
Consequently, if you are a fornicator, you are an idolater. You worship the devil
because fornication is the separation of the purpose from pleasure. If you divide these
two then you are involved with idolatry. Now you will tell me: but this means that all
of us must be idolaters! Yes, that is what I have been trying to tell you all along! We are
all idolaters! If you will, my friend, we will bring St. Paul into this, who while spelling
out four forms of immorality said, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor sexual perverts... will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9 RSV). We are being
blunt here because the last two sinful conditions are extremely fashionable in our days.
So, all people who practice these forms of immorality will not inherit the Kingdom
of God. The first two are according to nature but against the law of God. However,
when St. Paul mentions fornication, immediately after that he includes idolatry. Do
not be deceived neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor
sodomites.... will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9 NKJ). Now why holy one
of God, St. Paul, why are you slipping idolatry between fornication and adultery?
Very simply, these passions are comprised of idolatry. The devil is worshipped though
these passions.
This can also be seen in the first chapter of Romans where we read that people
fell into these passions. So, as there are many levels of idolatry, God allowed them to
fall even deeper into the crudest form of idolatry as a way of punishment. In fact, one
of our Church Fathers points out very accurately that sperm offered for fornication
becomes a sacrifice to the devil. For this reason my friends, our Lord, addresses the
center of idolatry, the city of Pergamos, and especially the grand temple of Zeus
centrally located and overlooking the city, and calls it the house of Satan and the
throne of Satan.
These facts: that the demons reside in the visible creation and affect people
negatively when these people become attached to those creations, become obvious
when one looks at the prayers of our Church - especially the prayers of exorcism read
during the mystery of baptism. Before we submerge the child in the water, before we
baptize the child or the person, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit, with the triple immersion, as you probably noticed the priest reads a number of
prayers and he blows upon the water. These are prayers of exorcism and we expel, we
evict, the devil that nestles in the water, in the visible creation. Since nature is in the
grasp of the devil, every chance we have we expel the devil!
As I told you, the devil was preliminarily sentenced and he wanders in nature. He
is a wanderer. When people who are in tune with these truths go into the wilderness,
they may hear sounds, voices, or laughter coming from the mountainside. There is no
man there; but they hear cries, strange mysterious sounds; the demons are behind all
these things. They love to tempt and bother people. They get evil satisfaction out of
this. They entertain themselves at the people’s expense and they always entertain evil.
‘This is why the priest blows the form of the sign of the cross on the person about to
be baptized. The priest turns towards the west while facing the person because this
human being has not yet seen the light of Christ. This human being is still facing the
devil. Then the priest blows toward the person. He blows in the form of the cross and
he expels the devil. After this he directs the Christian candidate eastward and takes
him or her to be baptized in the baptismal font.
All this is to help you understand that everything that we talked about in this
session is backed by the actions of the Church. All these things are incorporated in the
praxis of the Church. Something else on this — we often see in the lives of the saints,
some strange phenomena, things that seem to be mythical to contemporary Christians.
But many times when the saints were smashing statues of various idols (we read this in
the life of Saint George and some other saints) during the time of idolatry, voices and
cries came out of these statues: cries, blasphemies, shrieks, protests, and intimidating
voices. ‘This shows that the demons were protesting and quite upset because the saints
were destroying the nests, idols, and altars where the people worshiped the demons.
However, I will also employ Scriptural support for all this before we close our
session today so that you can see that these phenomena are not mythical but a
reality. As you know, at one point, the Jews went to war against the Philistines; the
Philistines were the aggressors. Finally, in order to punish the disobedience of the Jews,
God allowed the Ark of the Covenant to fall into the hands of the Philistines. The
Philistines were celebrating this great victory with much joy and fanfare and they
proceeded to take this precious possession of the Jews to the temple of their god
Dagon. They placed the Ark at the feet of the statue of the idol god Dagon as an
offering (1 Samuel 5). When the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning there
was Dagon fallen on its face in the earth before the Ark of the Lord. So, they set
Dagon in its place again. When they arose the next morning Dagon had fallen again
on its face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both its
palms were broken off on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso was left intact.
What do you think caused this? The demons nestling inside the statue of Dagon
became crazed when they saw the Ark of God. What was the Ark of God? It was a
square box and it contained the stones of the Ten Commandments. The Ark of God
was the presence of God. If you will, it was the footstool of the feet of God, the very
thing that the Psalmist calls us to worship. We are called to worship the footstool of
His feet. By the way, when we venerate the holy cross, the holy icons, the holy Gospel,
this is exactly what we venerate, the footstool of the feet of God. Our Lord’s Holy
Body was spread on the cross and the cross spreads horror to the ranks of the demons.
The cross is a great weapon against the devil. So my friends, Dagon, the demon-filled
statue, fell down and broke in pieces in front of the Ark of God. The demons could
not bear the divine spark, the fiery glow. People cannot see this but it is most obvious
to the eyes of the demons.
This occurs to this day when demon-possessed people go to the churches of St.
Gerasimos, St. Dionysios, or St. Spyridon. The demons cry out, they shriek, “I’m
burning! ’'m burning!” Why are they burning? It is the divine glory that is not obvious
to the pilgrims but quite visible to the demons that feel a real burning when they
approach the incorrupt bodies found in the churches of these Saints. By the way,
these three saints with their incorrupt bodies have served as the fortress against the
missionary agenda of the various popes to Latinize the populace of the Eptanese,
the Greek Islands of the Ionian Sea. Saint Spyridon’s incorrupt body is in Corfu; St.
Dionysios is in Zakynthos; and St. Gerasimos is in Kefalonia. The divine presence of
these saints, with untold miracles, has kept the Orthodox phronema of these islands
intact over centuries of slavery and foreign occupation.
So, the presence of the saints, the presence of the holy cross, the presence of God
burns the demons. My friends, the demons are the culprits behind idolatry. ‘The devil
dwells behind these idols and he is worshipped in that way. What else can we say?
What else can we add other than that which St. John uses to finish his epistle, My /itzle
children, (teknia) watch yourself from idols. Let’s watch ourselves from idols because
today’s idols are numerous and widespread. We will see in future lessons the deep
things of Satan. We saw the dwelling place of Satan. We have understood the throne
of Satan, and we will talk about the deep things of Satan next Sunday.
CHAPTER 13
Revelation 2:13-15
Balamatism — An Ongoing Method of Corruption of the
Church and the People of God
I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; you hold fast my name and you
did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was
killed among you, where Satan dwells (2:13).

ur Lord, my friends, continues His epistle to the bishop of Pergamos
and tells him, you hold My name on the highest level and you did
not deny the Faith even during the days of your predecessor, Bishop
Antipas, my faithful martyr, who was killed in your city where Satan
lives (cf. 2:13). While addressing the bishop of Pergamos, the Lord tells him that
despite the terribly idolatrous environment (which we dealt with in our last talk)
the bishop of Pergamos held the faith and did not deny the name of Christ. Thus,
here we see the prophetic warning of our Lord in the Gospels, You will be hated
by all for my name’ sake (Matt. 10:22, Mark 13:13, Luke 21:17) and that here,
the prophecy becomes a reality. One may ask; why must the faithful be hated by
everyone because of his belief in Christ? They will be hated because behind this
hate of people is the hate of Satan.
No one was ever hated because they believed in other religions. Tell me,
does Buddhism have martyrs? Does Islam have martyrs? Christianity is the only
faith with martyrs because Christianity is the genuine faith; all others are human
fabrications. The devil is worshipped behind these human fabrications. The devil
does not fight against himself. According to the Lord, if the devil had fought
against himself, then his dominion would be destroyed already. However, the devil
fights the true faith. He fights the faith of Christ. This is precisely why he sows the
seeds of hate in the hearts of people who turn against the Christians. The words of
the Lord And you will be hated because of My name become a reality here in the city
of Pergamos, as well as every city where Christianity exists.
However, the Lord told the bishop; You hold onto My name (Rev. 2:2). He
"Ὁ Contemporary suicide/homicide bombers are clearly motivated by demonic energy since
their purpose is to kill as many of their opponents as possible - a clear antithesis to the spirit of
love and self-sacrifice found in the martyrs of Christ.
gives the impression that the name is like an object that we hold onto with our
hands. What does this I hold onto the name mean? I hold the name of Christ,
which, by the way, is of tremendous importance and value; it means, “I did not
spurn it. I did not drop it to be disgraced and trampled upon.” I hold the name
of Christ means “I keep the faith in Christ and the lifestyle as told by Christ.” In
other words, “I keep the orthodoxia and the orthopraxia.” Today, especially today,
where just about everything is disregarded and stepped on, there is not much
sacred, not even faith or the Christian lifestyle. It is a great accomplishment today
for one to hold the name of Christ aloft.
My friends, you need to understand this. Do we live a Christian life? Do
we truly believe in Christ? This means that we keep the name of Christ high
on a pedestal. Of course, the fact that the bishop held the name of Christ
aloft was a defining characteristic of Antipas, his predecessor. This happens to
be the only name specifically mentioned in the book of the Revelation in the
seven epistles. The Lord says, Write to the bishop of this or that church. This
is the only circumstance where a name is mentioned. Obviously, in the entire
spectrum and different folds of the Church, this one name is of great value and
significance. However, the predecessor of the receiver of this epistle was Antipas.
He kept the name of Christ in the highest regard. The Lord says; Where My
faithful martyr Antipas was killed among you, there where Satan lives. The word
that the Lord uses to describe Bishop Antipas is especially noteworthy. He calls the
predecessor of the receiver of this epistle martyr, a title that was applied to the Lord
Himself in the previous chapter when the Lord refers to Himself as the faithful
and true martyr.
This is also repeated, These things, says the Amen, the Faithful and the
True Martyr (3:14). [The English translation uses the word witness, but as |
mentioned earlier, in Greek the word martyr is used.] We notice here that the
Lord uses the possessive pronoun my; this is personal. The Lord says, My true
martyr. This shows a special tenderness, a special endearment, and love, along
with recognition and close attachment earned by Antipas from Christ through
his martyrdom. Martyrdom for Christ, my friends, is a great chapter, as we can
plainly see. It is a wonderful spiritual intimacy and closeness with the great Martyr
Himself, Jesus Christ.
Another element added to the honorary titles of Antipas is the term faithful:
my faithful martyr. So here, we have the full encomium to Antipas. The very title
of Christ, Christ Himself attributes to Bishop Antipas. This is very impressive
to me and hopefully this impresses you as well, that Christ attributes His own
attributes of His human nature as Son of Man to those who love Him and
die for Him. So Antipas is His faithful martyr. Who is this wonderful true
martyr according to the Lord’s witness? This great Antipas was the first bishop
of Pergamos.
According to Tradition the worshipped demons and their subjects, the idolaters,
were upset by the presence and reproach of Antipas. The demons began to cry out,
scream, and protest. Their voices projected from the statues in the presence of the
idolaters. The demons protested and complained to their worshippers that they
were ready to leave the city of Pergamos because Antipas was forcing them out.
(This is a common occurrence in the lives of the saints.) When the idolaters heard
this they seized Bishop Antipas and threw him into a hollow, bronze statue of a
bull. They started a fire beneath this huge statue and they burned St. Antipas in
this bronze idol. St. Antipas suffered a martyr’s death, and our Church honors him
on the eleventh day of April. His martyrdom took place in the reign of Domitian
of 83 AD.
After this statement in which the Lord honors the city of Pergamos the epistle
says, But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the
doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of
Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also
have those who hold to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate (2:14-15).
Thus, Christ has a bone to pick with the bishop of Pergamos. He says, I have a
few things against you, and these few things are the influences of the idolatrous
environment in the life of a few Christians, something that escaped the immediate
attention of the bishop, or something related to the fact that the efforts of the
bishop in this area were inadequate. Please understand that the Church in those
days was exclusive and closed to non-Christians. The Church is like a fruit that
grows from inside out. Take for instance, a watermelon; it starts out so tiny, so
small, and then it begins to grow and grow, but this growth takes place from inside
the fruit and not from the outside, not outside of the skin or vine. It receives water
and nutrients from the stem, but it grows from inside out. This also characterizes
the growth of the ancient Church.
Moreover, this should be the model for Church growth always. In other words,
all growth took place from a particular door, the door of the catechumens. If you
want to enter the Church, you will undergo catechism. You will be thoroughly
tested, tried out, and then you will be made a member of the Church. So, the
Church of Christ was off limits and closed; you could not enter unless you were
thoroughly tested, until you proved your worth or your faith, your virtue and your
lifestyle. The doors were closed not only with regards to baptism but the doors
were closed physically as well.
This is the meaning of: “The doors, the doors...” said by the priest before the
Creed of Faith during the Divine Liturgy. It instructs the guards of the church or
the door watchmen to close the doors to keep any unbelievers from entering. Not
even a catechumen could stay; the catechumens were not permitted to stay during
the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. They had to leave before the prayers of holy
Eucharist. The doors were closed after the catechumens were escorted out, and
only the faithful could remain during this part of the Divine Liturgy to receive
Holy Communion.
It seems that some of the members of the church of Pergamos were influenced
by the customs of the idolatrous world, namely the Nicolaitans. This was something
that was not pleasing to the Lord because He wants His members to be truthful.
He wants them a certain way. For this He complains to the bishop. Now after this
insight describing the early Church, what can we say about our contemporary
church? How does it measure up to these practices of the early Church? Is the
Church today closed or open? The Church today is wide-open! Not only do the
doors not close, but also we often have no clue who some of these people are that
go in and out of our church; and worse yet, in large cities the priest does not know
his flock nor does the flock know the priest. We do not know each other. However,
in the early Church when the priest would call out, “The doors, the doors,” the
faithful would search to their left and to their right. This was to make sure that
only known members of the Church would occupy these spaces. This, by the
way, is spelled out in all of the ancient liturgies. The idea was that an unidentified
member, an unknown person, could not remain in the church.
My friends, I do not know what the Lord would say today to each one of
our bishops. What would He say? I have a few things against you? That you let
the Nicolaitans influence the life of some of your faithful? The faithful Orthodox
Christians are bombarded by: television, movie theaters, newspapers, magazines,
and the secular modern lifestyle. Do you know how our dilemma is best described
today? It is like trying to carry water in a basket. How can you hold water in a
basket? How can you manage this? What hole can you possibly seal? How can you
keep water in this basket full of holes? It is a great dilemma.
Today the Lord would not tell us that He has a few things against us. He
would have a great many things against us! However, what we must understand
today, especially today, is that the flock must learn to watch out for itself. Today
it seems that way. Please pay attention. I am sorry to tell you this. However, do
not expect us, do not count on us shepherds to watch out for you today. Learn to
watch out for yourselves. If you do not learn how to protect yourselves and look
out for your spiritual well being, do not expect this to come from someone else. I
am deeply sorry for saying this, but I made myself clear. What hole can we plug in
that basket with thousands of holes? I believe you are also aware of this.
However, we need to tune into something else here. The Lord mentions the
activities and the methodologies of the Nicolaitans to the bishop of Pergamos;
and these are very, very important elements because they seem to always exist.
They continue to exist in history and consequently they exist in our times as well.
We need to spell them out. We need to call our attention to the activity and
method used by the devil. The Lord does exactly this when He uses as a reference
a very old story in order to draw our attention to this activity and method of the
Nicolaitans. This old story is in the book of Numbers and He says; Thus, you also
have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. So, you are acting like those
who were in the desert long ago, and they were heavily influenced by the actions
of Balaam. In this way, you also have the Nicolaitans using this method on your
Christians. However, in order to understand the methods and the action used
by the enemies of the Church I believe we must look briefly into this old story
to acquaint ourselves with its main theme, especially because this activity will
continue until the end of history.
As I told you, this story is in the book of Numbers (chapters 22-25 and 31).
After they exited Egypt and after a number of ordeals in the desert under the
leadership of Moses, the Israelites set up camp east of the Jordan River in the area
of the Moabites and Midianites. This was at the very end of Moses’ life. After this,
he went up on a high mountain and from there saw the Promised Land and died.
After Moses died Joshua assumed leadership. Joshua and the Israelites crossed over
the Jordan River using the same method Moses used to pass through the Red Sea;
the waters parted. This miracle was necessary to solidify the authority of Joshua.
God wanted to show that divine grace was not only with Moses but with Joshua
as well. So after they traversed the waters of Jordan they came to Jericho, and they
conquered the first city of the Promised Land. Afterwards they conquered all of
the Promised Land with a number of those sacred battles as we read in the book
of Judges and so on.
However, when the king of the Moabites saw the Jews setting up camp across
from his land, he became very troubled. There were two million Jews then and
their number had him panic-stricken. This is true for any king and any leader
of a nation who sees such a mass of people setting up camp on his borders. It
was common for entire nations to move about in those days and for centuries
after that. Today we do not have this phenomenon as much, but in the past,
this migration of entire nations was a common occurrence. In this way, the Jews
moved as a nation with the purpose of conquering the Promised Land. However,
Balak, the king of the Moabites, felt very threatened. He did not know what to do;
he called the governing body, the elders of the Moabites, and the Midianites in an
emergency meeting to decide how to proceed against this threat.
They decided to seek the services of an extraordinary sorcerer who lived
in Mesopotamia, (present day Iraq) and was quite a distance away. This great
magician’s name was Balaam, and they hoped he would have some kind of power
to curse the Israelites. They wanted to have this magician by their side to curse the
Israelites, and somehow decimate them so that the Moabites and the Midianites
would be able to breathe again. This is exactly what they did. They sent a number
of representatives to Mesopotamia with many treasures, and they told Balaam
that this was only a down payment and that their king would reward him even
more abundantly once this mission was accomplished. The job was simple, simple
enough. “Our king only wants you to come and place a curse on a nation that is
camping on our borders.” Balaam replied, “Very well. Stay here tonight and I will
answer you in the morning.”
During the night the Lord of Israel appeared to Balaam, “Why did they come?
No, you will not leave. You will stay here. Do not go with them.” In the morning,
Balaam told them, “I am very sorry, but I will not be coming along with you. Even
if you gave me the entire treasury of your kingdom, I will not be able to come.”
They left empty-handed. Balak became upset, and he sent even more important
representatives with more precious gifts. Balaam told them the same thing again,
“Stay the night, and I will ask.”
This time God told him, “Since they came, go with them, but be very careful
to only say exactly what I put in your mouth.” (I am just giving you a few details
because this adventure takes place across five chapters.) So, Balaam goes on his
way with his donkey. At some point, the donkey refuses to go forward. Balaam
hits the donkey and the donkey says, “Why did you hit me? There’s an angel in
front of me,” and so on and so forth. (I am bypassing quite a few details.) Finally,
Balaam reaches the land of Boam. Balak the king naturally was ecstatic and told
him, “Now let me show you the Israelites.” He took him to a very high mountain
and told him to look at the people below. “I want you to curse them so they can
fall apart and get out of my sight.”
“Very well,” said Balaam. “Now bring me seven oxen, seven sheep, make seven
altars, and sacrifice them. Now understand this; whatever God puts in my mouth,
that is what I will speak. Again, realize that I will only say what God tells me
to say.” So, after the sacrifice Balaam began to speak. He started exalting and
eulogizing the Israelites. Balak was terrified. He exclaimed, “Listen, I brought you
here to curse these people, and you are blessing them.” Balaam replied, “Didn't I
tell you that I could only say what God instructs me to say?” So Balak takes him
from that spot to a different location where a different section of the Israelite camp
was visible and he repeats, “Listen, I want you to curse these people.” Again, seven
oxen, seven altars, and again praise after praise for Israel. Now Balak is getting very
angry; so he moves him from there and takes him to a third location. This third
time, Balaam, along with the praise for the Israelites, proclaims a tremendous
prophecy in favor of them, a true encomium.
In this prophecy, he speaks about the dawning of the great star, which seems to
be the star that participated in the birth of Christ. Balaam the Gentile, the idolater,
prophesied this. By this, I hope you can see that God is not bound. He can put the
truth in the mouth of an idolater. Just like in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, there
is a vision about God’s Church. Even Pharaoh had those well-known dreams about
the years of famine and plenty. So before the sacrifice was even over, knowing what
God wanted, Balaam once again started a great tribute, an encomium in favor of
the Jews, a praise of praises.
Now Balak was steaming. And he told him, “You are getting nothing. Get out of
my sight.” However, Balaam was greedy. He loved money, and he thought he could
not have acted any differently since God was being very direct and very involved
here. He even had a little trouble along the way with God’s angel. Remember that
his donkey turned around and spoke in a human voice which horrified Balaam,
and especially when he saw the angel with an extended sword. He went along with
his representatives even though he should not have. That is why the angel stopped
him. The fact is that Balaam was afraid to say anything different from what God
wanted him to say because of these great signs. It is possible that as an idolater his
knowledge and perception of God was very limited.
Maybe he thought that God could only hear him in those locations; now
that he was away from there, maybe God could no longer hear him. This was a
perception with the idolaters. That is why when God revealed Himself to Moses,
he said, I am the Lord. There is no other God beside Me. I am the Lord of all
and no matter where I am, I am the Lord. I am not the God of yesterday or
tomorrow only, but I am the eternal God (cf. Isa. 45: 4-5). Balaam, lacking this
basic knowledge about God on the one hand and on the other having to deal with
his greed, improvised a plan which is quite common in dealings where money and
business deals are involved. When a deal is ready to fall through, heavy negotiating
is used to save the deal.
Thus, he tells Balak, “Look, I could not tell you anything different than what
God placed in my mouth. Now I will whisper something in your ear. Pay attention
to it because if you follow my advice, you will defeat the Israelites. Now listen to
this plan. You will try to seduce the Israelites in two areas. First try to get them to
worship a different god, preferably your god, and this will make their God very
angry; and second, get them to fall into sexual immorality, something their God
is against. I am suggesting these two things to you. To put it in our own words,
he said make sure they fall into idolatry and fornication, truly demonic pieces of
advice from a servant of the devil. After that, God’s wrath would be kindled. He
would no longer protect them and evil would overtake them.
Balaam stayed with the Moabites, but he was not able to collect his reward
because he was killed by the sword of the Israelites toward the end of this adventure.
Let’s analyze the demonic method that he taught the Moabites in order to put a
stumbling block before the children of Israel. All this was because the Moabites
could not stand up to the Israelites militarily. They could not afford to go to battle
against them so they used a political solution. This is called a method of intrusion.
With this intrusion, they engaged the Israelites with idolatry and fornication, and
by this, would succeed in separating the Israelites from their God. Now let’s look
at their plan.
They organized a huge festival to honor their god Baal or Belzegor. They
invited the Israelites to join them. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.
They began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. The young beauties
of Moab came out dressed to seduce and provoke with the necessary make-up. As
you know the make-up of women, the painting of the eyes and the lips, is ancient.
It probably goes back to the generations of Cain.
So these females came out and invited the young Israelites to join them in
offering sacrifices to their gods — to the idols; and the Israelites, enchanted by all
these festivities, ate the food sacrificed to idols and celebrated the service to honor
Baal or Belzegor of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. ‘The
Lord was now quite angry and He ordered Moses to arrange for the execution of all
those who had joined the Moabites in harlotry and offered sacrifices to the idols.
Moses, acted out the commandment of God, Who said, Show no mercy even if
the one who did this is your father or your brother or your son (cf. Deut. 7:2).
So Moses told the judges of Israel that each one should kill the men who were
joined to Baal of Peor. The killing did not stop until twenty-four thousand people
found a tragic death. This wrath of God stopped only when Phineas acted, very
quickly and decisively, to end a very provocative scene. A young Israelite, the son
of an archon, brought a Midianite woman, walking her into the middle of the
camp in broad daylight, to show her off to the rest of the Jews and then took her
into his tent to sin with her. Then Phineas, being overcome by divine zeal acted
decisively. He took a spear and he impaled both of them. The spear went through
both of their bodies and pierced the earth. The wrath of God reversed. When this
virtuous act of Phineas took place, the Lord said, because he was zealous with my
zeal, I did not consume the children of Israel in my zeal. Balaam was correct. He
knew what he was doing when he advised Balak, Get them to sin and you will see
that God will become angry with them.
Now the Lord says here in the book of Revelation, in the epistle to the bishop
of Pergamos: You have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught
Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed
to idols and to commit sexual immorality. The Nicolaitans are doing the very same
thing in your church. To be precise, the old sins of Israel were sexual immorality
and idolatry. These are the two activities, the two evil methods of all the enemies
of the Church because there was never a time when the enemies of the Church
stopped using these methods to seduce the Christians.
What is significant and interesting is that Balaam in Hebrew means Nikolaos,
so it is not by accident that these heretics were called Nicolaitans. Nikolaos has
two meanings; the first is the victory of the people. The second is the one who is
victorious over the people. So, Nikolaos with the second meaning is the one who
defeats and destroys the people. Balaam, which means Nikolaos, literally means
the one who destroys the people of God, and these Balaamites, or Nicolaitans,
are synonyms for those who destroy the people of God. I do not know for sure if
the Nicolaitans existed historically or if they were a metaphorical term, an image
presented by the Lord in order to talk about these evil destroyers of His people.
But it seems they existed even historically because St. Epiphanios of Cyprus*! and
other early Church Fathers, even St. Irenaeus and Eusebius of Caesarea, refer to
the Nicolaitans as a historical reality. It seems that there were heretics with the
name Nicolaitans. However, what the Lord points out here, which is of interest
to us today, is that even though the heresy of Nicolaitanism does not exist today,
those who imitate the actions and methods of the Nicolaitans do exist.
We need to be aware of these methods of the enemies of God’s people. Their
methods are based on and modeled after the typology of the Nicolaitans. I hope
you see this. Balamatism is the typology of the deceivers and destroyers of the New
Israel of Grace, the Christians. We see this method of destruction in full bloom
throughout history. I will mention something from the chronicles of St. John the
Chrysostom, the archbishop of Constantinople. As you, know at times St. John
Chrysostom raised his voice against the royal family, the emperor of the Eastern
Roman Empire, Arcadius and especially against the empress, Eudoxia. A number
of meetings and conferences took place on what method would be used to bring
about his destruction.
Tronically, only a few years earlier, some of these same people had pretended
to take Chrysostom on a carriage ride around Antioch, but instead, headed to
Constantinople where they enthroned him as archbishop of Constantinople
against his will. Now this archbishop by preaching against the vices of the emperor
and his empress had become the menace of the palace, and the joy of the flock.
The flock remained ever so faithful to holy Chrysostom. His biography reveals the
terrible maneuvers used by bishops and kings, but the worst of all the suggestions
offered came from the palace itself! Their most foul, evil idea was this; we must get
him to sin at all costs! The suggestion to grab his property fell flat because he had
no property. Whatever he had belonged to the Church and found its way to the
poor. So, they could not take the help for the poor away and when they offered as a
solution to take his life, some said that Chrysostom could not care less. He would
consider it a great favor to be replanted in heaven even more quickly. St. John was
immune to all threats. Nothing bothered him, nothing at all. The Holy Father was
correct to be afraid of only one thing, to be afraid of sin. Thus, the most demonic
>! St. Epiphanios, Panarion 3:1:2.

solution was to get him to sin.

My friends, the people of God only fall apart when they sin. The enemies
know this quite well because they are under the inspiration of the devil, and the
two sins they most promote are distancing from God and fornication. Look at
our turbulent times and you will see what pulls our youth away from their course.
You will discover the same action and the same method throughout history. The
master plan of the Zionists, which can be found in The Protocols of the Wise Men
of Zion, is based on this method. Do not buy the anti-Semitic rhetoric of the Anti-
defamation League. This book speaks the truth. Every one of their plans is being
fulfilled with tremendous mathematical accuracy. One by one, these protocols are
coming to fruition.
The prominent method used in this book is destruction by evil corruption:
to enter the Christian nations, to paralyze Christian youth, to bring in sexual
immorality, atheism, and apostasy, in every possible way. So, we are now in the
midst of the sexual revolution, the equality of the sexes, or unisex, even though
the ideal equality of the sexes can only be found in Christianity, in the verse: there
is no male or female, we are all one in Christ (cf. Gal. 3:28). The Gospel does not
thrill us anymore; so we want another creation called unisex so we cannot separate
or tell the two sexes apart. The man wants to look like a woman and the woman
like a man. The men have hair down to the waist and the women walk around
with a crew cut, an awful sight. Women drive eighteen-wheelers, and men parade
around in earrings and high heels. This is the idea of unisex, to turn everything
upside down. .
Another aim of the Zionists is fierce slander against Christianity and the
Church. They promote that the Church is defunct, the priests are problematic,
the bishops are corrupt, and so on. They are quite aware that scandals make front-
page news. They know how to neutralize and push aside the worthy shepherds.
If they see a gifted church leader, zealous, a fighter for the truth, a fighter for the
faith, at first they may gnash their teeth, but if this fails, then they approach with
flattery and they praise him, “I know you are doing quite well. You are speaking
the truth. Now, why don’t you come by our house so we can get to know you a
little better and exchange some thoughts?” They offer gifts and all kinds of free
services. These are the traps, and step-by-step the Church leaders find themselves
within their grip.
Do not think that is something uncommon. Tragically, many of our Church's
higher echelon have been corrupted through apostasy and sin, both of which are
sectors of the old teachings Balaam had offered to Balak. Sin is not only fornication
but also everything that refers to the enjoyment of mundane pleasures and wealth.
In the area of apostasy, Zionists promote books full of unorthodox theories. ‘They
approach our Church leaders and introduce these agendas and theories. Some of
our bishops sit there and nod their heads. Here I can say that this is great betrayal.
Can you imagine that there can be a number of Church leaders who are masons,
spiritists, or even atheists? Now you will ask, do you mean that a priest of our
parish can be an atheist?
Well, experience shows that this is very possible. It is precisely why I am telling
you about this. If you do not take the necessary measures to save yourselves, do not
expect your salvation to take place through us [the clergy].
We do not mean that every Church leader is corrupt, misguided, and greedy.
God forbid! We said we have some great shepherds, but we also have a number of
evil shepherds. We know that out of eight thousand priests in Greece at least one
thousand do not believe in God! This is according to a recent poll. They do not
even believe in the sacrament of the holy Eucharist. They do not believe anything
at all. I am extremely sorry to reveal this to you. However, I say this because the
Lord Himself reveals these things when He reproaches the bishop of Pergamos.
You have evil shepherds in your church. You have those that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Do something about them or I will turn
against you. I will turn against you if you do not repent (cf. 2:6).
We also need to make the flock aware that the enemies of the Church first
try to paralyze and neutralize the shepherds, the generals, so that the sheep will
scatter and become easy prey. In Greek, we say that the fish rots from the head.
The head rots first and then the body. Well, my friends, as intelligent Christians,
we must keep our eyes and ears open. Even if our shepherds surrender, we will not
surrender. My friends, let’s stand well. Do not panic about the things that I just
told you. It does not mean that every clergyman is not doing his job well or that
he does not love and believe in God.
Do not think like this. We repeat; we have some excellent priests today! Neither
do we want to make you suspicious. However, if you ever perceive that your
parish priest does not believe or is not Orthodox in his mindset, do not ever
say, “The priest doesn’t believe, why should I?” My friends, there are many, many
people around us who allow themselves to be scandalized by the human weaknesses
of our priests and bishops. This is cowardly. If your priest does not believe, you
will continue to believe because the Lord is real and you will continue to love
the Lord.
But, woe to the bad shepherd. ‘The days that we live in are terribly evil. These
are truly the last days. ‘The Lord forewarned us about this. He spoke to us about
the evil workers, about heresies, about hirelings, or the hired hands. A hireling
[misthotos in Greek] is not the priest who gets a salary to support his family so he
can eat, but the priest who has the psychology of a hireling. Let’s pay attention to
this. Every priest needs to be paid by the church. He needs to live. He has a family;
he is not called a hireling for this. This is not what the Lord meant. A hireling has
the following psychology: “You want an extra liturgy this week? I will do it but
my price is so much.” or “You want a holy unction service at your house? I need
to be paid. If you don't pay me, forget about it.” It is a great tragedy when a priest
or a bishop is in this position for financial reasons only. Imagine your country
under attack from all over and somehow the army cannot meet its payroll and the
soldiers lay down their weapons. They say, “No paycheck, no fighting.” No, the
good soldier will defend his country whether he gets a paycheck or not. His top
priority is to defend his country and not to fill his pockets at this crucial time.
I want you to know all these things. You need to be aware and prepare yourself
accordingly because the enemies of the Church, the dark powers, are infiltrating
and forever attacking the ranks of vigilant shepherds and the guardians of the faith.
They slander them. They ridicule them. They call them all kinds of names because
these worthy shepherds impede their catastrophic evil schemes. This explains the
reasons contemporary Nicolaitans attack every vibrant Christian resistance. One
thing that I must warn you about, once again, is that the enemy is now inside the
walls of the city. I am sure you understand the degree of difficulty of our times and
the unbearable weight that the vigilant shepherds must bear. However, you must
stay vigilant as well.
I repeat; their strategy is on the one hand apostasy from God (atheism is
running rampant in our times) and on the other hand licentiousness, love for
carnal pleasures. St. Peter writes about today’s Nicolaitans and the ones of apostolic
times; Having eyes full of adultery they cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls,
they have a heart trained in covetous practices, accursed children! They have forsaken
the right way and gone astray following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved
the wages of unrighteousness... These are wells without water; clouds carried by a
tempest for whom is prepared the darkness of hell forever (cf. 2 Peter 2:14-18). These
are the words of the Lord about the Nicolaitans of all times and all ages.
Now let’s focus our attention on something else as well, the criticism that the
Lord levels at the bishop of Pergamos when He tells him that Balaam taught Balak
how to place a scandal before the sons of Israel. Here we have the phenomenon of
the scandal or stumbling block. This, according to the Lord, Who explained this
in the Gospel, means for someone to trip or fall away from the faith in the name
of Jesus Christ and/or to fall from morality. Regarding the first case — to fall away
from the faith, the Lord says for anyone who scandalizes one of these little ones who
believe in Me, it is better for him to tie a millstone around his neck and jump into
the deep of the sea (cf. Matt. 18:6). The little ones can be those of a young age or
the simple people, the lowly people of society, the unimportant — by today’s
standards anyway.
When an intellectual or important — by worldly standards — visitor asks
these simple people whether they still believe in Christ, it is because they—the
intellectuals—believe that Jesus is nobody. These are old and unnecessary stories. It
would be better for him, in fact, his punishment would be less if he would go and
kill himself, to tie a millstone around his neck and jump into the sea. Christ says
his sin of suicide would be less than if he tells another human being not to believe
in His name. Today this sort of scandalizing is widespread. There are teachers and
professors who ridicule students if they believe in Christ. There are even parents
who talk like this to their children. Society in general speaks and lives like this
with its newspapers. Magazines and all means of mass communication directly or
indirectly attack people’s faith in Jesus Christ. For all these the Lord clearly stated
what they deserve.
Regarding the second case — the fall from morality, the Lord said, Woe to
the world from the scandals (cf. Matt. 18:17). The scandals are those of ethics
and morality, as for example, when you, the Christian lady exit your house half-
naked. You scandalize the other person and entice the unstable souls, and these
unstable souls sin because of you. The Lord says, woe to the world for these
scandals. However, what is of interest here is the fact that Balak used both of these
techniques—distancing from faith and falling away from morality—taught to him
by Balaam. The very same two techniques are most prevalent in our times today.
So here I must appeal to you, all those who hear the word of God, let's rethink
our responsibilities. We are completely responsible for how we carry ourselves in
front of our children and the youth: the parents, the teachers, our priests and
society as a whole. Let us stand before our children with respect. This is the future
generation and if this generation grows up without faith and with our carnal
sins, it will turn against us. We will taste the bitter fruits because we reared this
generation on filthy water from corrupted wells, the deteriorated wells of apostasy
and immorality. They will never respect us. They will not respect parents, teachers,
or priests; and this is already happening.
Our youth rebel and turn against us. We repeat over and over again; you know
how it is with teenagers; it is a dilemma with teenagers for whom we are responsible.
By this, I mean our teachers, our TV commercials, our TV shows, and our apostasy
from God. “The angry young man,” as the song says, only became angry in our
century, this century of materialism, feminism, liberalism, and atheism, and we
now taste the fruits of our seedlings. The cause of this rebellion, anarchy and lack
of respect when the teenager defies his parents, when he terrorizes his teachers and
becomes a menace to society — all these things are the bitter fruits of the seedlings
of the Nicolaitans, the enemies of the Church. My friends, as parents, as teachers
and as communities, let’s stay vigilant and become involved.
CHAPTER 14
Revelation 2:17-20
Promises to the Victor in the Content of Pergamos —
Epistle to Thyatira — Praise — Criticism for the
Woman Jezebel

€ now continue, my friends, with the analysis of the epistle that our
Lord sent to the bishop of Pergamos. If you remember, our Lord
had a complaint against the bishop of Pergamos pertaining to the
Nicolaitans. These Nicolaitans were a typology of Balaam. He was
their patron saint, so to speak. It was Balaam who had instructed Balak in the Old
Testament story of the Israelites. He had told Balak to politely invite the Israelites to
eat meat sacrificed to idols and to fornicate and thus to fall into disfavor with and
provoke the wrath of God. God tells the bishop of Pergamos, Repent then. If not, I will
come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth (Rev. 2:16).
My friends, there is a surprising thought here. Surprising is the fact that the Lord is
seeking a fullness in all His commandments and in all His words. We see that the Lord
admonishes this oversight of the bishop of Pergamos, which is the failure to succeed
in the catharsis, or cleansing of the church from the pollution of Nicolaitanism. Now
the Lord wants the bishop to repent and to rectify this flaw. The Lord does not tolerate
anything improper in His Church, which is His spotless and pure Bride. We also see
here the presence of a threat or punishment in the event that the bishop does not
correct his actions, if he does not repent and take the necessary precautions to protect
his flock from the heretical influence of Nicolaitanism.
This threat is that the Lord Himself will fight the heretics. The Lord says to the
bishop in simple terms; if you cannot take care of this, I will do it Myself. This is
an interesting approach. In interpreting this, St. Andrew of Caesarea says, “In this
threat we find philanthropy. I will not fight against you, but I will fight against those
terminally ill with the disease of heresy.”** Again, our Lord takes an interesting and
unusual approach, if we compare it to the other epistles where the Lord directs the
threat to the bishop. I will punish you. I will turn against you. I will move your lampstand
and so on. To this bishop He says, if you do not repent, I will turn against the heretics.
Again, this is interesting, because logically why does He not go after the bishop if this
bishop is at fault and needs to repent, but instead claims that He will turn against the
>? Saint Andrew, Apocalypse, (PG. 106, 2380): “εν τη ἀπειλὴ ἡ φιλανθρωπία. Ου γαρ μετὰ σου
φησίν, αλλἁ μετ᾽ εκείνων πολεμήσω, των νοσούντων ανίατα:
heretics? Common sense tells us that He should go against the bishop.

However, St. Andrew of Caesarea says that the Lord offers this threat along with
mercy or philanthropy because of the excellent qualities of the bishop of Pergamos.*
He was otherwise a great bishop, with the exception of this minor oversight of allowing
a few of his Christians to be influenced — though not the entire flock. Unfortunately,
some of the Christians were taken in by these false teachings of Nicolaitanism. For us
to understand this better, let’s say that we have a great bishop or a priest, very zealous,
a great human being; he is always striving and struggling, always caring so he will not
overlook anything. In spite of his efforts, some of his parishioners become infected
by the activities of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and he may have five or ten Jehovah's
Witnesses in his parish. We might think this is nothing major. However, the Lord
insists that even these few should not exist.
We should tremble at the thought of what is happening in our days, the way that we
are today. What would the Lord say to us? However, the fact remains, that the Lord is
seeking the bishop’s repentance. This shows that the bishop is guilty regardless of if this
is something very small, like a small paragraph in the life of the Church, compared to
the full scope of his work as a bishop. This may seem inconsequential by our standards.
However, it is not of small consequence to allow a few of his Christians to fall victim to
heresy. This is not a small matter. When a bishop or a priest neglects or does not make
an effort to finish God’s work, then God Himself takes over to see to it that this work is
completed. By this, the Lord wants to point out to His workers, “Yes, I’m giving you a job
to do, but I will not abandon My Church. I will help My Church if you are neglectful.”
Something similar can take place with our children my friends. If some parents do
not provide for the spiritual development of their children, Christ will hold these parents
accountable. Christ Himself takes over the spiritual development of these children. We
often see children of neglectful parents turning into wonderful children, wonderful
Christians. Christ Himself intervened in the spiritual development of these neglected
children. However, this does not leave the parents off the hook.
The parents will be held responsible. If you have been a neglectful father up to
now, do not say, “Thank God my children turned out quite well, even though I did not
do much for them and I even showed some laziness and neglect in their upbringing.”
Let no one speak like this, because the Lord warns about the need for repentance. Just
because I shoulder the responsibility for your children, and this is My prerogative, do
not think that you are not responsible. However, the opposite is also true. If a parent
has worked very hard (spiritually) for his children and is blameless in the area of their
upbringing, then even if the children choose the wrong path, this does not mean that
the parents are responsible. The parents are not responsible in this case.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who
conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with
a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it (2:17).
Now initially we must admit that the promises made here to the one who wins seem
93 Ibid.
a bit strange. Let us look into these promises. He refers to the hidden manna and
a name, written specifically on a white stone. Here the Lord uses two images: the
first of the hidden manna, the second of a white stone with a name written on it.
Regarding the manna, this image is chosen because the enemies of the church of
Pergamos, the Nicolaitans, influenced the Christians to eat food sacrificed to idols
and manna is something edible. In the desert, the Jews chose to eat food sacrificed to
idols from those offered to them by Balak. They chose this over the manna that God
provided for them every morning. Twenty-four thousand of the Jews sinned. The rest
of the Jews did not sin. Only twenty-four thousand were seduced to join Balak in his
festivals. They ate meat; they sacrificed to the false god Baal; and eating abominable
and unclean foods polluted them.
Now what Christ says here is that anyone in the church of Pergamos who refuses
to eat from the polluted, sacrificed food of the Nicolaitans, or who does not fall into
their practices of fornication and eating foods used for idol worship, to this person
(who abstains from this evil), I will give him the hidden manna to eat. What is the
hidden manna? It is that which the Lord revealed in His gospel according to John —
the miracle that fed the five thousand. The day after this miracle, some of these men
from Capernaum drew near the Lord and for obvious reasons asked Him to stay with
them permanently. The Lord told them, do not seek and labor for the bread which
perishes, but for the bread that endures forever (cf. 6:27). And what is this bread? On the
one hand, these men saw that He could provide free bread for them from only five
loaves of bread, and they were naturally astonished; but now He tells them something
new — not to seek the bread that perishes, but the bread that endures. Could it be that
beyond His ability to create food or bread for them, He could also give them a certain
food that would eliminate their hunger altogether?
He mentioned something similar to the Samaritan woman, J will give you to drink
from that water from after which one drinks, he will never thirst again (cf. John 4:10-
11) To their question about the food or bread that endures, the Lord said, I am the
true manna. I am the true food, the manna of heaven. Unlike the food that your
forefathers ate in the desert and died, I am the true manna. Anyone who eats My flesh,
anyone who eats My body, the true manna, will never die. So, the old manna that
the Jews ate in the desert was the prefigurement of the new manna, or Jesus Christ.
More specifically, it was the typology of the mystery of the Divine Eucharist, because
in the mystery of the Divine Liturgy, the consumption of the Body and Blood of
Christ occurs.
Let’s look into the nature and qualities of the old manna, the heavenly food of
the desert. What was it like? This will give us some additional insight into the new
manna, or holy Eucharist. What was the desert manna like? Solomon in his book of
Wisdom explains, Instead of these things thou didst give thy people food of angels, and
without their toil thou didst supply them from heaven with bread ready to eat, providing
every pleasure and suited to every taste. For thy sustenance manifested thy sweetness toward
thy children and the bread, ministering to the desire of the one who took it, was changed
to suit everyones liking (16: 20-21). In other words, the very substance and great taste
of manna was indicative of Your sweetness, O Lord, towards Your children. What
was special about this manna was its very amazing quality to provide a different taste
according to a person's desire. What were you hungry for — steak? When you were
eating this manna, your desire for steak was satisfied. Were you hungry for beans?
When you were eating manna, it would taste like beans. Does this surprise you? Some
may comment or wonder, but these people were eating the same thing, the same food
for forty years. |
However, this quality ceased the moment the thought centered on eating the same
food repeatedly. From that moment, the manna would lose its quality of changing into
the desired taste for which each person was hungry. Then, the terrible phenomenon
of the Hebrews approaching Moses complaining that they were sick and tired of this
empty bread took place. In other words, they were bored with the tasteless heavenly
manna. The Hand of God fell terribly heavy against the people. These people while
eating the heavenly manna began to look back; and they desired the onions, the garlic,
and the leeks of Egypt. These poor and pitiful human beings grew tired of the heavenly
food and they wanted the earthly food of this world — not the food given to them by
God directly. They could feel extremely well if they wanted to, by looking to God alone.
However, they did not want this Godly discipline. This manna was a prefigurement
and the typology of the one and exclusive real food of the human being, the Body and
Blood of Christ. There is no other food that serves as food for immortality. The single
and exclusive food for immortality is the Body and Blood of Christ. The Lord said all
those who ate that manna died. That was the typos or the prefigurement. All those that
eat the true manna will never die. In other words, they will live forever in the kingdom
of God — He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (John 6:54-56).
Isn't it amazing that this manna of the desert would fulfill the individual tastes
desired by each person? And this taste was a sweet taste. It had a sweetness — not only
that of the manna itself. We must remind ourselves that the initial form of manna
was like a pancake cooked with oil and honey. When we have pancakes for breakfast,
we use syrup, honey and butter or oil; then we have the taste of oil or honey. Beyond
this initial or basic taste, the manna would assume the different tastes as described by
Solomon. Do you find it intriguing that this change could be different at all times?
Let us look at some of the verses from the Song of Solomon: As an apple tree among the
trees of the wood, so is my beloved among young men. I sat down in his shade with great
delight and his fruit was sweet to my taste. His speech is most sweet and altogether desirable
(2:3 and 5:16). These are the words of the bride, the spotless bride, in this love song,
which are a tribute to the relationship between God — and more specifically between
Christ the Second Person of the Holy Trinity and His Church, a relationships full of
eros, this strong, most powerful eros, love.
By the way, do not let your mind stoop to anything carnal while reading this
Scriptural poetry, because Protestant interpreters attempt to drag these most spiritual
eros love lines down to the carnal level. This eros (love) of the Song of Songs has nothing
to do with the erotica shops of our filthy times. It has nothing to do with carnal or
sexual relations. Divine eros is the highest level of pure, burning love. Christianity
is an eros love. What ails Christianity today is the loss of this eros love. Christianity
without this flame, without this burning of the heart, is a cold Christianity, a frozen
Christianity. We live as Christians out of a sense of duty, because we have to, because
it is a nice thing to do. We were baptized, so we might as well go to church. We do not
have this flame within us, this burning divine eros love.
In the Song of Solomon we read these verses: As an apple tree among the trees of
the wood, so is my beloved among young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow...
(2:3), and His speech is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved...
(5:16), represents the eros love relationship between the soul and the Bridegroom, or
Christ. At the same time, these verses also represent the eros love relationship between
the Church and Christ. His fruit was sweet to my taste. His mouth is most sweet. He is
altogether full of desire (cf. 2:3). He is desire in its entirety, full of desire! Do you see
here that we have a faith full of eros love, the very thing that we lack?
Unfortunately, Christians today have lost this burning love for the Bridegroom.
So, this too is what Solomon is saying about the manna of the desert, “You are all sweet,
you are all desire.” What was eaten in the desert is Your typology, the prefigurement of
the true manna. And the Lord now interprets this typology in His Gospels. J am the
true manna. Can you imagine my friends how awesome this is? By the way, the Song
of Solomon (Song of Songs) and the Wisdom of Solomon were both monumental
works of King Solomon. Now once again, why did anyone who ate this manna have
the specific taste that his heart desired? It was because he who partakes of the Body
and Blood of Christ receives whatever charisma, whatever gift his heart desires. Lord,
grant me patience. Lord, give me peace. Lord, give me joy. Lord, give me wisdom.
We receive these gifts while partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, which are the
different tastes. Everyone who communes partakes of the same thing. All the faithful
share the common cup. Moreover, everyone receives the gifts that he desires, that he
prayerfully asks God to grant him.
The other image — the white stone — comes from the stones used both by the
ancient Greeks and during the time of Christ to vote. One can find a very light,
porous and almost weightless stone on the beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. We
can see these stones float on the sea following the movements of the breaking waves.
Eventually, these white stones end up on the shore. This stone is called psifida in Greek
because of the psi sound that it makes as the waters carry it. Because this psifida stone
was used as a voting ballot, the Greek word for vote is psifos from the psifida stone. So,
the name of the candidate was written on a white stone. The Lord uses the image of
this voting procedure. And He says to him who will win, as far as the context of the
epistle goes, to him who will not be influenced by the hateful deeds of the Nicolaitans,
their method and their actions, to him I will give a white stone (cf. 2:17).
Now, why white? This voting stone was not only used in the elections of the
leaders of the ancient Greek nation, of politicians, but in the court system as well.
This stone system was also used for the sentencing or the acquittal of a defendant.
The members of the jury would use the white stones if they felt the defendant was
innocent. A different stone, like a brick let’s say, was used to show that he was guilty.
You may have heard the story about Aristides, the righteous. He earned the reputation
of being the most righteous or fair ruler in Athens. At some point, his actions rubbed
the Athenians the wrong way and he found himself in court. If he was found guilty,
he would lose his governing status and he would be exiled.
As he was walking about Athens, an older citizen approached him-and, without
knowing who he was, he asked him for his assistance, “Sir, would you please write on
my stone ‘Exile Aristides.” He asked him, ‘Excuse me sir, but do you know anything
about this man? Do you know this Aristides fellow? Did he do anything to you?’
‘No, I don't know this man, but I’m just getting tired of hearing everyone call him
righteous.’ “Very well, then.” Aristides obeyed the wishes of this illiterate Athenian,
without exposing or introducing himself. Aristides the great man of Athens was exiled
by the court system of his city. Thus, this stone would serve for either the acquittal or
the sentencing of the person in question.
So here when the Lord says, J will give him a white stone He means [I will use a
similar expression that we use today. I will give him a clean slate.] that this man will
not go through judgment. St. John states very beautifully in his Gospel, Truly, truly, I
say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does
not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). What death? —
‘The death that we call biological death. He passed over from death to life. He does
not undergo judgment; that is the meaning of the white stone. He who gets this white
stone is acquitted. He does not go through judgment.
We often hear that everyone will be judged for his works. But will the saints be
judged as well? The saints will not be judged. Why, because they simply passed over
from this earthly death into everlasting life without judgment. This white stone, this
sort of passport that exonerates one from judgment, has a new name. What is this
new name? It is unknown. Only the one who receives this white stone knows the new
name. St. Andrew of Caesarea and St. Arethas, both say this new name cannot be
revealed in this present life.** Only the saints will receive this name. How is it possible
to reveal incorruptible (uncreated) things in a corruptible world? For this reason, this
remains a mystery of the incorruptible world. Only the one who receives this white
stone knows this. ‘The epistle to the bishop of Pergamos ends with these two promises,
my friends, to the one who overcomes — that the Lord will give to eat from the hidden
manna (and this manna is Christ Himself) and that the Lord will give a white stone
with a new name.
Now, with the help of God, we enter the fourth epistle by St. John that was sent to
the bishop of Thyatira. And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write (2:18). Thyatira
94 St. Andrew, Apocalypse, (PG 106, 238D). “évopa de xatvdy Th Tapovan Cur ἀγνοούμενον.
Tovto to évopa ot ἁγιοι κληρονομήσουσι πως γὰρ οἷον τε φθαρτὴ γνώση τα ἀφθαρτὰα
παραδηλούσθαι"
lies southeast of the city of Pergamos. It was a Lydian city built by Selefkos the First.
It was the most insignificant of the seven cities that received epistles from the Lord.
This city housed industrial personnel and merchants. It was an industrious city, a city
of commerce. However, it did not have the same glow of a city like Ephesus, Smyrna,
or Pergamos, which had great libraries, and famous temples with spiritual and civic
centers. Thyatira had none of this. It was a small and insignificant city. However,
my friends, to this small and unimportant city, the Lord sent the longest of all seven
epistles. Now let’s look at the entire epistle.
And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God,
who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your
works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works
exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls
herself a prophetess and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice immorality and
to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her
immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with
her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her doings and I will strike her
children dead.
And all the churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will
give to each of you as your works deserve. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold
this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I
do not lay upon you any other burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come. He who
conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations,
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even
as I myself have received power from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (2:18-29).
_ As you remember from previous verses, the feet of the Lord appearing in the initial
vision were extremely bright. They were like fine glowing brass, a glowing mixture of
_gold and silver. Two different elements are central in the introductory lines of this
epistle. The first is taken during the initial vision during which the Lord appeared
directly before his mesmerized disciple in Patmos. He stays in this position as he
dictates to St. John to record these epistles. In this vision, His eyes are like a flame of
fire. These eyes represent the ability of the Lord to penetrate, to see through the deep
things of Satan,a matter that He will address in this epistle. St. John also refers to
His feet, which shows that He is not one who will maintain a passive position toward
this knowledge and verification of the deep things of Satan, but He will crush His
adversaries (with these brass feet).
The other element of this epistle is the self-proclamation of Jesus as the Son of
God. This title is Messianic and corresponds fully with the content of the second
_ psalm where the Messiah has authority over the nations and crushes the adversaries.
' He crushes them with an iron rod the same way a potter crushes pieces of pottery, like
_ vases, crocks, and urns, or the way someone might use a sledgehammer and shatter
. unwanted clay utensils. With the same ease, the Lord will crush the deep things of
Satan. It is as if He said to the bishop: Although the deep things of Satan surround
you, do not be afraid. I see them. You do not see them. How can you see them? They
are hidden. I repeat; they are hidden. ‘That is why you cannot see the deep things of
Satan. They are covered by a veil. These deep things of Satan are locked away. They
are locked away in buildings called Masonic Temples. They are locked. How can you
see them? You cannot see them. I can see them, says the Lord. Do not be afraid. I will
crush and abolish all of these things.
Now what is remarkable my friends, is the interpretation of the second psalm
which is magnificent. The interpretation of this psalm as Messianic comes from the
Lord Himself and this is because it concerns Himself. So naturally, He gives us this
second psalm in its entire dimension. The Jews also recognize and accept that this is
a Messianic psalm, even though these pitiful people do not accept the Person of Jesus
Christ. What a pity. After the introduction, or opening lines of this epistle, we now
move into the main topic. J know your works, your love and faith and service and patient
endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first (2:19). Very nice, comforting and
praising words indeed - this J know from God - I know your works and your love and
your faith, your service and your patience and your last works are greater and more
important than the first.
Yet, in the epistle to the bishop of Ephesus, if you remember, he wrote, You left
your first love. Here to the bishop of Thyatira, he writes the opposite, And your last
works exceed the first. The last works of the bishop of Ephesus were weak while the
opposite is true for the bishop of Thyatira. His last works were more substantial; they
were increasing. In other words, we have two poles here diametrically opposed with a
common central balancing point. This is just like the pole of the algebraic numbers,
where we have the neutral point, which is zero, and the numbers can move in a positive
or negative direction. This is precisely our position, concerning our willingness and
motivation as we first start to live a spiritual life.
Sometimes we descend. We go below our starting point; we go below zero. We
hear this depressing and disheartening phrase that the Lord has told the bishop of
Ephesus, You have left your first love. Sometimes, we ascend and climb above the initial
starting point. In going up, we hear the words of praise, which the Lord says to the
bishop of Thyatira, Your last works exceed the first. These two points represent the
different positions or levels of the faithful in the Church and obviously there is a
great variety of these positions, whether as a person or as a congregation. We need
to do an occasional self-examination, whether examining ourselves as individuals or
as communities, and ask ourselves, am I gaining ground? Am I progressing towards
holiness? Or, am I losing ground? The fact is that it is impossible for someone to stand
still and continue to stay at the initial level. Nothing stands still, especially in the area
of spirituality. Even though in some things we could talk about a relative stillness, in
reality this is never the case. The life of man, man’s life, is dynamic whether he likes it
or not. We cannot say that something never changes. Consider our body temperature,
for instance; is it possible for our temperature to stay at 98.6 degrees, without the
slightest fluctuation? Since a human being is a living organism, our temperature

will fluctuate.
So my friends, there is not even one of our activities or energies that will remain
stable or at the initial state or at a certain level. Therefore, since this is the reality of
things, the person who says he has reached a certain level and here he will stop, does
not stop. In reality, he will begin to ascend or descend. And if you will, he will descend
if he says that this is a comfortable place to stop. This is why the best method of
spiritual preservation and please try to always remember this, is to keep ascending. Do
you want to keep your spirituality? Then keep climbing. If you say, I came a long way;
this is sufficient; I feel content with my progress, so I will take a short break. From the
moment you say this, you are already on the way down. If you persist in this thinking,
you will slide down quickly.
What I just mentioned to you holds true in all aspects of our life and not only in
the area of our spirituality. In all matters of life, in our education, in our finances — if
you want to maintain your position, then keep increasing and keep things on the
rise. For this reason, it is necessary to have a constant spiritual temperature check,
to observe our spiritual thermometer and to continue to reappraise to our spiritual
inventory. I must also inform you that he who surpasses a certain level toward holiness,
in other words, the person who begins to ascend, at some point will discover that he
has reached a critical state. Please pay very close attention to this point. At some point,
you make up your mind to repent; you decide to live a spiritual life. So, you are all
set. You begin to attend church; you begin to confess regularly; you begin to focus on
spiritual matters; and you begin to know Jesus Christ. In other words, you begin to
participate in the mysteries of the Church.
Sometimes, I do not know, we talk about the mysteries in a legalistic way like
the fulfillment of a certain duty, but the mysteries are not something that we must
go through out of a sense of duty; they are paths that lead to /ife. They are tunnels or
channels that lead us to life, to God. So, when you begin to climb spiritually, at some
point you will reach a critical point. And the crisis is that you will have that feeling
that you cannot climb anymore because you are tired. This is a crisis that we meet
along the way. Everyone goes through this. Those that set out toward a spiritual life go
on and on and on and then at some point, they become afraid, they panic.
Sometimes, the parents panic for their children. They say, what is going to happen
to my child, how far does he or she need to go? So many times, because the parents
cannot deal with this anxiety, they force the children to stop. They tell their child,
look, that is enough. Do not go any farther. We need to understand that when we
come to the point of panic or exhaustion, it means that we have reached that critical
plateau. Another example of this is when we overeat, and our stomach has great
difficulty dealing with its contents and we say that the stomach is undergoing a crisis.
Now which way is this crisis going to go? The stomach can vomit the contents. Or a
heart attack can keep the stomach from functioning and people do die occasionally
from overeating. Alternatively, the stomach can manage to digest and it can overcome
this crisis.
Let's consider an even greater example in the area of supersonics. When a jet takes
off, and its speed increases, the behavior of the air changes as the plane goes faster and
faster. The air becomes increasingly a solid mass. At a certain point, as the speed of the
plane increases and comes close to the speed of sound, the air takes the dimension of a
solid, and the jet feels like it is cutting through a mountain. The jet feels almost ready
to fall apart because the air acts like a solid mass. Now if the jet succeeds in passing this
critical level, which is called the sound barrier, then the airplane glides very nicely. Not
only does it escape danger but now this plane becomes supersonic. It went beyond the
sound barrier; it flies very comfortably and it feels that the air does not exist anymore.
Well, my friends, this very thing happens in the spiritual life. The moment you have
reached this critical point, you will succeed — if you do not lose heart.
It is a matter of losing heart; please understand this. The word of God speaks about
this in Revelation: But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers,
fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with
fire and sulphur, which is the second death (21:8), Now if you do not cower, if you do
not give up from exhaustion, and you succeed in passing this barrier, then the spiritual
life that awaits you is wonderful; it is actually great. It feels so great and so natural that
you could not consider living in any other way. It feels like it is in your blood, like
something woven into your entire existence. So if you happen to meet a very spiritual
person, an ascetic, he will act surprised if you tell him that you cannot reach that sort
of spirituality, that you cannot possibly reach his level. He will say, “How can you say
that? But it is so easy. It’s not hard at all.” It feels like the easiest thing for him because
he went beyond the critical point and now that he is beyond that point, the life of the
spirit is for him something very natural and effortless.
There is also a second consideration here. When we overcome or go beyond this
critical point, my friends, we realize that this can be accomplished in every area of
self-control, for food, for sex and for all areas of our life. When we overcome all these
things, then life becomes like a dream. Things become very smooth. None of the
above elements bother you. It feels that they no longer exist. After this, you live in the
deep peace of God. What is the thing that we call peace, anyway? What do you think?
Precisely this, when the passions tone down, subside and when one breaks through
this critical barrier, he possesses the gift of peace: peace of mind, peace from passions,
and a lasting peace.
I was reading St. Isaac the Syrian who was relaying that it took thirty years for a
near by ascetic to defeat some specific tempting thoughts. Thirty years. After twenty
years, he still had no assurance of any possible progress. Do we comprehend this? We
all need to understand this: twenty years, no answer! Around the twenty-fifth year, he
began to feel some progress. Then after a few more years, after thirty years of battle, he
reached peace of thoughts, Jrini logismon. He finally broke through the critical level.
Now you may say, so many years! So many years! But this is precisely why we were
given this life; not to make babies or not; or to possess homes or apartments or not;
or to amass money or not. Life was given to us precisely for this reason: to succeed in
passing this critical plateau. It sounds a bit scary, my friends. But this is the essence of
Orthodox spirituality. I cannot present anything different to you. I struggle alongside
you and you struggle alongside me. We have not reached this level. We have a way
to go. Nevertheless, this is Orthodox spirituality. Remember this, because those who
speak to you about something very easy and effortless are most likely offering you
something foreign and strange to true Orthodox spirituality.
A third point to consider is that the one that reaches this level never considers his
accomplishments as holiness. Others may be fascinated, but he looks at his lifestyle as
something very common and insignificant. He feels that he already achieved this level,
so this is really nothing special. He looks at his lowly position and he turns his eyes
toward conquering higher peaks of holiness.
I have a few things against you. Most of your works are good, the Lord tells the
bishop of Thyatira. I know that your last works are better than the first, the Lord
says to the bishop. I have a few things against you. What are these few things that the
Lord has against the bishop of Thyatira? As you see, everything seems well, but there
seem to be imperfections. And as I told you earlier, this gives us hope, because we too
are forced to look at our weaknesses. You allow that woman Jezebel who calls herself a
prophetess to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and eat food sacrificed to
idols. You allow the woman (RSV) and, according to another text: your woman or your
wife. But we do not find this to be the case with most texts. Most ancient manuscripts
record: that woman, tin gineka, with the exception of the Alexandrian text and a few
others that write, your woman. Again, most texts and the ones we most often use today
simply write: you allow that woman. You allow Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to
teach and deceive my servants. She deceives them into committing sexual immorality
and into eating food sacrificed to idols.
As you can see here, we have a new threat plaguing the church of Thyatira, which
the Lord finds necessary to address and reprove. Now who was Jezebel? Obviously,
she was a woman with historical dimension, a historical person. This woman was a
member of the local church. As a local church member, she was a participant in the
holy mysteries and she portrayed herself as a Christian, and not only as a Christian,
but as a prophetess. She considered herself a prophetess. However, she was a false
prophetess and the Lord characterizes her as such. In this very letter to the church
of Thyatira, He calls her Jezebel. However, in order to understand the nature of this
woman and the reason He calls her Jezebel, we need to look at an old story as we did
in our recent talk about Balaam and Balak typologies of the Nicolaitans.
Here, this woman is connected to sexual immorality and foods sacrificed to idols,
even though the reference seems to be metaphorical and not literal. It could be literal
as well, but it is most likely metaphorical. In other words, the sexual immorality and
the things sacrificed to idols have an allegorical sense. In the Old Testament, the words
fornication and adultery are very common and here the Lord speaks about adultery,
And the children born by her, I will kill says the Lord (2:23). From this it is evident that
what is referred to is not natural or physical fornication, but spiritual or metaphorical

— in essence, rebellion against the true God. However, this rebellion is not easily
recognized, and it has to do with a spirit of delusion.
This is significant because this woman was a member of the church and as a
member she was pulling the wool over the people's eyes, exercising her maliciousness.
It seems that she was involved in a Gnostic heresy — if we accept fornication and
food sacrificed to idols in a literal sense. However, we repeat, it is rather a metaphor
to point out the spiritual rebellion brought forth by this spirit of delusion. The Lord
reveals this dangerous woman, this new Jezebel — a name the Lord uses metaphorically
to reprove this woman of the church of Thyatira. We are all aware that Jezebel was
a princess of Phoenician birth who was married to Ahab, the Israelite king of the
northern kingdom. She was a demonic woman, a terrible woman. Initially, she was of
a very controlling nature and she managed to control her husband to the extent that
she governed the country rather than he.
Second, she introduced idolatry. The Phoenician gods were idols and she persecuted
the worship of the true God of Israel with a frenzy. She persecuted the prophet
Elijah with a demonic craze. She was a very horrible woman during the prophet
Elijah’s time. She introduced the worship of Baal; and naturally, she was instrumental
in getting the Israelites to commit sexual immorality and to eat foods sacrificed to
idols. She also killed God’s prophets and she hunted the prophet Elijah to have him
executed. She killed many prophets, especially a certain class called the Sons of the
Prophets. She had a daughter and succeeded in making her the wife of the prince of
the southern kingdom.
This is common characteristic of demonized people; they stop at nothing.
Up to this point, the southern kingdom had maintained its faith to the true God.
When the daughter of Jezebel arrived in the southern kingdom, she married the
prince and future king of this southern kingdom. ‘This evil daughter was a carbon
copy of her mother, especially in the area of evil. She proceeded to introduce
idolatry to the southern kingdom. The result was that the future kings would
compete with the kings of the north in the area of idolatry and sin. In the end,
God punished both kingdoms.
The Assyrians enslaved the northern kingdom and a bit later, the Babylonians
took the southern kingdom captive. Do you see what these two women
accomplished? ‘This mother and daughter team caused the destruction of the entire
nation of God through their fornications. The Lord says to the bishop of Thyatira,
you have this woman, Jezebel, who leads My people astray, which means that she
appears as one coming to destroy the people of God, the people of the church of
Thyatira. Now what was displeasing to the Lord was the fact that the bishop of
Thyatira was not distancing her from the church.
Let’s read what Saint Anthimos of Jerusalem writes on this very point. (He was
a bishop of the eighteenth century.) Bishop Anthimos writes about the bishop of
Thyatira, “He was not negating her Christian identity but he was addressing her
as a Christian and by this name she was leading the servants of God astray and
making them subject to her delusion to commit sexual immorality and eat foods
sacrificed to idols.” In other words, the mistake of the bishop was that he did not
cut her off from the flock. He failed to warn the flock, to announce to them that
this woman was not Christian. As long as she was calling herself a Christian, she
could easily delude Christians in the church. Even from this point, we can see that
sexual immorality and sacrifice to idols have a metaphorical dimension here. If
she had carried an entire stone pit in the front of the church, the bishop and the
Christians would certainly have caught on. These were fervent Christians and they
would certainly not eat food sacrificed to idols.
Once again, this is a metaphor. However, it seems this woman stayed in
Thyatira and became the forerunner of Montanism. A few years later, in this city
we record the rise of someone called Montanus. Montanus was a Christian who
believed and taught that he was the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. He taught that
Jesus Christ was the Incarnation of the Word of God, and that he, Montanus, was
the incarnation of the Holy Spirit. He had two women who claimed they were
prophetesses that had revelation after revelation and vision after vision and were
prophesying. The Holy Spirit supposedly inspired them. The Lord reveals that they
were false prophetesses, just like the false prophetess referred to in this epistle.
This Jezebel of Thyatira was a false prophetess and the spiritual predecessor
of Montanists. In these people, we notice the trait of extreme discipline, extreme
self-control. Montanism taught that marriage was filthy. Montanism spread
throughout the entire Mediterranean. There was a certain charm to it, because it
taught something very austere, which by the way was condemned by the Church.
Therefore, Montanus is the first wild weed that sprouted from this prophetess, this
woman who coexisted in the midst of the church of Thyatira. However, this same
Jezebel is also the forerunner of all those who to this day claim they can invoke the
Holy Spirit, perform miracles on television, speak in tongues and perform many
other theatrics. This is a great chapter, which refers to the illumined or pentecostals
or charismatics as they are called who call themselves Christians. We need to look
into these groups of Christians at length and we will do so at the next session.
CHAPTER 15
Revelation 2:21-24
Jezebel — The Self-Proclaimed Il!lumined
and their Delusion
I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will
throw her on a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great
tribulation, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the
churches shall know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of
you as your works deserve. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching,
who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay
upon you any other burden (2:21-24).
Homily given March 1, 1981

y friends under the allegorical name Jezebel, which we previously
analyzed at length, the Lord calls attention to movements of marginal
Christianity which continue to hold a place of honor in the Church.
Worse yet they are not denied their Christian name. We saw last week
that the bishop of Thyatira was at fault because he continued to name the woman,
who is symbolically called Jezebel, a Christian. Although this woman was a member of
the church, she was teaching foreign and unchristian doctrine, strange things, which
were intolerable to the Lord. He accuses and scolds the bishop because he continued
to identify this woman as a Christian. Previously, when we analyzed her fornication,
adultery, and sacrifices to idols, we understood that they all have a metaphorical
meaning. They refer to a teaching outside of the true teaching with the obvious
purpose of distancing the faithful from the true teachings of God.
Needless to say my friends, within our ecclesiastical history a number of similar
waves have existed which caused great pain to the Church and were eventually
condemned. The entire meaning of this verse, where the Lord speaks to the bishop,
is that the bishop was ultimately responsible. Please remember this because it is the
central point of today’s subject. It is the bishops’ responsibility to discern any foreign
elements, any strange or impure teachings within the Church, and to expel them
immediately. This is the mindset of this verse. This woman, Jezebel, seems to have
been a follower of a Gnostic heresy. However, she was a Christian in the Church,
acting within the Church. She was not outside like the Jehovah’s Witnesses are today.
She was acting freely in the Church. We must mention that the litmus test that singles
out the Gnostics is the area of ethics.
The ethics of Gnostics revolve around two extremes. One extreme was that of the
Nicolaitans, known for their belief in the destruction of the body through indulgence
in all pleasures. Their motto was that it is necessary to abuse the flesh. In other words
I must destroy the flesh: by exhausting it through pleasure and abuse, to eat and drink
always and to do so excessively, to get drunk, to take drugs, and to seek sexual relations
with no restriction — all this to destroy the flesh. The other extreme was excessive self-
control such as: the condemnation of marriage; the abstention from many different
foods, not only from meat, but from many foods in the plant kingdom as well, such
as fruits that were still attached to the trees or plants.
Such was the heresy of Manichaeism. The Manichaeists were terribly deluded.
‘They taught that if you ate a fig that you had picked from its tree, you were guilty
of murder because that fig had a soul. So when am I supposed to eat this fig —- when
I die from hunger? No, I will eat it when it falls from the fig tree. These are terrible
and nonsensical things, my friends. So, these are extreme positions; the extreme
self-control and the condemnation of marriage are characteristics of the Montanists
as well. As we were saying earlier, Montanus first appeared in Asia Minor and one
of his central teaching areas was the city of Thyatira. This is why the Lord addresses
the subject.
After Montanus, we have the Sebirians, the abstentious; the Massalians — and in
reality, the number of these super abstentious heresies is beyond measure. These two
extremes coincide in one central point, which was the basic dualist doctrine of the
teachings of the Gnostics. Dualism basically held that the flesh is the cause or the
soutce of evil and is the creation of an evil god, while the soul is the creation of the
good god. So in order to emancipate the soul from the bondage of the flesh that was
created by the evil god, we must destroy the flesh. This is to be accomplished either
through licentiousness, extreme depravity and sexual filth, or through the methods
of extreme abstinence. I will not marry. I will starve myself. I will not go to a doctor
if I get sick—all to destroy the evil creation, the flesh, being the source of evil. St
Paul forewarned us in his epistles about these Gnostic tendencies, even in those early
years - especially abstentious ones. He condemns these. The Nicolaitan tendencies
are condemned by the Second Epistle of Peter and by the Epistle of Jude, the brother
of God.
If you remember, St. Paul writes in one of the epistles about those who will prevent
marriage and abstain from foods. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some
will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and
enjoin abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those
who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to
be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Tim. 4:1-4).
So, what do these people mean? How can they say that you are guilty of murder
when you eat a fig before it falls from the fig tree? What kind of nonsensical and
demonic teachings are these? Why is marriage filthy and polluted? These are demonic
teachings. If someone wants to abstain from marriage, he will do so in honor of the

Lord’s Flesh, as St. Ignatius* teaches and not because marriage is something unclean
in itself. I can only tell you, my friends that these perceptions exist in many of our
Christians even today. If you only knew how many of our Christians believe that they
will not be saved because they are married. Married!
We will mention that in a marriage many things do take place that are not
acceptable to God. Now if perversions take place within marriage, then one can
justifiably say that they need to be very concerned. However, if one refuses to get
married and he does illicit things, does abstention from marriage have any meaning?
St. Paul says no, these are deviations and outside of the course, but marriage in itself
is honorable. Marriage is honorable in everything and the marriage bed undefiled for God
will judge the fornicators and adulterers (Heb.13:4). No, you cannot be a deviate; you
cannot be an adulterer or an adulteress. You cannot get involved in unnatural and
filthy perversions inside or outside of the marriage. No, these things are detestable to
God. The marriage must be honorable.
I remember a while back when I went to a small country store, the elderly wife
of the shop owner said with a great sigh, “Only you will be saved. I don’t know about
us.” “Why do you say that? Why do you feel this way about marriage?” Is marriage
an obstacle to your salvation? Who told you this?” These are Gnostic perceptions.
Whether we understand it or not, we do not know exactly the specific source of
these perceptions, but they do circulate in the Church. The fact remains that St. Paul
condemns this thinking; and it is also important to know these tendencies and these
ways always existed within the Church, falsifying the true teaching of the gospel.
Now the Lord is asking the bishop of Thyatira to expel the woman, symbolically
named Jezebel, who introduced the Gnostic perception, possibly puritanical ideas, in
the Church because she is considered a predecessor of Montanism. Furthermore, she
needed to be excommunicated if she failed to repent. The Lord says, J gave her time to
repent; and this assures us that she was a member of the Church. Only someone in the
Church can repent. How can an idolater or a non-Orthodox repent? The mystery of
repentance and confession is a privilege and a gift of the Church.
Please pay attention to this so you will be able to understand the rest of today’s
session. The subject of repentance is an internal and intra-ecclesiastical matter.
We need to understand that these are vital points. An interesting point here is the
statement of the Lord, And I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent
from her fornications. In other words, she does not want to repent from her unclean
and polluted teachings which contradict the teachings of the gospel, the teachings of
the Lord. She refuses to repent. Consequently, this is an internal affair of the Church.
Another point that we can see here is that the Lord gives her time to repent. ‘This
element (that a heretical, strange or foreign teaching needs a certain amount of time
to be rectified) has been kept in the Church throughout her history.
We need to invite the member who is spreading these false teachings; we need
>> St. Ignatius, To Polycarp, 5:2.
to present to him the correct Orthodox teachings and try to convince him to follow
the conscience of the Church. Perhaps he will not be convinced right away. A second
and third or a number of attempts must take place to bring this person back to the
Orthodox Christian teaching. If he continues to disregard the Orthodox teaching and
spread his false and heretical teachings, then he needs to be cut off from the Church.
This was the procedure with Arius. Do you know how many years Arius stayed in the
Church, even though he was confronted a number of times to reconsider his position?
Not only St. Alexander, but his predecessor as well, admonished Arius repeatedly to
return to the truth, but he would not take heed. So he was cut from the Body of the
Church, with a decision of the First Ecumenical Council (325 A.D.).
So, this time for repentance is necessary. I am only afraid that sometimes it may be
too long. I am afraid of this, and this is because sometimes we do not want to rock the
boat; we don’t want to create any waves, especially in our times. We often put up with
all kinds of intrusions in the Church and we remain silent. This is what is scary and
this is precisely what the Lord complains about to the bishop. His reprimand is based
on this point: you still put up with this woman, and she is deceiving My faithful. Her
teachings were demonic. The Holy Writ, the Holy Scriptures, is very clear about this.
The Lord says, To the rest of you in Thyatira, I say to those who did not get involved with
the teachings of this woman, those of you who do not hold to these teachings—teachings; it
does not say practice, but teachings. So, this was a false teaching. Some people outside
of the Church may talk about depths of wisdom or masters of wisdom, but I reveal
to you, says the Lord, these are but the deep things of Satan; and this proves that this
was a demonic teaching.
Now what are demonic teachings, my friends? They are certainly not scarce in
our times and they are not easily detected either. For instance, Satan may suggest to
you to fast a double Great Lent, eighty days. This happened to one of our faithful in
Patras. He had a vision of someone like Christ who suggested something like, “If you
like to please me, you will also fast from Pascha until Pentecost.” Here we should be
suspicious. The Church says not to fast during this period. The devil says you must
fast. Should I even tell you more? The people who ingest some kind of vine on a
specific month so they can have children, may also fast for forty days and after this
fast, they may fast another forty days for Great Lent. Worse, yet, they may fast the
forty days suggested to them by their wizard and they may neglect the Great Lent, the
fast of the Church. I have encountered this several times.
Why don’t you go to this master wizard, Christo of Gazaro in Serres — (I am
not suggesting that you should go, but some of you already go.) — when you find
yourselves in a very difficult situation? Some of you who are listening to me right
now lose your faith in God and go. After you return, you tell me you went there. But
why did you go? You know better. I warn you often about this. “But, Father, I needed
to save my child.” So, you will save your child with the help of the devil? Does the
devil save or destroy? That is why I said, why don’t you go to him? What does this
infamous Christo, the number one medium of Greece, tell you? “Write a letter to the
Holy Mountain at this specific address and you will have them send you a piece of
grapevine, and some other strange requests.”
Now I ask myself, don’t the Hagiorite Fathers catch on to this, that these customers
of theirs are the referrals of the devil? It seems that they do not; they don’t realize it.
My friends, when a medium in Philippi, the poor slave girl, repeatedly introduced
them as servants of God, St. Paul did not hesitate to exorcise the demonic spirit from
her. The demon was expelled and the young woman lost her fortune-telling abilities.
So, we go to the door of Satan and a wizard like Christo uses icons, incense, and holy
objects to get you all tangled up. Christo of Gazaro maneuvers within the perimeters
of the Church. He uses the climate of the Church, and Christian people fall for it.
What a menace! “You must do three Divine Liturgies, forty supplication services,
three holy unction services...” Why three? Why forty? Isn’t one enough? Why not
four, but three?
This alone should make us suspect sorcery — and that is what he is; he is a sorcerer.
I repeat; he has been doing his job for years and years. His customers are baptized
Church members, yet no one corrects him. We see here that the Lord says that these
are the deep things of Satan and this has to do with a demonic teaching. I believe that
these few things that we have brought to your attention can be helpful to draw some
basic conclusions. Keep these things in mind and we will proceed with an outline for
the understanding of today’s subject; but also stay alert and watchful, because these
things always take place in the Church in one form or another.
Now to summarize some of these basic points: first, demonic teaching has to do
with an intra-ecclesiastical phenomenon. I want to emphasize that it takes place inside
the Church and not outside. Second, there is a presence of a strange teaching, a teaching
foreign and irreconcilable with the Church. Third, there is coexistence between the
strange teaching and the teaching of the Church; and there is no condemnation even
though, unfortunately, this has been taking place for a relatively long period. A false
teaching can creep in and it may take time to be revealed.
However, once we come to that realization and we let the condition exist for a long
period, then, it becomes unacceptable. It is unacceptable to close an eye and pretend
that the false teaching does not exist. Fourth, this teaching is directly related to Satan.
It has demonic depth. It leads to the worship of Satan, but it is camouflaged behind
the elements of our faith and our worship; it hides behind these things. Fifth, it creates
false prophets and false prophetesses. These five points are the basic characteristics of
all those who create a questionable movement within the Church. Based on these five
elements we can now pinpoint not only that woman of Thyatira of two thousand years
ago, but we can also apply this basic line of reasoning to pinpoint any similar actions
in our Church today. And now we ask, are there any such movements within our
Church today? Most certainly there are and not just a few.
Tonight we will concentrate on a particular movement here in Greece that has
caused great and serious problems in the Church. However, the Church has not
condemned these movements even though sixty years have gone by. It has to do with
the self-declared illumined. These people call themselves Photismenoi or Illumined,

people of light. These individuals are mostly women. There are very few men in
these movements. One of these movements started in 1923 with Constantina Zolota,
who is no longer with us. She departed this life. She initiated an academy called “The
Redemptive Academy of the Most Holy Theotokos.” Again, this woman is no longer
alive, but today there are at least five hundred groups in the area of Athens - five
hundred organized study groups, averaging between twenty to one hundred people
per group. An estimated twenty-five thousand people in Attica follow the teachings
of this Zolota.
In the same category, we have another lady called Helen of Spata, and another
called Mrs. Magoula. She has also left us. We also have Athanasia Kriketou, the “saint”
of Aigaleo. Athanasia continues her deceptive work even in our days, and the sad thing
is even priests and bishops visit her. Politicians seek her out. [This alone should give
it away because politicians usually do visit mediums.] We also have a certain Maria of
Larisa, though I believe she has probably left us as well. Finally, in the same category
we have an Orthodox archimandrite from the Archdiocese of America called Eusebius
Papastephanou or Stephanou. Eusebius Stephanou is actively involved in the so-called
charismatic movement. A close relative of this charismatic movement is the Christian
Organization of Peace (COP) here in Larisa. You know about COP.
We have warned you a number of times. These people have visions, and dreams;
they write poems, especially poems, especially in the movement of Zolota. I happen to
have some of these writings in my possession. A lady, I believe she is probably present
tonight, was telling me about her brother. Suddenly one night he got up out of bed
and began to write and write and ever since, he is constantly writing great philology.
Yet, this man is almost illiterate. How can this be? I did not respond to this lady even
though enough time has gone by. I do not know if that is good or bad.
These illumined individuals also reveal unknown matters. They reveal sins. They
tell you: you committed this or that sin. No one knows about this except you. They
perform healings. I remember one woman who visited our bishop prior to 1974. The
bishop told her that she was deluded. The bishop sent her to me and she came to the
church at St. Stylianos. She told me that she belonged to the movement of Zolota.
She took out her wooden cross from her pocketbook and she told me, “I heal people.
I heal the sick with this cross.” “My lady, be careful. Let’s look into these things very
closely.” “Are you kidding? People become well before my very eyes. Someone may be
sick and in bed and I bless him with my cross and he becomes well immediately.”
5° In the western hemisphere we have the phenomenon of Vasula Ryden born in Egypt of
Greek parents and baptized into the Greek Orthodox church, although she hardly thought
about God in thirty years. In 1985 she was approached by her guardian angel and later by god
himself...“jesus” also appeared to her and... asked her to bless him! And she did! Her mes-
sage is highly ecumenistic and confusing, full of demonic signs and works of spiritism with a
strong appeal to non-denominational audiences and not a few uninformed Greek Orthodox
Christians. Her TLIG (true life in god) international ministry is deceiving thousands of people
and to this day, we know of no official statement from the Orthodox Church concerning her
activities.
So, these people heal the sick; they perform miracles; they may create a sweet
fragrance; they also prophesy. They foretell the future as well. Remember that the
Lord called the woman of Thyatira a fale prophetess. Jezebel was a false prophetess.
A basic characteristic of all the people that I have referred to is prophecy, which was
also a basic characteristic of Jezebel. They also have the phenomenon of speaking
in tongues, new and inconceivable tongues; and they strongly believe that the Holy
Spirit moves through that. The Holy Spirit speaks through them directly. When I
was very young, our parish priest used to participate in a study group of Zolota.
Zolota had a huge house in the suburbs of Athens. She was quite well to do. She held
meetings in her house. At the beginning of the year, they called the priest to bless the
house, to do a Holy Water Service. The priest told me all this, even admitting the fact
that she was deluded. I was very young, a small child at the time. I did not have much
knowledge, but someone could have said to him, “My dear Father, if you know that
she is deceived and thus deceiving others, why do you go to her door to sanctify the
house of deception? Tell her no, I will not come because you are deluded!”
So, these groups use the priests; they do services in the church. They love to have
many Holy Unction services because they are related to the Holy Spirit. I remember
the leaders of our local charismatic Pentecostal movement about ten years ago. They
were very much involved with Holy Unction and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One of
them asked me a number of questions on this subject. I have been quite aware of their
activities. They still go to church. They take Holy Communion. They constantly speak
about Christ and the gifts of the Holy Spirit; and, as we will see, in the charismatic
movement of Fr. Stephanou, they raise their hands in the air; they assume a happy
smiling face, and they keep smiling, keeping their hands raised.
They seem to have an element of constant enthusiasm at least in public, but at the
same time there is an element of nervousness, which suggests a great deal; it suggests a
lot. This nervous movement says a great deal about his gatherings, and toward the end
of this session, we will hear what Fr. Stephanou has to tell us about these gatherings.
My friends, how can all these things be explained? Quite obviously, these people are
moved by a certain spirit. The question is what spirit is behind all this? Are these people
under the energy of the Holy Spirit as they claim, or are they under the energy of an
evil spirit? We will reach our conclusion from their works and from their teachings.
We will see what spirit actually moves them.
Now after this general introduction, let’s begin to discuss these different
movements. Naturally, these movements have idiomatic characteristics as well.
First, let's look into the movement of Zolota. I was very young, about eight years
old, and I used to hear about this lady while visiting my neighbors. Her movement
started in 1923. She became extremely popular in the area of Piraeus. She earned the
admiration of the women, who simply loved to talk about Zolota. One of the things
that I remember specifically was her tendency to associate her school with the thrill of
freeing Constantinople from the Turks. Her school would serve as the boot camp for
the freedom fighters to regain Byzantium. I remember this like it was yesterday, but
we will return to this a little later.

Generally, they are striving to become a global organization. They will fight
to spread their teachings worldwide. They hold millennial deceptions; they are
millenialists. They say that Christ will come and reign one thousand years on earth,
which is the backbone of chiliasm, the heresy of the Jehovah Witnesses, and the most
central out of the great number of their false teachings. These Zolota followers are
also characterized by an excessive worship of the person of the Most Holy Theotokos.
However, as Orthodox Christians we do not worship the Theotokos, the Virgin Mary.
We only worship God; we simply offer honorary veneration for the Virgin Mary.
They are also characterized by an uncertainty about the Person of Christ. At times,
they consider Him as a human being only and at other times they speak in such a way
as to make a person wonder where they stand. They do not know where they stand.
Is He God or is He not? They use materials from the pseudo gospels. They also write
books; and I believe Zolota wrote a book. They also come out with some stories about
Christ that seem to be taken directly and indiscriminately from some New Testament
era apocrypha. The Church rejects these apocrypha as false. However, what is worse
than all this is that they consider their school of redemption to be a higher authority
than the Church.
‘That is how far Satan pushes these people; but I need to return to the fact that
they connect their movement with a degree of ethnocentricity. At least they did back
then, when I was very young and I happen to remember this very, very well. I heard
with my own ears that there was a movement to free Constantinople. They interpreted
prophecy after prophecy, and these prophecies were stretched and tailored in such a
way as to mean the re-taking of Constantinople. I must tell you that these things seem
to repeat themselves, and even as I am speaking to you there is a certain man here in
Larisa who is attempting to interpret some prophecies about taking Constantinople
back. They have prepared banners and flags; they have organized different battalions
of militia; and they are preparing to conquer and re-take Constantinople.
Now how do they support all this? They support their views or their beliefs with
two different points. One can be found within the book of the Revelation, And I took
the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it (10:10). John the evangelist who
has seen these visions is called upon to report them in the book of the Revelation; the
angel gives him a scroll and John eats this scroll. And I took the little scroll from the
hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it
my stomach was made bitter. And I was told, ‘You must again prophesy about many peoples
and nations and tongues and kings.’
Let us pay attention to this. You must prophesy again. The true interpretation of
this verse is this: there is some sort of intermission, so to speak. Up to this point
you saw what you saw. You saw phase one; now after this, phase two will begin - a
second phase of prophesies. This is what is meant by You will prophesy again. Now
let us look at the interpretation given by some of these people in Larisa, here in our
city. They use some outlandish means to support their theories. They say when St.
John the evangelist prepared for his death, he instructed his disciples, the Christians,
to place him in a tomb. They started to cover him progressively with soil, until he
was completely covered. After one hour, when they returned to the tomb, the body
was gone. Ihe tomb was empty. You may even find this information in ecclesiastical
books.
At the end of John’s Gospel the Lord told Peter; Come with Me; follow Me. (cf.
John 21:19) He revealed to him by what death he would die, in other words, the death
of martyrdom. John, without being told anything, arose all by himself and started
to follow the Lord. Moreover, the Gospel tells us that this took place after they had
eaten the fish that they had cooked over a fire of coals on the beach. Then Peter turned
around, and seeing John, he asked the Lord—because Peter and John were quite close,
they were very good friends—“Lord, what about him?”
In verse twenty of the last chapter of John we read, Peter turned and saw following
them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had
said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus,
‘Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I
come, what is that to you? Follow me!” (21:20-22) John wrote his gospel many years after
this fact, about seventy years later, wanting to correct a false rumor that was circulating
among some members of the Church. There was the mistaken notion in the Church
that John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, would not die. Now John himself corrects
this erroneous teaching found in the early Church.
In verse twenty-three he writes, The saying spread abroad among the brethren that
this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is
my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” In other words assuming that
[ wanted him to stay alive forever and not die until I come back, what is this to you?
Here, do you see how St. John himself, corrects this misunderstanding? He corrects
it because this idea had spread throughout the Church. Despite this correction, my
friends, made by John’s own hand in his holy gospel, this very diabolical teaching—
that John did not die—stubbornly circulates to this day. According to this teaching,
John did not die; he is hidden somewhere here in the world. By the way, I read this in a
book written in the eighteenth century as well, where someone wrote an interpretation
of the book of Revelation. This book says that three did not taste death: Enoch,
Elijah, and John. However, the Holy Scripture says nothing to this effect about John
anywhere. John himself spells it out. The book goes on to interpret that when the
Antichrist comes, these three will come to reprove him and stand up to him.
These three represent the three laws. Enoch represents the natural law of the
conscience; Elijah, the law of Sinai of Moses; and John, the law of the Gospel. The
book relates that these three will be killed by the Antichrist. However, this book
contradicts the book of the Revelation as John writes that the prophets that will fight
the Antichrist will be two and not three — the two olive trees. St. John of Damascus
interprets that these two olive trees are Elijah and Enoch. How does John the evangelist
get involved in all this?
According to these new crusaders of Larisa, the apostle John will prophesy again.
They say that St. John will appear again since he did not die. He will appear in our
times; he will prophesy about some important events, and these prophecies pertain
to the liberation of Constantinople as if the subject of the Revelation is something
specific to Greece! No, my friends, the subject of Revelation is universal. However,
when it says here, You must prophesy about many peoples, rulers, tongues, and kings, these
prophecies are global. This is why we need to expose these delusions.
Now we must also point out that these deluded individuals can say a number of
good things. The devil, because he is the one that inspires them, is capable of telling
you one thousand good things and one false thing. The one thousand good things do
not outdo the one that will lead you astray. “God-inspired” means that all is good,
all is correct. However, when these interpreters claim that they are God-inspired, is
it possible for them to make mistakes? Yes, they do make a number of mistakes. But
is the Holy Spirit behind their interpretations and inspirations? No, my friends, the
Holy Spirit does not play games. The devil is the one who deceives; and these people
are under the influence of the devil.
In continuing with the list of the illumined people, we must mention a few things
about this infamous Eleni of Spata. As a very young boy, before the war, before 1940,
I used to hear about her. She supposedly saw Christ in visions day and night, and this
was the cause of building the Church of the Resurrection in Spata.*” After this Eleni of
Spata, we have the infamous Magoula; and after her, Athanasia Kriketou, who is still
alive. She employs the phenomenon of dermatography. She exposes her breasts (Please
forgive me for being blunt, but that is what she does.) and the Holy Spirit supposedly
gives instructions and messages by writing these things on her chest. Now tell me,
would God ever use the chest of a woman to give commandments to people?
‘There is a skin disorder called dermatographism. If you draw a line on the skin
with a sharp object, the skin becomes sensitive and shows a very distinct red line.
Never mind the fact that she cannot even spell! You would think they would have the
decency to spell things correctly, but that is a different matter. She has so many icons
around her that it makes people think she is truly a saint. Worse yet, she calls herself a
saint and she gives her picture to our foolish Christians who take it and place it next to
their icons in their homes. These are the deceived, the ones who our Lord complains
57 The holy elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos writes about this Eleni. He writes, “If I use my
own judgment from all the things I have heard during confessions and continue to hear but
also from the disgust of a number of people that have witnessed the delusion and demonic
appearances and revelations, we are led to the following conclusion. If the holy and honorable
administrating body of our Church does not turn its total attention and energy to the excom-
munication of these oracles, psychics, and mediums-whose father and mother are the Church
of the Resurrection in Spata, Attica, and the well-known priestess Eleni of Spata-then the
governing body of the Church places itself in the same danger as King Saul. King Saul was suc-
cessful in wars and peace when he was persecuting and clearing the psychics, the fortunetell-
ers and the wizards from the earth. However, when he sought out their advice, he committed
(spiritual) suicide.” (Contemporary Problems, 1962, pg. 171).
about to the bishop of Thyatira. She deceives My people, the Lord says to the bishop.
This Athanasia of Aigaleo also deceives Christians; and they place her picture next to
the icons in their homes.
There was a certain Maria of Larisa, our own city, and maybe some of you have
been her victims. I remember many years ago when I first came to Larisa, a young
friend of mine, a spiritual person, visited her. Consider this scenario. This woman
would go to bed at night and during the night, when she was presumably sleeping
and seeing visions, from time to time some phrases would come out of her mouth.
Again, our silly and stupid Christians — in order to be a little bit kinder, let’s call them
our deceived Christians — waited up all night around her bed to catch some prophetic
words that would come out of her mouth.
Most of the bedside spectators were obviously women, while the husbands were
in the kitchen enjoying the fruit of the vine all night long. They were half-drunk by
the morning. When this young man visited this atmosphere for the first time, he
could not believe his eyes. At some point he spoke out and told the ladies around the
bed, “Why are you wasting your time? Why are you listening to her? She is demon-
possessed.” All of a sudden, the sleeping beauty stood straight up and began a verbal
attack against him using the most colorful adjectives, exposing her own true colors.
Now I come to the most interesting subject of Eusebius Stephanou. His Greek
name is Papastephanou; but in the U.S. he goes by Stephanou. He is an ordained
Orthodox archimandrite who has been terribly deluded. He believes he can invoke
the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit can respond to his wishes and descends as at
Pentecost. At least, he thinks what takes place is the reenactment of Pentecost. He has
followed the footsteps of the heretical Pentecostals of Europe and America. Of course
he says that his movement has nothing to do with the Pentecostals, but actions speak
louder than words. No matter what you say, my friend, anyone can clearly see that
is where you bought these goods. He goes on to say that this charismatic movement
— to call upon the Holy Spirit — exists in the Protestant, Roman Catholic, and in
the Orthodox churches as well and that these charismatic Christians will leave their
corresponding churches since no one will be able to understand them.
He mentions that the Pope is getting irritated and will begin to persecute the
charismatics of Roman Catholicism. So, these charismatics, the charismatic children
of Christianity, will abandon their churches and they will start something new. We
have one of his books here entitled A Global Out-pouring of the Holy Spirit.** This
book circulates worldwide. It circulates here in Greece in great numbers, and the
purpose is to proselytize. The subtitle of this book is ‘The Charismatic Movement from
an Orthodox Perspective. In this book, he defends his actions and answers his critics.
I will read just a few points because of the limited time. He writes, “The Charismatic
Movement is also known by the name Pentecostal Movement.”
Well, here we have it. It is a Pentecostal movement, and the purpose of this
*8 Papastephanou Eusebius, H nayxdopios éxyvors tov Aylov IIveduaros, (Greek title)-Ei pankos-
mios ekhysis tou Aghiou Pneumatos.
movement is to seek out and relive the experience of Pentecost. “We do not hide the
fact that this charismatic movement, with all its outward signs, has spread throughout
all the major western churches, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran,
Presbyterian, and that of the Jehovah Witnesses.” So here we also accept Jehovah
Witnesses as charismatics. It is rather significant that those who oppose the charismatic
movement, especially in America, can be found in the ranks of both the liberal and
conservative types of Christians. This opposition is not limited to the Orthodox
Church. Therefore, the charismatics managed to accomplish the union of the church
well ahead of all those who are seeking this union; and naturally, these unions are to
be discarded.
Moving along with Papastephanou’s comments, “Nor do we hide the fact that the
charismatic movement has as its forerunner, the classical Pentecostal church.” After a
few paragraphs, do you know what he writes? “Many Orthodox, out of ignorance,
bad will, and bias, confuse the charismatics with the followers of the Pentecostal
church.” This is their response; if you accuse them that they are children or fruit of the
Pentecostals they call you narrow-minded or closed-minded.
On one hand, they do not want to be associated with the Pentecostals; and
on the other hand, they do not want to hide the fact that the classical Pentecostal
church is their forerunner. However, this is the general confession and admission of
all charismatics, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant; and with much gratefulness
they discern the hand of divine Providence to move about in the Pentecostal church.
Let’s look at this, “Many scholars of the international Pentecostal movement consider
this to be one of the most significant events of contemporary Christianity, equal in its
importance with the Protestant Reformation of the fifteenth century.” Here you have
it again. Ihe Pentecostal church is nothing more than an offshoot of the desperate
Protestant movement.
In another section of the book, Stephanou attempts to explain how the Holy
Spirit comes to these special Christians, “To some this divine presence feels like an
electrical current that enters through the hands or the head and spreads out to the
entire body, which creates a shock.” However, these shocks are the energy of the
demons, according to the unfailing experience of our Church. The Holy Spirit comes
as the morning dew. It does not distress people; it does not make people shake and
spin or feel electrically energized or electrically shocked. He writes, “At times, but not
always, the hands swing; at times the head and sometimes the entire body swings.””
However, we know that these things and phenomena such as these are most common
in the area of spiritism.
These are psychic phenomena, and we are most certain that the devil or Satan is
the protagonist in all these environments. Stephanou continues, “The writer is not
only an eyewitness but a participant of all these truly miraculous signs of the spirit
taking place among charismatics.” He also has a number of pictures in this book. He
claims, “The universal and catholic out-pouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days
59 Ibid. 193.
shows that the Lord can accomplish His eternal purpose even outside of the Orthodox
Church.” Listen, listen, listen! According to him, the Lord can abandon His Church
and reach His objectives outside of the Orthodox Church, and all without denying the
fact that she remains the Mother Church.
Sure, he wants to cover his bases so he will not invite any unnecessary persecution.
Yes, he accepts that she is the Mother Church; however, somewhere along the line
Christ just abandons her. In some other area of his book, he writes that the Church is
taking the way of a prostitute, the great prostitute of Babylon. This is how he speaks
about the Orthodox Church, “It is possible that Christ will be forced to bypass the
Church.” In other words Christ is to deny the Church, to push the Church aside once
and for all! This historical Church that all Orthodox proclaim as the one, holy, catholic,
and apostolic Church; do you understand all this? Christ will push the Church aside?
Now what then of His promise to Peter that the gates of Hades would not overtake it?
Is Christ lying? So, Christ will push the Church aside, and He will proceed without
it to do something new? Ghrist without His Church, claims Stephanou who adds,
“Orthodoxy, already the Bride of Christ in many aspects, is beginning to change into
a woman of prostitution, into a prostitute.” ® They interpret falsely, so falsely, the
prophecy of Joel; and they say that the cosmic changes and signs that did not take
place during the day of Pentecost will be revealed now during the great and upcoming
day of the Lord.
He goes on to say that “we will be raptured from the Lord” because the Lord says
this about His Second Coming. Pay attention here: “We will be raptured”— not towards
heaven, but the Lord will rapture all the charismatics to Zion or Jerusalem. There they
will stay for seven years until the Great Tribulation passes. My friends, these people
are in our Church. They deceive daily and the Church has not condemned them.
Here in Larisa the Pentecostal movement goes by the name of Christian Organization
of Peace and they present similar signs. They speak in tongues; they insist that they
perform healings and deliveries. All these works are of deluded Christians who fall
under the category of the self-proclaimed illumined. Let’s be very careful; let's be
extremely careful.
Based on everything we have said the conclusion is obvious. These are energies
of the evil spirit, and the Lord reveals this when He characterizes all these as the deep
things of Satan. The Lord warns us, Let no one deceive you because many will come in My
name saying, I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many and many false prophets will
rise, and they will deceive many, and they will present great signs and miracles. So, they
will deceive even the elect if it were possible. Behold, I warn you ahead of time. Watch, I
have told you these things (cf. Matt. 24:11-24, Mark 13).
Therefore, my friends, we owe it to ourselves to exercise humility. The spirit of
delusion works especially among the proud because these people have the confidence
that they can interpret the Scriptures correctly outside of the interpretation of the
Church. Eventually these people become self-shepherding. They do not want to listen
60 1014. 208.
to anybody else. As Jude, the brother of God says, they become their own spiritual
authority (cf. Jude 1:8). The woman, Jezebel (symbolically speaking) is still circulating
and she will continue to circulate and act until the end of history. She moves within the
Church, breaking away, pulling away servants from the sheep-pen of salvation. Let’s
open our eyes. Let’s keep them wide open. Let’s stand well because many deceivers
have come into the world. The devil is frothing at the mouth, especially in our days.
He has gone mad. Let’s be on the lookout constantly. It is a matter of our eternal
salvation.
CHAPTER 16
Revelation 2:24
Freemasonry — The Depths of Satan
But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not |
earned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any
other burden (2:24).

o now the Lord addresses all those Christians in Thyatira who did not accept
the polluted teachings of the woman, Jezebel, the faithful who did not know
the so-called deep things of wisdom which are nothing but the deep secrets
of Satan. Under the name Jezebel, my friends, we must also include another
category of faithful, who much like the self-illumined of last week's lesson stay in the
Church, attend Church and receive Holy Communion. However, their activities as far
as the faith goes are totally irreconcilable with the teachings of the Church. Let’s not
forget that the woman, Jezebel in this epistle of the Lord to the bishop of Thyatira is of
a Gnostic background, for the Lord says, She teaches and deceives my servants to commit
fornication and eat foods sacrificed to idols (cf. 2:20).
Do you remember when we dealt with the Nicolaitans who were also of a Gnostic
influence? The important thing here is that this so-called false knowledge, or the things
falsely called knowledge — as the ancient Church Fathers, particularly St. Irenaeus“”°
described — is categorized as satanic. The Lord now addresses all those who were closely
connected with the bishop and had stayed true to the healthy teachings. They were not
indoctrinated, as the heretics would claim, in the deeper knowledge and wisdom, or in
reality the demonic knowledge and demonic wisdom.
These heretics speak about the depths of their wisdom as an exclusive wisdom,
as secretive knowledge, and as an unapproachable and untouchable wisdom to the
infidels, that is, to the unsacred and uninitiated. The secret work of lawlessness is
constantly at work according to St. Paul, especially today as we have an offspring
of Gnosticism, which is Freemasonry, or simply, Masonry. Masonry is a Gnostic
heresy. Sure enough, the books of the Masons call us, the non-Masons, defiled, or
unsacred. They claim to have the light, the illumination, and the pathway to the depth
of knowledge, the depth of wisdom, the depth of philosophy, of which as they claim
we are ignorant.
Freemasonry is nothing less than a natural descendant of ancient Gnosticism. It
61 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 27.

can be classified as neo-Gnosticism, if you will. I may have referred to Masonry so

many times that I may be at risk of being labeled as somewhat of an anti-Masonic
psychotic. I assure you my friends this is not the case. Masonry is a contemporary
reality which affects everyone and everything in our times. It is certainly not a good
strategy to underestimate the capabilities of the enemy. In order to fight an enemy
successfully, we cannot underestimate his power. Masonry is powerful; it is the power
of Satan. That is precisely why we are fighting, and we will always continue to fight, as
long as we live, against Freemasonry.
Do not be misled by the fact that it has no transparent public life: no publications,
no open lectures, no apparent recruiting agenda or advertising. It works secretly.
Masonry is Gnosticism. With God’s help, that is precisely what we will show today.
We will prove that Masonry is of a Gnostic dimension. We will see this by referring
to the official documents of Masonry that we have in our possession. Once we prove
this, then their doctrine must be included in this very letter of the Lord to the bishop
of Thyatira which condemns the woman, Jezebel.
Jezebel is the perpetrator of this foreign doctrine, which deceives and misleads
the servants of Christ. Since Christ condemns her, it only stands to reason that He
also condemns Masonry. We need to prove this, and I must ask you, my friends, to
give me your undivided attention and learn how the Masons themselves define their
philosophy. We will do this directly and not circuitously. Even though it is more
than obvious, I repeat: Masonry is Gnosticism. Once we show this, the case is closed.
As Gnosticism, it is under the condemnation of the Church for the last time. Holy
Scripture has written against Gnosticism. Both St. Paul to Timothy and St. Peter in his
catholic epistles write against Gnosticism. It is not surprising that the Church Fathers
fought Gnosticism with an unparalleled vengeance because it fought the Church with
the same vengeance.
Because Gnosticism may not be familiar to everyone I will simply say a few things
about it, even though I have done so a number of times in the past. In a few words,
we could say; in reality, Gnosticism is a religious philosophy. It accepts a god, a world,
and a human being. It accepts certain relations between a god, the world, and man. It
looks at the world with dual vision, as good and evil. So, it sees good and evil in the
world and it states that good in the world must be the work of the good god, and that
what is evil in the world must be the work of the evil god. Consequently, god is not
one, but two persons. God consists of two personalities, or simply two gods.
Please keep in mind that there are great variations within Gnostic philosophy.
There are great differences between the Gnosticism of Marcion and the Gnosticism
of Vasilides,® and in many others; they each have their own idiosyncrasies. However
all these different Gnostic systems maintain the foundation of dualism, which is the
existence of two gods, the good god and the evil god. The good god creates good and
the evil god creates evil. They are always at war against one another and in the midst of
this battle man is always the unfortunate victim. Man is forever struggling to become
®2 Ibid. Chapter 24.
free from the evil god.

In the final analysis, Gnostics believe that man always hopes for such deliverance.
He lives within nature. The Gnostic man does not believe in an omnipresent God
even though he considers God invisible. In reality for him, God is not above time or
space. Gnosticism strives to borrow many elements from outside because Gnosticism
in itself is an empty and naked philosophy that does not have anything of its own
merit. It takes from whatever every human philosophy has to offer and whatever the
mystical religions have to offer: Orphism, Eleusinian mysteries, Hermetism, the thrice
grand Hermes, the Eastern mysteries, Cybele, the mysteries of Osiris and Isis; these are
ancient Egyptian mysteries. It has used elements from all these; it has taken elements
from Judaism and from Christianity. Gnosticism has made a philosophical mixture of
all these which it then offers as its own.
The danger behind Gnosticism is that it does not officially deny Christianity.
Now if someone tells me, “I don’t agree with you. I deny your beliefs. You are my
enemy. I understand this and I keep my distance. However, when you hide and you
do not show any denial; if you move about, you exist, breathe and slither within the
Church; you take Holy Communion; you attend Church and yet you are an enemy
and estranged from the Body, then there is real danger. This is plainly seen in the
Freemasons; they take Holy Communion, they may be on the parish council, they
are always in church and they will use this to their advantage. If one would question
them they would have no problem responding, “Yes I am a Mason, but I am also a
good Christian. I come to church. I take Holy Communion. I love my brothers.” ‘This
is not to their advantage but to their detriment. It is most unfortunate. This is the
predicament of the woman, Jezebel, who moved freely within the church of Thyatira.
She is the typology of the contemporary Gnostics and Masons as she was for the
ancient Gnostics. As I promised, we will expose some of their documents and their
own literature.
We will notice that in and on the exterior of Masonic lodges, as well as in their
booklets, a central position is reserved for the letter G, which is placed within a star.
In the Greek lodges, the third letter of the Greek alphabet is used, the letter gamma.
In the Latin languages, the letter G is used which is placed within the center of a star.
It is a very common symbol that can be seen on the welcoming signs of every city and
every small town. It is a blue sign, and in the center of the sign is the letter G enclosed
by the configuration of a square. On top of a ninety-degree angle of the square, like
the square tool of builders, is a compass [an instrument used for drawing circles] open
at a forty-five degree angle. This is the most popular sign of the Masons. You see it on
the rings of bankers, maybe some attorneys, on the lapels of some judges and on the
temples of Freemasonry as you drive around.
Now the square and the compass are not as commonplace as we think. The
symbolism around this figure is very rich and multi-sided. I will only tell you some of
the most basic symbols. The square on the bottom of the right angle is the symbol of
matter. On the top, the open compass, opened at a forty-five degree angle, symbolizes
the spirit. So, the symbolism pertains to spirit over matter that is the basis of all
dualism and the chronic tug of war between spirit and matter. Keep in mind my
friends that Christianity does not accept two godly sources. There are not two Gods.
God made the heaven, the earth, and the things of the earth. There is nothing that has
not been created by the One God. A// things were made through Him and without Him
nothing was made that was made (John 1:3).
The Word of God created everything so it is not possible to have contradictions
in the words of God. How is it possible to have good and evil work against or go
against these very objects or creations of God? If evil exists in the world, this is not
a consequence of dualism. It is a consequence of the interference and interaction of
free-willed and logical beings, the devil being the first. This explains the introduction
of evil. After this free-willed decision to rebel against God, the harmony of nature
was shaken. This is how our faith explains evil, and not that it is some creation of an
evil god, or that one god is in a state of contradiction or that there is discord between
spirit and matter.
So there is really no such discord because the infinite Spirit, God's eternal Spirit,
created the material world. How could this material world then be in opposition to
the existence of God? Why would God oppose something that He created? How is
this possible? The heavens proclaim the glory of God. Is it possible for the material
heavens, the created heavens, to turn against God? Never. The body will resurrect and
the body will be saved. Matter will be saved; and this is inconceivable for the followers
of Gnosticism, inconceivable. They believe that matter is something bad.
So, the compass rules over the square, which represents matter over spirit.
Matter being the square is represented by a ninety-degree angle showing fullness of
expression. However, the compass is open at forty-five degrees, which shows that the
human spirit, because it has not mastered complete control over matter, will struggle
to succeed in this control over matter, or the body. Inside this configuration full
of symbolism, we have the letter G. The Masons are somewhat disappointed that
they do not have an international letter that would be commonly recognized by all
nationalities and all the languages of the world. So they ended up using the letter of
the Latin alphabet G since many languages have a Latin or Greek root. Since the letter
G is also the initial letter of the word god, the G of Freemasons expediently means
god. Please keep this in mind.
Barnes, the English Mason poet, writes, “This hieroglyphic brilliance, which
cannot be seen by anyone else but Mason brothers...” He calls this letter G a
hieroglyphic brilliance and says that the light shed by this letter G can only be seen by
the faithful brothers of Freemasonry. According to some sources this G originates from
the Hermetic philosophy that delves into magic. A prominent Mason by the name of
Dalco® stated in one of his talks, “The letter G which decorates the lodges does not
only express the name of the great architect of the universe, the god of Masons, but
®3 The elder here, uses European resources made available to him which may vary slightly from
their American counterparts, but the overall doctrinal beliefs of Masons are invariable.
at the same time it also expresses the science of geometry.” According to Lenhoff and
Posner, the meaning of the Masonic G is god, geometry, generation, and gnosis.
Gnosis in the Greek language means knowledge; and this word gnosis can be
found unchanged in all the languages of the world. All the Gnostics of the world
maintain this Greek word gnosis in their vocabulary, regardless of language. So, this G
is in the center of a star or between the configuration of the compass and the square as
we explained earlier. Now since we saw the meaning behind this G, let’s run ahead to
the indoctrination of the twelfth degree so we can see what this means to the Masons.
I will read from their self-published manuals. We happen to have their publications
and some books. I will read directly from their publications; and then I will stop and
make a few comments. So let’s take a glance at the initiation into the twelfth-degree
of Masonry.
“The worshipful master takes off the hood of the candidate; they place on the
floor a screen on which a large five-pointed star is painted with the letter G in its
center. The grand master turns to the candidate who is waiting to be initiated into
the twelfth degree. The candidate is called by the symbolic name of Moabon. ‘This is
not a permanent name, but only symbolic, which is standard for this twelfth degree
initiation. ‘So Moabon, in order to prove to us that you have gained full understanding
of our teachings, tell us, what is the meaning of this mysterious letter? What is the
meaning of the G inside of the star in front of you?’ The Moabon, or the candidate
answers, ‘Geometry, generation.’ The grand master replies, “Very well. Be informed
that it also means gnosis. You answer well, but I would like to add to what you said.
It also means gnosis.”
Now the manual proceeds to give a full and quite lengthy explanation of the
doctrine of Gnostics. The grandmaster explains some of the main points to the
candidate about this concept of gnosis. We will only touch on a few of the points that
the grandmaster presents to the candidate. I read; “Gnosticism, my great and beloved
brother, is the sum of some teachings which played a great role in the spiritual and
ethical history of humanity. The word gnosis, a Greek word, must be understood
to mean the opposite of faith. During the first centuries of human ignorance, the
Gnostics came forth as great and worthy developers and cultivators of progress. The
object of faith was dogma from revelation along with a number of supposedly historic
events. Concisely, all this represented the false knowledge of the Christian masses. On
the contrary, gnosis was only for the elect few. The purpose of this was the research
and the inquisition of the prevailing ideas, including their initial beginning and the
formation of a new philosophy.”
Please allow me to make a comment on this particular point. The gnosis, they
say, turns against the faith established by revelation of supposedly historical events.
Do you know, my fellow Christians, what they are referring to here? By supposedly
historical events the Freemasons mean the Incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of
Christ. They call them supposedly historical. However, in the Old Testament, we have
some events like the revelation of God on Mt. Sinai and the prophets; and in the New
‘Testament we have a revelation of a number of subjects which can become known and
understood only through the element of faith.
Here the grand master says, “We are opposed to this! We do not want the faith
factor; we only want the gnosis factor.” Those of you who can understand, before |
proceed, hopefully can see how demonized these people are. Here we have the exact
approach used by the devil, the ancient serpent. The thrice-cursed devil told Eve,
“Your eyes will be opened and you will have knowledge.” Up to this point, Adam and
Eve were grounded in faith and God told them, “You will not eat from that fruit and
that is final.” They believed it and the subject was closed.
Now the devil influences them to reject this foundation of faith with the slanderous
remark, “God told you this because He is jealous of you, because He does not want
you to become gods. Moreover, when you taste this fruit, then you will no longer need
faith, but you will have knowledge. Your eyes will be opened.” Doesn't Holy Scripture
say your eyes will be opened and you will know good from evil? Do you see who
rejects faith and introduces this new knowledge? The devil! It is extremely clear.
This very thing, the preference of knowledge over faith, has always existed; but in
these latter centuries, from the Middle Ages and into our days, it is called rationalism.
Rationalism demands that for something to be accepted it must be understood. Unless
my mind understands something, I cannot accept it. This is it. So, faith is not useful
to me; I only need knowledge. I will accept whatever I can observe and understand by
using my own mind. But this is preposterous! How is it possible to reject the existence
of anything just because I cannot understand it? There are so many things we do not
understand, so many physical phenomena, and this is even truer in the spiritual and
metaphysical realms. The very limited brain matter of men will never understand
some of these things.
Furthermore, Gnosticism claims that the purpose of this knowledge is the research
and study of the prevailing ideologies including their beginning and the constitution
of new philosophies. It may be helpful to know that Gnosticism preceded Christianity
by three centuries and that it stayed at its greatest peak for another three centuries
after Christ. Its last remnants remained until the sixth century. In reality, Gnosticism
lives on; it lives through Freemasonry. The Gnostics claim that they have a new
philosophy.
The philosophy that they proclaim did not go unnoticed by St. Paul who gave
them the answer. St. Paul addresses this issue in his epistle to the Colossians. Look
at what he says, because now you may be able to understand the meaning of this
verse: see to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according
to human tradition, according to the basic principals of the universe, and not according
to Christ (Col. 2:8). Do you see this? Be careful that no one influences you and takes
you off course through philosophy. What type of philosophy? Gnosticism. This is the
philosophy spelled out by St. Paul.
What does he call this philosophy of Gnosticism? Empty deceit. In reality my
friends, Masonry is an empty megalomania as well, empty to the bone, totally empty
and according to the traditions of men. If we read some of their materials, their
initiation rituals, their theory of Masonry, we will see that it is all a product of human
imagination. They thought this all up; they created all their rituals and they built this
most idiotic fabrication. When he says according to the principles of this world, St. Paul
uses their own words because they speak of principles or elements. St. Paul uses their
terminology when he says, according to the principles of the world and not according to
Christ. I must also tell you that even in verse nine, For in Him dwells all the fullness of
the Godhead (cf. Col. 2:9), the word fullness is also a Gnostic term which they use to
mean the entity that fills the space between the good god and matter. Thirty different
gods fill the fullness of the space between the good god and matter; the first god was
the good god and the creator of spirits, while the thirtieth god was the creator of
matter. They call this thirty-god span or hierarchy fullness.
Now St. Paul uses their own terminology and he gives it Christian meaning. He
Christianizes their terminology as he says, In Christ Himself, for in Him dwells all the
fullness. There are no intermediate gods between some good god and an evil god.
Christ is all; Christ is everything and Christ is the fullness. As St. Paul says, He is the
fullness of Godliness. ‘There are no other gods; the fullness of Godliness bodily became
man. Now do you see how St. Paul answers the Gnostics of his day? If St. Paul was
living today, (but then again, St. Paul is here with us now in his epistles) he would say
the same things about the phenomenon of the Masons; and his spirit would grieve
seeing baptized Christians fall prey to the Masonic lodges.
Let us continue with the instruction manual of the twelfth degree of the Masons.
The teacher continues to instruct the initiate, the unfortunate initiate, I should say.
“The struggle between the simple Christians and the Gnostics started immediately.
The Gnostics were powerful due to spiritual superiority.” As you can see, they think
very highly of themselves. They have an air of superiority; even to this day the Masons
consider us profane, impious and unsacred. However, when they refer to a spiritual
superiority, they are referring to their deep things, the deep things that the Lord brands
and reveals as satanic.
The teacher at the lodge continues, “Therefore the simple minds needed to fall
victim to the acts of this hateful strange religion, (and here they mean Christianity) an
enemy of the free research.” We should not forget that the lodges are called workshops
and in these workshops, the philosophical studies and research take place. By the
way, the word, Mason can be deceiving. Do not think for a second that the Masons
maintain building tools in their lodges: hammers, chisels, nails, vice grips and the like.
They are not stone workers.
The teacher in the initiation continues, “The most significant characteristic of
Gnosticism is the doctrine of a two person god.” To the Gnostic, god has two persons.
This knowledge takes into consideration two origins, good and evil or better yet,
spirit and matter, another expression by which these two persons or origins reveal
themselves. So, godliness has two forms. We could visualize a body with two faces,
one good, and one evil, somewhat of a two-faced god or two gods. “According to
Gnostic thought,” the teacher continues, “god is a supernatural being invisible and
made manifest by two totally opposite qualities.
One of these two qualities, or faculties, of the creator, or the architect of the
universe, created the earth and fashioned men. Unfortunately, the other faculty
also took part in this creation; this other faculty of godliness is an enemy of the
source of good.” Why is that? Gnosticism does not give any explanation. It has no
answers. It simply limits itself to the acknowledgement of this unquestionable fact
— unquestionable to them. “Since good and evil coexist in nature, therefore the evil
participates in the creation of the world.”
‘Truly, my friends, Gnosticism has never succeeded in solving the problem of the
source of good and evil. ‘This is true. They do not know how to approach it. They cannot
answer it; so they do not answer it at all. Do you see how and why they fabricate all
these myths to try to explain things? And the teacher continues, “the Gnostics hoped
and the Freemasons after them also hope.” (So, here the Masons call themselves the
natural descendants of the ancient Gnostics. This is obvious. There is no room for
doubt whatsoever.) The Freemasons hope that a higher spirit will free humanity some
day from the yoke of matter. Therefore, the Masons do not believe that Christ is our
deliverer. However, Christ did not come to deliver us from matter, and here comes the
knockout punch to the Gnostics: God is not opposed to matter or the body.
The Eternal Spirit became matter. He took on a human body. He became man
and He came to save and deliver this matter, not to deliver us from matter. Do you see
now, my friends, the destructive positions of these heresies? The destructive nature
of these heresies is present everywhere today. Just yesterday evening as I was listening
to a religious radio program, one of the commentators who was speaking about
funeral services, souls and the place of the souls, mentioned that the souls return to
the place from which they came. What place is this? Where is this soul distribution
center that transfers souls back and forth? This is an ancient Greek delusion. This is
a platonic falsehood. Souls do not pre-exist. People can say anything in this world of
terrible delusion.
So, getting back to the Masonic ritual, the Masons hope for a higher and superior
spirit to free humanity from the yoke of matter. “Hopefully the future will give the
answer to this question; however this superior spirit must be helped by human effort
(and especially from the Masons). Regardless of what the Christian leaders like popes
and patriarchs say, gnosis was never a heresy; but the philosophy of Christianity is a
heresy.” This is terrible; they call Christianity a heretical philosophy. “If gnosis did
not live on, at least it was instrumental in the deterioration of the other religions,
in the tombs of which Christianity founded its dynasty.” From this we see the hope
of the Masons or neo-Gnostics. They hope to destroy all religions and especially
Orthodox Christianity.
The teacher continues his initiation, “Gnosis or knowledge came at a time of a
universal collapse of beliefs and ideas.” This is true; it did well with polytheists and
idolaters. It told them, you no longer have a philosophy of religion; you are only left
with mythology and skepticism, so Gnosticism renders these systems useless. To the
Jews it taught that their revelation is incomplete since it springs forth only from the
one divine person, and being the work of a single source, they don’t know the ultimate
being or how to interpret His law.
A proof of this is the fact that the Jews are still awaiting a Messiah to deliver them
from their estranged and deteriorated civilization. Simply put, since they speak about
one God, their revelation is incomplete, because god is also the evil god. Proof of the
existence of an evil god is that they are awaiting a savior to save them from evil. What
evil? Nature. Do you see how they place their thoughts? To the Christians, the Gnostic
says, their leader is the highest manifestation of genius. This is true, but [according to
the Gnostic Masons] the Apostles did not understand His teachings and their disciples
altered the writings that were left to them. Therefore, Christianity is useless because it
does not represent what Christ taught*.
According to them, Christ was a great Gnostic and a great Mason. “This is precisely
why Freemasonry, the only true religion, having assumed the work of Gnosticism, will
succeed in destroying the false religions starting from the Roman heresy.” By this, they
mean the church of Rome because these lodges originated in western Europe and their
obvious enemy was the church of Rome. For years, the western European Masons
overlooked Orthodoxy. They always attacked Rome, especially when the Turks,
the Ottoman Empire, enslaved Orthodoxy. Now they are very aware of Orthodox
Christianity and they are not very happy that it has lasted for two thousand years.
They want to destroy Orthodoxy and Christianity in general. Masonry took on the
mission of Gnosticism. As Christians, we will fight against Masons. The Masons come
under the same heading as the name of the woman, Jezebel who was in the church
in Thyatira.
My friends, we have read what Masons write in their instruction manuals and you
clearly see that they are children of Gnosticism. I have told you this many times and
] am going to continue to repeat it. Masonry is Gnosticism. I especially emphasize
this having been given this opportunity through the book of the Revelation. We
must also add that Gnostics used to worship Cain; they are followers of Cain. They
also venerated Canaan, the grandson cursed by Noah; Esau who did not get Isaac’s
blessing; Korah, who rebelled and spoke back to Moses; Dathan and Abiram, who
were swallowed by the earth when it opened, after they argued with Moses. All this is
from the Old Testament.
Gnostics venerate all of the above people as we mentioned, but they especially
venerate others from the New Testament. They venerate Judas Iscariot who betrayed
the Lord. They look at the betrayal as an act of philosophical virtue. Do you know
why? It is simply because they believe that the men of the Old Testament were people
of Yahweh, the Lord, and therefore followers of the bad god, the evil god. According
to them, this evil god created matter, created the natural world; so he is therefore an
6 Oddly enough, this approximates the position of the “historical jesus quest” neo-protestant
academic theology!
evil god. Those that rebelled against the followers of the bad god are Cain, Canaan,
Esau, Korah, as well as all the others whom we have mentioned.
Anyone who rebelled against the God of the Old Testament is a great hero for
the Gnostics because they opposed the people of god who worshipped the bad god,
the creator of matter, the creator of the universe. But pay attention to this: Cain is
the father of civilization in the Old Testament and this is their boast, their pride, and
joy. The Masons love Cain because he is the man who ventured out to search and
gain knowledge, civilization. Abel and Seth however were losers; they were halvades
as we say in Greek. The Masons do not want them because they are people of faith.
Do you understand now the concept of knowledge versus faith? Knowledge turns
against faith. Christ introduced faith and Judas, by his betrayal, wanted to kill this
phenomenon of faith to promote knowledge, which is the weapon of Gnostics. This
is why they honor Judas.
Moving ahead to the initiation of the eighteenth degree, which is called the
Rosicrucians, we find there that the symbol of the initiation is a cross surrounded or
encircled by roses. For one who has no clue about these matters, this cross may appear
as most articulate and even beautiful. There is an inscription on this cross with Latin
letters INRI. Again one might think, “Well that’s easy enough, Jesus of Nazareth King
of the Jews.” But it does not mean this at all — for those outside of Masonry maybe,
but not for the Masonic disciples. The teacher says to the eighteenth degree disciple,
“Read this INRI.” The disciple reads this: “Igne Natura Renovator Indegna; nature is
renewed totally through fire.”
‘This cross has nothing to do with Jesus Christ the Nazarene King of the Jews.
Instead, it boasts that fire renovates nature completely. This was a teaching of the Stoic
philosophy. This is also taught by materialism. If we open the small philosophical
dictionary of communism, you will find this definition. How does nature renew itself?
Nature always existed; it exists and it will always exist as an eternal fire. This is Stoic
philosophy. The communist philosophers borrowed this from the Stoics; and this is
the cross of the Rosicrucians. There is even more, and I read from the manual: “The
cross having been an object of worship was not only the simple image of the equinoxes,
when the sun during its annual path covers these two points successively.”
So, this was not the only meaning of the cross for those initiated. ‘The cross is the
symbol of the two equinoxes and the rose is the most excellent emblem of the woman.
As the cross symbolizes masculinity or the sun, the rose symbolizes the woman. The
Ansata, the Egyptian cross, used quite often in jewelry today, is like the lower case
letter t, and it has a circle on the top. This is symbolic of the reproductive organs
of men. Forgive me, but that is what the Egyptian cross symbolizes. ‘Therefore, the
cross according to the Masons is the symbol of masculinity, or the symbol of the sun
that fertilizes the earth. Osiris was the sun god and Isis the goddess earth. The earth
is fertilized by the sun and gives birth to Oron, or man; and this is from Egyptian
idolatry. Thus, the cross of the Rosicrucians symbolizes masculinity, or the sun, in
all its dynamics. The combination of these two symbols, cross and rose, expresses the
union of the sexes, which is the symbol of the universal renaissance or rebirth. Do you
remember about the letter G being genesis or generation, along with geometry and
god, well this is what it means. They have nothing to do with the cross of Christ.
My friends, Leo Taxil writes; “Masonry is Gnosticism beyond a shadow of a
doubt.” This is most clear. It is not surprising then that ancient Gnostics worshipped
Cain and the ancient serpent. So today’s contemporary Masons (whether they realize
it or not) worship Satan.© This is not surprising. Let the Masons come and prove us
wrong. They worship Satan, and Christ reveals this to us. According to Leo Taxil, the
Gnostics, along with today’s Masons, recognize as the beginning of good, Lucifer, the
devil, and as beginning of all evil, Sabaoth. Therefore, the God of the Old Testament
is the bad god. He introduced evil by creating matter. The devil Lucifer is the good
spirit, the good god. Isn't this shocking?
Thus, they have this prayer for the devil:
Come Lucifer, come. You who the priests slander, come. Come
so we can embrace you to hold you tight in our arms. We have
known you for a long time and you have known us for a long time
as well. In the darkened eyes of the plain masses, your works do not
always look beautiful, your works do not always look good, O, you
blessed of our hearts. Only these can explain the laws of the universe.
Without your works, O Satan, the universe would be nonsensical.
Only you revitalize, only you produce work, only you refine the
commonwealth. You seal virtue, to you belongs the beginning, to
you belongs the throne.
You, O Adonai (Adonai is our God, the God of the Old
Testament, and they turn against Him.) you, O Adonai, God of
plunder and God of injustice, we deny you; you hate science, but
we have prevailed and possessed science in spite of you. You hate
happiness, but we will earn it through science in spite of you. Each
one of our progresses is a triumph under which your divinity is
pulverized. Spirit of lies and delusion, your kingdom is over. Seek
victims among the animals. You already have been destroyed and
crushed, Your name, which until now was the last word of the wise,
the authority of the judge (through the oaths), the power of the
rulers, the hope of the poor, the refuge of the penitent, your name
which is unutterable for us from now on, will bring the scorn and
the anathema from men. It will be erased and it will be progressively
forgotten.
You will remain as the synonym of hypocrisy, lies, superstition,
tyranny, and misery.
Note, only the devil can talk like this. “As you can see, these people are really demon
65 Leo Taxil, Masonry, p. 238.
6 ‘This is certainly true, although the vast majority of those in the lower ranks will never agree
with this and they may even consider themselves exemplary Christians.
possessed. As long as humanity continues to bow down before your terrible, monstrous
statutes, humanity will be the slave of kings and priests; humanity will suffer and wither.”
(This is why the motto of the French Revolution: Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood, has
been said to be of Masonic origin). “As long as men will swear in your hateful name, the
breaking of the oaths will be the foundation of society. Go away, vanish, O executioner
of our logic, menace of our conscience.”
Here, Leo Taxil adds, “The Masons of the thirty-third degree kneel in front of
Bathomet, a statue of Satan who is raised above the altar, and he is none other than
the great architect of the universe.” So, the great architect of the universe, Bathomet,”
is the devil. This is whom the Masons worship. By the way, pay attention here, this
is not revealed immediately. As the disciples of Masonry advance, little by little they
approach the gates of the thirty-third degree, which is the final degree. Then they will
become participants of the great secret of Masonry and that is exactly what we are
talking about; the great secret of Masonry is that the great architect of the universe is the
devil That is whom the Masons worship, and not the God of the Christians, Who the
Masons need to destroy at all costs.
‘This, my friends, encompasses the deep secrets of Masonry. Again, Masons of
the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh degrees have no clue about these
things. They simply go through some rituals and if the Masons see that they are not
very progressive and they are not the type they want to promote, then they do not
promote them. Once again, the deep secrets of Masonry are the worship of the devil
and the persecution and humiliation of the Holy Triune God of the Christians.
Now let us ask ourselves, is it, or is it not true that the Lord reveals, in His epistle
to the bishop of Thyatira, that this teaching comprises the deep things of Satan? This is
precisely why in this homily we have dealt with Gnosticism and Masonry, especially
since Masons circulate very freely in our church. They become [parish] council
members. They join the ranks of the priesthood... and I had better not say anymore.
However, my friends our time is up and I will close with a couple of thoughts.
Today we celebrate the feast day of our Holy Orthodoxy and we must come to the
realization that we are dealing with a monstrous enemy — Masonry, a great enemy
indeed. Please open your eyes. The ancient Fathers of the Church turned against
Gnosticism with all their might. Today we must turn against Freemasonry, the newer
manifestation of Gnosticism. In this, we receive much help from the Holy Script of
the book of the Revelation and the revealing statement of the Lord that we are dealing
with the depths of Satan.
My friends, we should be horrified to be in the midst of these realities. We
must also add that in the event that some uninformed people find themselves in
the tantalizing web of Masonry out of ignorance, delusion, or financial need, we are
called to ask them and all those future victims to flee quickly from the lodge. We need
to help these deluded souls by any means. But the faithful must watch as well. The
faithful should not be shaken when these enemies of the Church strive with every
°7 These names and terms may vary in different forms or traditions of Masonry.
method to influence people and push their will on the Church.

The Lord, as the sender of the previous epistle to Pergamos declares; These things
says He who has the sharp two-edged sword (cf. Rev. 2:12). He foretells and warns His
enemies, the Satanists: Repent or else I am coming to you quickly and I will fight against
them with the sword of my mouth (cf. 2:16). St. Paul uses these same words for the
coming of the Antichrist. His name is the lawless one, because Masonry is a forerunner
of the Antichrist whom Christ will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy
with the brightness of His coming. My friends, Satan is real and he is working full
time with the most horrible means against the Church of Christ and especially against
the Orthodox Church. Let us not forget that Satan has his residence and his throne
here on earth. Let us not forget that Satan has his synagogue. Let us not forget that
Satan has the deep things of his maliciousness. Knowing all this, let us stand well. Let
us keep sober and vigilant.
CHAPTER 17
Revelation 2:24-25
Salvation Belongs to the Remnant of the Faithful — What
is Meant by Paradosis of the Church
But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned
what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other
burden; only hold fast what you have, until I come. (RSV)

y friends, last week we saw what the depths of Satan are. Who are the
people who are dragged into these satanic depths? Included is every
sort of heresy of Gnostic dimension, club, or organization. Call it what
you will; one of these is Freemasonry. We showed with the help of their
own documentation that in many ways Freemasonry is a child of Gnosticism. The
Lord condemns the heresy of Gnosticism.
The same holds true for theosophy, and there is a great deal of theosophy in Masonry
as well. ‘The Lord classified all these heresies as the depths of Satan, and unfortunately,
many of the victims are baptized Christians. In the final analysis, these Christians not
only blaspheme the Chrism of the Holy Spirit, but by their rebellion, little by little as
they progress through these numerous initiations, become more and more polemic.
They develop an animosity against the Church, the Mother Church, which gave them
rebirth, which made them alive spiritually; and they begin to orchestrate evil schemes
against her. It is common knowledge what Masonry thinks about the Church. If it
were possible, they would never wish to lay eyes upon a single Christian.
I remember, my friends, many years ago, when I was a teenager, I witnessed with
my own eyes something I will never forget. A Masonic book fell into my hands. It
belonged to a neighbor of ours who had died rather young. His mother, who was
illiterate, began to distribute his books to the neighborhood children. She was kind
enough to give one of these books to my mother. She said, “Please give one of these
books to your son, since he is in school and he knows how to read.” We lived next
door to these people. We were quite close to them, and we never suspected that her
son was a Mason. I began to read this book since I was quite aware of the subject. I had
read about this subject in a book of the great professor Panayiotis Trembelas* when
68 Professor of Dogmatics at the University of Athens from 1939 to 1957, he remained ex-
tremely active as an emeritus until the 1970’s. He was a prolific writer, biblical commentator,
and a leading member of the Zoé brotherhood. On his death in 1977, Trembelas left numerous
I was about sixteen years old, so I was somewhat informed. I remember reading our
neighbor’s book thoroughly. In the beginning of the chapter on the upper left corner
of the page, there was a symbol and it said, “If the Christians only knew what this
symbol meant, they would burn us alive.”
I read this with my own eyes, and I remember taking this book to a friend of the
deceased. I was somewhat upset by all of it and I told him, “Look at this! I could never
have imagined that our neighbor was a Mason.” ‘The moment he saw that book, he
grabbed it from my hands and got rid of it. I do not have it. It is gone. This is just
to show you how these people, the Masons, think. We see how they turn against the
Church of Christ, precisely because Masonry is a religion. It is a demonic religion. Of
course, every religion outside of Christianity is demonic and a fabrication of the devil.
However, this stands even truer for Masonry because the Lord classified it as the depths
of Satan. So, you can imagine how these people must feel about Christianity, since
their religion is militantly opposed to Christianity and the Christians.
However, the Lord addresses all those who did not know the depths of Satan, who
stayed immune to these doctrines, To you, I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as
do not have this doctrine. The Lord, having first turned to those who were carried away
by the woman, Jezebel — the symbol of apostasy and demonization, now turns to the
faithful; to you I say, to the rest, the few, to those of you who did not go astray. One
thing is sure; we will always have a number of faithful who will stay true to the Lord.
This number will represent the Orthodox Church, which will always stay Orthodox,
true to Christ, despite the tumult of the Ark, despite all of her misfortunes in the
ocean of history.
Truly the Church will be comprised of the rest, all those who remain — the stable,
the true Christians who do not become influenced by the various winds and waves
of every season, or the craftiness of the evil people who are always ready to hold the
funeral for their spirituality. There will always be the remnant, the rest, who do not
lower their neck and bend their knee to the various forms and issues of the false god
Baal. Let us see what Holy Scripture says on this. Saint Paul writes to the Romans; J
left for myself, says God, seven thousand men who did not bend their knee to Baal. Likewise
therefore and in this our time, there is a remnant according to grace (11:4,5).
While writing his epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul remembers that incident in
the Old Testament in the adventures of the prophet Elijah in the north kingdom of
Israel. During King Ahab’s reign with the monstrous woman Jezebel, the prototype
and herself a victim to her own idolatry (because in reality the devil was behind her)
the people were carried away to worship Baal. The prophet, full of pain and grief,
turns to God and says, “Now Lord, I’m all by myself. I do not see anyone else. I am
the only one that worships You. They all worship Baal.” Now Elijah was a prophet, but
God did not reveal this to him before that. He gives him this information now; “No
Elijah, you're not alone. Do not think that you are the only one.” It is the same pain
books, publications, and commentaries on every book of the New Testament and on many
books of the Old Testament.
that we often feel when we look about and we ask, “Where are the Christians? Do we
have true Christians today? Who will be saved?” Yes, Christians do exist.
God revealed to the prophet Elijah; Seven thousand men have remained faithful to
me. These did not bend their knee to Baal. And if the men alone were seven thousand
and you include their families...wives, children, you will see that the number rises
to as many as fifty thousand people in the north kingdom alone that were faithful
to God. However, they did not dare to publicize their faith because they would be
instantly killed. The important thing is that they remained faithful to God. So Saint
Paul writes to the Romans, So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace
(11:5). The same thing holds true here in Rome, in that sinful Rome, which stands in
history as the symbol of the new Babylon.
Let’s remember, as we advance through our studies, God willing, the term Babylon
refers to Rome, the great prostitute who intoxicated the people of the earth with her
fornications and adulteries. Babylon is a symbol. Rome was idolatrous then. The letter
to the Romans was sent to this most sinful city, which was ruled by Nero. The Apostle
writes to the Christians, My beloved Roman Christians (cf. 1:7), just like back in the
time of Elijah, even mow there is a remnant. You are the remnant according to the
election of grace. You are the remnant!
My friends, now I feel that it is my turn to pose this question: do we have the
feeling that we belong to the remnant? Do we have the confidence, the knowledge that
we belong to the remnant of the Church? And if we do, will we continue to belong? Is
it possible at some time of weakness, when our self-interests might be at stake that we
will break and fall apart? Do we know that few will have remained true when the Lord
returns? The remnant will be saved. Let us understand this very clearly. The remnant
will be saved. Saint Paul is very clear on this, very specific that only this remnant will
be saved; and this should not shake us up, but it should strengthen us. We only need
to be certain that we belong to this remnant. We must develop the confidence and the
conscience that we are members of this remnant.
To be more practical about this, we begin to wonder when we see that most
people around us are baptized Christians, unfortunately without any effect on them
at all. But then again, were the Israelites not the people of God? Within the people of
God, there was also a remnant. If you will, during the years of Christ on earth, when
Christ was born there was a remnant. The remnant — the rest, the few — always exists.
Now, who were members of this remnant during the years of Christ? And please pay
attention to this. All those who accepted the prophecies and their true interpretation:
Simeon the God-bearer, Anna the prophetess, Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of
the Theotokos, of course, Joachim and Anna, the families of the Apostles — all these
were the remnant that were anticipating the coming of the Messiah correctly. ‘This is
precisely why they accepted Him.
In the gospel of Saint Luke we find a significant point concerning this, where the
prophetess Anna says to those entering the temple to worship, “The Messiah came.”
Now Anna would say this only to those who held the correct perception about the
coming of the Messiah and spoke about Him to all those who looked for redemption
in Jerusalem. She only spoke to those who had the right idea about the Messiah. She
would tell only them that the Messiah came. He was born. He came here to the temple.
This is fabulous! Anna, the prophetess, a widow of eighty-four years, a woman who
had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, etc. became the forerunner
before the Forerunner! So let us grasp this very well. The Orthodox, the true believers,
will always be a minority. This should not shake us up. Let us not be influenced by the
masses around us.
Let us not say, “Look at how such and such a person is doing, how they live.” It
does not matter that we are all baptized Christians one way or the other. A few will
be saved. We must also mention that this remnant may exist even within the ranks of
the priesthood. This remnant exists in all areas. Didn't the priesthood go astray even
during the times of Israel? When Israel was falling and influenced by the neighboring
nations weren't the Levites also involved? The Levites had fallen miserably, but not all
of them. Those who refused to go astray moved to the south kingdom. They left the
north kingdom. The south kingdom still maintained the worship of the true God.
So now, assuming we have this inside information, that we are members of the
remnant of our times, let us consider what else the Lord has to tell us in His epistle, J
will put on you no other burden. But hold on to what you have until I come (2:24). These
are profound words, very meaningful words, from our Lord. Let us pay attention to
them. What is this thing, which we must hold on to? It is His gospel. Hold on to what
you have and I will place no other burden on you (2:24), I will not write any additional
gospels for you. The gospel is the only burden. I will put this gospel in your hands
and I am calling it a burden. It is the faith of Christ — but the entire faith of Christ —
unadulterated, pure, as handed down to us by the Apostles and our Church Fathers.
Did we even consider, my friends the value of this treasure handed down to us
by the Lord? Do we ever realize how valuable this treasure may be? As Orthodox
Christians we have this precious treasure and if we made the effort to appraise this
treasure, we would find ourselves speechless from shock before the overwhelming
volume of this priceless treasure. If we could even come close to a true appraisal!
How can we appraise something totally invaluable and priceless? However, we will
attempt a quick cross-section of this treasure, so we can somehow remind ourselves
of its net worth.
First, we have Holy Scripture — an awesome treasure in itself. If only we would
come to realize what Holy Scripture is, especially the New Testament written in
our own Greek language. This is a great privilege for those of us who happen to be
Hellenes. We also have the Divine Liturgy, our Divine Liturgy through which we have
the mystery of Holy Eucharist, the Body, and Blood of Christ, the very flesh of the
Master, which makes us one body and one blood.
We have the seven Ecumenical Councils and the topical councils with their Church
Canons, which regulate the ethical life and safeguard the dogmatic truth of our faith.
These Holy Canons serve as a protective guardrail to keep us from falling into delusion
and the loss of our salvation. We have the precious writings of our Church Fathers
and especially the writings of the Greek Fathers of our Church. We have monasticism
with its infinite blossoms, which gave our Church over eighty percent of its canonized
saints. As you read, you will see that by far most of the saints of our Church lived the
monastic way of life.
Monasticism is highly misunderstood today even by Orthodox clergy; but this
is not surprising because the devil will always attack anything that has great spiritual
value. We also have our unrivaled and incomparable sacred services. These services
magnetized the unorthodox of Europe. The blacks in Africa, my friends, are attracted
to our faith through the splendor of the Divine Liturgy alone. However, if you will, we
have historical evidence for this. Russia embraced Orthodox Christianity during the
tenth century. Rome was very active and attempted a number of times to influence the
Russian people towards Papism. Rome exercised very powerful means to proselytize
Russia and the entire western world.
However, Russia became Orthodox and under the authority of the Patriarch of
Constantinople. What caused this? Would you believe the splendor of our Divine
Liturgy and Byzantine music so dazzled them that they said, “Heaven is present here.”
Our services have celestial beauty, sacred beauty. If we only knew the essence of all
these church services, which in their order, are nothing less than a twenty-four hour
incessant liturgy and doxology to the Holy, Triune God.
We also have our dogmatic iconography. The west paints as well, but that is all
it does — it paints nice paintings. However, our Byzantine dogmatic iconography is
something extraordinary and unparalleled, something awesome. We also have our
plentiful published and unpublished hymnography. It would take hundreds of years
to extract all this wealth from libraries and museums, not only in Greece but also in
the rest of the world. The museums of Europe and America are laden with a great
volume of the unpublished works of the Church Fathers. Who could attempt to begin
to appraise unpublished volumes upon volumes of this amazing wealth? This does not
take into account that these are but a fraction of all those that perished because of the
elements of time, man-caused destructions, wars, fires, etc.
We also have our Byzantine music, holy music, music that inspires. It is music
which makes manifest the fear of God, the glory of God, in a truly Orthodox Christian
way. Our Orthodox Christian hymns suggest piety and holiness; they help our souls
ascend to heaven and they bring us to contrition. We also have the martyrs, the saints,
and the blessed ones. Finally, we have their holy relics, a precious treasure. All of the
above, that I have just summarized represent the great treasure that is the Orthodox
Christian Church.
Now we need to think about the following questions. One, is it possible that even
some Orthodox can look upon this treasure as questionable? Two, is it possible for
this Orthodox Christian treasure to be viewed as excessive and unnecessarily heavy
and in need of some trimming? Three, is it possible for this treasure to be viewed as
antiquated and impractical, thus needing to be reevaluated and adapted according to
modern trends? My friends, unfortunately these three questions have been posed in
our times. As to the first question, is it possible to question the validity of this treasure?
—Certainly. Who are those who question this treasure?
Those who question are the atheists, and the materialists, the conscious and
unconscious enemies of the Church. All those people who question this treasure and
have always questioned it do not want to see or hear about Christ or Christianity. They
cannot wait for the opportunity to attack Christ, His followers and His Church. It is
something that always took place in the past, continues today, and will persist until
the end of time. Of course, the devil is behind all this questioning. Has he not always
been behind all of these questions, behind all the enemies of Christianity, forever
trying to uproot the Church of Christ, forever trying to destroy the Church?
Now, pertaining to the second question, who are those that are sharpening their
clippers and scissors, always ready to clip and trim, to cut the Divine Liturgy because
it may be a little bit too long? They compromise the ethics of the gospel to facilitate
the desires of modern man. They cut out some of the Commandments in their broad
sense, especially ones like Do not commit adultery — so that not just adultery but also
fornication like couples living together, premarital sex, and extramarital relations are
exonerated. They say we also need to make room for the homosexual couples and
all the ethical fabrications of the twenty-first century. We must reconsider serving
the needs of all these Christians. Do you want to know something tragic? This is
happening around us. It is a daily routine in some of the non-orthodox Christian
bodies. But how long will our own hierarchs stay immune?
The dilemma of the Episcopalians and Methodists and some of the other Protestant
offshoots is based on the premise that the Christian gospel is no longer relevant to the
needs and the lifestyle of the man of the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, this spirit
of humanism and secularism is infecting our church leaders, clergy and laity alike. It
has infected those who desire to trim the treasury of our Church, to synchronize it,
only because they have fallen into the heaviest and suicidal sin of spiritual paralysis
or akideia. Spiritual slumber—the slumber brought forth from the secular and
cosmopolitan spirit—makes Christ and His expectations seem unbearably heavy. So
they like to trim and cut.
Do you understand my dear friends that today our Christians suffer? We all suffer,
myself included. We all suffer from a continual spirit of sloth. We do not have the
appetite and the interest to live spiritually; we lack the motivation or urge to climb
spiritual ladders, and we simply we drag our feet. We are limited to some kind of
crab walk, some slow horizontal movement, unwilling to climb. Tell me, isn’t this a
characteristic of the sinful passion of akideia or spiritual anesthesia? This condition
causes great concern for Saint Paul, who wrote, if every transgression and disobedience
receives a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb. 2:3)
How can we escape if we neglect the gospel of salvation? Therefore, we will not escape
— not because we are enemies of the faith, but because we took our gift of salvation for
granted, we took it lightly.
Why are we neglectful? As you can see, this neglect is a heavy sin. We are all infected
today. This neglect leads to spiritual paralysis. So when our people become heavily
infected by this plague we hear them say; “Why must the liturgy be so long? Why is
the homily so long?” I often hear this argument, “Today people are very tired. People
are exhausted these days, so we cannot expect them to stay in church for hours.” So,
people are tired and exhausted today, eh? They are not tired when they go to football
games driving a few hours each way and spend three, four, five hours in fields and in
traffic jams. They are not too tired to yell and shout for hours at different parties and
dances. They are not too tired to drive six, eight or ten hours to the nearest ski resort,
or the nearest shore. People run. They run all over creation for their flesh and they do
not complain about being tired. They only get tired in church, if they happen to stand
for an extra hour. This is what we mean by continual, heavy, spiritual anesthesia.
Pertaining to the third question, who are the Orthodox who are saying that many
aspects of our faith are paleolithic, plain old, and we do not necessarily have to cut
them but that we should adapt them? These people, my friends, consider the treasury
of Orthodoxy antiquated. They seek renewal, modernization and progress, etc. The
spirit of sloth and the secular spirit have also possessed them, but they try to hide it.
They do not come out and say that we need to cut; but they try to change the Church
to offer more — to become useful — to today’s man, as if the Church is something
subjective to time and seasons and can be rendered more or less useful according to
the times.
Let us stay in these last two categories regarding the treasure that the Lord placed
in our hands. Hold on to what you have until I come back (Rev. 2:25). The first question
that doubts the treasury that is Orthodoxy is one that we really do not need to address
further because those people are unbelievers; they do not believe; they are materialists,
and there is really no room for discussion. We will only address the last two categories
of Christians who either want us to trim and cut Christianity or to renew it since it
is getting old.
My friends please pay attention here because Christianity in its entirety is one
paradosis, one Tradition. When we say paradosis, we mean everything that was handed
to us under Christ, the Apostles and their disciples, the Church Fathers. Now this
very Tradition is what Christ tells us to hold on to. This very Tradition is what Christ
tells the bishop of Thyatira, Hold onto what you have until I come back. \ gave it to you
and you must keep it unaltered, the way I gave it to you until I come back, until my
Second Coming, my Second Presence. The Church is the very Body of Christ. It is
Christ Himself. Consequently, what is paradosis or Holy Tradition? Christ Himself.
Can Christ change? Can He get old? Does Christ have some parts that can be discarded
according to one’s personal opinions or intuitions?
Saint Paul declares; Christ is the same today, and tomorrow and forever (Heb. 13:8).
Christ never changes. He is the same always: Pure, Whole, Undivided, and Perfect. In
other words, Christ possesses the past equally with the present and the future. So what
renewal, we may ask, can Christ possibly undergo? Holy Scripture presents Christ in
His entirety. Every alteration of Holy Scripture is also an alteration of Christ. Then we
ask, what is the bottom line of this renewal mania, or the need to trim and cut, or to
eliminate? Should we trim the Holy Canons because they are very bothersome today?
Should we trim the Divine Liturgy, which may also bother some people who may
find it dry and therefore, have the audacity to speak about charismatic and innovative
liturgies? Should we change our iconography which our people do not even take time
to understand? Truly, what is the cause of this renewal mania today?
Listen, my friends and always try to remember this: everything that we referred to
previously—all the treasures that we pointed out—are the most accurate expression,
interpretation, of the complete and most accurate Holy Scriptures, of the whole
flawless and unalterable Christ. So you cannot cut anything! I will say it again so it can
register in your minds with simple words. What can be cut or added to iconography?
It expresses Christ perfectly. The same holds true for the Holy Canons, Dogmas, and
the Divine Liturgy. All these express the One Christ, Pure, Perfect, as presented by
the Holy Scriptures because all the things that I mentioned to you previously are the
expression and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures of the One and only Christ.
But when they insist, those that insist, on renewing the Church, on renewing
Christianity, the gospel, and Tradition, on renewing everything, claiming that
Christianity is old and dry; we will have to tell them that Christianity has not aged.
Christ is not old. The Christians have withered. The Faithful are languishing. Now
why have our Christians withered? That is an entirely different subject. My friends, our
Christians today have withered miserably. When someone dries up, when he withers,
he blames everything but himself. But in reality, the cause of the spiritual paralysis is
inside of that person. We are to blame, not Christianity.
Christianity does not need to undergo a renewal. We need to be renewed. So,
when we claim to want a renewal, this renewal must start within us and not with
the Tradition of our Church. However, if you ask, “How can we acquire this true
spiritual renewal?” We will succeed only if we approach and practice the Tradition
of our Church: pure, unadulterated, without reductions, without amputations and
without modernizations. This has been the lifelong struggle of the Church. The
Church has not been narrow-minded through the centuries. The Church Fathers were
not narrow-minded when they were struggling to keep their Holy Tradition pure and
unblemished. They did this precisely because they were well aware that true salvation
comes forth from this flawless and pure Tradition.
Now just to bring up an example along the way, every time people in our day
attempted to renew a few things, they ended up looking rather ridiculous. We had
a number of experiments here in Greece as well. These experiments are far more
prevalent in Europe, of course. We might want to pull our hair out when we read
about some of these things in the newspapers. We often hear some of our modern
thinkers say, “The Divine Liturgy is incomprehensible. It is too difficult for our days.
It does not speak to the hearts of our youth. Maybe we can get to them with some
Christian rock music. Let’s use acoustic guitars in the church. Let's use pop music.”
So, pop music with its guitars, drums, and theater-like atmosphere enters the Church.
The first time or two they may pack them in. However, the youth can find this sort of
entertainment outside the Church—and even much more exciting things, as well—so
they will not step inside church ever again.
Is the objective to pack all these people into a church? What is the Church, just
four walls? It is great that you managed to pull these people into a church. However,
the Church is the Body of Christ. It is not a building with four walls. You tried to
incorporate all the masses in the Body of Christ. However, to embody the world,
to incorporate the masses in the Body of Christ, means to make the people living
members of the Church, to offer them salvation, to save them. Does this music save
people? Do some of the contemporary sermons, especially on the radio — where we
hear some terribly strange and tasteless things and new ideas — save people? Are all
these things a way to attract the world? What is the purpose of all these experiments?
The result is the ridicule of the Faith. The Faith becomes a laughing matter. We ridicule
our Faith and we do not even realize it. This is the result of this mania to modernize
and synchronize elements that do not take to modernization.
Some elements can be changed according to the form of each age. However, we
cannot go beyond these basic things. For example, the structure of our church buildings
can change. The materials have changed. We may use electricity now in addition to
candles. These modern elements do not harm anything. However, inappropriate changes
include bringing in popular music or holding dances in our church halls only to attend
Divine Liturgy on the same grounds where they had been dancing the night before.
(Unfortunately, something that is quite prevalent in the Orthodox churches of the
diaspora is that most church halls are directly connected to or in the basements of the
sanctuaries, where people can dance and carry on — as our secularized teenagers and their
parents often do.
I know the reasoning is, “Well how else can we succeed in holding on to our
children? How else are we going to keep them Orthodox Christians?” The real question
is: is this going to make them Orthodox Christians? Does this relate to their salvation?
What am I doing to save this person? That is what counts. ‘This is what carries weight.
Constantine Paparigopoulos, a Greek historian, is remembered for this quote: “While
all nations need to look ahead to gain progress, the Greek nation, in order to see
progress must look back.” What did he mean by this? The Greek nation must look
at, or turn back to its roots, to its history. Do you see all the inner political struggles
that vie to destroy our roots, destroy our history, and destroy our identity? This is
happening in our day. There is a tremendous front to eradicate our past, our history,
and our roots. If we destroy our roots, we will certainly not see much progress.
The same holds true for our Church. Do not call me an incurable, an incorrigible
conservative. This is the reality of things. As I am speaking to you, I am not being
progressive or conservative. I am not any of these things. I only see the reality of things.
I am being realistic. Anyone can come to some conclusions by carefully observing the
chain of events and the different consequences. It is quite simple. The same holds true
as we said, in the area of the Church. For the Church to be rejuvenated, it must look
toward its treasures, towards its deposited Traditions, towards its life-giving springs.
That is where the Church must turn, to the Fathers. From there, the Church will take
what is pure, authentic and true, to renew itself.
Based on this, we could say that renewal does not mean the elimination and
alteration of every previous element; the development of new theological theories;
or the quest of new ideas, new methodologies, shapes, or forms. We often fall into
the temptation of wanting to devise new sermons to use in our ministries and church
activities. True renewal is to search, theologize, and utilize the existing sources. ‘This
goldmine already exists; it is deposited and available. I simply need to dig deeper to
discover it and to offer it in its pure form. This is the meaning of renewal.
In the early 1900's, the Russians implemented just such a renewal. The Russians
of the diaspora, the Orthodox Christian Russians, the educated, the intellectuals,
successfully performed this experiment. When they left Russia, they developed schools
and institutes, and wrote and published books. They did nothing new. They simply
took the Church Fathers and brought them to light. The response was amazing.
Vladimir Lossky wrote ‘The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church, a
tremendous and most powerful book, which was translated into Greek. (I recommend
it to any one of you who can read it). You will see in its bibliography: St. Isaac the
Syrian, and a great deal of references to Saint Maximos the Confessor, but especially
Saint Isaac the Syrian, the ascetic.
When Vladimir Lossky presented this book in Paris, (He published it in French
first.) the entire intellectual European community was amazed. The European readers
asked, “So this is Orthodoxy?” This is Orthodoxy. The information was always
there, always in the safe deposit box of the Church, which the Russian theologians
took out of hibernation. They worked it, translated it, and presented it. The
Fathers of our Church interpreted this treasure, which was deposited by the synods
through the words of the Fathers and Holy Scripture. That is all. It shines, and it
amazes — as long as it is offered in its pure state, in its entirety, without falsehoods and
innovations, pure.
I also find it necessary to tell you that renewal as perceived by the people of
worldly thinking has terrible consequences. Even though I stated one example before,
I would like to add the following for consideration. When we begin to innovate,
reduce, renew, and reconsider, we begin to lose the measures and criteria of the Truth.
Then we suffer an immediate fall into secularization. This goes along with another
theory of our days known as relative ethics or circumstantial ethics.
Circumstantial ethics has to do with a certain type of dialog, which takes place in
the area of faith. It is a type of dialog like this, “You have your point of view, and I have
mine.” So, we discuss things and we end up with a new point of view, which needs
to be taken up for discussion, a possible abrogation, and future discussions. We hold
conferences. We reach a stalemate. We remove and subtract; we somehow end up with
some common ground and you know how the way of the dialog works. This is how
we carry our dialog proceedings today. We follow these proceedings while attempting
to renew and to freshen up the Church and the Faith.
I told you that these attempts result in a very quick vertical drop of measures
and criteria. I will only point out one classic example of this which you have heard
me repeat a number of times. Many years ago—and by the way this evil is getting
worse by the day—when we heard that the Archbishop of Canterbury took part in
the amnesty of homosexuality, I personally said (and this was before 1960), “Now I
am sure this man is very well-schooled. No doubt he has a number of degrees from
prominent universities. He is certainly wise. He has read sociology books and histories
of religion. I am sure he has done all these things.
My question is: Did this man ever open the Holy Scriptures to read what the
Bible says about the sin of homosexuality? It is not a disease, but a sin. The question is:
Why could he not see it as a sin? Doesn't he open the Scriptures?” This is my question.
I hope you can answer it for me. I believe you may also have the same question.
Very simply, when the method of dialog enters the area of faith, then the loss of the
criterion of the Truth takes place. Everything becomes relative and negotiable.
This is the key and the answer to the above question. This is the horrible
consequence when we attempt to modify and modernize the Faith. Did you follow
me? Do you understand this? Here, Tradition does not mean fossilization. Tradition
is alive. It is life and continuation of life. I should not avoid telling you about a new
trend and another one of these new theories. This new theory is called retracing of
truth. Do you know what this theory means? Currently there is a denomination in
Larisa [Greece] of Pentecostals. They go by the name of Christian Organization of
Peace, under the Hasiotis brothers. We have brought this up many times and we
certainly hope that none of you ever steps inside their doors. I have warned you a
number of times so that no one will be deceived by their heresies.
We could ask them: What more than the Orthodox Church that baptized them
do they wish to accomplish? Aren't they satisfied with what the Church has to offer?
The argument common among most heretical offshoots, including Jehovah Witnesses
and the Protestant denominations, is that they want to return to the early church as
described in the Acts of the Apostles, to the roots of Christianity. They claim that things
in the Christian world are in a state of deterioration. So they attempt to get back to
their roots by reading the Acts of the Apostles, which shows how the early Christians
lived. They try to follow the same lifestyle by simply following the Scriptures as they
understand and interpret them.
This argument of theirs is quite well known. However, when they go back two
thousand years, they deny the entire Tradition of the Church, which they claim has
unraveled. They also reject the Fathers of the Church and when they reject Tradition
(and as you know the Protestants reject Tradition) claiming that they want to turn
back, they end up at this retracing of the truth. Look at the logic behind this theory.
We moved ahead, we went on and on and on, and we somehow missed our mark. We
found ourselves between a rock and a hard place.
So, with one jump, with an historical jump, a jump of two thousand years, if
you will, we would like to get back to the beginning, if it were possible. Is this jump
possible? Then what is the meaning of Truth? Truth, my friend, does not necessarily
mean antiquity. As has been correctly pointed out, Truth is not testis antiquatis
but testis veritatis. The testimony of the Truth is what counts, not the testimony of
antiquity. No one can claim that he will retrace and lean on the historical evidence
of the ancient times because he will find the Truth there. Truth is in the Tradition of
the Church. Tradition is a living organism that breathes, moves, walks, and develops.
This is Tradition!
When someone says he will go back it is like saying, “I am eighty years old; my
health is beginning to fail so I will deny my past history and I will do something. I do
not know what, but somehow I will become a one year old again.” However, this is
unnatural. It just does not work. So, we are at an impasse with breathless Christians
that need to be somehow resuscitated with new forms or new slogans — like this
retracing of the Truth. “Come everyone; let’s go back to the truth. We have the truth,
come and see.”
We see this sometimes with those Orthodox Christians who leave the Church,
find some temporary satisfaction, and are eager to tell all about their experience. The
truth is that these people never attempted to get close to the Orthodox Christian
Church—even though they were baptized—to find true happiness and blessedness.
When they left to join a heresy, they found some cheap substitutes and they think that
this is true happiness. Since Tradition is lacking, the result is the crumbling of these
faiths into thousands of pieces. So we have thousands of different denominations with
one common denominator; they all wanted to return to the testimony of antiquity.
Again, the testimony of antiquity is not the key. If you will, the testimony or
witness of antiquity is a heresy. Even Arianism is a testimony of antiquity, if you
will. The testimony or witness of antiquity is not adequate, but the testimony of the
Truth is. The testimony of the Truth is preserved and kept alive in the saints and the
Fathers who have the personal experience and the ability to inform us and speak to
us; they hold the Tradition. The Lord said, Hold on to what you have. Hold onto the
entire paradosis.
The Lord means that we should /old on to the faith that was passed down, which
was also passed down from Christ Himself. (This faith is the “what” that we have.) ‘The
verb, hold on (kratisete in Greek) is a very strong verb. It means to grasp very firmly,
tenaciously, and not simply to keep it on your mind or on your list of priorities, but to
hang on as if the thing being held were truly alive. When He says, Hold on until I come
back, He indicates that this faith that has been passed down, must be kept unaltered,
unblemished until His Second Coming. Therefore, it must be held tenaciously without
alterations, changes, reductions, innovations and adaptations according to the worldly
scheme of things.
My friends, a number of years ago I was ordained in the Holy Priesthood. After
the sanctification of the holy gifts the bishop took the holy bread from the diskarion.
After I placed my right palm over my left in the shape of a cross, he placed a small
flat sponge in my hand and on this he placed the Lamb, the Host, or the Body of
Christ. As I was standing there, before him—since he had just placed the Holy Body
of Christ in my hand—he told me these words, which comprise part of the service of
Ordination. “Receive this parakatathiki, this holy deposit, this spiritual treasure, and
guard it until the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, at which time it will be
demanded by Him from you.”
So, receive this parakatathiki, or holy deposit. What is this holy deposit? It is
the Body of Christ, which was then placed in my hands. The Body of Christ is the
Church. So hold onto the Church with all your strength until Christ comes back.
At His Second Coming, Christ will be expecting a full report from you on how
you handled this holy deposit. My friends, it is of no small significance that during
Ordination, after the sanctification of the precious gifts, the priest holds the Body, the
precious Body in his hands, and then positions himself behind the holy altar, until
the very end of the Divine Liturgy, until Holy Communion. He must keep his hands
held up in front of him holding the precious Body for quite a long time. Many times
his hands shake and the Holy Body is in danger of falling. He has nothing to lean on,
only his palms. This is symbolic for the priest — that he is supposed to hold onto this
deposit, the very Body of Christ, the Church, until the end of his life. He must keep
this responsibly; and as a priest, he must stay true to this parakatathiki and not ever
spurn this great treasure.
This, my friends, is quite profound and moving. I try to keep a clear conscience
as much as I can. I would like to offer you a true message, an Orthodox homily, to
tell you the truth and to always keep telling you the truth because the Lord entrusted
me with this parakatathiki, in other words His Church. His holy deposit is entrusted
to every member of the clergy and we must return it to His hands immaculate and
unblemished. Do you understand our awesome responsibility?
Being a member of the priesthood is not a title of honor. It is a great responsibility,
an awesome responsibility; I repeat: a great responsibility. But we also notice that
the Lord says I will not place any other burden on you. And His Gospel is certainly a
burden. It requires toil and work. However, He reassures us about this in His Gospel.
My yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt. 11:2). When is the yoke of the Lord easy?
When is His burden light? It is when we truly desire our salvation. To sum it all up,
the Orthodox Christian sermon and the Tradition of our Church, which have been
handed down to us by He who told us to hold on to it, are the things that make up
the sermon (kyrigma) of our salvation.
CHAPTER 18
Revelation 2:26-29 and 3:1-2
The Fifth Epistle to the Bishop of Sardis - Introduction -
Surface Piety - the Need for Vigilance

t the end of last week’s session, we saw that the Lord issued a number of
threats for those that would disobey the instructions in His epistle to the
bishop of Thyatira. Now He also announces the reward and the praise for
all those who will prove victorious. He who conquers and who keeps my
works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power
from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches (2:26-29).
He who overcomes is the one who will stay firm in his faith; who will not
be influenced by the falsehood of the deep things of Satan; who will adhere to the
commandments of the gospel; and who will do so until the end of his life. What is the
‘crown? The crown is two things: it is the authority to rule over the nations and it is also
the morning star. First, the authority over the nations is the decisive spiritual triumph
of Christ over the nations. This triumph of Christ’s becomes the triumph of all the
faithful. Second, the morning star has to do with the participation of the faithful in
the glory of Christ. The faithful will be glorified along with Christ. Christ calls himself
the bright (and) morning star (22:16). Consequently, when Scripture says that the
Lord will give the victor the morning star and since Christ Himself is the morning star,
it means that Christ will give him Himself, meaning His glory and the theoria, the
vision of His face in His eternal kingdom
And here, my friends, this most important epistle of the Lord to the bishop of
Thyatira comes to a close with the standard closing line, He who has an ear, let him
hear what the spirit says to the churches (2:29). Again, the Lord reminds us constantly of
the necessity of spiritual readiness, of spiritual ears, in order to hear and perceive His
divine will. This is a great necessity at all times — to have our spiritual ears to hear the
word of God. ‘This is something that our entire salvation is dependent upon.
Now, by the grace of God, we come to the fifth epistle, the one to the bishop of
Sardis. We read in the third chapter. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write; ‘ The
words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. ‘I know your works; you
have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and
is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.
Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not
awake, I will come like a thief; and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and
they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus
in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his
name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches (Rev. 3:1-6).
Sardis, my friends, was the old capital of the kingdom of Lydia. It was south of
‘Thyatira. At the time the Revelation was written, the city of Sardis was in decline and
the life of the city was quite superficial. This was the state of the rather nonexistent
spiritual life of the bishop of the city. He was a spiritual vegetable, so to speak. He
gave the impression that he existed, but he was spiritually dead. Now, the Lord says,
These things says he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Here we have
the introductory inscription of the epistle, which is taken from the introduction of
the book. It is an extremely important description in its content. In the book of the
Revelation where John sends a greeting to the seven churches from God we read,
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from God who is and
who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne and
from Jesus Christ... (1:4,5) In this greeting, we see clearly recorded, the Holy Triune
God, the evlogia (blessing) from God the Father, God the Son, Who became man,
and from God the Holy Spirit. We also see quite clearly here that the Holy Spirit is
called the seven spirits because the name seven spirits is used to declare the Holy Spirit
in Its fullness.
Now, in this epistle to the bishop of Sardis, we read; he who has the seven spirits —
meaning Jesus Christ Himself — is the One who sends the Holy Spirit in Its fullness
— with all Its gifts or graces. The Holy Spirit will be sent out only if the Lord Jesus
Christ sends it. This is reminiscent of what we read in the Gospel of John, when the
Paraklete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, who
proceeds from the Father (John 15:26). From this, we see clearly that Jesus sends the
Holy Spirit. But the epistle writer also records that the same Jesus Christ Who has the
seven spirits also holds the seven stars in His hands.
It was already pointed out in the beginning of the book during the introduction
that Jesus Christ is the One who holds the seven churches of Asia Minor in His hands.
The number seven is allegorical; it symbolizes and represents the entire Church. So,
my friends, Jesus Christ holds the Holy Spirit and the churches. The mind of the entire
verse is this: Jesus Christ sends His Holy Spirit to the seven churches of Asia Minor,
in other words, to the entire Church. There is something here that we should find
impressive and that is that the Lord names and identifies His attribute — He holds the
Holy Spirit. He has the Holy Spirit which He sends; and He specifically includes this
inscriptional element in this epistle because it relates to the content of the epistle.
And the Lord said to the church in Sardis write: The words of him who has the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works; you have the name of being alive,
and you are dead (Rev. 3:1). A few words later He declares the bishop spiritually dead.
And, in essence, He is saying to him I am the One who gives the Holy Spirit; why
then are you staying spiritually dead? Why aren't you benefiting from the presence of
the Holy Spirit, so you and your church can exercise the spiritual life? This is what the
inscription of the epistle is insinuating.
Essentially, what we have here is an indirect reprimand from the beginning and
this reprimand will become much more direct in the content of this epistle. What
then is the main theme of the epistle? J know your works, you have a name that you live,
but you are dead. You have a name that you live spiritually but, in reality, you are dead.
My friends, what a terrifying statement! This verse should terrify all of us. Each one of
us must take a close look at himself. Many times, some of us are guilty of superficial
piety; and please pay attention because sometimes those who nod their heads may be
even guiltier of this superficial piety.
I am saying this because I have noticed that many, many times people nod their
heads like they want to say; “not me, but my neighbor, or the person next to me.” But
woe and double woe — not me but my neighbor! Now you may say, what if one has
some self-knowledge so that while nodding, he also includes himself? Yes, maybe, but
it seems to me my friends, that when someone is told about one of his weaknesses he
usually stays silent and he does not nod his head. He is shocked. If I suddenly come
in here and call you a thief in front of other people, would you be nodding your head?
If you are not guilty, you will defend: yourself. If you are, your eyes will open wide.
You will be surprised. How do I know that you are a thief; and how is it that I am
exposing you in front of all these people? You will not be nodding your head. Many of
us are guilty of external or superficial piety — especially when we are not committing
heavy sins. Pay attention to this; we are encouraged by the fact that we may not be
committing heavy sins and we take on a form of godliness and a relative modesty, thus
giving the impression to those around us that we live a spiritual life.
This condition, according to St. Paul, is a sign of the last days. He writes, But know
this that in the last days, perilous times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves,
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers without self control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors,
headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness
but denying its power. And, from such people, turn away (cf. 2 Tim. 3:1-6). Having a
form of godliness, but denying its power thereof, they will take the shape, the form,
and they will pretend externally. The outward form will be godly: they will make the
sign of the cross; they will dress modestly; they will attend church; but they will have
denied the power of godliness. I repeat; the apostle Paul includes this as one of the
signs of the last days.
In essence, the religious people, the pious people, those that are considered pious,
will simply appear to be so. ‘They will be superficial Christians at best. They will not
have the power of true faith or godliness. If we take into account that the Greek word
evsevia or godliness was used in the apostolic times to include the entire mystery of
Christianity, then the mystery of godliness or piety is Christianity. When a person
lives a pious life, he has the spirit of God and he has power. He has much spiritual
power. When a person does not live the true gospel, but limits Christianity to some
external forms by merely going through the motions, then he is a superficial Christian.
In his actions, he has denied the power of the Holy Spirit. When a man denies the
power of the Holy Spirit, he is dead below the surface. He is internally dead. Do not
let this surprise you; he is dead.
Also in our times many faithful, many theologians, many of those who theologize,
have reduced theology—this true and fruitful knowledge of God which must reach
the last cell of our body just like the food that we digest turns into blood and it reaches
the last cell of the body—to discussions and dialogues. Theology, the knowledge of
God, must reach the last corner of my being; it must feed me; it must give me drink; it
must satisfy my spiritual thirst. This is the purpose of theology: to satisfy my thirst, my
spiritual hunger, to make me godlike, a Christ-like being. These days we have limited
the knowledge of God to retreats, class discussions, and dialogues. We have become as
St. Paul says conversationalists of this age (cf. I Cor. 1:20). Theology has been reduced
to conversations and discussions; it is not faith and life.
We also notice that a great number of beautiful churches are being built today.
Each possible physical detail is attended to with regard to decoration. However, the
living temples of God are being ignored. Where are the Christians? Here in Greece
you will see the parish priest build a new temple, a new church with a wood carved
iconostasis, beautiful, ornate, wooden carved seats, beautiful icons, (Byzantine style),
filled with the best Byzantine music; everything is just beautiful.
There is nothing wrong with all this, please understand; there is absolutely nothing
wrong with all this. However, when this becomes the main preoccupation of the
shepherd while the living temples of God are falling apart, while they are abandoned
to fill up with cobwebs, while they are dying spiritually because the shepherds are
not shepherding, then we can speak of a spiritual death. We also install great crystal
or brass chandeliers in our churches with bright and multiple lights to light up the
space of our churches. We install flickering lights with light dimmers to add a mystical
atmosphere to our services, but the light of our Christians has gone out. The Lord
says; You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). But are the Christians today lights in
this world?
St. John the Chrysostom says, “One Christian, only one Christian full of fire,
full of zeal can revive an entire city.” Does this take place today? I am afraid we are
in a state of paralysis. It has been said, and rightly so, that long ago the holy chalices
were wooden but the Christians were golden. Today, the holy chalices are golden but
‘our Christians are wooden. We also notice on a special holiday, such as the national
holiday of our independence (March 25) when we hold a service of doxology in every
cathedral of every city in every metropolis, we see all the state officials present. ‘The
higher echelon of the government, the political leaders are present; but I am sorry to
say that this large presence has only two characteristics: superficiality and vanity. As we
can see, the Lord would be just to repeat in every season, to all of us, that we have a
name, that we are alive, but inside we are dead. Outside, one sees the shine, the luster
of piety, but inside one can see the effects of death. Inside one smells the stench of
bodily decomposition.
There is another special case of external piety that seems progressive. I extracted
this from the magazine Sotir. (Savior)® This was also published in the daily news
(Kathemerini) on the eighth day of March of this year [1981]. The bishop of Silivria,
Aimilianos wrote it. He is one of our own bishops of Constantinople. ‘The title of the
article is; and please pay attention to this: ‘The New Christian Theology Changes into
Sociology. The author explains,
Many Christian movements in the last years in Latin America
and Europe are based on this premise. The Kingdom of God is
becoming a reality in history here on earth. Christ came to
liberate those bound by poverty, underdevelopment, and. racial
discrimination. In this way, the liberation of men takes place not
necessarily from the personal sin but from the social pollution of
political systems which took root from the social sin, the collective
sin of the masses. Therefore, the position of the genuine Christian
is to be found in the area of socialism.
For all of you who have some understanding, I am sure you see the point. I was
pleased to see that the magazine Sotir (Savior) wrote a response analyzing this article,
and the critique was quite good. The Orthodox Christian theologians of the magazine
characterized this article as heretical with no qualms whatsoever. They clearly expressed
that the writer of this article is in the realm of heresy. Now I will expand on this as
well. My friends, pay attention. What we have here is a change of Christian theology
into sociology, sociology baptized into a new theology. This new theology as expressed
in this heretical article places the realization of the kingdom of God within our history
here on earth, advocating the liberation of man, not from sin but from poverty, from
slavery, from racial discrimination and in general from all the social systems which are
used in various governments and cause people misery and unhappiness. This is the
neo-Christian message. This is the new liberation theology.
But this is horrible because if we attempt to make Christianity cover and heal
the social ills of poverty, racial discrimination etc.; and we are not at all concerned
about the matter of sin; and we transfer the Kingdom of God to earth totally ignoring
heaven, then we have secularization in its fullness — a Christianity of this age. Then
please tell me, what is Truth if they are supporting that this is the truth and the true
purpose of Christianity? The true purpose of Christianity my friends, is repentance,
repentance for sin and the return to God. The primary purpose of the Church is not
to rectify social evils. That is its secondary purpose. The main purpose of the Church
is to heal people from sin and to prepare them for the Kingdom of God, because here
we do not have a permanent city. We do not have a city that will survive forever. We
Monthly periodical of the national lay theologian brotherhood Sotir, based in Athens.
do not have a permanent country.

I believe death demonstrates this quite well. Christianity came to render us
imperishable. It came to immortalize us. Our time on earth is simply to make the
necessary preparations for our trip. We are on our way for departure, my friends. ‘This
is not our country. We will not settle here for good. I believe I have told you this in the
past, when people talk about red paradise—those of the communist party, and green
paradise—those of the socialist party, it is heresy of the social dimension, because
paradise is not to take place on this earth. Christ was clear about this because He said;
The kingdom of God is within you (cf. Matt. 12:28). Within you clarifies that the Lord
meant that the Kingdom of God does not come with observation, parades, drum rolls,
announcements, advertisements and fanfare. Each person finds his way.
The Kingdom of God is not a social system or a specific political party. The
Kingdom of God is man’s rebirth, his renewal in Christ Jesus. This is the Kingdom
of God. Each person must find his way; he must take his road to Damascus. This is
the essence of Christianity. Now, if the Christians who happen to see injustice around
them want to help their fellow human beings in every possible way to keep them from
being hungry, to help the poor, to help eliminate injustice and so on, all these things,
my friends, are a consequence of the work of salvation. However, they are not the
main purpose of Christianity. Christ did not come to institute justice on earth in the
sense that the various social systems wish to have this justice.
A young man approached Christ asking Him to become a referee or executor of
his father’s estate. He said to Him, Help me to divide my father’s property between me
and my brother. The Lord said, My young man, who made me a judge or an arbiter? (cf.
Luke 12:13-15) Instead of attempting to offer some suggestion to do something to
reinforce social justice, even for example’s sake, so that He could have some measure to
go by and to be able to exercise this justice here on earth according to the paradigms of
the social systems, what did the Lord do? He turned to the young man and said; Watch
and guard yourselves from every form of greed. Now, what social system would suggest
or limit its citizens or its party members by telling them not to be greedy and selfish?
Which one; J am asking you?
However, Christianity promotes poverty—voluntary poverty—what other social
system would speak about voluntary poverty? How many votes would a politician get
if he spoke about poverty as a blessing? The people would throw this person far and
beyond their memories in an instant. Imagine a presidential hopeful starting out his
campaign like this: “Dear friends, I would like to show you a new way. I want to assist
you in your happiness. I want to make you poor.” Now, would a candidate like this
ever make it out of city hall, or become a senator or a president? Never! But Christ
taught exactly this, Blessed are the poor because theirs is the Kingdom of God (Luke 6:20).
He means the poor in material wealth not the poor in mind.
So let us not talk about Christianity or a kingdom of this world; it is a great
distortion. Christianity is salvation of the soul. I believe we must redefine or refresh
our memories about the true meaning of salvation. What do we mean when we speak
about salvation? What is the Orthodox meaning of salvation? It is victory over death
and sin. By sin, we mean the sin of the soul; and by death, we mean, of course, the
physical death of the body. Thus, the victory over death and sin is finalized with the
resurrection of the dead. This is the meaning of salvation. In this context, Christ is
called a Savior. He resurrected from the dead to save us. Otherwise, when we distort the
true meaning of Christianity, and we teach other new theologies to our Christians, we
will surely have a form of godliness; but we will have denied the power of Christianity
or godliness.
Needless to say, the spirit of God does not visit: these states. When we find
ourselves in these superficial circumstances; we have inner spiritual death. Ginou
grigoron—become spiritually alert—wake up! I know your works. You have a name
but you are dead. Become alert. Get a hold of yourself. You need to wake up. You need
to look into your heart and your mind. Take spiritual inventory. This self-evaluation is
desperately needed in our days, more than ever before. Based on the things that I was
saying earlier we need to re-evaluate our spiritual journey. There is no doubt that we
need to re-evaluate our walk. We need to return to the true paths of the gospel but we
certainly do not need to re-evaluate in order to fall into modern theories.
Today, the words “I am an Orthodox Christian” are used very loosely. It is not
a given but something to be desired. Instead of loosely stating, “I am Orthodox” we
should really use this statement with a question mark. Am I an Orthodox Christian?
It is not something automatic just because we may have been given an Orthodox
baptism. For example, we must ask ourselves, “Is Greece today inhabited by Orthodox
Christians?” If that is the case, then glory be to God. When the presence of the Holy
Spirit rekindles our hearts and our entire country we will stop being dead.
I am very much afraid, terribly afraid of the verse: those that God plans to destroy
He renders foolish. How much do I fear that today we have become fools! We suffer
from a state of foolishness; this includes all of us: clergy and laity, all of us, every
parent, every citizen down to the last one. We suffer from this state of foolishness:
the climate of our times, the way we live, the way we think — unfortunately all these
things have changed. I am not sure, and I do not know if the spirit of God dwells in
our country or even in our hearts.
My friends, do you know that the average Greek citizen today, the one who
understands when he reads the newspaper, has undergone a great change in his
thinking when it comes to the subject of faith? There has been such a great effort of
brainwashing for decades, not to mention that this seems to go back even before the
four hundred year Turkish occupation. The western propaganda of Roman Catholicism
was very active before and after the Turkish occupation. This was true not only in the
Greek mainland but in the Orthodox churches of Asia Minor and the Holy Land as
well. Everywhere, the Orthodox Christians had to deal with western propaganda.
Even in Bulgaria and in Serbia they actively sought to convert Orthodox Christians.
Again, this western friendliness started during the years of Byzantium. You will see this
very clearly if you read church history.
So, here we are. After a long century of planning and pressure, we now come to the
sad point where the average Greek has developed a different phronema (mindset). ‘The
average Greek citizen today does not have an Orthodox mindset. I must tell you that
this is most unfortunate, truly dreadful, and that it may be irreversible for some. So let
us not think that some outsiders or foreigners will come to tamper with our faith. Our
faith has already been attacked. It has been under attack. This shall become obvious
if, for example, a certain movement attempts to impose changes in our Tradition. You
will see that the lay people will not even complain. This is tragic. There were times
when the lay people would rebel to defend matters of faith. Now the people in general
will not speak out. This is because their phronema (mindset) has changed.
They have become progressively indifferent. There were times when the matters
of faith were the /ife of the people, the life of the faithful. Today matters of faith are
not the life of the faithful. Their life is their successful business; their quest for a better
income to insure a better and more comfortable lifestyle, the endless preoccupation:
these are what matter today. Today the average Greek Orthodox has lost his interest
in defending his faith. He does not care about his faith as he did years ago. The result
is spiritual death, spiritual paralysis. Woe to us because we will become enslaved once
again, enslaved spiritually this time. We will lose the great treasure of Orthodoxy. We
will certainly lose it. I do not know who will manage to hold onto it. But, it already
has been lost. What more can we lose? It is already lost for the most part.
But, let’s not despair, at least for all of you who are here listening, I am asking
you, I am begging you, let’s be careful to maintain our Orthodox Christian mindset;
to be spiritual people—not to simply have a form of godliness but to strive and have
true spiritual life. And strengthen the rest that would otherwise die the Lord says to the
bishop. Strengthen the rest of the members who are still healthy. If you do not take
care of them, they will die. This verse indicates that, in the church of Sardis, there were
a number of faithful who did not succumb to the influences that paralyze the soul. Let
us pay attention. What are these causes that paralyze true piety? What are the causes
that destroy godliness in the soul of the Orthodox Christian?
‘There are many, very many indeed. I will only mention a few, the more obvious
ones; you know these things as well. You see them initially in all the filthy magazines
and in the movie industry, which has surpassed every boundary of shame or respect;
in the theater, which tries to keep up with the movie industry; and on television which
tries to compete with the first two. We must also include the waves of fashion in all its
expressions and forms, the secular worldly lifestyle, and many other things. You know
all these things. They are very basic and obvious. I would also like to mention one that
is not so obvious, one that we may not suspect as a cause of drying up the soul — the
homily that lacks Orthodoxy.
Sunday after Sunday, year after year, the sermons in our churches have no
Orthodox foundation, no Orthodox air, and no Orthodox breath. They begin with
the front page of the newspaper. When sermons concentrate on contemporary issues,
it is so they can relate to the problems of the tired and exhausted man of today since
we do not want to get involved with a serious sermon because it often puts people
to sleep. This is a serious problem and the pulpit bears great responsibility for this
spiritual paralysis. An Orthodox sermon upholds people: it illumines, it strengthens,
and it offers elements and ways to gain spiritual health.
I will give you a great historical example, which displays the dynamics of a true
Orthodox presence. The Turks did not manage to enslave the southern seven-island
cluster in western Greece [or Eptanisa]. However, these Orthodox Christians were
indirectly and constantly under the eye of Italy. Consequently, they were under heavy
pressure from the Roman Catholics, and from the western spirit and its mentality.
The question is; how did these seven islands manage to remain Orthodox for all these
centuries? How did they manage this? That is the question. There was an invisible
wall, an invisible fortress, but alive and mighty. This wall stretched from Corfu to
Zakynthos, from north to south, a formidable wall of a living Orthodox presence.
It was St. Spyridon, St. Gerasimos, and St. Dionysios. Can you picture this? Can
you believe that this network, this chain of saints, sustained the seven islands and
northwestern Greece? They steadfastly served to crush the spiritual blows ofa spiritually
dead Europe, to correct the diseased, heretical and Arian Europe.
My fellow Orthodox, do you understand the value of the presence of the holy
relics of one saint? These relics are in fact the incorrupt bodies of St. Spyridon on
Corfu, St. Gerasimos on Cephalonia, and St. Dionysios on Zakynthos. As people
they are, of course, dead; but as saints they are alive because they live in Christ. This
is why I told you that the living presence of an Orthodox homily could revive our
Christians, could form the living fortress, to keep our people from the slavery of
the corrupt west. As we see here, the admonition of the Lord is for the bishop to
strengthen those who were not infected. ‘They were also on their way to spiritual death
if the necessary measures were not taken to protect them. I must call your attention
to this point. Here we have the great dilemma. And once again, I would like to ask
for your undivided attention. We have the great problem of immunizing our faithful
from a world of terrible corruption, from cataclysmic and ethical destruction that
wants to leave nothing standing. This is a most vital problem. How can we protect the
members of the Church, those that are still healthy, to keep them from this pollution
and to have them maintain their Orthodox phronema? It is worth noticing that taking
protective measures is much more important than administering a cure.
When the Lord says to the bishop, strengthen the rest of the members of the church;
He wants the bishop to protect those that did not fall. Once they fall, once they die,
it will be very difficult to revive them. It is like saying that in our city we cannot allow
the polluting work of the Jehovah Witnesses to take root. We should not exert our
efforts to cure the fallen victims afterwards. However we should exert our energy to
immunize potential victims, to protect our Orthodox before they fall into their trap.
We will help our people to understand Orthodoxy, to know the treasure of our faith,
and then they will be in a position to reject every polluted doctrine and heresy: ‘This is
much more effective than trying to heal someone who has been infected by a heresy.
It is very difficult to bring someone back after they change and the success rate is
rather unpromising. However, the results are much greater when we exercise the
discipline of prevention. Even in spiritual matters, an ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure.
Now we need to address this question: How can the healthy members of the
Church safeguard themselves in today’s day and age? This is a great subject. There
are three methods: coexistence, existence, and isolation. With coexistence, we refer
to the state wherein the Christian lives or coexists in the world, with the people of
the world, exactly the way most Christians live today. They live exactly as the world
lives. It has to do with the open arms of the (secularized) Church. This is obvious
to us today. The Church wants to accept and institute every secular innovation to
please the majority of its parishioners. The doors of the Church are wide open and we
say, Come on in, ladies and gentlemen. What can we do to please you? What would you
like? Would you like guitars in our worship service? Let’s give it a try-no problem. We
can have guitars. Or, would you like violins and clarinets at your daughter’s wedding?
Why not?”
Or, let's say your non-Orthodox wife-to-be wants to remove the apostolic verse
about the wife fearing the husband otherwise she will not go ahead with the wedding
ceremony. “Well, let’s think about it. Let’s talk about it. We will bend over backwards
to have you as members.” So, we are eager to do whatever it takes. We will even close
our eyes in known cases of fornication, couples living together. We give amnesty to
these things so that we can appear to be people of understanding and people of “love.”
We accept homosexuality or at least, remain silent so we can appear to be sympathetic,
people of understanding. In this same way, we remain silent about abortion and many
other things.
My friends, I am not exaggerating. These things happen today. These things go
on daily; if you only knew how some of the clergy thinks today. If you only knew
how the clerical minds think today. I am not talking about the clergy of Protestantism
and Roman Catholicism. Oh, there we have absolute chaos. There the abyss is almost
enough to darken the sun. I am talking about us! If you knew how some of our
Orthodox shepherds think today! So all this drama is called co-existence or the
open-mindedness of the church maybe to assist and understand today’s fatigued and
problematic man. And the justification for this way of thinking is that the church must
not be labeled medieval and anti-social.
We must keep up with contemporary man, as a mother lets her child walk to
the childcare center but follows a few steps behind to keep an eye on things. In the
same way, the church should keep following the movements of contemporary man.
An example of this type of behavior (which is a tactic of the devil) is the story of the
man who wanted to lead the pigs to the butcher shop. Pigs are not the easiest animals
to work with. So, he had a big bag with acorns, which he used to line the path to the
butcher shop. As he walked towards his destination, he threw a few acorns, which kept
the pigs running after him all the way to the butcher’s. This is how the devil works.
The world today is running and the church is almost out of breath trying to catch
up and save the world. At the same time, here we see how cunning the devil is. The
running distances the Church from Her main purpose and Her main mission: to truly
save the people. The problem is that the church—in its attempt to run after the problems
of contemporary man—falls into countless compromises. These compromises, in the
final analysis do not save; they cannot save because they are the product of a desperate,
secularized church. ‘This is the work of the devil.
Let us look at how St. Paul expresses this so we can back this with Scripture. Do
not become unequally yoked with unbelievers (cf. 2 Cor. 6:14). This yoke is unbearable.
It does not work; for what fellowship or participation can take place between
righteousness and lawlessness, or between virtue and sin? What communion can light
have with darkness? What agreement can take place between Christ and Belial? What
partnership can there be between a believer and a non-believer? Please think about
this, as St. Paul analyzes the unequally yoked or hetero-yoked, eterozigountes. | Hetero is
the same prefix used in the word heterodox.]
St. Paul analyzes the eterozigountes or unequally yoked as comprising four points:
first, participation; second, communion; third, agreement, and fourth, partnership.
These four elements can be named with one word, co-existence. I repeat: participation,
communion, agreement, and partnership means co-existence. The Apostle asks, how
is it possible to have such a co-existence with the unbeliever, the morally corrupt, and
the devil? (cf. II Cor. 6:14-16) Can there be such a co-existence? No. This state is
unacceptable for those who call themselves Christians. It does not work. ‘This is not an
alternative for those who want to maintain their spiritual health.
I said previously, and you should have corrected me on this, I said that today
there are three methods to preserve the healthy members. My friends, you should have
corrected me because this method of co-existence does not work in preserving the
healthy members of the Church. It leads them to the spiritual cemetery. My friends,
I purposely brought this method up because it is erroneously believed to be a method
of Church preservation. We feel that we have to co-exist to keep our faithful coming
to church, to keep them from running to other churches, and so on. This experiment
has failed. It has failed with our youth and with our faithful in general. This method
does not work simply because it lacks the sense of Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is a
humanistic method.
And now we come to the second method for preserving healthy members; it is
the simple existence of the believer in the world without taking part in the ethics of
the world. On the contrary, he attempts to influence his environment as much as he
can so that people around him can accept the gospel. St. Paul writes, Do not associate
with sexually immoral people (1 Cor. 5: 9-10). And I do not necessarily mean the
immoral people of this world: the covetous, the extortionists or the idolaters because,
in that case you might as well take off to the mountains. But, if someone says he is a
Christian, and is sexually immoral then do not even eat with such a person. However,
today, we can say that most people around us claim to be Christians.
So, what do we do in this case? Please pay attention. The mind of the verse is
this: you, the Christian can move about in the world. Now, if your work supervisor is
immoral; your dentist is an atheist; your banker happens to be a Mason; the fourth one
thing; the fifth is something else; but all these people have betrayed, have expelled and
or stepped away from their Christian identity, what are you going to do? Society is very
corrupt. What should we do? Listen, my friends. I will still go into the supermarket
and I will shop. I will visit my dentist. I will do my necessary business. I will buy, sell,
trade with people of my community. But I will have nothing to do with their secular
ethics because I know to adhere to my own Orthodox Christian ethics.
I will say, “Good morning.” or “Hello.” to everyone, to the entire world. I will
be polite. I will say, “Good morning.” or “How are you?” This is especially necessary,
as St. Paul says, because before someone becomes ordained it is necessary to have the
opinion of those outside (cf. 1 Tim. 3:7). He means the idolaters, the non-Christians,
even the immoral. This will show that the one considered for the priesthood is sound,
an important person — in order to be a priest or bishop. Now, how is the one outside
of the church going to say kind things about me? I will say, “Good morning, how are
you? How is your family? Take care,” and so on. Now, I will have no other dealings
with them, no visits, no get-togethers, no picnics, no vacations, nothing at all. This is
what we mean by existing in the world. I utilize the world, but I separate myself from
the ethics of the world. To succeed in this, however, we need to acquire the necessary
discipline and conscience so we can protect ourselves.
You, as adults, must in turn help your children. You will tell them, “My child,
you will go to school.” We cannot keep the children out of school. [Though many
people are finding that homeschooling is an excellent option.] In reality, schools today,
unfortunately leave a lot to be desired, but we have to send our children to school.
‘There may be many negative elements in the school system, so we will teach and
condition our children to avoid the company of certain or a// classmates if necessary, to
have no give and take with certain people. The purpose is to receive an education and
to come back home. I know this is very difficult but this is what we have to do. Now,
you may say this is quite unrealistic; children are so easily influenced. I believe that
children who have received much spiritual help from both parents, who are brought
up with true spirituality will fight off some of the negative school elements.
The third and final method of maintaining spiritual health is that of isolation,
which is extremely necessary in many situations—especially in our times—isolation
or total separation. We must point out that God Himself advises this isolation. We
find these verses in Isaiah (52:11), in Jeremiah, and in Second Corinthians (6:17).
Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Separate yourselves, isolate
yourselves, and do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. What this means
is that there are certain times when we need to isolate ourselves; we need to stay away.
We will need to isolate our children from certain events and from certain places. We
will not have television and the movies control our lives and our children’s lives. We
will do away with some of these things if we want our salvation and if we want our
children to become good citizens.

Please try to understand this. I come to this practical conclusion from today’s
reality. It is obvious that the healthy members of the Church today must be protected
by the last two methods of existence and isolation. The combination of these last two
methods of existence and isolation and the exclusion of co-existence, will keep the
Church members from spiritual death. It is possible that they will be accused of being
narrow-minded, fanatics, backwards, old-fashioned, and anti-social. My friends let us
not be concerned. Let us not be concerned about what people may say. As it is written,
The just shall live by faith (Rom.1:17).
CHAPTER 19
Revelation 3:2-6
The Fifth Epistle to Sardis — the Meaning of Complete
Works — the Power of Memory in Salvation —
Virginity — Promises
For I have not found your works complete before my God.
Homily given April 5, 1981

he Lord continues, my friends, to speak through His epistle to the bishop
of Sardis. He tells him that He did not find the works of the bishop
complete, or fulfilled, before His God. In addition to this statement is what
we studied last week, you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
I did not find your works complete, or fulfilled before my God. We need to pay close
attention to this because many times it is possible for our works to appear adequate, or
sufficient, even rich, before our community members, assuming that we exercise some
relative piety, while being actively involved in our church.
This may impress some of our community members, and may be adequate in the
eyes of men. However, only God can judge the fulfillment of works. It is significant
that God seeks this fullness. St. Andrew of Caesarea says, “The beginning of good
works does not crown the worker but the completion of those works.”” ‘Therefore, it
is not enough to make a good start towards good deeds but we must strive to become
complete and full of good deeds.
Where are all those people who think that they will be saved just because they
confess Christ at some point in their lives yet do not care about this fullness? They go
along with a few of the commandments while ignoring the rest. What are the works
that the Lord requires this fullness from? It is the way we live, our complete conduct
and citizenship. We cannot claim, “I keep commandment A or B.” Let us not forget
that the keeping of all the commandments creates in us, a certain mindset; a way of
thinking, a fullness of personality. A man who keeps the commandments of God is a
complete human being, truly wholesome, intact.
St. Paul says that the man of God may be complete, (thoroughly) equipped for every
good work (2: Tim. 3:17). Elsewhere, the Apostle says not lacking in anything (cf. 1Cor.
1:7 & James 1:4) so we should not fall short. We should not be inadequate in anything.
7° St. Andrew, Apocalypse (PG 106, 244 C): “ov yap n apy} twv ayabav épywv otedavol tov
ἐργάτην αλλὰ το πλήρωμα:
We often hear that a person has some good qualities, but that he also has some little
problem. He has certain flaws. This must not be. Many times, and this is irrational of
course, we seem to get some satisfaction from, or we are somewhat proud of our flaws,
which may get us some attention. Some people may even praise this defect of ours,
“Oh, he’s a good man, but he likes his liquor. He likes his wine.” And even though it
is one of the worst passions, one who has a great attachment to wine (Alcoholism is a
horrible passion.), may actually boast about it. Unfortunately, there are a number of
flaws that people are not only not ashamed of, but actually do boast about.
However, as we said, Christ expects a fullness of works: the keeping of all the
commandments — which affects the way we think; the way we carry ourselves; how
we live; how we walk; how we move; how we talk — everything about us. These things
clearly show whether we have fullness of works. I must also tell you that this fullness
varies greatly in depth. It is not enough to keep the commandments at a minimal
level, to just get by. One must attempt to exercise these commandments in more
depth. Allow me to say that each commandment has an unfathomable depth. We
cannot say that we have exhausted a certain commandment, or we kept this or that
commandment. Let us never say that we fully applied commandment A or B in our
life, never.
Do not say that you keep the day of rest perfectly (the seventh day, the Sabbath,
Sunday) simply by not working that day. There is a great depth in this commandment.
How do you spend this day? What do you do? How is your conduct? How is your
worship towards God? What kind of level has your worship reached? Are you getting
close to a life of mysticism? Are you beginning to reach a certain vision of God? If you
are getting close to these things, then you will be ready to admit that you are still at
the surface and not at the depth of the commandment.
However, usually those that speak about reaching a depth are those who do not
even suspect how great this depth may be. While they find it easy to speak about a
depth, they always stay at the surface. Therefore, fullness of works has width and
depth, and can be equated with rebirth, with becoming a new creation in Christ. So
the meaning of the verse, I did not find your works complete, or full, in front of my God
(cf. Rev. 3:26), can be this — you are not reborn yet; you are not a new creation. ‘This
is depressing. This is a depressing observation for the bishop of Sardis.
We continue, Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard. So, remember,
and wake up (cf. 3:3). The tone is one of a wake-up call. It serves to shake up and
to remember the past, which is always a strict reproach. We can see here that the
necessary element of this remember is a much-needed element in our life. We see
this in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, when Abraham uses this awakening
phrase: Remember, my son. Woe to him, because this particular remember cannot
rectify anything. It is exceedingly late for him. This, remember in Hell will only serve
to increase the suffering. He tells him, Remember, my son, that you have already received
your reward in your earthly life (cf. Luke 16:25). So, to remember can serve to rectify
things here in this life (as in the case of the epistle to the bishop of Sardis) or to
increase our suffering in Hell (as in the case of the parable).

If we must maintain this remembrance and it is not too late, this memory makes
us return to the right path. It makes us get started again. If we must remember but we
cannot correct ourselves, then this is not different from Hell. Let us not forget that
memory will be in a perfect state in the Kingdom of God. This perfect memory also
exists in Hell. Moreover, as we said, this memory does not diminish with age. There is
no age. There is no aging factor in the afterlife; so memory is always sharp there.
In this present life, we remember things and we forget things. As we age, we have
increasing memory loss. However, even when we are young we do not remember all
our deeds. Our memory is limited and our deeds are not before us every minute or
every hour. We remember only a fraction of our past deeds here. This is not so in the
afterlife; there is no limitation to our memory once we leave this life. Our memory
will be perfectly alive. Our memory will be clear to us as a constant reminder of our
evil deeds. It will torture us because as you might suspect, my friends, Hell would not
make any sense without this memory.
In the absence of memory the one being tormented could say, “What is the
reason for my suffering? I don’t understand what I am doing here.” However, when
he has the complete memory of his entire earthly life before him, the memory of his
horrible sins and actions, then he fully understands the reason for his punishment.
He sees the justification for his punishment. The Lord often repeated in His Gospels,
mnimonevete, or remember. Remember Lot’ wife (Luke 17:32). He especially instituted
the very sacrament of the divine Eucharist as a remembrance of His Person and His
suffering, or Passion, when He said, Do this in remembrance of Me—to remember me
(cf. Luke 22:19, 1 Cor. 11:24-25).
Of course, the mystery is not limited to the mere purpose of a memento. It is
not a souvenir or something for nostalgia sake. It is not like taking an item from a
friend and saying, “I will have this as a souvenir to remember you.” The mystery is not
simply a reminder, but a remembrance, a constant reminder because the Lord Himself
is present. The bread and the wine are His Body and His Blood, a real presence.
Consequently, this is a memory of His Presence. So, one can see the great power of
memory. Memory connects the present with the past without a recess. This is why
the bishop of Sardis is being called upon to remember how he received and heard the
gospel: how he was catechized; how he became a Christian; how the gospel entered
his life; and how he allowed his zeal for the gospel to weaken to the point where his
life had become paralyzed. Hold fast and repent. In every one of His epistles when the
Lord has something to correct, when He must reproach, He also offers the only way
of cure and correction: the way of repentance.
This repent is stereotypical of all the commandments. I repeat; it is a stereotype,
because it is the only method of correction for a// the commandments. The Lord says,
repent in all the epistles. We could very well say that the entire Christian faith is a
constant repentance, a constant return towards God. In the final analysis, the spirit
of repentance, or metanoia, must characterize all the works pertaining to us or to
other people. Otherwise, they are not acceptable to God. Do we understand this? If,
in the relations between ourselves, other people and God, we fail to see the stamp of
repentance, of incessant repentance, our works are unacceptable to God. Repentance is
the constant state in the life of the faithful, in the life of the Church. Up until our last
breath; up to the last point when our soul leaves the body — up to that very moment
— repentance must exist.
However, it is obvious that the shepherding energies of our Church do not always
seek out and result in repentance. I must tell you this because in recent years we have
been heavily influenced by the west. We have been influenced by the heavy tourism
into our country as well as by our own people who have traveled and/or lived in foreign
countries where they encounter other beliefs. All this—seeing how Americans and
other Europeans act: how they move about; how they think—has made an impression
on us. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants have been a big influence on us. The
Protestants, as we have said in other discussions, are not a church. They are simply
communities and denominations. Today, there are at least fifty such denominations
actively seeking followers here in Greece.
Over the years, the Church in Greece has been criticized because it does not
participate in or organize the type of social activities promoted by these denominations.
We see that the Christianity of the west centers on the creation of hospitals, nursing
homes, spiritual centers, philanthropic deeds, Christian political parties, and socialism.
People ask, “Where is the Church?” “Why isn’t the Church housing the homeless,
opening soup kitchens or orphanages?” “Why doesn’t the Church do something
similar to what the Roman Catholic agencies do?” The fact remains that whether the
Church participates in these things or not, if they are not connected to the gospel; if
they are not connected to repentance; and if their final purpose is not to evangelize,
then there is no point in doing them. As I have told you during other meetings, these
things must be accompanied by the commitment to repentance.
Influenced by the Christianity of the west, our Church today has communities
with so-called spiritual centers for the youth where the young people can have fun and
play ping-pong or computers, and video games. However, do we cultivate a spirit of
repentance through these things, or do we limit ourselves to some basketball or soccer
tournaments? It is nice to have slide shows, videos, and religious movies to keep our
children off the streets. But do we also cultivate the spirit of salvation? Again, all these
activities are nice, but from the moment that we fail to create a spirit of repentance
along with these activities, then it is more than obvious that the Church is no longer
on the right path. It is off course; it has been influenced. It has espoused the western
mentality, which tugs and pulls our Church. This is most unfortunate and most of us
fail to see this. Truthfully speaking, a Church that keeps and maintains the spirit of
repentance on the front burner, stressing precisely that spirit to the faithful — only that
Church is walking the true path, because by doing so, souls are being earned for the
Kingdom of God.
I believe that your instincts and your inner sense must help you see this, to see the
right way. My friends, if I do not have repentance, but I possess great social graces — I
am refined; I am civilized and polite — ifI fail to have repentance; ifI simply live my
life, nicely and politely, will I enter the Kingdom of God? I will not! And since I do
not enter, I have failed. I have missed the mark. This is why I told you that a Church
that does not stress and promote the need for repentance at all times, is a Church of
no help. It does not help people gain their salvation.
Nevertheless, you may say to me, must we always speak about repentance? But,
this is it; do you fall? You must keep repenting. I will always speak to you about
repentance, my brother, just as I talk to myself. Why? —Because I fall. Now, if you
can tell me, if you can assure me, that you no longer fall, then I will stop talking to
you about repentance. Who can boast, who can claim that he does not fall? We all fall;
we fall daily; and since we fall daily, we are in need of repentance on a daily basis, if
we want to be saved that is! It is understood that if this repentance does not register in
our life, then the Lord comes with a threat.
He says to the bishop of Sardis, therefore, if you will not watch. I will come upon
you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you (cf. Rev. 3:3).
Here, as you can see, the Lord names Himself a Thief. It is one of the many names of
Christ. Christ takes on many names like: Way, Life, the Door, Lamb, a great number
of names. If you search the New and Old Testament, you will find dozens of names,
if not hundreds of names, for the Person of Christ. If you could search with the vision
of the Church Fathers, if we had the eyes of the Fathers, we would see hundreds of
these names.
One of the names of Christ is also this: Thief’ He says; I will come to you as a thief.
The Lord speaks this way in the Gospels as well. He says, for instance, Stay awake,
because you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But, notice, that if the Master
of the house had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and
not allowed his house to be broken into. “For you also must be ready for the Son of Man.
Because the Son of Man is.coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matt. 24:42-44) As St.
Paul points out, the day of the Lord is like a thief in the night. That is how Christ will
come. For when they shall say, peace and safety (when we feel globally confident and
stable) then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail upon a woman with a child
and they shall not escape (1 Thes.5: 2-4).
But, you brethren are not in darkness, so that this day should not overtake you, as a
thief. Clearly here the Lord appears as a thief, but for whom? Let us pay attention. He
appears as a thief for those who do not believe in Him, for those who do not expect
Him. Alternatively, if they do expect Him, they expect Him in the very distant future
according to this verse: My Master is very late, my Master is extremely late, (cf. Matt.
24:48-50) as the Lord says about the evil servant regarding this point.
So for those who do not believe in Christ, or who do not expect Him to come
back or who expect Him very much later, the Lord will come as a thief. However, for
those who are expecting Him, very eagerly, for those who are full of expectation, the
Lord is rather delaying His coming. He is somewhat delayed because they are fully
consumed by the expectation of His coming. He cannot come soon enough for these
people. Lord, when will you come? And everyday they ask, “Lord, when will You
come? Time is passing by. When will you come?” For these people, obviously He is
not a thief, as a thief in the night. For these people He is overdue.
We also have those who say, where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation (2 Peter 3:4).
From them we hear: What Lord will come? What Second Coming of Christ? For these
people the day will be sudden. But for those who feel His presence and are full of
expectation, they feel that He is delaying, that He is not slack about His promise, but
longsuffering towards us. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. However, the threat that is directed towards the bishop of Sardis
shows that the bishop was not vigilant. He was not awake. He was not sincere in his
expectation of Christ’s Second Coming. He had neglected his missionary deeds, his
spiritual deeds and the spiritual needs of his flock. I repeat; he was negligent about the
spiritual nourishment of his flock.
‘This concerns you as well my friends, because this threat of the Lord applies to
the shepherds of all times, especially to the shepherds of our days who may have given
up on the coming of our Lord all together. Are there shepherds today who do not
expect Christ's coming, who do not even care, or even believe in Christ? It seems that
way. How else can some of their actions be explained? I do not know how else some of
these things can be explained. When we run into clergy with such terrible conduct, we
can only assume that this man, this shepherd, cannot possibly believe in the coming
of Christ.
What am I saying? He may not even believe in the Person of Christ. However, the
Lord, my friends, warned us about these shepherds. The reason this threat of the Lord
concerns us all is because, when we have shepherds who do not care about us, about
our salvation, (I told you this in a previous class.) then we must do whatever it takes
to take care of ourselves.
This is analogous to when we do not have competent teachers, or when we have a
shortage of teachers; we do our best to learn. The parents try to find ways to teach their
children. They will use any means to teach their children to read and write. The same
must take place in spiritual matters. I constantly repeat this. Do not stand still if you
see that we are not concerned with your spiritual needs, if we are not good shepherds.
Take care to guide yourselves, educate yourselves as best as you can. Look out for
yourselves. You will be held accountable. The absence of good (local) shepherds is not
always a valid excuse.
Let us see what the Lord says, Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his
master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season (cf. Matt. 24:45-
51). The faithful and wise servant is the good servant who is not just faithful but wise
as well. His wisdom lies in knowing which portion of spiritual food to give; how much
to give, and when to make the spiritual food available to the people. For example, if we
set up a table for you and we force you to eat five full plates of food, you will vomit.
On the other hand, if we fail to offer you food at mealtime, you will starve; you will
go hungry. What must take place is the very thing that the Lord says, to have the food
be given in due season. Each one must be given at the proper time.
Blessed is the servant who when his master comes, will be found so doing, to be
fully devoted to his flock and to be giving them the proper nourishment. But the evil
servant says, in his heart, my Master is taking a very long time. He begins to beat his fellow
servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards. (Matt. 24:46-51) So, the evil servant
begins to lord it over the faithful in a very inappropriate manner for a shepherd or
spiritual leader. He begins to drink with those who like to get drunk. He begins to
live the epicurean life; eat, drink and be merry. He lives in licentiousness and lives
for today. Life is so short, so let’s celebrate. Enjoy life. Apparently, the Lord sees here
that within history, evil will a/ways exist, along with evil shepherds. Of course, He is
not referring to His twelve disciples who were good servants, but to evil shepherds in
general throughout history.
The Master of that evil servant will come on a day when he is not expecting Him
and at an hour that he is not expecting. Oh, how dreadful! How dreadful for this evil
servant! The Lord will come as a thief in the night. When the faithful servant stands
before the holy altar he says, “Maybe I will die; this could be my last Divine Liturgy.
The Lord is near.” He monitors his life and his thoughts according to this expectation.
However, the evil servant will be cut in two and his portion will be appointed with the
hypocrites. What is this cut in two? It is the separation of soul and body, or death. ‘The
evil servant will face death and his portion will be with the hypocrites. His soul will be
placed in the zone of the hypocrites because of his hypocritical lifestyle. He pretended
to be a shepherd, but he was a wolf.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 24:51). There will be deep remorse
with no possibility of repentance, in the unpardonable, dreadful, and everlasting Hell.
For this reason, my friends, the Lord accuses the bishop of Sardis of neglecting the
spiritual development of his flock and with failing to progress spiritually. The Lord
calls him dead. How many of the priests and bishops today would fall under the same
category as the bishop of Sardis? And the Lord should admonish such bishops and
priests with the same words as well. How many? This is a sign of the times, my friends.
Hold on as best you can, any way you can; hold on.
You have a few names in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments and they shall
walk with me in white, for they are worthy (Rev. 3:4). So here we have it. In the seemingly
living — but in reality dead — church of Sardis, we have a hopeful sign. There are a few
names, a few people, a few individuals. These are a wonderful few, very few, but that
is okay. These few live their life according to the life of God despite the spiritual death
of the bishop. Do we see this? The bishop's life did not stop these few individuals from
being sincere, faithful, and alive in Christ, from living a true Christian life. What is
the undertone of the expression, You have a few who would not defile their garments?
This very book of the Revelation gives us the most touching image of those who did
not pollute their garments. Please pay attention.
It is in Revelation chapter fourteen. I will offer an analysis of this paragraph

because it is directly connected to the epistle to the bishop of Sardis. We will discuss
it now especially since it will take us a great deal of time to reach chapter fourteen (if
we are still alive). Since it took us a whole year to cover three chapters, we will need
quite some time to make it to chapter fourteen. By then we will have forgotten a lot
of this information. So, for this reason I do not believe it will hurt if we jump ahead
occasionally to look at some pertinent points.
However, here as I told you, there is a direct connection. Let us read. Then I
looked, and lo, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four
thousand who had his name and his Father’ name written on their foreheads. ... . It
is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are chaste (Rev. 14:1-4).
Now, here, this not defiled may initially give the impression that they were pure from
fornication. But this is not a matter of avoiding fornication. This has to do with those
who avoided marriage altogether.
Now, why does this defilement apply in the case of marriage? What can I tell you?
What can I tell you, since the woman needs to receive a prayer of purification after
she gives birth? We need to consider what is impure. St. Nikodemos asks, “Blood?
But blood is the foundation of life.” Is the born child impure? —By no means. It is
a brand new creation, a brand new person, and a child of God. Then, why must the
woman receive this prayer? What was impure that needs to be purified by this prayer
of the Church? Where is the impurity? My friends, what seeped inside the holy plan
of God was evil desire [kaki epithimia]. Who can ever boast that his marriage has been
immaculate and holy — so holy that not a trace of evil desires ever existed in it? Not
even for a split second?
From the very moment that Eve saw the fruit in paradise and desired it, evil desire
came into the human race. This termite, this desire, in its broad sense, finds its way
into all things: when I see the wardrobe of another person and I become envious;
when I become envious because of his wealth, his home, land, garden, or his great
flowerbeds; when I begin to covet and desire his things, then I have an evil desire. Let
us watch now because this is exactly what the tenth commandment corrects. You shall
not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor (cf. Exodus. 20:17, Deut. 5:21). The
Greek says: You shall not desire. This evil desire has entered marriage as well.
Again, who can boast about a marriage that does not have a trace of this evil
desire? Moreover, to be able to see this type of desire, to be able to define it, a person
must have the eyes of a saint. So, for this reason, and not that marriage in itself
pollutes or defiles because the marriage bed in itself does not defile (cf. Heb. 13:4), but
because it is what has seeped into marriage that defiles. Therefore, St. Paul refers to
marriage without degrading it. This is the mind of this verse and I will clarify this now.
He is not talking about extramarital relations or fornication, because he says, For they
are chaste, meaning unmarried. They were never married. However, as J said, desire can
be very broad. It is not just in the area of marriage or in the area of bodily, or carnal,
desires. It is everywhere, as you will see when we continue.
The chaste, or undefiled, one hundred and forty-four thousand are the ones who
follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men being
first fruits to God and to the Lamb. Jn their mouth was found no deceit, (No deceit has
a broad meaning here.) for they are flawless, or spotless (Rev.14: 5). The redeemed are
under the relative number of one hundred and forty-four thousand, which is twelve
times twelve thousand or twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel. The twelve tribes
of Israel are symbolic of all the tribes because today we have no tribes of Israel. ‘The
number is symbolic of all nationalities, tongues, races, and colors, of all the peoples of
the earth. All these are stated with this number, twelve thousand times twelve.
So, this number represents a great crowd of the elect who combine three elemental
characteristics. Just to backtrack a little, we must mention that this one hundred and
forty-four thousand is presented twice in the book of the Revelation and that they are
unrelated numbers. They are two different cases. In this instance, we have the case of
the one hundred and forty-four thousand — the chaste virgins, or the unmarried.
The one hundred and forty-four thousand is not a concrete number but a schematic
number. It does not represent an exact number; it is allegorical. It symbolizes a great
number. The use of the twelve tribes means all of humanity. These are the elect of all
humanity and they are taken from all humanity from all centuries and all seasons.
Based on this, they were redeemed from among men, being first fruits to God and
to the Lamb. ‘This reveals that virginity, or the call not to marry, is a form of sacrifice
that is offered to God. First fruits to God and to the Lamb (14:4) refers to the life of
virginity. But we will see this again, as we continue.
Let us get back to the three characteristics of these one hundred and forty-four
thousand. First and foremost, they lived a life of virginity. The text says, They were not
defiled by women for they are virgins. The state of virginity is most ancient and of one
age with humanity. Since Adam and Eve were virgins in paradise, after the fall, and
I want to emphasize this, after the fall and after their exit from paradise, then Adam
knew his wife, and having conceived, she gave birth to a son, Cain. So, Adam had
relations with his wife outside of paradise and Cain was born. Their relations occurred
after the fall. Thus, they lived in virginity in paradise. They maintained virginity.
Please remember that virginity in the Old Testament is generally honored but it is
not accentuated. This is because the purpose for the people of God was to be preserved
in a multiplicity of numbers in order to survive their numerous historical adventures
until the Messiah came. It was necessary to maintain the existence, the presence, of the
chosen people for the Messiah to be born. However, virginity was not pursued, though
it did hold a place of honor. The prophet Elijah was a virgin; the prophet Elisha was
a virgin; and St. John the Forerunner was a virgin. Virginity is reserved as an ultimate
virtue of the New Testament. In the New Testament it is not simply honored but it is
considered a great virtue indeed.
Initially, we must mention that virginity is not unnatural or an unnatural
state. It is rather a supranatural state; it goes above nature. We could venture to say
along with St. John the Chrysostom, who says in his great homily about virginity,
"Virginity, in reality, is the state according to nature.” Marriage is not the state
according to nature or the ideal state, since childbearing and marriage took place
after the fall. This form of marriage was instituted because God foresaw the human
fall. Furthermore, we will all return to the state of virginity or celibacy in the
Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God, there is no marriage, no married life,
or childbearing; the Lord was very, very clear on this.
In the Kingdom of God people do not get engaged or married; consequently,
there is no childbearing. All these forms are absent from the Kingdom of God. So,
as you can see, we will all return to virginity, the original state. Therefore, marriage
is an accommodation, a concession rather, because God foresaw the fall and along
with the fall came death. In the presence of death, it was necessary to work out
the preservation of the human kind. This is why the male and female forms were
introduced. Of course, as we saw, marriage is a phenomenon that followed the fall
by the concessionary will of God.
However, virginity is not for everyone, for the Lord says, but only those, to whom
it has been given (cf. Matt. 19:11). Only to those that it has been given can virginity
exist. From this, we see that virginity is not simply a gift, such as intelligence, height,
or beauty; it is a virtue. It is a virtue obtained by much toil. After the Lord said, to those
to whom it has been given, He added he who is able to accept it, let him accept it (19:12).
He who is able to assume and live this type of lifestyle, let him do so.
So, when He says he who is able, He refers to he who would be able to take up the
struggle, showing that virginity is truly a virtue. Having a sharp mind or good looks
is not a virtue. It is a gift that men receive from God without having to do anything,
without any effort, without trying to be smart. Is this a virtue? Do smart people enter
the Kingdom of God? Do the tall, the attractive; those that have physical strength,
strong arms, or legs, those with great health enter the Kingdom? These are all gifts
from God. Virginity is not only a gift but it is truly a virtue because it has the element
of personal effort or work. Virginity is a mystery; those who correctly exercise this state
of virginity can approach this mystery and I mean correctly.
St. Ignatius writes that the one who maintains virginity does so to honor the Body
of Christ.”! By the way, the person must not boast about his or her virginity. Boasting
about this would be catastrophic. The reward would be lost; it would be totally lost.
Therefore, this has to do with an offering. I read this very thing to you in Revelation
in the previous chapter. They were redeemed from among men being first fruits to God
and to the Lamb (cf. Rev.14:4). In the Old Testament, the first lamb born in a flock
was sacrificed to God. The first wheat we harvest we make into prosforon to be offered
to God. This agrees with St. Ignatius, “He must not boast, because he belongs to the
Body of Christ and he is serving in the honoring of the Body of Christ.”
As the Lord points out, These are those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes
(14:4), which means that they are somewhat of an extension or a part of the Body of
71 St. Ignatius, To Polycarp, 5, 2.

Christ. Therefore, these followers honor the Body of Christ. This is seen when we have
a miracle-working icon that we take for a procession or a litany. The icon is carried
with the offerings of the faithful. You may have seen some miracle-working icons
with gold or silver medals which have drawings of body parts stamped on them: eyes,
legs, hands, hearts or whatever people are specifically thankful for. They are called
anathemata in Greek, or offerings. Other offerings may include: rings, watches, crosses
etc. They stay on the icon to show the appreciation and gratitude of those who were
helped. These go along with the icon during the service of the /itania or procession.
This relates to the Lord being escorted by those who chose a life of virginity, those who
honor His Body.
Now, let us pay attention. I already mentioned this, but I will repeat it one more
time. Ihe presence of virginity does not belittle or scorn the mystery of marriage. I
simply told you about desire, which is what infiltrates the arena of marriage. It would
be a blessing to have marriages in the Lord with the full understanding of what it
means to be married in the Orthodox Church and how to keep the Church’s blessing
in our marriage; we would be ecstatic. I have told you this in the past. If you can, read
the service book of marriage, the same book that the priests use when they celebrate
the mystery or sacrament. (There are small booklets available.) If people would read
this service, word for word, then they would really be able to see what the full mystery
of marriage is about. I highly recommend this to all [engaged or] married couples.
St. Paul also writes, Now concerning the matters about which you wrote. It is well
for a man not to touch a woman (I Cor. 7:1). Why is that? It is because the unmarried
man concerns himself about the matters of the Lord, how to please the Lord, just like
the unmarried woman concerns herself about the matters of the Lord, so she can be
holy in body and spirit. This means that the married woman does have some instances
where her body and her spirit may lose this holiness. And these are the very things
that I was speaking about a few minutes ago. You must know; you must understand
these things as well.
I say you have to understand and you must know because you come and tell
me these things all the time. I hear these things in thousands of confessions. Most
unfortunately, after the fall, the bond of marriage, instead of becoming a helping hand
for theosis, in many instances becomes a helping hand to pull people into Hell. This
is because people do not get married to assist each other to enter God’s kingdom, but
to go to Hell holding hands. This occurs when a man becomes captive to the woman's
demands and desires or when the woman becomes carried away by the unholy and
perverse lifestyle of the husband.
Listen to how the Holy Scripture touches on this point in the parable of the
Great Supper. J just was married to a woman, and I cannot come. I need to be with my
wife, so I will not come to the supper of the kingdom. The Lord said, but take heed to
yourselves lest your hearts be laid down with carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this
life (cf. Luke 14-21:34). What are these daily cares of this life? The cares of this life
are those that go along with marriage. The Apostle says, But, he who is married, cares
about the things of the world; how he may be attractive to his wife, how to please his
wife. The married woman, says St. Paul, cares about the things of the world, how to
be attractive to her husband. She uses every possible means, every possible method, to
please her husband (cf. 1 Cor. 7:34). However, the unmarried one is only concerned
about pleasing the Lord (Rev. 3:4). The purpose of virginity is the full dedication of
the person to God and to the matters of God, to work the works of God and nothing
else. Any other motive or reasoning would not be an authentic or a justifiable criterion
to stay unmarried.
Today, virginity not only lacks honor but as you know, it is often ridiculed. It is
ridiculed because it lacks the understanding of today's modern and rational Christian.
Thus since it is slandered by contemporaries, virginity becomes a constant confession
of faith in the name of Christ by Whose grace virginity becomes possible. He who
lives in virginity is a confessor and a martyr. This is so because of today’s temptations;
in order to maintain virginity the strength of martyrdom is often necessary. Virginity
can only be preserved today by martyrdom, because these are days when we face
such great opposition by people, (because they ridicule virginity in general) that its
adherents must be constantly ready to defend it.
‘The second characteristic of all those who follow the Lord is that they follow
Him everywhere He goes — anywhere He goes. They are devoted to the love and the
work of Christ. The third quality of these followers is that in their mouth was found
no deceit, for they are flawless. Here, by not having deceit, or a lie in the Greek, what
is meant is the state of living a life of truth. In other words, they have reached a state
of holiness. I am certain that among you here tonight we may have only a few — but
such special people do exist, I am certain of it. They do exist. I feel compelled to say
it. I only wish and I pray that the Lord may increase this number. My friends, there
is no greater cause or desire than to desire this great calling, this state of virginity, this
total devotion and holiness. It is the state wherein one truly feels that he lives his life.
He is living the true life.
This promise of the Lord serves as a powerful magnet: And they shall walk with me,
in white, for they are worthy (Rev. 3:4). Now, the promises of the Lord are stated for the
victors over spiritual death, for those who practice self-control, purity, and celibacy.
The Lord says, He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot
his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his
angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (3:5-7). The
one who is victorious, the one who overcomes, will be clothed in white garments,
meaning clothed in the divine glory. The divine light, the light of God, will envelop
him. His name will be written in, not blotted out from, the Book of Life, meaning the
eternal Kingdom of God. Remarkably, only Christ has the authority to enter names
into the Book of Life.
In addition, this J will not blot out his name is of extreme significance. This reveals
the possibility of the disqualification of the athlete of Christ who starts well, but does
not finish the race. The possibility of having one’s name blotted out shows that we
could lose our salvation. [These words of the Lord destroy the Calvinist-Protestant
heresy of predestination, the notion that once saved always saved. You can be saved
for a time but you can also be blotted out — just like in the case of the five virgins who
did not enter the Kingdom of God.]
Finally, as we also read in the gospels, the Lord Himself will confess the name
of the victors before His Father and the angels. My friends, God has promised and
has prepared very great and magnificent things for the victors of His gospel. Let us
not procrastinate any longer. Time is passing and the end is coming upon us. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
CHAPTER 20
Revelation 3:7-8
The Sixth Epistle to the Bishop of Philadelphia —
Introduction — About Missions
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; ‘The words of the holy one, the
true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no
one opens. ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one
is able to shut; I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and
have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that
they are Jews and are not, but lie — behold, I will make them come and bow down before
your feet, and learn that I have loved you.
Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour
of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth. I
am coming soon; hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. He who
conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it,
and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new
Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (3:7-13).
Homily given April 12, 1981

his sixth epistle is directed to the angel or bishop of the church of Philadelphia,
which was located southeast of Sardis. Attalos II, the Philadelphos who
was the king of Pergamos, established the city of Philadelphia. During the
reign of Tiberius the city was renamed Neoceasaria and during the reign
of Vespasian it took on the name of Flavia-Neoceasaria. This epistle has two common
points with the epistle of Smyrna. The first is that there is no fault found in this
bishop, nothing negative whatsoever, no reproof. It is an epistle full of praise.
The second common element is the accusation of the Jews, who were called a
synagogue of Satan in the epistle to the bishop of Smyrna because of their hatred for the
Christians. These things says He who is holy, He who is true, He who has the key of David,
He who opens and no one shuts and shuts and no one opens. This is the introduction of
the epistle my friends and it corresponds perfectly to the present state and conditions
found in the church of Philadelphia.
Let us try to offer a quick analysis of these introductory lines. These things says
the holy and true, the holy one and the true one. ‘These are divine attributes, which
are used for the Person of Christ. Holy was a name attributed only to God in the Old
Testament. Therefore, the Holy One is only Yahweh; consequently, Jesus Christ Who
is called the Holy One in the New Testament and is Yahweh, is the Lord. Jesus Christ
is the God of the Old Testament. If we could only comprehend this! If only those
heretical Jehovah Witnesses would ever comprehend that the Jehovah as they call
Him—the Jehovah of the Old Testament—is Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, they reduce
Him to a creation of God with their blasphemies. The Holy and True or the True One,
is a divine title referring to God.
Here the True One does not mean the one who says true things, the one who speaks
the truth. It refers to the True God, the genuine and authentic God, the only True
God. From this once more we see that Christ is truly God. Again, Jehovah Witnesses
will ask where does it say that Christ is God? Where is it written? It is written all over
the Scriptures. However, you need spiritual lenses, spiritual eyes to interpret. If you are
blind, you cannot interpret. The prophet Isaiah says, So that he who blesses himself in
the land shall bless himself by the God of truth, and he who takes an oath in the land shall
swear by the God of truth (65:16). Therefore, the True God is Yahweh.
Moreover, since Jesus Christ is called the Holy and the True, it is more than clear
that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is Jesus Christ. Furthermore, as an ancient
commentator writes on this point of the book of the Revelation, “He is the Holy and
the True not from metousia, not from communion or participation, but God the Word
is Holy and True in His essence.” This is nothing like say, a piece of iron that becomes
magnetic due to its contact with the magnetic field of a magnet. No, this is not the
case with Christ because Christ is truly God. To the word True we could also add the
trait, trustworthiness. Christ is trustworthy in His promises; and this becomes obvious
from the statements that will follow. So, Christ in His divine nature is holy and true.
In His human nature, Christ is the One who has the key of David. So in the phrase,
these things says the Holy and the True, he who has the key of David, we see both natures
of Christ — the divine and the human.
Holy and True refer to the divine nature and holding the key of David refers to the
human nature. Surely, when He says that He is the One who holds the key of David,
He cannot possibly be referring to the divine nature but to the human nature. Do not
forget, my friends that I have been emphasizing this and I hope that God helps me
to draw attention to this as long as I live! Who is Jesus Christ? He is the Godman —
Theanthropos — not only man and not only God but both God and man, fully God
and fully man.
However, what is the meaning of the phrase He has the key of David? As we
know the key is the symbol of authority. Therefore, the key of David is the messianic
authority. The prophet Isaiah states, And I will give him the glory of David; and he shall
rule, and there shall be none to speak against him: and I will give him the key of the house
of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and there shall be none to shut; and he shall
shut and there shall be none to open (22:22-Septuagint). And I will give Him the key of
the royal house of King David, which is the symbol of messianic authority according to
the human nature.
Please remember what the archangel Gabriel said to our Most Holy Theotokos,
You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, a descendent of David (cf. Luke
1:31-32), the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father, David — all this is
according to the human nature. So He will open and no one will be able to shut. I
repeat, once He opens, no one will be able to close; once He closes, no one will be able
to open. All of this is of great importance because it has much to do with the content
of the epistle.
So, the entire meaning of this verse: I am the Holy and True God, and having
taken on flesh, having become man, I have complete authority over human history.
Can you imagine all this depth, all this theology in these few words of the introductory
line of this epistle? If you have been paying attention, every one of these epistles opens
with some tremendous theological position and if we could add together and analyze
all six or seven introductory phrases of these epistles thus far, we would have a most
amazing theological presentation of the God-human nature of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we come to the main content of the epistle: J know your deeds. I know your
works. This sentence is repeated in every epistle. It shows the omniscient Lord, the
One Who knows it all, the One Who has all the knowledge, the One Who does not
lack any psychological, scientific, or nuclear knowledge. He knows it all! He is God
almighty, the One Who sees it all — the things that are done in secret and the things
that are done out in the open. The Lord knows all private or public works, whether
done in dark places or in the open. Nothing escapes the eye of the Lord. If we could
only comprehend this! We should become conscious of the fact that Christ knows
everything. And if things seem to be falling apart around us—even for a relatively long
period—let us not lose heart. Christ knows it all.
I have mentioned this to you before but I will repeat it to you again; picture
the image of the Lord sleeping inside the boat, the small boat that was traveling on
Lake Gennesaret. So, the Lord is sleeping. Huge waves caused by strong winds are
threatening the existence of the small boat. The disciples become afraid. The Lord is
sleeping; they are forced to wake Him up. Lord, we are perishing, we are drowning (cf.
Matt. 8:25). Where was the Lord? Did He not know the weather conditions on the
lake were changing? Did He not know that the little boat was in trouble? The Lord
was sleeping. It seems that He is not answering. It seems that He is somehow absent.
Nevertheless, the Lord is ever present and He knows it all. J know your works. See I
have set before you an open door and no one can shut it (3:8).
And here we have it. Since the main topic of this epistle has to do with the
opening of a door, this explains why the Lord said, J am He who has the key of David,
He who opens and no one can shut and when I shut no one can open, as recorded by the
prophet Isaiah. It is as if to say, go search the Old Testament prophets and you will
see. Do not fear. Behold I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. What
is this open door? [Please note that the Greek grammar in this verse suggests that this
door is opened permanently or constantly. Therefore, this door is always open.] So,
what is the door that is set before the bishop of Philadelphia which no one can shut
since the Lord is holding it open? It is the incessant missionary effort, continuous and
unhindered missionary work; this is the open door.
It is rather interesting that missionary activity is represented here with an open
door. This metaphor of an open door used to symbolize missions is not coincidental
by any means. In fact a few lines after this when we enter the fourth chapter, after
we finish the seven epistles sent by the Lord, we will see that it begins with a related
image. St. John will say, After this I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven (cf.
4:1). However, the door in heaven has a different meaning than the one in the epistle
to the church of Philadelphia. The open door in heaven means that now one can see
the mysteries of God that were impossible to see before.
However, here in the epistle we have a different meaning. St. Paul uses the phrase
open door three times in his epistles or in the Acts of the Apostles. I will only mention
one in particular when he writes, But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide
door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries (I Cor. 16: 8-9).
In other words, I have a lot of work, which is why I stayed another three years! I have
plenty of work. Those who opposed the teachings of the gospel are many. I have a lot
of ground to cover. This is what he wants to convey to the Corinthians.
What becomes obvious there is that faith in Christ begins in an enclosed area,
surrounded by an environment totally alien to it. Suddenly, a door of this enclosed
area opens up! Do you understand this? The Church is found in a certain place, a
specific environment. The Church is fenced in just like a sheepfold. Suddenly a door
opens; and the purpose of this open door is to make the faith known to all those
outside of this door. They will receive information about what exists inside this door.
So the people outside of this fenced-in sheep pen, or Church, will see what takes
place inside the Church; consequently when the place outside learns what the Church
is all about through this opened door, then the place outside will also want to become
part of the Church. In this way, the perimeter of the Church will become greater.
We will pull out the posts, so to speak; we will pull out the posts from the fence and
we will move them outward to include the new ground, the new place that was just
added to the Church because of this open door. Because those who were inside and
had already gone through this door had witnessed about the faith, they attracted the
people who were outside and brought them in.
By bringing people into the Church, the Church expanded; its perimeter was
enlarged, and this enlargement does not mean the fence was eliminated. The fence
is still there but it is now wider. The door still exists. The fence is still in place, and it
should always be in place, just as the door needs to be in its place and never taken off.
This is because entry for those who happen to be outside of the door will be allowed
only after certain conditions or presuppositions are met. These presuppositions exist
to avoid reaching a state of equilibrium between the inside and the outside, because if
such a state were reached it would mean that the Church has frozen.
To help us see this, let us use the very appropriate example of a recent interpreter.
Let’s assume that the Church is a boiler full of boiling water. The boiling water is the
boiling faith of the faithful of the Church. Suddenly a great quantity of cold water falls
into this boiler; the water temperature drops way below its boiling point and then it
is no longer possible to increase the temperature to bring it back up to boiling. This
is precisely what happened when the Church was liberated through Constantine the
Great and the standards of entering became less strict. Catechism became less strict
and many people entered because the Church was suddenly free from persecution.
So, Church membership became rather relaxed and without its previous zeal. The
steam was gone; that zeal of the early Christians was gone. The reason behind this
was that many entered the church without any zeal. They entered without catechism,
without any preparation, without any knowledge. Consequently, the Church went
from the boiling point to the freezing point because there was very little difference
between those inside compared with those outside. A state of equilibrium was reached.
We do not need to look very far to see this. At this moment, the majority of Greeks
are baptized Christians. Are they all people of faith? Are they all believing Christians?
—Certainly not. Why? The gates are wide open and quite bluntly, the posts of the
fence have been pulled out and the fence is flat on the ground! People can come and
go as they please, even the enemies of the Church.
However let's just say that the Church underwent a great expansion. Many
outsiders came in without the necessary requirements, resulting in a sudden drop of
the temperature of the faith and the zeal of the faithful. This is devastating! This is
terrible. We need to look into this. The image of the open door—this forever open
door—describes beautifully the state of the Church’s missionary work. It was rightly
stated that, a church without mission is a church without commission. The purpose of
this holy mission is the constant rejuvenation of the number of the Church’s members,
the constant sharpening and the constant strengthening of the faithful, the final goal
being the Christianization of the entire world.
We presume that all of you had some sort of catechism in your early years. Was it
enough? Can you say that you learned enough in your Sunday-school years and that
you have no need for any additional knowledge? This spiritual strengthening of the
faithful is the responsibility of the Church. It is the never-ending work of the Church
and all believers up until the moment of their death are to be cultivated constantly
and to prepare themselves endlessly for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, we have two
directives in the workings of the Church: whom can we attract to our Orthodox faith
from outside and bring through the door, and how can we develop those who are in
the sheepfold, within the Church?
Consequently, we have two states here, two holy missions; one could say that we
have two designations: internal missionary activities and external missionary activities.
However, these expressions are not very accurate. There is a more accurate expression.
Missions refer to those outside of the Church and ministering refers to the work within
the walls of the Church. The Greek word is poimantiki, literally meaning shepherding,
or doing the work of the shepherd. Therefore, at this moment I am not doing the
work of a missionary, but the work of a shepherd. However, if we go to unbaptized
people in foreign countries where people have no knowledge of God, there we will
engage in missionary activity. Now whether we say ministry or missions, these terms
are essentially interchangeable.
We read, But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the
word of the Lord, with many others also. And after some days Paul said to Barnabas,
‘Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of
the Lord, and see how they are.’ (Acts 15:35-36) So let us go and see the fruit of our
missionary work: Are they doing well? Are they keeping the faith? Are they on the
right path? Are they standing well? Do they show signs of progress? When they visited
them for the second time, it is classified as a work of ministry. However, we usually
use the phrase, the second missionary journey of St. Paul. Consequently, whether we say
missions or ministry, in reality these two terms are intertwined.
On the one hand, members of the Church militant are transplanted as members
of the Church triumphant upon their death. People die; they leave this present life;
they progress, preparing themselves accordingly; and they depart. On the other-
hand, because of the need to evangelize new souls, missionary work becomes a most
necessary issue for our Church. We could say that holy mission, ierapostoli, or the
spreading of the gospel, is a commandment of our Lord and in actuality, it is His last
commandment. In the Gospel of St. Matthew we read, Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all thatI have commanded you (Matt. 28:19-20).
You will evangelize; you will speak to your neighbor about Christ. In the Acts of
the Apostles, the Lord says, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea,
and Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). What is the meaning of this? It
means evangelism, missionary work. It means that evangelism, missions in general is a
commandment. I will say it again. Spreading the gospel is not something optional. It
is a commandment. Just as we have the commandments: honor your father and mother;
do not steal; do not commit adultery; do not kill, we also have the commandment to
evangelize. You will speak to your neighbor about Christ. During confession as
you would confess a sin of lying, stealing, cheating, killing, if you did any immoral
deeds, you must also confess that you failed to evangelize, to speak about Christ.
Open the New Testament — from the first page until the last, you will find
commandments everywhere.
When St. Paul says Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice (Phil. 4:4),
or be people of joy, do you think that this is something optional? Did you think: I
can have joy if I want to and if I do not feel like it, I can be miserable? No, rejoice is
a commandment! As a Christian, you are not allowed to be miserable! You must be a
joyful Christian, a cheerful Christian. If you are not a cheerful Christian then you still
do not know what it means to de a Christian. You do not understand what it means
to be a liberated person. You do not understand that God has granted you and me a
privilege. I am privileged because God has adopted me. I am His child by grace and
He gives me His blessedness. Now, if I have all of the above and the great hope of the
Kingdom of God, tell me, how can I be gloomy or sad? What does St. Paul say? Does
he not say rejoicing in the hope? Simply because we have the hope of God’s kingdom
we should be jumping with joy! He says, rejoicing in the faith and the hope (Rom. 5:2,
8:28, 2:12).
So, if someone tells me that they will give me a certain object, a gift and I believe
it; | have faith. However, when I am full of joy because I will soon receive this object,
it is no longer faith; it has become the work of hope. Hope is connected with joy and
hope is a virtue. Joy is a virtue as well. It is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). Did
you ever imagine that joy is a commandment? Could you imagine this? Evangelizing
is even more of a commandment and there are a number of other things that are
commandments. Because we do not see these things, we are drying up as Christians.
We are minimalist Christians because we limit ourselves to a nominal adherence to
the Ten Commandments. How I wish that our people looked at the Commandments
properly! If we could see the Commandments the right way, then there would be no
need to argue the point. One could easily grasp the depth of these Commandments.
However, most of us do not develop much depth. We take things rather superficially.
Do not commit adultery, “Oh, okay. I did not commit adultery so I’m okay, case
closed.” Now it is a different story if you were in love half a dozen times before your
matriage; you were just simply looking for love.
So, you were not committing adultery, but you were being sexually active or
fornicating, which are different words; so it was not adultery, right? It was simply
fornication and another matter even if you ran into all kinds of perversion and I do
not know what else. Never mind if your eyes were feasting in all the wrong places in
partnership, of course, with your desires and your heart. You may say, “Well, I did not
commit adultery; so I’m fine.” My friends, adultery is committed in the heart! If we
could only see the shape of our heart! This is why we have these talks — to wake up, to
come to know ourselves.
Now, let’s get back to our main subject. I will ask, when Christ said, Go out
and make disciples of all nations, whom was He addressing? To whom was this
commandment given? We do not see anything in His words that suggests, if you have
spare time and if you have nothing else to do, then just go and talk to the people
about the gospel. Not at all! This is a commandment, a must! For whom? For the
twelve disciples? Now what would happen once the twelve disciples exited this life?
Wouldn't this commandment become irrelevant? Of course! So, the commandment
of evangelizing was only seasonal? —One of a limited time, a certain epoch, necessary
only way back then? — Certainly not.
This commandment concerns every faithful without exception! And please
understand, just as love in its first plane is given as a commandment, you must love the
Lord with all you heart, all your mind, all your strength (Matt. 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke
10:27), You must love the Lord comes across as a commandment. When He says you
must love your neighbor, it is also a commandment. Now imagine the husband telling
his wife, “I command you to love me.” It sounds rather strange and very unnatural. You
cannot command me to love you. Create the proper climate, the proper environment
and love becomes automatic.
So, it seems strange at first, my friends, for God to give us a commandment to love
Him. Again, this is the initial stage. From the moment you receive this expectation
of God, to love, you will not stop there; you will progress to the second stage. It will
become necessary for you to love. Evangelizing works along the same lines. From the
moment you receive this commandment and you begin to love Christ, then you do
not need to have Christ reminding you to love, to command you. It will become
necessary for you to share, evangelize, and confess your faith.
Listen to how St. Paul expresses this, So affectionately with so much fervent love,
longing for you we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also
our own lives because you have become dear to us (cf. I Thess. 2:8). Therefore, we are
coming to you, not because we were commanded by Christ to bring the gospel to you,
but along with the gospel, we are giving our hearts to you. What is the meaning of
this? The commandment has become the action and the necessity of a loving heart, a
loving conscience. So, when you share and offer the word of God, you dip it in your
heart; you dip it in love.
Consequently, remember this: a man of faith is also an apostle. Please remember
this. From the moment you became faithful, at that very moment, you became an
apostle, that very moment. Someone faithful is also an apostle. This is the criterion.
If you are not an apostle, you really have no faith. This is a consequence of your fire.
Your faith is burning within you; your faith is not one of your personal matters that
must be kept a secret. It is something that overflows and you have the great urge to
share it, to illumine the person next to you. You feel bad if you cannot share and give
this joy to others.
Many times, my friends, I have to take a taxi (and I don't know if any of these
people happen to be here listening to me tonight, it’s quite possible) to go teach at
School 303 on Monday mornings. I always try to keep something in my briefcase, a
pamphlet, a periodical, an article, a tape to give to the taxi driver and I try to start
up a conversation with him. “How are your children? How many do you have? Do
you keep them on the path of God? Do you go to church?” They will often respond,
“Father, I would like to, but I really do not have time to go to church.” “You do not go
to church? Please hear me out. Sunday morning try to go to church. Try this and you
will see how much you will benefit, how much God will bless you. Go to church. Try
to get up early Sunday morning. Go to church first, and after ten o'clock, go to your
taxi route. You will see how much you will be blessed. God will send much work your
way. Moreover, your money will somehow be spent much more wisely in your home.
Please try and see.”
I feel a great need to tell this to people. There are times however, and I do not
know why, but I do not feel like opening my mouth. They might be blasting the radio
or the driver might be totally self-centered and preoccupied, whatever the case may
be. I feel something eating me inside; I feel that I wasted these ten minutes. Most of
these taxi rides are usually about ten minutes and I feel bad because I did not get the
opportunity to put those ten minutes to good use. I feel guilty because I could not
open my mouth to speak to the driver. I believe this is how we must feel. I am being
truthful. Sometimes I feel awful.
Look at the heretics for example; do you see them? The minute they are at an arm’s
length they begin to preach to you; and you cannot shut them up! Isn’t it a shame for
us who happen to have the truth, not to share it with our brothers? We fail to help our
brothers. So hopefully you can see that the commandment, go out and make disciples of
all nations, is not something exclusively for the twelve disciples. It is for a// the faithful,
for all the Christians of all ages and all centuries. As I told you, if you believe, you will
evangelize. From the moment you became a true believer you became simultaneously
an apostle. However, apostleship does not mean that we must travel to the ends of the
earth. Do not think that we need to approach strangers only or to speak to strangers
about Christ.
My friends, the person next door to us is waiting for the faithful apostle to bring
him to Christ, even though he may be a baptized Orthodox Christian. You see people
depressed; you see them struggling in pain and sorrow. You see them in a state of
confusion. Open your mouth and speak two words to them. Now you may say, “I
don’t know what to say to them. I do not know what to say.” You have heard the saying:
Necessity is the mother of invention? I will repeat this with a minor modification:
Love is the mother of invention!
Blessed Augustine says, “Love and do whatever you want.” If you love, if you are
truly a person of love, if you love God, you do not want to wrong Him or His glory.
Moreover, if you do not want to harm your neighbor, then you will become wise in
your love. You will develop the proper method and people will sense your love. You
will speak properly. What would guide you to speak properly? Love! If you truly love
and you do not want to harm anyone, you will speak the proper words. Consequently
my friends, if we believe in Christ, we are also sent by Christ. However, let’s be careful.
We are representatives of Christ at every moment and at every hour, at every place and
in every season.
You cannot simply say that you spoke to such and such people last year and your
job is done! I talked to them one time and then I washed my hands. How many times
do we say this? I am finished. I did all I could... You are finished? Unfortunately, I say
this myself from time to time as well. I say this to the children of School 303, who
frustrate me to no end. You know how the children of our days, the children of this
age can be. Now we do have a great number of listeners at 303; nevertheless I tell them
(and hopefully to justify my frustration) “Young people, do you understand this? I
come here out of a certain responsibility.” Many times, I feel that I want to give up
or that J just do not want to go back there anymore. I want to quit. I did all I could.
They do not listen. They do not appreciate it and I am ready to let them go. However,
I cannot bring myself to do that. I cannot! I cannot say that I am finished. I did all I
could; I fulfilled my duty. I cannot.
I prefer to suffer the plight of the prophet Jeremiah. Do you know what happened
to this prophet? Read the first chapter of his prophetic book. God told him to go out,
to speak, and to prophesy. He said, Lord, I cannot; I am too small, too young, and too
immature. I just cannot do it. And the fire of the Lord entered the bones of Jeremiah
and his bones began to crack. He was feeling very badly. He could not find rest. When
he began to speak his bones stopped their crackling and burning. Therefore, we can
never claim: I did what I could; so I am finished; I am done. Tell me; is love ever
finished? Is love ever extinguished? No. Love never ends. Therefore, evangelizing and
witnessing must never end. Let us not say that we did our duty. The motive behind
evangelizing and witnessing is not simply duty but love. | |
St. Paul says you should not owe anything to anyone, either personal loans or
anything else material. If we do borrow from another person let’s pay back things
quickly. This is of great importance — not to owe. As much as you can, practice this;
try not to owe; do not borrow. If you must borrow, try to pay things off as quickly as
possible. Let’s not take advantage of another person. Let’s not ask for money from a
friend or a relative and then forget all about it. Be careful; this is very sinful. This is
terrible. Based on this the Apostle says to the Romans, Owe no one anything, except to
love one another (13:8).
‘Therefore, you will not owe anything to your neighbor, to your fellow Christian
except one thing. You will always owe your love to the other person. The balance on
the account of love cannot be paid off. It cannot be satisfied. Similarly, the balance
on the account of evangelism cannot be satisfied. The faithful must become fully
conscious that the account of evangelism is always open and it will never be paid off.
‘There are no special qualifications necessary. You only need three things: faith, love,
and knowledge of God. You do not need to be an eloquent speaker or full of peripheral
knowledge and wisdom. You do not need special degrees or other qualifications and
abilities. Do you have a flame in your heart? Do you believe in God? Do you love
Him? Do you know Him? Do you have a close relationship with God? Begin to speak.
The words that will come out of your mouth will touch people’s hearts because it is
the fruit of faith, love and the knowledge of God.
What is strange as well is the fact that you do not need any material things. As
you know, today when we speak about missions, our mind goes to moneyboxes. We
always talk about the need for money, how to raise money for missionary work. My
friends, material things are not necessary for the success of evangelism. You may call
me a dreamer or unrealistic. However, one woman in the first years of Christianity
converted a very large portion of Central Asia Minor, with what? What do you think?
One cross made out of a grapevine branch! She had nothing else!
The apostles conquered the entire world with their poverty, their insignificance,
and their simplicity. What did the apostles have? Did they have material wealth and
resources? Did they have trust funds and pledges? Did they have pensions? Did they
have trip allowances? Sponsors? What did the apostles have? In reality, we really do
not need material things either. St. Paul writes about how he got around as an apostle,
in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet
are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and
yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having
nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Cor. 6: 8).
Another interesting point here is the statement of the Lord to the bishop of
Philadelphia; for you have little strength and you have kept my word and have not denied
my name. What does the Jittle strength refer to? It is possible that it refers to the small
number of the faithful of Philadelphia. It could have been a small parish because the
church was insignificant regarding its external appearance. Alternatively, it can refer to
the modest financial means of the church of Philadelphia. Another possibility is the
outward qualities of the bishop's qualifications. He could have been limited in the area
of physical stamina or the ability to speak well; all these are external things. However,
all these things did not stop this bishop. Even though he had little strength, as Christ
says, even though you have little strength, you kept my word and you have not denied my
name. You did not deny my name. What word was kept? You kept speaking about Me.
You kept evangelizing. You worked to spread the gospel. I opened a door for you and
you did not deny My Name. You teach, preach, and confess My Name.
Quite often, the Lord chooses His workers from those of little strength according
to the world. So the success of the preaching of Christ will not be successes attributed
to outstanding worldly qualities such as: knowledge, worldly wisdom or the dynamics
of a speaker; they will be successes according to Christ. St. Paul and also St. John
the Chrysostom interprets this as well, When I came to you, brethren, I did not come
proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know
nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in much fear and trembling; and my speech and my message were not in plausible
words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might
not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God (I Cor. 2:1-5).
So here we have it. We must also note that only God gives missionary opportunities.
Behold He says, I have set before you an open door. \ gave you an open door. You did
not open it yourself; I opened this door for you, says the Lord. So, our aim should
be to discover the opportunities that the Lord gives. We must discover these and take
advantage of them. Now if we run into some difficulties in our missionary endeavors,
and we will always run into difficulties; they are simply elements of authenticity.
However, let’s not forget that no one can close the door regardless of whether we find
all kinds of difficulties in our missionary efforts. The Lord said this; no one can shut
the door.
We may have difficulties and more difficulties, but no one can close the door
because Christ is the one Who has the key of David. He is the one who opens and no
one shuts and He shuts and no one can open. Now if the volume of evil heavily presses
the chest of the faithful—especially in our days with the sheer volume of atheism
and denial—we would do well to study what happened to St. Paul when he visited
Corinth. St. Paul was terrified by the corruption in that city. The entire city was a
center of prostitution, a center of fornication. And he said to himself, I am getting out

of here; I have to leave this place quickly. The Lord appeared and told St. Paul, ‘Do
not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man shall attack
you to harm you; for I have many people in this city.’ And he stayed a year and six months,
teaching the word of God among them (Acts 18: 9-11).
The prophet Elijah had a similar experience as well. He was complaining that he
was all by himself. Everyone had abandoned the true faith except him. However, it
was revealed to him that a huge number of people, seven thousand men with their
wives and children; seven thousand families did not bend their knee to worship Baal
(1 Kings 19:18). They stayed faithful to the true God.
Never allow the poison of despair to enter your soul. Someone may say that you
are wasting your time; that these people will never change, or ask you why you are
talking to that person? They may tell you to forget him, or to look at how he lives. I
could tell you a number of stories about this. I will rely on the example of St. John
the Chrysostom. He once said, “Now you may tell me that the one who was at your
sermon yesterday tonight is across the street from the church drinking wine, he is at a
bar. Yes, but he is not drinking it the way he would be drinking it had he not heard my
sermon.” What does this mean? He is drinking his wine, but my words are also ringing
in his ears. My words are eating him inside. The words that he heard are bothering his
conscience and this could be the reason for his return.
Therefore, we will open our mouths and say a few words. We can have fruit even
in the most unexpected place and time. We can be pleasantly surprised by the results
of our efforts. I could tell you amazing stories, but our time is limited. Let us not
forget that we were not sent to reap but to sow. The evangelist or the apostle does not
reap. God reaps. We will sow the seeds; we will open our mouths and the rest is in the
hands of God. God will reap; He will harvest on the Day of Judgment.
Finally in the face of adversities we must accept the assurance of the Lord Who
told the Apostle Paul, Do not be afraid because I am with you. When did He tell him
this? When he was in Jerusalem, He said, Do not be afraid, I am with you. Therefore,
my friends, if we love the Lord and we have a deep faith in Him, we will move ahead
first to work His gospel, to evangelize before the Lord has to tell us. This is how our
love for Christ and His gospel will automatically move us to action. The person of love
has philotimo. He is a philotimo” person. Therefore, we will take this holy initiative to
speak about our Christ, our Orthodoxy. We will preach about Him in our home, on
our way to work, on the bus, at work, in the country, everywhere, every place, at every
hour, at opportune times and at inopportune times. Our evangelism will be the best
expression of our love for Him and for His Church.
” Characterized by a keen sense of honor and desire to give back, to respond with generosity.
CHAPTER 21
Revelation 3:9-13
The Reward of Missionary Work — the Sixth Epistle to the
Bishop of the Church of Philadelphia
Behold, I give you of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not,
but lie — behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that
I have loved you.”
Homily given May 3, 1981

e continue with the Lord’s epistle to the bishop of Philadelphia,
where we left off before the holidays. This bishop had exercised the
commandment of evangelism to those outside of his church. He had
witnessed to the gentiles, to the idolaters and to the unbelieving Jews.
The missionary effort put forth by this bishop had proven to be very fruitful. Indeed,
whatever takes place in the name of the Lord will bear fruit because the Lord Himself
blesses and guards His works. Here there is fruit from the synagogue. The synagogue
with all its unbelief, strong opposition, and offensive warfare against the Church,
characterized by Christ as the synagogue of Satan — this synagogue is beginning to
bend. Some and not a few numbers of the Jews turned to Christ and acknowledged
the Church of Christ and the bishop of Philadelphia. It is interesting that Christ gives
this portion of the believing Jews to the Church. That is why He says; Behold I give
you of the synagogue. So, Behold I give to you, not the entire synagogue but I give to you
from the synagogue.
So, the Lord says, Behold I am giving you from the synagogue, not the entire synagogue
because they did not all believe, but some of the Jews believed; and I am sending them
over to you. So 1, Christ, am giving you. Thus, the effort of evangelizing belongs to
the bishop of Philadelphia, but the fruit always remains a gift of Jesus Christ. How
truthful this statement is. We only need to read Scripture, Unless the Lord builds the
house, those who build it labor in vain (Psalm 127). St. Paul himself also writes; We
planted, we tilled the ground, we cultivated, we irrigated, but the One Who will increase
is God (cf. I Cor. 6:7). God is the One Who increases.
Truthfully, my friends in order to be successful every missionary effort needs to
have our own effort and the blessing of God. The blessing of God alone is not enough
if the workers do not labor. Nor is the effort of the workers sufficient if Christ does
not give His blessing. So let us understand that our success in the work of the gospel
3 Translated from the original Greek.

of Christ is not simply a fruit of our hard work or intelligence, but a fruit of the grace
of Christ. Here we have a great victory for the bishop of Philadelphia. This number
of Jews who believed—who at first were polemic, blasphemous and fully rejected the
Church—do not only believe now, but literally come and fall at the feet of the bishop
and worship Christ.
Again, the words of the Lord here are quite impressive, ] will make them come
and worship before your feet and to know that I have loved you. In other words, they will
understand that God now does not love the synagogue but the Church. The synagogue
is desolate. The Lord has said this and He said it while looking at the Mount of Olives
from Jerusalem when He cried out for her, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how many times have
I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were not willing. Behold your house is left to you desolate (cf. Matt. 23:37, Luke
13:34). He says, your house, your town, your city, your country is abandoned, left
desolate from grace.
For years, God had His Providence around the boundaries, the walls of Jerusalem,
the walls that were highly exalted with hymns and praises not only in the Psalms
but also in the entire Old Testament. The entire Old Testament exalts the walls of
Jerusalem. It seems rather strange to exalt and sing praises to walls, but in reality, the
praises are not meant for the walls, but for God Who protects the city. Now your house
is left desolate. The curtain or veil of the temple was rent in two, from top to bottom
with the crucifixion of Christ. It means the temple will undergo sacrilege because God
left. His grace left. Now it is nothing but a common structure. The grace of God is no
longer there.
So, those that come from the synagogue will bow in front of you and worship at
your feet. They will learn that I have loved you. Loved whom? The bishop? No, I have
loved you, the Church. And here we have an outstanding revelation that the Lord,
Yahweh, the Lord Who is God the Word, Jesus Christ no longer loves the synagogue;
He loves the Church! What a triumph, a great triumph for Christ. What a great joy
and a reward for the efforts of the bishop of Philadelphia. Let this be a great lesson
for us, my friends. Let us understand that while doing the work of God, no matter
how rough or difficult or how many temptations the devil throws in our way, we must
persist and persevere in this work of God. The fruit will appear eventually; however,
it is not in the scope of our work to reap. Our work is to labor at whatever level: in
the sowing of the seed, in the tilling of the soil, in the development of the plants,
in the harvest, anywhere Christ calls us. The fact is that the entire fruicfulness — the
gathering of the fruit of the land into the storehouses of the Kingdom of God, or the
recruitment of citizens for the Kingdom of God — is clearly the work of Christ.
So, all those who have worked in the sphere of the gospel, all those who worked in
God's vineyard: whether in a systematic way; teaching catechetical school or holding a
study of Holy Scriptures; preaching; or whether they try to help someone whom they
have met along the way, may have experienced these feelings of joy and at times feelings
of sadness and despair. Nevertheless, even behind the feelings of disappointment we
find a deep joy when we work the work of God with all our heart thus becoming
soldiers and co-workers of God. This is of profound importantance.
This deep joy from the efforts of missionary work is the first reward, not only for
the bishop of Philadelphia, but also for every worker of God’s vineyard. Two more
rewards will follow. Let’s look at the second one. Please pay close attention to this,
Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial
which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth (RSV 3:10).
Because you kept the word of My patience, which is to work the gospel with patience,
I will also keep you from the terrible hour that will come upon all the citizens of the
earth, the hour of temptation, which will test all people who live upon the earth.”
What is the hour of this temptation? Sometimes the announcement of a
certain future catastrophe or evil takes place and of course, we must be in a state of
expectation. The purpose of this announcement is to help us prepare. I made ready
and was not troubled (Psalm 118:60). We should know this by now. We must be ready
and prepared. One of the weapons of the devil is the element of surprise; he aims
to surprise us. We must be prepared for every temptation, whatever the temptation.
When it comes we will be able to say that we were prepared; we were expecting it.
This also applies in the area of the battlefield. One of the weapons of the enemy is the
element of surprise. What needs to be done? We need to prepare for and expect an
imminent attack. When we are ready and anticipating the enemy with our finger on
the trigger, then the possibility of victory increases simply because we are ready and
waiting from one moment to the next. However, when we are caught asleep in our
tents with our weapons unloaded at our sides and the enemy falls upon our tent, then
what? We will be most unpleasantly surprised.
The same tactics are also true in the spiritual arena. You can see how the devil
falls upon us when we are not prepared. Now what is this hour of temptation that
will come upon the entire ecumene? This does not refer to the faithful only but to all
people in general. Initially, the hour of temptation represents the entire period of the
tribulation, which started from the First Coming of Christ. It will continue and will
culminate during the eve of His Second Coming, during the days of the Antichrist. It
will be the tribulation which will affect everyone, especially Christians. It will be the
misery brought forth by the Antichrist and to use the words of St. John the Divine,
Brethren, many antichrists have come into the world (cf. \John 2:18). However, in those
final days, these tribulations will peak for all the people, especially the Christians. ‘The
presence of the Antichrist itself will also be a consequence of divine punishment for
the lawlessness of the Antichrist and his followers. Then it will be as Christ describes
it, For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the
world until now, no and never will be (Matt. 24:21). It will be a horrific ordeal.
We find a typology or foreshadowing of this great tribulation of the end of times
in the siege of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. Historical accounts record that some
74 The original Greek is used for added emphasis on some of these key verses.
mothers actually ate their own children!”*> How horrible the great tribulation will be!
We cannot possibly imagine it. The temptation will be in the area of faith and the
area of ethics. Evil will become the norm, meaning: injustice, crime, wars, hunger, the
very things that Christ talked about, You will hear rumors of wars, hunger, pestilences, a
general state of disorder will be the norm (cf. Matt. 24:6, Mark 13:7, Luke 21:9).
The important thing is that the Lord does not appear to be anywhere during
this unrest. Then the Lord said this; Many will be scandalized, they will lose faith in
Me.’ This is already happening in our times; they are saying and repeating the words
of Christ. They ask, “Where is Christ? Where is God? If God exists, can’t He see all
this trouble on the earth? Why doesn’t He intervene? If Christ is God, then why
doesn’t He instill law and order in His Church? Why doesn’t He fix the wrongs in the
world? Where is Christ?” This is the temptation. Do people talk like this today? They
most certainly do. People have these questions constantly. My friends, even within
the Church of Christ we find terrible inconsistencies, terrible states. When we say, the
Church of Christ, we mean ourselves as well. We are the Church. There is no need to
look very far; we are this Church. Moreover, within the Church there is a great deal
of chaos, an abyss of evil. We cannot imagine the evil that exists in the Church, evil
caused by our Christians, lay people and clerics alike. We are the Christians. That is
why I said, “caused by our Christians,” clergy and lay people alike. There is an abyss
of evil.
Do you know that when we act like this we give the impression to ourselves and to
others that Christ is not God? We absent Him from the front stage of history! “Where
is Christ? Doesn't He see all the evil that is brewing in the Church? Why doesn’t He
punish these evildoers?” This is the first temptation. Christ expressed all this in these
words: The love of the many will grow cold (Matt. 24:12). Who are the many — the
atheists? No, the many are the Christians. The love of the Christians will grow cold
and the people will become scandalized. “Look at that person,” they will say, “Look at
this Christian. Can't you see what he does? He is so selfish, such an egoist; everything
is for his stomach; that is all he cares about. He takes advantage and he tries to get
wealthy every possible way. He does not have a trace of love in him. He is heartless.
He feels nothing. He is a cold-blooded user.”
Thus, people will be scandalized and they will blame Christ because of these so-
called Church-going Christians. Therefore, this will be the first part of the temptation.
People will say, “Christ failed. We do not need Christ. We need to find our own way.
Let's forget about him.” Why do you think atheism is blossoming today? This occurs
on a universal scale, especially in the Christian nations. What is the fertilizer that
feeds the weeds of atheism? What would you say? It is precisely this, the widespread
crisis within the individuals who call themselves Christians. It is the fallen love of
Christians. The strong swallow the weak; the big fish eats the little one; those in high
places take advantage of the people in low places; the powerful play a numbers game
and label it business. Thats business. In the name of business, we step all over our weak
7 See Flavius Josephus (AD. 37-c.100), The Wars of the Jews.
brother. All these things abound because of the absence of love. We have unraveled as
Christians. We are in a state of deep crisis and consequently, we blame Christ. We do
not accept Him; we turn away from Him; He is a mere man and not God. This is the
fertilizer of atheism.
But who will stay upright? Who will keep faith in Christ? You often hear people
say, “We must make things right. We must fix things at all costs.” ‘There is no question
that this is extremely necessary in the Church otherwise, souls are lost. However, if
we are to raise the Church up with the crutches of politics, civil affairs, or political
correctness, then it will fail miserably. This would be a tragic mistake. Christ also raises
this question: When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth (Luke 18:8)?
Will He find upright, true Christians, Christians who kept the faith? That is what He
means. Tell me my friends, how do you feel about this? I am certain that at this point
every one of you will say from the bottom of your hearts, “Of course we want to stand
upright; we want to keep the true faith.” But be careful. It is not enough to say that I
want to stand firm in the faith. We must also build or create the proper stage for this
with the necessary elements. We must reach a certain depth, a great depth actually, in
the word of God. We must acquire a deep knowledge in the Person of Christ.
So, when the temptation comes, it will come like heavy rain on the house of our
faith, the structure of our faith; it will come from the side, like wind. And when the
flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against the house, and could not shake it, for it was
founded on the rock (cf. Luke 6:48). The house of our faith must not fall! This is the
meaning of staying upright. However, to keep it from falling it must be built on the
Rock called Christ. This means that I must have a personal union with Christ. I must
know Christ. I must ive Christ. I must get to know Who Christ is and not to simply
have Him on an icon somewhere in the house and look at Him now and then. Or to
know a couple of things about Him from a couple of pamphlets that happen to come
my way. If our knowledge of Christ is superficial, then the minute the first rain comes,
my friends — never mind rivers and strong winds — that first rain takes me and blows
me away like chaff. The first blow of the wind spins me all over the place and I will
find myself totally uprooted.
As you see, we need to stay well grounded and firm. To stay upright we must have
the foundation of our house built on the Rock. We must develop our relationship
with the Person of Christ and this relationship presupposes much work. It takes work
and more work. It does not take place automatically by mere chance. It is not an
academic matter. It is not like going to the coffee house to pass some time, to a nearby
theater, or to the mall to see some people. Church is not like that at all. Sermons and
homilies are not simply a way to spend quality time. We go to hear the word of God.
It takes work.
How do we go to school? We take our book bags, our books, our notebooks,
our pencils, and we sit at our desks. There is a roll call. We are marked absent; we are
graded; we are tested; and we are quizzed. We take midterm exams and final exams;
and based on all that, we pass to the next grade or we fail. All this happens because
school is a serious matter. So, Church and salvation is not serious? My friends, we
have a lot of work. We need to take our spirituality very seriously. Let us not use the
same response that many people use if you tell them, “Christ resurrected, and all
the dead will also resurrect; so we must live a spiritual life.” They respond, “You are
right; it sounds good.” My friend, we did not ask you to tell us if it sounds good or
not. However, if you believe that it is good, get started. Get started now. ‘The start is
repentance, repentance! Let us stand well.
In addition, the result of this lack of faith will be the bottomless pit of corruption.
The corrupt lifestyle will take on cataclysmic dimensions much like today. This is
the second leg of the temptation. The first is the subject of faith; the second is the
temptation of the lifestyle, the ethical life, and the spiritual life. Who will continue
to stand in the area of ethics, when the opportunity for sin is on every street corner
[or on every computer]? This is just like the sirens of Odysseus; today’s sirens are
everywhere. The wise Solomon describes these sirens in a most realistic way in his
Proverbs, My child, he says, do you see, my son, this woman, this married woman? Do
you see her? She is waiting for you in the center of town. When she sees you she will say, T
was waiting for you, and my heart melted from the moment that I laid eyes on you. You
know, my husband has traveled very far, and my house is quite beautiful. I have eastern
handcrafted rugs, and the finest perfumes. Come tonight. The entire night will be ours,
to be drunk with pleasure. Come!’ My son, says the wise Solomon, her rooms are rooms of
death (cf. Proverbs 7:1-27).
The night life of various pleasures: bars, sports bars, discos, night clubs, after-
hours clubs, gentlemen's clubs, parties, drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, casinos, card
games — all these are the many and great sirens. Those mythical carnivorous women
who used to enchant the sailors with their melodies brought them to their island
where they faced a horrible death. People today are quick to tell you, “Everybody else
is doing it! Why should I do anything different?”
However, when catastrophe strikes your city, you would like to be left standing.
When everyone else is suffering from the flu, from an epidemic, you would like to be
excluded. When everyone in your city goes bankrupt financially, you would like to
have your money secure! When an earthquake levels all the homes on your block, you
would like yours standing. In all of these situations, you would not /ove to share in the
fall of the others. Now, are you so jealous that you would love to share in the loss of
their soul? Why do you want to share in the fall of the others in illicit affairs, parties
and pleasures?
My brothers, we must stand upright. To stand well we must have the patience
of Christ. We must have patience when facing the irony of people, and patience in
the bitter, false accusations and mud slinging. Radio and TV hosts target Christians
today, as well as Christianity itself. They daily and constantly hiss on the airwaves
with their venomous jokes. First, we must stay immune to the direct attacks of
evil, namely various pleasures and financial interests.
As you know, Freemasonry is such a temptation. What attracts people to
Masonry today is the desire to become socially connected, which will translate into
occupational, monetary progress, success, and upward mobility. Did you know
this? This is exactly what Masonry uses as bait. It is a great temptation. Therefore,
when you flatly refuse the invitation of your Mason co-worker or associate who
wants you to join their ranks, when you answer with a firm “No thank you,”
you defeat this temptation. Now do not say, “How else am I going to succeed to
become socially and financially successful? How am I going to reach my goals?”
That becomes ashes, completely worthless compared to my relationship with
Christ, mere ashes. If I know Christ, I will say to my associate, “You and your
offers can turn to dust, to rubbish, because you are talking rubbish. I will not deny
my Lord. I will stay standing.” They say, “We will ruin you! You will die a pauper!”
Our answer should be; “It is one thousand times better to die a pauper than to
listen to you.”
I am using the very language that the Masons used on a bishop of our Church
in Greece, Bishop Panteleimon of Argyrokastro. They told him, “You will die a
pauper. You will die on a straw mat.” As the saying goes in Greek, you will die
homeless. His response was, “I prefer to die on the straw mat.” And he did. My
friends, the world has nothing to offer. It is rubbish. Quoting St. Paul, the luxuries
of this world, the pleasures and the niceties of this world become rubbish when
one gets to know the Person of Christ. St. Paul says, J have suffered the loss of all
things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ (Phil. 3:8).
Behold, I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your
crown (cf. 3:11). Now, the Lord offers the third promise as a reward to the bishop of
Philadelphia who excelled in the area of missionary activity and patience. The reward
is the crown of life. The crown of life is the entire profit and payment in the life to
come. The book of the Revelation says; And behold, I am coming soon, and My reward
is with Me to give to everyone according to his works (cf. 22:12). The Lord also said, He
who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life (John 4:36).
Hence, the Lord is coming quickly. The end of our labor and the heat of the day
of this life are so close for each one of us; and the end of history does not seem to be
far off either. Hold on to what you have; hold on to this thing that you have. What did
the bishop of Philadelphia have? He had the faith, a good confession, and the works
of apostleship. Hold on to what you have. With this strong verb hold on to all of the
above, the Lord reminds the bishop that it is possible to lose all the things that he had
worked for.
You held on, but you must continue to hold on. Consequently, you cannot relax.
You cannot take your attention from the goal. You cannot lose sight of your calling.
You cannot become lazy because you will lose everything that you worked for. For this
reason, St. John the evangelist warns us; Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what
you have worked for, but may win a full reward (2 John:8). Do you see how the Holy
Spirit warns us, through the writing of St. John the evangelist, to be careful to receive
our full promise, and not lose the things we worked for?
And here, along the same lines, the Lord tells the bishop, So no one takes your
crown. The Greek text says, your wreath, be careful, so no one takes your wreath, and
this reminds us of a stadium full of Olympic athletes. Back then, the Olympic winner
received a wreath made of bay leaves, and as we know, only the first place one would
receive this wreath. The ceremony of the wreath placement would only honor the one
who came in first place, no one else. However, here in the Kingdom of God, a wreath
is placed on the head of the first, the second, the third, the hundredth, and the last.
Everyone is crowned. In other words, St. Paul is crowned, a simple saint, and even a
simple athlete; everyone is crowned, the first and the last.
This is also evident in the parable of the hired workers. Do you remember the
parable in the Gospel where a landowner went out early in the morning to hire some
workers? He found some in the marketplace, and asked them, “Do you have any
work?” They said, “No.” “Well, go to my vineyard and work. How much do you
want?” “So much.” “Okay, so go to my vineyard.” At ten o'clock, the owner went to
the marketplace again and he found some more workers. He asks, “Do you have any
work?” They said “No.” “Did anybody hire you so far?” “No, they haven't.” “How
much do you want?” “So much.” “Agreed, go to my vineyard.” At four o'clock in the
afternoon, he spotted more workers in the marketplace and this, one hour before the
end of the workday. He did not ask them, “How much do you want?” With only one
hour before sundown, the workday would be over. He tells them, “Just go to work in
my vineyard.”
Then he proceeded to pay those who came to work last. He gave them exactly
what he promised to those who started early in the morning, those who were first.
Now when the first ones saw that he gave a full day’s wages to those who worked for
only an hour, they thought to themselves, he is definitely going to pay us a lot more.
Well, he gave them the same amount of money; and they complained against the
landowner saying, “These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them
equal to us, who have born the burden and the heat of the day.”
I told you previously about the heat of the day. The heat of the day is the labor of
the spiritual life, the daily struggle. “So, you are paying us the same amount as the last
ones?” The Lord of the vineyard said, “Friends, I am doing you no wrong. Did you
not agree to work for me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to
give these last men the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with
my own money? Your eyes are evil; I am good. I pay what I think I should pay.” What
is the meaning of this parable?
Whether I enter into the Kingdom of God like the Apostle Paul or whether
I barely have enough works of righteousness to enter, St. Paul and I will be given
the same compensation called the Kingdom of God. The payment is the same for
everyone. However, what does He mean here when He says, Be careful that no one
takes your crown. What does this mean? Was there a real danger for the bishop of
Philadelphia that could cost him his crown? Well initially, we must say this: here
on earth the bishop was facing danger. This is true for every Christian. The danger
is the possibility of a burnout, the possibility of becoming exhausted and worn-out
spiritually. He could run out of steam in his spiritual life, while someone else can face
the same temptation and continue to stand. Therefore, there is always the danger that
we may become tired. How many times are there people who need to be reinforced
by others because they are thinking of stopping at the halfway point, of stopping their
spiritual walk? This is dangerous. They want to give up because they got tired.
However, we need to pay attention to something else as well. As you know, all
those who enter the Kingdom of God will be joyous. There will be only one reason
that will cause them some sadness, one. reason only. Do you know what this reason
may be? They may wonder why they could not have worked much more in this present
life to have more glory in the Kingdom of God. The word of God tells us that one star
differs from another star in glory. Yes, the parable of the hired workers tells us that all
of the workers will have the Kingdom of God.
That is where the same payment comes in. Everyone will have the same
compensation; however, within the Kingdom of God there are varying degrees or
steps of glory. We will explain. Is it possible for me (if I happen to be saved) to enter
into the Kingdom of God as the last of the forgiven sinners, to stand with St. Paul at
the same level of glory? Is this ever possible? It is also a matter of justice. Or if you will,
we can have the reverse; if I make it to Hell simply because I used to lie a little bit, or
because I was drinking my wine, or because I used to get drunk occasionally — yet I
was not causing anybody any serious harm, but nevertheless, I entered Hell — will it be
possible for me to face the same hell as Anna and Caiphas, or Nero or Hitler? Is this
possible? Wouldn't it be somewhat unjust or unfair?
It is simply a matter of basic justice. Likewise, my friends, as we mentioned, the
same stands true for the Kingdom of God. St. Paul says, for star differs from star in glory
(1 Cor. 15:41). However, what is the difference? Do you know? Now, some people
may misinterpret this and ask, “Do you mean that there are different ranks in the
Kingdom of God, different classes? First class, second class, or third class?” Not quite.
Let’s use this example, say we are all sitting on the bleachers of an ancient theater.
(After this explanation, I am sure you will understand this quite well.)
The ancient theaters were constructed in the shape of a cone, so that everyone
could see very well. The stage is in front of us. The actors are performing. Whether I
am sitting at the bottom or the middle or a bit higher, I see and hear very well. ‘The
acoustics are excellent because the very shape of the cone allows for excellent acoustics.
In this theater, I see and hear extremely well, no matter where I sit or stand. So what
is the difference? The difference is in the spectators, in their level of awareness and
the level of education they have had to understand the play. One man barely finished
elementary school: the other made it through high school; and another has a Master's
or a PhD. Now, wouldn't they understand the play a little bit differently based on their
educational background? Apparently so.
My friends, this is exactly what will happen in the Kingdom of God. When
we refer to a difference in glory, we mean that there is a higher, deeper theoria, or

vision and knowledge of the Person of Christ. St. Paul developed a much deeper and
greater knowledge of the Person of Christ. When he sees the Person of Christ, he will
receive more blessedness and more knowledge than I, who have much less depth and
knowledge of the Person of Christ. Thus, I receive less glory or less blessedness. This
is it! Now tell me, wouldn't you be jealous, in a good sense, of the people who worked
hard for this glory? Indeed, it will be the only sad point of the saints in the Kingdom
of God. “Why didn’t I work much harder in this present life in the Kingdom?”
Now, my friends, we conclude this epistle. He who conquers, I will make him a
pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the
name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes
down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name (3:12). He who overcomes
is the one who wins, the victor o vxwv. Niki in Greek means victory; so, we refer to
the one who is victorious in this arena. My friends, Christ wants winners. He wants
victorious athletes. His followers are victorious, just as He was victorious and not
defeated. Victorious people are dynamic and not passive or static. Christians are not
underachievers and losers as some of the atheists like to label us.
Napoleon Lapathiotis, a Greek poet, who departed this life, writes in one of his
poems, “And we started out one morning in the valley, with the golden rays of dawn,
our eyes were blazing with joy. All of us were strong and invincible, like eagles. But
at midnight we had to return with broken and bloody wings.” I paraphrased a small
section of the poem of this pitiful poet who named his poem, “Those Defeated by Life.”
What a defeatist attitude. Ultimately, this pitiful poet was defeated because he chose
to leave the Victor of Life, Jesus Christ. He committed suicide. This poem describes
many people who are defeated by life. We have legions and entire armies who deserted
the fight because they denied Christ. They deserted the ranks of Christianity. The poor
drug addicts, young and old, the young people who rebel and find themselves on the
street abandoned and neglected — aren't they defeated by life? Those who spent their
last dime on “pleasures,” drugs and alcohol — are they not defeated by life?
He who wins, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God. And he shall go
out no more. Here we are presented with a very powerful image. It shows that the
faithful and the victorious will become a pillar in the temple of God. Initially, the
idea of a pillar has to do with the introduction of this epistle. As we analyzed during
the previous class, the Lord talks about a key and a door. J am He Who holds the key of
David. I open the door for you. Keys and doors pertain to a building, and since He is
talking about a building, He also brings up the subject of a pillar or a column.
In case you did not know, the city of Philadelphia was built on volcanic ground
and it had experienced a great number of earthquakes. One of these earthquakes, in
17 A.D., brought terrible destruction and leveled the entire city. So here the image
of a pillar is quite expressive and appropriate; and it is included in the epistle to this
volcanic area. It shows that even though the earthquakes of ungodliness and various
sins level everything along their path, the champion of Christ is a true pillar, and does
not fall during these temptations.

The pillar here refers to the temple of God, and reminds us of the temple of
Solomon. The temple of Solomon had two pillars cast in bronze. They were in
the vestibule of the temple. These were the only two pillars supporting the entire
structure. They were eighteen cubits high, approximately twenty-eight feet high, and
the perimeter of the pillars of solid bronze was fourteen cubits or twenty-one feet.
The diameter, if you will, was well over six feet. The presence of these pillars gave the
impression of the absolute assurance of the stability, the strong support of this temple.
(We find all these details in 1 Kings: 3, 7 & 9.)
Consequently, the pillars or columns are the symbol of unshakeable stability and
the exceptional position of the sincere faithful as well. Comparing the faithful with
pillars shows the immovable quality of their faith and their virtue. Therefore, the
sincere faithful stand forever. They never fall. They are pillars. Since it is impossible to
remove the pillars from a building without damaging it, He says this pillar shall go out
no more. Since the pillars have to do with the temple of God, it is presumed that the
temple of God will never be destroyed. So, the pillar stays always in its position. Just
as a pillar must be immovable, unchangeable, and quite visible, this must be true of
the sincere Christian as well. I must also tell you something else here, that the ‘temple
of God’ must not be taken verbatim. In the New Jerusalem, there is no temple (Rev.
21:22). So how are we to understand this? It is simply symbolic. This image is used to
show that God dwells in His Church and that the faithful become the dwelling place
of God.
What follows next is the promise of three names to be written on the pillars, on
the foreheads of the sincere faithful. And I will write on him, on his forehead or on this
pillar. He likens the faithful to a pillar once again, J will write upon him the name of
My God and the name of the city of My God the New Jerusalem, which comes down out
of heaven from My God, and I will write on him a new name (cf. 3:12). It was common
practice in ancient times for the lords to brand their slaves with a hot iron. They would
put a mark on their foreheads or they would permanently record the name of the
owner on the back of the slave.
This was done in the event of runaway slaves who could be easily identified and
returned to their owners. Along the same lines, the natural father gives his name to his
children. Athanasios Mitilinaios, my last name is the name of my father; so my natural
father gave me his name to say, “This is my son, my child.” The husband places his last
name on his wife; a young woman changes her last name and she assumes the name
of her husband. The owner of a ranch may brand his animals; name his equipment,
his buildings, and farm. Consequently, the placing of a name identifies the owner as
well as his belongings.
Therefore, when Christ says that He imprints these names on the faithful, it means
that the faithful belong to God. When Christ allocates these three names, what does
He want to express? First, when He says, the Name of My God, He wants to express the
Name of the Owner; that this person belongs to God. He is a man of God. Second,
when He says, the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down
from the heavens of My God, this is the name of the city where this faithful citizen will
reside. This faithful citizen will be a man of the New Jerusalem, a man of the Kingdom
of God. He is first of God; now he is the man of the Kingdom of God. Third, is the
new name of Jesus Christ, when He says, J will give him a new name. Where is this new
name of Christ? What is this name? It could be, it could very well be, the name Word,
because in the very book of the Revelation we read, and he has a name inscribed which
no one knows but himself (19:11-13).
Let's read the entire verse; Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He
who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name
inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the
name by which he is called is The Word of God. Now you may say, “But we know what
the name Word of God means.”
My friends, we use the name, the Word of God. We say this name, as do the
volumes of books that have been written from a theological point of view to give an
understanding as to the meaning of this Word of God. We say, Father, Word, and Holy
Spirit. Why is He called the Word? It is a very mysterious name, which may mean
that this mystery may be revealed to the faithful at that time. Only God the Word
Himself—the Second Person of the Holy Trinity—knows the meaning of this name,
the Word of God. As we said, this triple set of names expresses the man of God, the
man of the Kingdom of God, and the man of the incarnate Word of God. I repeat,
what blessedness, a great glory, and honor!
In closing my friends, once again the Spirit of God invites us to become more
alert. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches (3:13). So,
let us turn our attention towards these great gifts, which are these super heavenly
names. Let's become detached and un-glued from the earthly things and develop a
godly jealousy for what is real, permanent, undying, and eternal. Let us become the
elect vessels of God so that His Name will be written on our foreheads and then we
will repeat along with St. Paul, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lords
(Rom. 14:8).
CHAPTER 22
Revelation 3:14-22
The Seventh Epistle to the Bishop of Laodicea
And to the angel of the church in La-odice'a write; ‘ The words of the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of God’ creation. ‘I know your works: you are neither cold
nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I
need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and
white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and
salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be
zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers,
I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my
Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
(Rev. 3:14-22).
Homily given May 10, 1981

y friends, the last of the Lord’s seven epistles will be sent to the Christians
of Laodicea and their angel, meaning their bishop. Laodicea was located
southeast of Philadelphia, east of Ephesus and across from the city of
Hierapolis. Antiochus IT built the city of Laodicea and during the years
the Revelation was written it was a flourishing center of commerce and industry.
Laodicea was also known as a center of medicine and especially ophthalmology, the
study of the eye. The church of Laodicea was established by Saint Paul and possibly by
his disciple Epaphras, as he informs us in his epistle to the Colossians.
The book of the Apostolic Constitutions” informs us that the first bishop of the
city seems to have been named Archippus. However, we do not know for sure if
Archippus or the second or third bishop after him was the recipient of this epistle.
Still, the ethical, spiritual, and material state of the city seems to have left its mark
and influence on the Christian church of Laodicea and its bishop. Essentially this
was a very lively city with a very materialistic way of life, a life of self-sufficiency and
self-assurance. All these elements seem to have placed their impression, their stamp,
and their influence on the life of not only the church, but on the bishop as well. This
epistle is very rich and quite articulate, but it is also the most severe of all the epistles
7® Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Book 7, Section 4.

my friends. It combines beauty, harshness, and strictness along with tenderness.

These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation
of God. This is the preface of the epistle. It includes four appellations that Christ uses
to relate to the content of the epistle, which is quite similar to the imagery, the way
of life and the activities of this city. The city is a successful center of commerce, so
the Lord refers to wealth. It is also a center of ophthalmology, so the Lord refers to
eye salve or eye drops, with the anointing of the eyes. However, the three names or
characteristics refer to the word of Christ and the fourth to the work or the mission
of Christ.
With the first appellation the Lord says I am the Amen; and by this He declares
Himself God. The Amen is a title belonging to God alone. We see this in Isaiah (65:16)
where some translators translate with the expression God, Amen. In the translation
of the Seventy, [The Septuagint] this is translated as God of Truth. So, when Jesus
says I am the Amen this means that He has the same title that the Lord Yahweh has
in the Old Testament. Consequently, Jesus Christ is Yahweh, the God of the Old
Testament. Have you noticed how many times I have mentioned this? We run into
it everywhere in Holy Scriptures; so you should become aware that this is used in the
Bible a great number of times. Titles which refer to Yahweh, or to the Lord of the Old
Testament, also refer to Jesus Christ. I am saying this to help you understand that the
Jehovah Witnesses find themselves in a terrible heresy when they claim that the Son is
a creation — not Yahweh. Jesus Christ is Yahweh, the Lord.
Saint Paul further adds, For the Son of God Jesus Christ, Who was preached among
you by us, by me and Silvanus and Timothy was not yes and no but in Him was yes. For
all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him, Amen (JI Cor.1:19-20). So here
we clearly see my friends that Jesus Christ is really: the Amen, the Sure, the True,
Yahweh, and the Lord God. The other two appellations that follow clarify and certify
the first appellation, the Amen. It shows one more time that Jesus Christ is the Sure,
the Faithful and the True, precisely because He is God and everything He says is True,
Sure and Right. In Him is Yes, not yes and no. He is Yes and He will always be this
Yes and the Amen.
This corresponds well with the verse of St. Paul; Zhe Word of God is faithful and
worthy of all acceptance (I Tim 1:15). So the Word of God is trustworthy; the Word
with the capital W is true and faithful. The Word with the capital W is faithful, True,
and worthy of all acceptance. This trustworthy incarnate God the Logos, (or Word,)
is the fourth appellation that Christ gives Himself and it refers to the praxis, or the
work, of Christ. He is the beginning of the creation of God. I will ask you to please
pay attention to this fourth name used by Christ. [ am the beginning of God's creation.
This refers to the work of Christ, of God — to everything created, whether visible or
invisible, and extends to the establishment of the Church.
The beginning of God’s creation certainly does not mean that Christ is the first
creation of God (a blasphemy taught by Arius and his distant descendants, the Jehovah
Witnesses). To help you with the meaning of this verse I will refer you to St. John’s
Gospel. This is what John says about Christ: All things were made through Him, and
without Him, nothing was made that was made (cf. John 1:3). So this means everything,
even the smallest and last pebble, the last cell, the last electron, all these things were
made through God the Word and nothing came into existence without Him.
Therefore, God the Logos, Christ, is the creator of everything. The word, beginning
(I am the beginning of the creation of God) does not mean the first created being (the
blasphemy taught by Arius). Beginning does not refer to the first creation, but as
Saint Andrew of Caesarea beautifully interprets, it refers to “the initial, dominant,
and uncreated cause of the creations.”” It means simply that He is the One through
Whom all things were created; so, He is the initiator of all creation.
To understand this grammatically, Christ is not the object of this sentence, but
the subject. He is not the one Who is created first by God as the Arians and their
leader Arius interpret. Let us not forget that Arius did not die, because the devil did
not die; the devil attacks the divinity of Jesus Christ because Christ is his formidable
adversary, even in His human nature. The devil tries at every opportunity to attack the
divinity of Christ. Consequently my friends, Christ is not the beginning as an object,
as if God began to create all things and He started with Christ first. Jesus Christ is
not the beginning, or the first, creation created by God; He is the One Who took the
initiative. He is the initiator of all or the One Who caused all things to be created. Do
you see all this? He is the source, the spring of all created things. The existence of all
created things, of all created beings, has its beginning in Him — Jesus Christ.
He is the One Who said, Let there be light (Gen 1:3). In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1); Jesus Christ created the heavens and the earth.
God said let there be light; Jesus Christ created this light, and so on. If you will, this
is the touchstone; this is the button that Arius tried to press and twist to support his
blasphemy. The Church Fathers fought Arius because behind Arius was the devil. ‘The
followers of Arius are surrounding us. Arianism did not go away because the devil did
not go away. Today my friends, Europe is reliving the heresy of Arius. Europe, and the
west in general, is Arianizing; did you know this?
Father Justin Popovich [now a Saint of our Church] explained this very beautifully
in his book Man and God-man. He dedicates a special article, a special study that
refers to the Arianizing of Europe and of the west. I am voicing my concern because
we are now members of the common market and we will begin to have many things in
common with the other European nations. Unfortunately, the godlessness of Europe
and this Arianism of Europe will find it is way here to Greece in such a way that we
will begin to develop a different mindset (phronema). We will begin to look at Christ
as a great reformer but not as the God-man and this is tragic. Therefore, Christ is
the initiator of God's creation. He is the subject. Creation is the object. He is the
initiating force behind the creation of all things. In Him is the beginning of all things;
everything created owes its beginning to Jesus Christ. He is the creating power or the
77 St. Andrew, Apocalypse (PG 106, 249 A): tyHv των κτισμάτων δεσπόζουσαν και
προκαταρκτικὴν αἰτίαν και ἀκτιστον.
source of all creation.

Saint Paul expresses this very beautifully, For by Him all things were created that
are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him (cf. Col.
1:16). So, if all things were created through Him and for Him, how is He a creation?
If He were a creation then He would be included in all this as well. And He is before all
things, and in Him all things consist (Col. 1:17). This is Jesus Christ. This is the Christ.
When we offer our prayer to the incarnated God the Word, we need to tremble and
be full of awe because He is the Lord of the stars, the Lord of the angels, and the Lord
of all. What an awesome reality! I would be so happy if you would ever come to the
conscious knowledge of Who Jesus Christ is.
With these four self-appellations, the preface or introduction of the epistle comes
to a close having revealed that the One Who will speak in the epistle to follow is the
Almighty God Whose words are true and certain since He is the creator and the Lord
of all. We now come to the main theme of the epistle, which is directed to the bishop
of Laodicea. I know your works. I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I
wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I
will vomit you out of my mouth. A foreign interpreter writes that in these verses we have
great words of classical and psychological truth.
Truly, my friends these are great and heavy words but let us look at this. According
to St. Andrew of Caesarea, cold is the one whose faith and love is frozen, or he who is
devoid of the energy of the Holy Spirit. Who is hot? Saint Paul says that it is he who
is fervent in spirit (cf. Rom. 12:11), he who has a burning, boiling spirit, whose spirit
is at a boiling point. However, the bishop of Laodicea was neither cold nor hot, but -
lukewarm. Is it really possible for the spirituality of a faithful person to regress from
hot, to become lukewarm? Is it possible for someone to taste Christ and to end up
behaving at some point in the future as if they had never tasted Christ; or after having
tasted Christ to turn his back on Him and to romance with the world and the things
of this world?
It seems, my friends that it is quite possible and quite tragic. The great majority
of the Christians today, at least the contemporary Christians, belong to this class
and state. The contemporary Christians are not cold and they are certainly not hot.
Most of them, or most of us rather are lukewarm. So here, we have this great class
of Christians. Unfortunately, this class of Christians, who according to the prophet
Elijah limp with both legs, live the psychology of Israel, the same Israel which easily
came forward to worship the true God, but also displayed the same ease in running
off and offering equal worship to the false gods. According to Saint Paul, in this class
of the lukewarm faithful: God and the world, Christ and Baal, truth and lie have the
ability to compromise and coexist. Worse yet, these people who are able to live in
both of these worlds — of God and of Satan, of the truth and of the lie — at the same
time boast about their high level of spirituality and greatness. They feel extremely
important and very pleased with their high position.
We pointed out previously my friends, that unfortunately the numbers of this

group of Christians is quite high. I assure you that they make it very difficult for the
Church to minister to them. They are very difficult people to minister to, to try to
reach. If you suggest to them that they study the Scriptures, they will tell you that they
already know the Scriptures. If you tell them to go to church, they will tell you that
they are better than all the people who go to church. If you tell them to live a spiritual
life, they will answer you that that is the only way of life that they know, that they
already have accomplished this, and that they do not see anything in their life that
needs to be changed. What pitiful people.
My friends, the egotism of these people rises before them like the Great Wall of
China. This egotism does not allow for a single possibility of God’s grace to work
a change within them, none at all. They do not allow God to enter their hearts, to
change them so that they can become people of grace, people of understanding and
self-knowledge. The lukewarm characters are unable and incapable of increasing their
spiritual thermometer even by one degree, and yet they are under the impression
that they are the best that humanity has to offer and the best of Christians. However,
the paradoxical announcement of the Lord tells them: You are not warm or cold. You
are not hot or cold. You are lukewarm. You would be better off cold. This is a strange
statement. As you know this is a paradox.
The Lord poses a strange declaration to the bishop of Laodicea because cold seems
to be farther away from hot than lukewarm. At least chemically, lukewarm water is
closer to hot, degree-wise, than cold water. Now why does the Lord prefer someone
cold to someone lukewarm? The psychology and the experience based on this clearly
prove my friends that the man who is cold spiritually is able to repent; his heart has
the possibility to change, and he can become a very hot person spiritually. At some
crossroad in his life, at some moment, a certain incident occurs and the grace of God
touches him—the Right Hand of the Most High God touches him—and he turns
around. He changes his life. You can see him.
Yesterday, he was immoral, unethical; today he is pure. Yesterday he mocked and
ridiculed the faith; today he is full of piety. Yesterday he lived like swine; today he
is clean and washed from sin. What happened? He repented. How many of these
incidents do we have? How many? The thief on the cross was cold at first. Both thieves
mocked Christ. It is not a mistake that one of the evangelists says that both thieves
crucified with Him had mocked Him; whereas Luke says that one of the thieves called
out Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom (Luke 23:42). This is not a
mistake because both of them had mocked the Lord in the beginning.
However, at some point a revolution took place in the soul of the one thief, but
not in the other. When he witnessed that the Lord was forgiving those who were
crucifying Him; when he saw that the Lord was not cursing; when he saw His softness
and leniency on the cross; he was transformed. He changed instantaneously; his soul
started to boil. He said to his other companion; whom are you cursing? Whom are
you mocking? Are we in His class? We deserve death, but not Him. He turned to the
Lord, Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.

From being cold as ice, he suddenly blazed like the sun and he was the first to
enter paradise. This is what the experience and the psychology of the cold shows. On
the contrary, the lukewarm stays always lukewarm. As I explained to you previously,
this one does not budge from his position because he rests on his laurels, since he
thinks very highly of himself. What causes this? St. Andrew of Caesarea provides us
with a wonderful explanation of this psychology. “The cold man has never tasted the
fruit of faith. At some point, he tastes something. He tastes the faith and immediately
he says, this is exactly what I was looking for, and he becomes warm.””
However, the one who was warm—at some point in the past, by the Holy Spirit
during baptism—later froze because of laziness and spiritual indifference, something
that we are all very guilty of. He dismembered himself from the hope of salvation
by scorning and criticizing the faith. This might mean that since he had observed
something bad or something negative in the church—some scandal, some gossip, the
very things we always hear about. He came to think, “How can this be done in the
church?” He then cuts himself off. He is cut off from the hope of salvation. He says,
“Why bother? I grew up with priests and I saw how they lived. This priest used to do
such-and-such; this priest does not believe, why bother? There is no faith, nothing
matters.” He keeps a form of external piety and he uses the church as a coffee shop
and a meeting place. This person has dismembered himself. He really has no hope of
salvation with this mentality. It is truly dreadful. Let us be very careful about this.
The first causes of being lukewarm are spiritual laziness, sloth, and spiritual
indifference. After this, the lukewarm person does not have the desire to restart his
spiritual life, to become hot again. He begins to look for anything negative in the life
of the Church. He gets stuck on some scandals, possibly the weaknesses of the clergy;
why our church does not have this program or that program; why our church ignores
this or that area. Then he slowly poisons himself with all the adverse happenings; he
destroys his hope and he withers. We think, “If we could only have the Lord next to
us, and yet we do. We have Him. If we read the Holy Scriptures, if we listen to His
words, they tell us whatever is necessary to pull us away from our disillusions. We
all become so disillusioned. We think we are something; but we are not what we are
supposed to be, even though we think we are.
The Lord now brings the bishop of Laodicea back to reality; Because you say ‘I am
rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing. As I had told you, the lifestyle
of the city places its seal on the life of the bishop and the faithful. As you can see we
are not immune to the state that exists around us, to our environment [recessions,
inflations, deflations, Wall Street, the price of gold, silver]. All these things certainly
influence our lives and likewise influence our faith. So, you say that you have need of
nothing. You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
This is who you are: poor, miserable, blind, and naked. This is who I am! How
am I going to deal with all this when He will reveal so many more other things in my
78 Ibid. “o μεν ψυχρὸς τῆς ζεούσης πίστεως ἀἁγευστος εν ἐλπίδι πολλάκις ἑσται του τυχεὶν αυτὴς."
case? How am I going to stand before you? But to think, how will I stand in front of
you and you in front of me and even more important, how will we stand before the
Lord? This is what matters to us my friends. Well, even though one may think that he
is something, God reveals our true self to us. For this reason, let us hurry to discover
ourselves before the Lord reveals it to us — and worse yet, especially before it is revealed
to all people and all angels on the Day of Judgment.
The words of the bishop once again, because I have become wealthy and I do not
need anything, are a rather unwise statement. Now it is quite unwise to say this in a
spiritual sense, but it is not any wiser to say it in a material sense. I made my money
and I do not need anyone. How many rich people actually say this? How many of the
rich speak like this? I do not need anybody!
This is the psychology of the foolish, the selfish, and the truly antisocial person
who does not have the faintest idea how much his life is interdependent with the people
around him! You pitiful person! [When that piece of steak gets wedged in your throat
while entertaining yourself at the restaurant of the year, you will see what another
human being means, any human being rich or poor; and you have the audacity to say
that you don’t need any one?] You are an antisocial, audacious egotist, an incurable
egotist if you say that you have become wealthy and that you do not need anyone.
We need to take constant spiritual self-inventory. Am I warm? Do I feel the
burning of the Holy Spirit within? Do I feel the spiritual members of my existence are
upright? Do I have spiritual impulses and inclinations? Do I get excited and do I feel
God’s presence in different areas of my life? Do I weep and mourn for the bad things
that exist within the Church? Is the flame of missionary work burning within me like
it was burning within the bishop of Philadelphia who received praise from the Lord?
Am I a person of faith and boldness and not a child who draws back as Saint Paul says?
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and
keep their souls (Heb. 10:39). Do I love the Lord deeply, deeply enough to consider
everything else rubbish for His lovee
Alternatively, is it possible that I am cold? Is it possible that I am altogether cut-
off from the energy of the Holy Spirit, as Saint Arethas says?” Is it possible that I
have become a mobile refrigerator of faith and love? Is it possible that I have reached
the point of being cruel, harsh, emotionless, merciless, maybe uncaring, antisocial,
individualistic, hardened, unloving, tearless, having a heart of stone? And worse yet,
is it possible that I took a couple of categories from those things that refer to being
hot and a couple of categories from those things that refer to being cold and mixed
them together, thus having the hot qualities become lukewarm and finally ending up
being neither cold nor hot but lukewarm? Of course, this means that I end up being
nothing.
The Lord uses five adjectives, one after the other, to classify this state. Do you
not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked? My friends, let
us consciously name ourselves wretched so that we can be happy some day. Let us
7? St. Arethas, Commentary on the Apocalypse (PG 106, 563 B).
acknowledge how miserable we are all by ourselves and how poor we are, so the Lord
will not have to say to us what He says in the verses of the parable, If they invite you to
a banquet go and sit at the last place all the way in the back because you will tell yourself,
I am insignificant. I am unimportant (cf. Luke 14:9,10).
Do not do this out of an inferiority complex because then it is egotism; feelings
of inferiority stem from egotism. Truly, have the consciousness of J am nothing. | am
unimportant, wretched, and miserable. Then the friend who invited you will come
and tell you: my friend, come up front. I want you to sit closer to the front and not
back there. Come up front. Come on up here. On the contrary, the Lord says in this
parable of the banquet to those who want to be first; if you go and enthrone yourself
in the first position, He will tell you: I am sorry, but this seat is reserved for someone
else. So, while everyone will be seated, you will have to get up and start looking for a
seat. However, all the places will be taken and you will have no choice; you will have
to go and take the seat all the way in the last row, the last position; and of course, this
will be very embarrassing.
So, this is it. This is why my friends we must recognize our wretchedness and our
poverty. Let us do this on our own. Let us also acknowledge the blindness of our soul
and in so doing we will begin to see the things that cannot be seen by those who claim
that they can see. Let us also recognize our nakedness in the area of holiness. Let us
not claim that we are saints; then Christ will envelop us with virtues granted to us by
His grace. If we fail to do this, His threat is around the corner: J will vomit you out
of my mouth—I will vomit you. As you may know, if we want to induce vomiting we
drink lukewarm water.
That is why this is such a beautiful epistle. It is so greatly and so well aimed!
When we drink tea or some other beverage, hot chocolate or coffee whether it is hot
or lukewarm or even cold, we do not feel like vomiting. If we drink water very cold
or even very, very hot, we do not vomit. Now why don't you try lukewarm water?
Your stomach will begin to feel funny. You will begin to get nauseated. That is why
Christ says; you are lukewarm. Figuratively speaking He is saying, I tried to drink you
but I became nauseated. Christ says; And I will vomit you. So, the hot is found in the
area of God’s love. The cold, those that are cold, have many possibilities of becoming
hot. But the one who was hot in the past and suffered a loss of temperature, has no
hope. He is in a state of hopelessness because, as I had told you previously, he lives
the psychology of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness or self-assurance. The result is
rejection by the Lord.
However there still seems to be some hope because of God’s philanthropy. J will
vomit you. 1 am about to vomit you; watch. He does not say I am vomiting you, but
I will vomit you — and it is like He is saying: I am giving you some time yet to make
the necessary adjustments. There is something more. J counsel you to buy from me gold
refined in the fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed that
the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with salve that you
may see (cf. Rev. 3:18). All these things the Lord says, J counsel you to buy from Me. All
these things are to be found in Christ because Christ is the gold, the precious treasure,
Who when someone finds it, then sells everything to buy the land which contains the
precious treasure.
Christ is the precious pearl and when someone finds it, he sells all the other
previously purchased pearls, diamonds and rubies. He sells them all to buy this
one and only precious pearl. Christ is the white garment and the wedding gown as
well. He says in the parable of the wedding banquet, Friend how did you enter here,
how did you enter without having a wedding garment? I see your bridal chamber my
Savior in its full splendor and I do not have a wedding garment to enter therein, which
we chant during Holy Week. I do not have a garment, meaning, I see your Kingdom,
(the bridal chamber of Christ, the Kingdom) but I do not have a wedding garment.
I have not been clothed of You because those who are baptized in Christ have been
clothed with Christ. Saint Paul says, As many as have been baptized in Christ have put
on Christ (Gal. 3:27).
So, come and buy garments from Me that you may be clothed so that when
you move about, people will not see the shame of your nakedness and laugh at your
expense. I will give you a very common example: when you do not have Christ, you
get drunk and walk the streets, and you may even take your clothes off. Then people
laugh at you. When you do not have Christ and you lack the criterion of modesty
and you bow down to the latest expression of fashion, sometimes you look like a
clown and people laugh at you; they laugh behind your back. Let’s say you are a senior
citizen, you are up there in years, but you think and act like a teenager: you dye your
hair; you use very heavy makeup; you look like a clown. When you have a measure of
modesty, when you have Christ, then you do not make people laugh when you walk.
You can walk without being ashamed.
In addition my friends, Christ is the Light of the world and he who has this Light,
as Saint John the evangelist says, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life
(John 8:12). By this, he means that the eyes of the healthy soul are wide open. So use
the eye ointment called Christ, my brother, and your eyes will be opened. You will be
able to see clearly. Christ truly is eye salve for spiritual vision. When you take Holy
Scripture in your hands you will then say, what do I see? I see things that I could never
have seen before! Yes, it is because of the eye drops, the salve that you used to remove
the scales from your eyes. In other words, Christ came and He opened your eyes.
After this harsh and strict language of our Lord to the bishop of Laodicea—did
you see how harshly He talks to him—the moderation of the language that follows
explains the purpose behind this strictness. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten.
Therefore be zealous and repent (cf. Rev. 3:19). My friends, as many as I love I rebuke.
The Lord’s harshness here is moved by His love. St. Andrew of Caesarea says, “What
philanthropy. With how much goodness this reproval is mixed!”® So the spring of
this harshness is love. Ihe Lord is forced to be harsh because of His great love and
8° St. Andrew, Apocalypse (PG 106, 2490). “Βαβαί της φιλανθρωπίας! Πόση ἀγαθότητι ο ἔλεγχος
Kéxpatau. “
philanthropy.
The love of God, oh this love of God, this true and pure love of God! It is not
like the love that you have for your children. My friends, such unhealthy love sends
them to Hell because it makes you not want to see their faults, so that you fail to
correct them. You caress them; you overlook their passions, their sinfulness, their
sidesteps, and you justify them. This sort of love sends to Hell. Christ truly loves,
but His love is intertwined with discipline, a love that stabilizes and prepares for the
Kingdom of God. Reproof and discipline are the two means of God’s correction and
love for man.
This is precisely what the word of God advises: Jn your struggle against sin you have
not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation
which addresses you as sons? —“ My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor
lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is
treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left
without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and
not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them.
Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us
for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his
holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the
peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb. 12:4-11).
Do you spank your neighbor's child? No, you only spank your own child, hopefully
because you are only responsible for your own child. Along the same lines, God only
disciplines those that belong to Him. He only chastises the children that He accepts as
His own. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons, for what son is there
whom a father does not chasten? This is to our great benefit, so that we can become
partakers of His holiness, so that we can become participants of God’s holiness.
For this reason the Lord urges the bishop of Laodicea to repent and show forth
the necessary zeal to return and to rectify his stand. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
After this chastening and the justification for this chastening, a great scene of special
tenderness takes place, one of those rarely found in the Scriptures. The Judge pulls
back and the Friend appears with the most tender expression, Behold I stand at the door
and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine
with him and he with Me. (3:20) How beautiful! These words my friends remind us
of the Song of Solomon, the Song of Songs. There we read, [ am sleeping but my heart
is awake (5:2). My beloved is knocking on the door, my beloved brother is knocking at the
door (5:4). Such beauty. Behold I stand. It is God Who is standing... Behold I stand.
God stands in front of the door of human existence and wants to establish a
working relationship. Where are all those idealists who believe and say that it does not
seem proper for the divine highness, for God, to get involved with the lowliness and
the misery of the human being? At this exact point, we discover the divine immensity
that comes, reaching all the way, drawing near to each human existence; I stand
knocking at the door. Human freedom of the soul is represented by the door that stays
shut, even to God Himself. It is the Creator Who is the absolute owner of the hearts,
though even God Himself stands outside. This is so profound! God stands outside of
a person's heart. Here one can plainly see how much God reveres human freedom.
Christ merely knocks at the door. He does not force the door of the human soul
and human freedom. [This / keep knocking, krouo, is in the present tense in the Greek
language, which shows continuous action.] J keep knocking shows the persistence of
divine love. St. Andrew of Caesarea says, “My presence is unforceful.”*' Christ, says, I
keep knocking at the door and to those that open, I share in the joy of their salvation.
Tf anyone hears my voice and opens the door, and here we see Christ is patiently awaiting
the human response. The voice of Christ my friends, is heard only by those who
belong to Christ, only by those who have a good disposition. Only these people open
their hearts with joy. They open the door of their heart to Jesus Christ. And I will enter
in to him, and I will dine with him, and he with Me. What a magnificent display, which
shows how close, how very close God wants to be with His people.
God wants to live within our house, the house of our heart, to be with us.
Despite the tepidness of the bishop of Laodicea my friends, the Lord speaks with great
tenderness, with much love and closeness. ‘This is the banquet of God’s kingdom; and
this banquet while on earth is the great mystery of the divine Eucharist. And the Word
of God Himself said he who eats My flesh stays in Me and I in him. I will come in and dine
with him and he with Me. (cf. Rev. 3:20) It is also the great banquet of God's kingdom
in the age to come, which is the eternal vision of the Person of Jesus Christ. The
conclusion serves to end not only this epistle, this great epistle so strong in reproval
and tenderness, but also all the other epistles. It serves as a general conclusion. To him
who overcomes, (to him who is victorious) J will grant to sit with me on my throne as I
also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
So, who is the victorious one? The victorious one is the one who defeats these
three things: the world, his passionate self, and the devil. My friends, what a great
invitation sent to us by the Lord! He who wins against these three great temptations is
invited to sit with Christ on the eternal throne of His glory and blessedness during the
absolute and final triumph of Christ and the final triumph of the faithful as well. Here
the first part of the book of the Revelation comes to an end. The first three chapters
are the vision of Jesus Christ, the glorified Christ Who supervises, Who oversees His
entire Church. He sends either praise or criticism for all the things that take place in
the Church. In the introduction of the book of the Revelation this is described by the
words, Ah eisi, these things that are.
Now the second part of the book of the Revelation begins with the fourth chapter,
with the opening of heaven, And behold I saw a door standing open in heaven which
are the things that will take place after this - meta tafta - referring to future history
and to eternity. By God’s grace, we will begin the fourth chapter and the second part
8! Ibid. (PG 106, 252 Α) “αβίαστος, φησίν, ἡ εμὴ παρουσία. “
of the book of the Revelation at our next meeting. My friends, all those whose hearts
are thrilled with the word of God and open the door of their souls to Christ Who
knocks, are ready to dine with Him and He will dine with them. These are the great
and rare moments of the soul, which meets its Lord and begins the great and eternal
feast with Him.
Tomb of Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios

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μ.“..ν.:--:-.

- τ’ td τὸ ἐς αν γε ee ene ὰ Ὁ δ πὶ oe eR ἡ tal dtalind a7 ey Ss ἘΝ gos bath aa are μὰ

By ARCHIMANDRITE ATHANASIOS MITILINAIOS

Translation, Foreward and Notes by

By Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios

St. Nicodemos Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,

13 Foreward by Constantine Zalalas

31 Chapter 1. Revelation 1:1

43 Chapter 2. Revelation 1: 1-4

55 Chapter 3. Revelation 1: 4-6

65 Chapter 4. Revelation 1: 4-7

77 Chapter 5. Revelation 1: 7-9

89 Chapter 6. Revelation 1: 9-11

101 Chapter 7. Revelation 1: 11-19

127 Chapter 9. Revelation 2: 4-7

141 Chapter 10. Revelation 2: 7-9

155 Chapter 11. Revelation 2: 9-12

167 Chapter 12. Revelation 2:12-18

179 Chapter 13. Revelation 2:13-15

193 Chapter 14. Revelation 2:17-20

207 Chapter 15. Revelation 2:21-24

223 Chapter 16. Revelation 2: 24

237 Chapter 17. Revelation 2:24-25

251 Chapter 18. Revelation 2:26-29 & 3:1-2

279 Chapter 20. Revelation 3:7-8

293 Chapter 21. Revelation 3:9-13

307 Chapter 22. Revelation 3:14-22

he blessed Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios was born in 1927 in Kifisia, a suburb

A misunderstanding and or misinterpretation of the content can easily occur to anyone

+Father Athanasios Mitilinaios

To be sure, the book of the Revelation is primarily a prophetic book. However,

'T See Bratsiotis P., The Apocalypse of John, 10.

Homily given October 19, 1980

pious or impious, young or old.

of a horse on a cobbled street.”* It is understood that these events are on their

4 Bratsiotis P., The Apocalypse of John, 69.

Homily given November 2, 1980

Homily given November 9, 1980

it is One Holy Spirit.

Homily given November 16, 1980

souls. These people are strangers to the Holy Spirit.

Homily given November 23, 1980

22 Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 5:30.

25 Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History: Book 3, Chapter 17.

The second danger is ecumenism, or religious syncretism, which is peace at the

Homily given November 30,1980

or a habitual worship. A Christian is a citizen of a kingdom. A Christian is the

Homily given December 7,1980

method of expression used to vivify the image.

τους μεν αγίους φωτίζοντες, τους δε βεβύλους φλογίζοντες:"

¥ St. Eustathios of Thessaloniki, Odyssey, 4th Book, 150:13.

Homily given December 14,1980

35 Martyrdom of Polycarp, 13:2. “τὼν ὀχλων παραχρήμα συναγόντων... μάλιστα Ιουδαίων

Homily given January 11, 1981

something evil. This is Gnosticism, dualism, a gnosticizing heresy. So they misinterpret

Homily given February 11, 1981

45 Polycarp, Martyrdom, 9:3.

Homily given February 8, 1981

within this nature.

Homily given February 15, 1981

>! St. Epiphanios, Panarion 3:1:2.

solution was to get him to sin.