Revelation: Removing the Veil This revelation was given by God to the Apostle John because we needed to know it.
Part 1
If Christ Is With Us, Death Is Defeated The book of Revelation teaches us a lot, especially when we begin to carefully delve into its words, when we see how Christ holds the world in His hands and acts with wisdom in all things.
Part 2
Why Did the Lord Leave Man the Book of Revelation? Only the people of God, the saints, can receive revelations from God, and only they can interpret them, because a revelation, words from God, is given from God, from the Holy Spirit.
Part 3
For the Time Is at Hand… We have to understand that God acts outside of time, and the events of Revelation don’t relate only to the end times.
Part 4
Blessed Is He That Readeth… Christ sent the revelation through an angel to His servant the Apostle and Evangelist John, who conveyed the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ about what he saw and heard.
Part 5
What did Christ do for us? We read in verse six: And [He] hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen (Rev. 1:6). He made all of us partakers of His authority—He made us kings. As He is the King, so He has made us kings by grace, inasmuch as we are children of the King of kings. I want to say how deep these things are when a man lives them in God. A man who is close to God, my dears, truly feels like a king—he has no need of anything. At the same time, he may have absolutely nothing.
I remember an encounter during my second trip to the Three Miraculous Events on Mt. Athos To say that I was dumbstruck is to say nothing. Of course, I looked around, but no one was there.
Holy Mountain that made a great impression on me. I went to the Katounakia desert where there was a hermit from Cyprus. He’s still alive, quite old already. There was a veranda in the middle of the cliffs, overlooking the sea. He told me: “I feel like a king here.” And what kind of king was he? He had nothing. His kallyva was so poor! There was nothing in it. His clothes were all torn. He treated me to some fruit and I tried not to look at what I was eating—there were five or six worms in every piece. Extreme poverty. And he tells me he’s a king!
And there are people who have everything but at the same time say they have nothing. They have a house, but they want two, three, four, five, six. They buy more and more and more. And they say: “We can’t stop. We’re not satiated. There’s something missing inside of us, keeping us from feeling complete.” When you have an emptiness in your soul, no matter what you give your soul, nothing will help if God doesn’t dwell in it. Give it money, as much as it wants; give it houses, as many as it wants; offer it palaces—it will still feel empty. But when God is inside you, you can go to the most miserable hovel and you’ll feel like a true king.
And why are we kings? Like a king who reigns and whom everyone obeys, a man who has cast aside his passions is not enslaved to his passions; he is his own king, an autocrat—he keeps himself, reigns over himself. The On the Struggle with the Passions In order to overcome all the passions without exception, it is necessary to learn abstinence.
They will become lost and enslaved to their passions and sins, consumed by daily worries and cares. Eventually, they will abandon their royal majesty and become pig farmers. Christ makes us kings, granting us a royal dignity that frees us from the pettiness of slavery. We are all called to be priests, celebrating the mystery of our salvation through our struggles and offerings to God. The only true glory belongs to God, as human glories are fleeting and vain. Only those united with God are truly glorified. Those who seek human glory will find it short-lived and ultimately meaningless. In death, all are equal in the eyes of God, as the funeral service treats everyone the same. Only God can truly glorify man, and His words are eternal. If God glorifies us, we are truly glorified, but if He rejects us, no human words or actions can change that. Ultimately, all glory, dominion, and power belong to God for all eternity. Amen. These words are often heard in church, but do you truly understand their significance? One spiritual brother shared a powerful story of how these words opened his spiritual eyes during his first Liturgy as a priest. He saw the boundlessness of eternity and the infinite grace of God. It made him realize the importance of every word we speak, especially when blessing God unto the ages of ages.
God’s grace makes us kings, priests, and children of God, but the devil can lead us astray into sin and passion, making us worse than animals. It’s a tragic reality that we must confront. The Apostle John speaks of Christ’s coming with clouds, a moment when every eye will see Him. It will bring joy to those who love Him and sorrow to those who rejected Him. This coming will be a time of reckoning for all, a moment of eternal significance. The Apostle affirms, “Truly it will be so, Amen.” In verse eight of Revelation, it is stated, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, the Almighty.” This verse highlights the eternal nature of God, the Most Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything begins and ends in God, and what is not rooted in Him is lost. Building upon a foundation outside of God leads to loss, while building in God ensures lasting impact.
Charity is emphasized as a gift to God, with alms, good deeds, kind words, penitent prayers, and labors for God’s sake being actions that endure. Christ is described as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things. Invoking the name of Jesus Christ from the start to the end of each day brings sanctification and meaning to life.
Life is transformed when Christ is welcomed in, bringing color, taste, and sanctification. Good deeds are encouraged, as God rewards those who act for His sake abundantly. The importance of carrying forward good and kind deeds into eternity is highlighted, contrasting with the negative consequences of unjust and unkind actions.
The text of Revelation is described as a beautiful depiction of the Apostle John’s vision, with a call to read and understand its prophecies. The article concludes with the promise of further exploration of this profound and inspiring book.
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