My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
CHRIST’S SECOND COMING (Part II)
By Saint Gregory Palamas
"WHEN THE SON OF MAN", the Gospel says, "SHALL COME IN HIS GLORY, AND ALL THE HOLY ANGELS WITH HIM" [Matthew 25:31). At His First Coming the glory of His DIVINITY was hidden beneath the flesh which He took from us and for our sake. Now it is hidden, together with the flesh which is DIVINE, with the Father in Heaven. But then He WILL REVEAL HIS GLORY, FOR HE WILL APPEAR IN RADIANCE FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST, ILLUMINATING THE ENDS OF THE EARTH WITH THE RAYS OF HIS GODHEAD, while the trumpet that brings the dead to life shall sound throughout the world, summoning everything to Him. He also brought Angels with Him before, though invisibly, and He restrained their zeal against God's enemies. Afterwards He WILL LEAD THEM OPENLY AND WILL NOT KEEP SILENT, BUT WILL PUT THE DISOBEDIENT TO SHAME AND HAND THEM OVER FOR PUNISHMENT.
"WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME IN HIS GLORY, AND ALL THE HOLY ANGELS WITH HIM, THEN," it says, "SHALL HE SIT UPON THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY" [Matthew 25:31]. The Holy Gospel says, that in those days, "BEFORE HIM SHALL BE GATHERED ALL NATIONS: AND HE SHALL SEPARATE THEM ONE FROM ANOTHER, AS A SHEPHERD DIVIDETH THE SHEEP FROM THE GOATS" [Matthew 25:32]. He calls THE RIGHTEOUS sheep because THEY ARE MEEK and GENTLE, walk the level path of the virtues that He trod, and are like Him. For He was Himself called A LAMB by the Forerunner and Baptist John who said, "BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD" [John 1:29]. The SINNERS He calls goats because HEY ARE AUDACIOUS AND UNRULY, AND RUSH DOWN THE PRECIPIECES OF SIN. The sheep, it says, He shall set ON HIS RIGHT HAND as those who act rightly, but the others on THE LEFT, "Then," it says, "SHALL THE KING SAY", without adding which king or of whom he is king, for there is no other, but ONLY ONE IS LORD, ONE IS KING. He Who BY NATURE IS LORD OF ALL. Then the one and only King will say to those on His right hand, "COME, YE BLESSED OF MY FATHER, INHERIT THE KINGDOM PREPARED FOR YOU FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD" [Matthew 25:34].
He did not refer to "the visible world" but to "THE WORLD WITHOUT QUALIFICATION, HEAVENLY AS WELL AS EARTHLY. Even the indescribable Divine-emptying (kenosis), the Theandric way of life, the saving passion, all the Mysteries (Sacraments) were planned beforehand in God’s Providence and Wisdom for this end, that everyone who is shown to be faithful in the present shall hear the Savior say, "WELL DONE, THOU GOOD SERVANT; THOU HAST BEEN FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THY LORD" [Matthew 25:21]. "COME", HE SAYS, "YOU WHO MADE GOOD USE OF THE EARTHLY PERISHABLE AND FLEETING WORLD IN ACCORDANCE WITH HY WILL, AND INHERIT AS WELL THE LASTING, HEAVENLY WORLD WHICH IS OW AT HAND." "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me" [Matthew 25:35-36].
At this point He only mentions WORKS OF MERCY and on account of them He gives this blessing, INHERITANCE and KINGDOM. Earlier He called those who PERFORMED WORKS OF MERCY sheep, and in this way He bears witness to their LIKENESS TO HIMSELF, their possession of every virtue, and their readiness to die for the sake of what is good. Just as He was LED AS A SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER, and LIKE A LAMB DUMB BEFORE HIS SHEARER, according to the Holy Scripture [Isaiah 53:7; Acts 8:32]…Anyone who is to inherit the Everlasting Kingdom must have GOOD WORKS (WORKS OF MERCY) as the proof and the FRUIT OF AGAPE (LOVE), AS THE CROWN OF ALL THE OTHER VIRTUES. The Lord showed this in the Parable of the Ten Virgins [Matthew 25:1-13]. Not everyone who happens to be there is led into the bridechamber, ONLY THOSE ADORNED WITH VIRGINITY WHICH CANNOT BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHOUT ASCETIC EFFORT, SELF-CONTROL, AND MANY DIFFERENT STRUGGLES IN THE CAUSE OF VIRTUE.
The Lord, therefore, grants His inheritance to those who have sealed the other virtues with loving deeds, who either ascended to love by way of a blameless life or fled to it for refuge through repentance. Those who have kept safe the mystical rebirth that comes from God, I call sons, whereas the hired servants have been called back again to grace as a reward for many different labours of repentance and humility… "Depart from me, ye cursed, unto everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" [Matthew 25:41]. Those on the right will have life and have it more abundantly: life through being with God, abundance of life through continuing as sons and heirs of His Kingdom. Those of the left, having failed to gain the Kingdom by being FAR AWAY FROM GOD, WILL FIND EVEN MORE EVIL THROUGH BEING RANKED WITH THE DEMONS, AND DELIVERED UP TO THE PUNISHING FIRE.
What sort of fire is that, which burns bodies, and rational beings with bodies and spirits without bodies, tormenting them while detaining them for ever alive? It will melt even the fiery element in us, for the Holy Scripture says, "the elements shall melt with fervent heat" [2 Peter 3:10, 12). How greatly is suffering increased when there is no hope for redemption. And that fire is unquenchable. Again, what gives it its violent impetus? They say a river draws that fire along, apparently bearing it ever further away from God. So He did not say "You have departed", but "Depart from me, ye cursed." "You have long been cursed by the poor, and as they suffered so much you deserve cursing. "Depart," He tells them, "into everlasting fire, prepared," not for you, "but for the devil and his angels."
Let us be merciful to ourselves BY BEING MERCIFUL TO OTHERS, gain compassion by SHOWING COMPASSION, and do good that GOOD MAY BE DONE TO US. For we receive the like in return: GOOD WORKS (WORKS OF MERCY), BENEVOLENCE, LOVE, MERCY, AND COMPASSION, but not merely to the same value and measure of excellence. You give out of what you possess as a man, and only as much as a man can bestow. But you receive in return A HUNDREDFOLD FROM THE INEXHAUSTIBLE DIVINE TREASURES, TOGETHER WITH ETERNAL LIFE, AND BENEFIT FROM AS MAN GREAT BOUNTIES AS GOD CAN BESTOW WHICH "EYE HATH NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN" [1 Corinthians 2:9].
Let us show loving deeds towards our brethren in Christ by being merciful to the poor and restoring those who have gone astray, whatever their poverty or error may be, by obtaining justice for the wronged, by encouraging those laid low by sickness, whether their suffering be due to visible enemies and physical ailments or to invisible evil spirits and dishonourable passions, by visiting those confined in prison, and even by bearing with those who injure us, forgiving one another any cause for complaint we may have among ourselves, as Christ forgives us. In a word, let us show love to one another by all our actions and words. So may we attain God’s love, receive His blessing and inherit the Eternal Heavenly Kingdom promised tous and prepared for us from the foundation of the world.
May we all attain to this by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom, together with the Father and also the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 