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.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said:
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in an steal, but lay
up for yourselves TREASURES IN HEAVEN, where neither
moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE YOUR
HEART WILL BE ALSO” [Matthew 16:19-21].
The above statement is given to all of mankind by our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. By attaching ourselves to “treasures on earth”, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures. They become slaves, not free in Christ. The heart of discipleship lies in disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things that “moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,” [Matthew 6:19] and by attaching ourselves to our Creator, the True “TREASURE,” we break free from this earthly bondage.
The spiritual “treasures in heaven” are eternal, holy, and godly and they can never be corrupted, stolen or harmed. Everything for us starts from here and therefore we must not burden or enslave our hearts with material things which do not serve God’s will and purpose. We have need for certain material goods, however, but our fidelity and obedience to God’s commandments are most essential and more important to our spiritual future and destiny.
The focus of the Orthodox Christian must always be Christ and our whole life must revolve around Him. Thanks be to God for providing us with God-inspired men such as Saint Seraphim of Sarov who reveal to us what is spiritually indispensable in our struggle to understand God’s will. Saint Seraphim explains to us what the true aim of every Christian consists of.
“However prayer, fasting, vigil and all other Christian practices may be, they do not constitute the aim of our Christian life. Although it is true that they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end, the true aim of our Christian life consists of the ACQUISITION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. As for fasts, and vigils, and prayer, and almsgiving, and every good deed done for Christ’s sake, are the only means of acquiring the Holy Spirit of God. Mark my words, only good deeds done for Christ’s sake brings us the fruits of the Holy Spirit. All that is not done for Christ’s sake, even though it be good, brings neither reward in the future life nor the grace of God in this life. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ said: “He who does not gather with Me scatters” [ Luke 11:23]. Not that a good deed can be called anything but gathering, even though a deed is not done for Christ’s sake, it is still considered good. The Scripture says: “In every nation he who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him” (Acts 10:35}.
We must come to our senses and listen to the word of God and to His righteous servants and Saints who have been well- pleasing to Him throughout their lives. What greater heavenly treasure than the gifts or “fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23]. The fruit of the Holy Spirit are inalienable, intangible, eternal, and “against such there is no law” [v. 23].
In the Holy Spirit, in His Divine power, is given us “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” [2 Peter 1:3]. “These Grace-given gifts are in the Holy Church which the Lord founded on earth.” They comprise the means of our sanctification and salvation. There is absolutely no comparison between the so-called earthly treasures and the “treasures in heaven” that Jesus speaks of and awaits for those who love the Lord. We pray to the Holy Spirit: “O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, You are everywhere and fill all things. TREASURY OF BLESSINGS (or A TREASURE-HOUSE) OF BLESSINGS…”. The Orthodox Christian’s true treasure is found in God the Holy Spirit Who possesses all Life-Giving Blessings and bestows them to those who abide and believe in Him.
What mankind considers to be of an extraordinary value, a treasure, is foolish and of things that have no real importance. Mankind attaches value to things which are rare to find, i.e., gold and diamonds. “Essentially, value is subjective and depends on personal preferences, market demand, and context of the situation, meaning that what one person considers valuable may not be valued by another. In other words, value is not inherent to an object, but rather assigned by the individual based on their needs, wants, and perception.” For example: A rare baseball card might be highly valued by a collector, but may hold little value to someone not interested in sports memorabilia. The value of things as we know change from day to day. But the heavenly treasure retains its value for all eternity.
The Christian who is serious about obtaining the “heavenly treasure” must never lose sight of our Savior Christ because He is the Greatest of All treasures on earth as it is in heaven. Our Heavenly Father gave us His Only-begotten Son who willingly sacrificed His life on the Cross to save mankind from evil and death. What greater proof of His love for the human race does the human race need? The proper response for us is to do His will, to obey His divine commandments and to love Him with “all heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” [Matthew 22:37]. Christians must always be totally obedient to their Master and Teacher as children of God. The reality, however, is that people are likely to be rebellious and disobedient. A good example is how the Israelites acted with God even though they witnessed many miracles on their journey through the desert for 40 years. When Prophet Moses and their leader was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments (“two tablets of testimony”) from God, But because Moses was delayed, they lost patience and had Aaron, Moses’ brother to make for them a pagan god, “a molten calf” (Golden Calf) which he did. “Thus he (Aaron) rose early the next day and offered whole burnt offerings and peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play” [Exodus 32:5-6]. However, mankind has not changed even after the Christ came, the Messiah anticipated by them, and gave His life as a ransom for many.
The Christians, the followers of Christ, sadly enough have shared the same rebelliousness over the centuries and many of them have apostatized and others have invented heretical beliefs about Christ and reduced what they professed as ‘Christians’ to paganism. God called the Israelites “You are a stiff-necked people” [Exodus 33:5] referring to their stubbornness and disobedience, in the wake of their worship of the golden calf. But could we not say the same of some Christians today? People who profess to be Christians and yet they feel that they can be selective and simply choose what they accept or do not accept of Christ’s teachings.
Outside the Orthodox Church of Christ there reigns confusion, distortion, division, chaos, and an outright perversion of the truth. We have now so-called ‘Christian theologians’ that feel they have the authority and power to introduce and teach new meaning and definitions of the truth. These people are called “reformers.” The results and consequences of what these ‘reformers’ promote are disastrous and appalling. They have become the advocate of heresy and the enemies of Christ and the true Church of Christ. Christians are warned about the day that these people will attack the Church. In Romans 16:17-18 Saint Paul says, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offences, CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH YOU LEARNED, AND AVOID THEM…AND BE WISE IN WHAT IS GOOD, AND SIMPLE CONCERNING EVIL” [Romans 16:17; 19]. In 2 Peter 2:1, the holy Apostle says, “But they were also FALSE PROPHETS AMONG THE PEOPLE, EVEN AS THERE WILL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU, WHO WILL SECRETLY BRING IN DESTRUCTIVE HERESIES, EVEN DENYING THE LORD who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” These are people who act pious but have isolated themselves from Apostolic Doctrines concerning our Lord God Christ, and they hold their own “PRIVATE OR SECRET INTERPRETATIONS” misconstruing doctrines. Being deceivers, they teach as though they possess true Apostolicity. Also, Saint Paul continues his warning in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will NOT endure sound doctrine,but according to their desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap for themselves teachers; and WILL TURN THEIR EARS AWAY FROM TRUTH, AND BE TURNED ASIDE TO FABLES.”
Orthodox Christian must stay faithful to Christ’s Truth and not deviate from it. Do not be distracted or deceived by our opponents. Remain steadfast on your Orthodox Christian beliefs and way of life and seek God’s guidance in everything before you make any decision. Seek the”treasures in heaven” and pray unceasingly. Remember God is always with you and He will protect you and His Church from the enemy, the evil one. Amen.
___________
“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 