I know Jesus, His body and blood dwell within me, Part 1.

Have you been asked at a shopping centre or out on the street, or even at work or in a chat room on the net,  the following question, "Do you know Jesus Christ"? Many Apostolic Christians may answer, well sure I do, and then the follow up question is asked "But do you have a relationship with Him?". Many Apostolic Christians who do not enter into the Holy Church and learn about their faith may become confused when approached with this line of questioning, I hope that through the grace of Jesus the Christ, we can learn together what the real meaning of 'knowing' Jesus is.

Firstly, we should elaborate on what it actually means to know our Lord and Saviour, is this facet of evangelical theology found in scripture? Unsurprisingly there exists no definitive text that claims it is us that need to know Christ in order to be saved, rather, it is Christ who is to know us. This however does not imply that we do not have a free will, we are freely able to accept or reject the invitation made by God.

We read in Matthew 7:21-23

   ²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

This verse stipulates that people who believed they were part of Christ's family, who believed that they were adopted sons, who would perform works in His name, who concluded that they actually knew Him were, in reality, very far from the Lord, as He states "I never knew you".

The Gospel recorded by the Apostle John depicts Christ speaking to the pharisees and His disciples regarding them knowing the Father by only knowing the Son, however this is not a scriptural proof for evangelical theology. In these passages of scripture, i.e. John 14:7 and John 8:19, Christ is specifically stating His obvious unity and oneness with the Father (some protestants deny that Jesus is God) and that we can only know who the Father is by knowing who Jesus is and that there is no other way possible to gain the kingdom of heaven and dwell in the midst of God but through Christ alone.

So how do we get to know Christ, or rather, how does Christ get to know us? Firstly it is of great importance that we are baptised, many of us within the Apostolic faith were baptised as children, this sacrament is the first step toward salvation and actually grafts us into the Kingdom of God.


We read in John 3 -

1Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; 2this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8“The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Unless we are born of water and spirit, says Jesus, we cannot see the kingdom of God! The sacrament of baptism is where we are buried and raised with Christ, furthermore, it is the new circumcision as St Paul states in Colossians 2:11. In the times of the old covenant God commanded that infants be circumcised at 8 days old or they were to be "cut off from the people" Genesis 17:14.

It is quite clear that Baptism is the rite of entry into the Christian faith, Christ states that we cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless we are born of water and spirit. Many demonic doctrines espoused by man since the reformation have argued that baptism is unnecessary and cannot save you from your sin, I leave them with the word's of Simon Keepah.

³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2;38.

I hope to post part 2 of this topic in the next few days, until then, God bless.

Temptation and sin

The wretched sinner that I am writes this post as a fool, although I am the chief amongst all sinners, by the Grace of God we will look into temptation and sin and hopefully find ways of overcoming the snares of the enemy.

Firstly, let me state that no one is without sin, we all struggle with sin and if someone tells you otherwise he or she is a liar, yes, a liar. Even the holiest of Saints would dare not state that they are without blemish, for to state such a thing would be an oxymoron as it would be an indication of self pride on their behalf. We all fall short of the glory of God! Romans 3:23, and knowing this we should not be disheartened when we do fall, but rather ask the Father of boundless mercies for forgiveness with pure intentions and He is faithful to forgive us, 1 John 1:9.

There exists only one who was able to conquer temptation and walked this earth without sin. He was an unblemished lamb, crucified for us and by His death He conquered death and by it we have been given  new life through our baptism. "He became sin for us so that we may become righteousness of God in Him" 2 Corinthians 5:21, He is Christ Jesus, our Holy God and Immortal King.

By Jesus' passion, He took the sins of the world upon Himself so that whoever believes in Him will have the gift of the forgiveness of sins. This does not give us a free pass to go and sin, "God shall not be mocked" Galatians 6:7, but rather this gift of grace that has been bestowed upon us should be considered with fear and trembling for a great cost was paid for our redemption!

So how do we strengthen ourselves for times of temptation, Christ gives us a clue as to what we ought to do in order to stand firm, Christ states the following in Matthew 7:24-27

    ²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

What is this rock of which Jesus speaks of? It is Himself, Jesus is stating that if we not only believe in Him and confess Him with our lips but also act on His words, then we are considered as wise builders who when are tempted, do not falter. This leads to another question, what commands, how do we fulfil these commands? Jesus also provides an answer to this question below within a verse found in Matthew 22:36-40

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ³⁸ This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Love my brothers and sisters, love is the answer for love binds all things as we read in the Epistle to the Colossians 3:14. Jesus wants us to love the Lord and each other, for if we truly love God then we will serve Him tirelessly, we will worship Him, pray to Him, offer fasts to Him, sing to Him, cry to Him, read His word and pick up our crosses and follow Him daily. If we love our neighbour as ourselves then humility will follow, kindness will abound, meekness will radiate from you and Christ will shine as a beacon of hope to the distressed, oppressed, poor and those who are broken in spirit.

When we finally realise that we are lacking in love, we will only then understand what is needed in order to overcome the burden of temptation for God Himself will guide us through the fire. For when we do come to this realisation, we will humble ourselves before the Lord and consider ourselves nothing before His greatness. We will also then come to the conclusion that we are not better than anyone else and that we must first truly seek to remove the plank from our own eye before considering the speck in our brothers' eye.

Love is medicine, it brings joy to the hearts of men and comforts the widow, let us learn to love so that we may overcome temptation and walk in the footsteps of Jesus the Messiah. Love never fails and through it, all other spiritual fruits are made perfect.

Amen.

 

Church of the East book written by Mar Awa Royel

Click here to purchase book

Mysteries of the Kingdom is a modern-day treatise on the theology of the Assyrian Church of the East regarding the seven holy sacraments. The title is inspired by the words of our Lord to his disciples: "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven..." (Matthew 13:11). The sacraments are the visible, material means of God's saving grace, which is itself unseen and immaterial; this he gives to us freely out of his own love and mercy. The theological foundations for the sacraments lay in the fact that the Word of God was Incarnate for our salvation. However, the sacraments become spiritually efficacious and beneficial for our salvation in the power of the Paschal Mystery-the passion, death, burial and triumphant resurrection of Christ Jesus. The faithful must be initiated into the doctrine and theology of the sacraments so that they may know and gain spiritual benefit from those means which God has given us through which he imparts his unseen and uncreated grace. The bases upon which this treatise is written is the Apostolic Tradition of the Holy Church, which exists in both its written (the Sacred Scriptures) and oral forms (the Apostolic and Patristic Teachings).

This book is written by His Grace Mar Awa Royel Bishop of California and is an absolute must have for anyone wanting to learn about the Apostolic faith found within the Assyrian Church of the East. I highly recommend this book as it will provide the reader with insight, wisdom, knowledge and an appreciation of why the faith must not compromise its apostolic foundations.

God Bless.

The dangers of faith based on emotions

There is a worrying trend amongst young Christians whom have been lead to believe that their faith is dependant upon their emotional and physical well being along with their financial status. This is commonly known as the ‘prosperity’ doctrine, a doctrine that has no place in Christianity and we will discuss its implications here.

This feel good theology is prominent amongst Pentecostals (a term that has been greatly misused) and seeks to send a message to their parishioners that is focused on the ‘self’ and has little to do with God. Although they do convey some forms of truth in their messages concerning Jesus Christ, it is often watered down to make it a more palatable message, rarely engaging with the perils of sin and selfishness, and mostly concerned with monetary gain and healthy living. This ‘theology’ sounds more like a series of motivational talks mingled with God’s word.

So what’s wrong with this emotionalist based faith? Well the implications are many and varied the results destructive. If someone’s faith is based on this emotionalist theology what will become of this person if they are forced to endure hardships? What happens if they contract cancer and are advised that it is incurable? What if they lose their job and as a result lose their house and possessions? Based on Pentecostal dogma these trials would perplex this person, and may ultimately leave them questioning their faith. They are lead to believe that their pastors cure cancer and other diseases, often these ‘miracles’ are performed on stage and resemble a circus show where they blaspheme the Lord and His Spirit.

This form of Christianity (I use the term rather loosely) is increasingly drawing people away from the truth and it is not surprising to observe why. In an age where narcissism is ubiquitous, a theology that focuses on the ‘self’ caters perfectly for those wishing to become more ‘spiritual’ without having to deny themselves, carry their cross and follow the Lord on the difficult narrow path that leads to life. Jesus states that the two greatest commandments are to love your God with your entire being and to love your neighbour as yourself, and if we are to love our God with our entire being, how then can we adhere to a theology that focuses on materialistic gain and self love? For love of the world is enmity of God! Matthew 22:36-40 and James 4:4.

This feel good theology is derived by taking stories from the Old Covenant and forcing them unto the world today, which lives in the age of the New Covenant. All things that occurred in the Old Covenant were a shadow of things to come. For example, while the Lord did abundantly bless those who followed Him in truth, this was a mere shadow of the blessings that we shall receive in Heaven should we finish the race during the new covenant age, remember that during the Old Covenant age the gates of paradise were not opened as our Lord had not yet been glorified. These faithful men and women were blessed with material needs, favourable weather for crops and protection from their enemies by the Lord as He promised these things to them should they follow His commandments. Another example is the punishment that Israel would endure for turning their back on God; they would be chastised in various forms for disobeying the Lord and playing the harlot with other gods. In this New Covenant period, those who turn away from God are not chastised (many of these people seem to be blessed with material wealth) openly as in the times of the Old Covenant, but they will face punishment on the day of judgement.

Our faith, the Orthodox faith, is a faith that focuses on self denial (not self hatred or self loathing) where we are called to allow God to enter into our lives so that we can live according to His will and not that of our own. We are called to deprive ourselves of worldly desires and thirst for spiritual perfection, we are called to “beat our bodies into submission” 1 Corinthian 9:27 and to “set our minds on things above” Colossians 3:2.

To conclude, any form of Christianity that focuses on the ‘self’ is spawned by satan and should be avoided, our faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is sufficient for us and we should not expect to live incident free lives. Brothers and sisters, this is a lie that has lured countless millions on to a path not narrow but wide and easy, our path should be narrow and the way difficult! Let us always remain on this path and count it as joy when trials and tribulation befall us.

Who do we worship?

We worship, an Almighty God, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, God incarnate, the Lion of Judah, a merciful Lord, a righteous God, the Most Benevolent, the Most compassionate, the God of Justice, the Prince of Peace, the Source of love, the bright Morning Star and a Wonderful Councillor.

We love Him, we praise Him, we worship Him, we exalt Him, we glorify Him, we are humbled before Him, we sing to Him, we accept Him in our hearts and we offer prayers to Him.

He loves us, nurtures us, feeds us, cares for us, died for us, cries for us, rejoices over us, convicts us, leads us, refines us, disciplines us, rebukes us, rebuilds us, saves us, gives us hope, admonishes us, teaches us, seeks us, finds us and gives us His Body and Blood that we may have everlasting life..

He makes us content, happy, joyful, peaceful, loving, caring, humble, charitable, meek and kind.

Hosanna in the highest! May the Lord God, Jesus Christ our King be blessed unto ages of ages!

Are you the genuine article?

Fake goods are rife on the market, everything from watches to hand bags, clothes and even consumables such as soft drink and chocolate. These goods are prevalent in today's market and at times they are difficult to distinguish from the real article. Take for example a fake Rolex watch, from the outside a good fake can fool even the experienced connoisseur. He or she will however be able to tell the difference between a fake Rolex and a genuine example by what is on the inside, the quality of the watch will be determined by its craftsmanship and attention to detail along with the materials used in its construction.

God is a human connoisseur, we may be fooled by outward appearances but our creator knows our hearts and our thoughts, He knows every deed done in secret and every wicked thought of man, nothing can escape His divine knowledge. We may be able to fool people into believing that we are 'good' Christians, we may be charitable, friendly and even work tirelessly for the Church, but if our inside is full of darkness, "How great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:23. If we do all these things but do not portray love to our fellow man, we are nothing! This love must be a love that has its origins in God, a love that is pure and not for the sake of impressing others as God knows your motives and He shall "not be mocked" Galatians 6:7.

It is love which binds all things together as St Paul states in Colossians 3:12-17 -

¹² So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. ¹⁴ Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and ^[be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Saint Paul also states in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 -

¹ If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

On the outside it is quite simple to portray virtues that may impress our peers, however if we do not display love nor genuinely love one another by treating each other as we ourselves desire to be treated, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Love binds all virtues together and perfects them and without love all of our work is completed in vain.

Jesus Christ warns us of cheap imitations when He advises His apostles to tread cautiously around wolves in sheep's clothing. Like the fake Rolex a wolf in sheep's clothing mimics an ordinary sheep displaying its characteristics but on the inside they are ravenous wolves whose hearts are filled with all manner of wickedness. Let us then examine ourselves and reflect on who we are, are we a fake Rolex? Are we shiny and glittery on the outside whose insides are made from inferior materials, or are we the genuine article? Remember that you may be able to fool people into believing you are a good Christian who is growing in the faith but you will be unable to fool God.

By treating others with contempt, especially to those new to the parish, you are portraying a negative view of the entire Church, yourself and the Christian faith, you may be the cause for someone losing their salvation and you will be held accountable for such actions, for Christ states in Matthew 18:6 -

⁶ but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Woe to us if we are the cause of someone leaving the Church or failing to return on account of our foolishness! Repent and beseech the Lord to create in you a new heart a soft heart that is loving and genuine so that your outward appearance is in harmony with the depth of your soul.

Treat each other with a genuine love and with humility, then and only then will the love of Christ abide in you.

Reverance for the Saints

Why do we place emphasis on the Saints? Do we worship them? Do we exalt them unnecessarily?

The answer to the first question is simple, contrary to protestant thinking emphasis are put on the Saints for one purpose and one purpose only and that is to provide us with examples of how to live Christian lives. These Saints were men and women who totally, wilfully, joyfully and gladly set their lives aside to serve and follow Jesus Christ. These men and women reached levels of holiness and sanctification through their faith in Christ that enabled them to perform real miracles, miracles that actually brought people into the light of Christ. Many were also martyred for their faith and rather than renounce Jesus in times of extraordinary torture and suffering, they gladly took the pain and died, ultimately receiving a crown of glory.

We read in Matthew 16: 24-25

 ²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Many of these Saints did exactly that, they gave up their lives, their comfort and yes they even set aside the basic needs of the body to serve Christ! Why would we not want to imitate these people? They are examples of what can be achieved if we deny ourselves and focus purely on Jesus, they provide evidence of God's power working through ordinary, sinful man and they motivate us to seek the same crown of glory that they have been presented with. As Saint Paul the Apostle said "Imitate me as I imitate Christ", 1 Corinthians 11:1.

To answer the second question we must understand what worship is, worship is the act of offering yourself to God, it is the act of humility by accepting that you need God in your life and it is the act of committing yourself wholly to God by prayers, fasting and continual repentance. Asking for the prayers of the Saints is not worship, having an admiration and love for the Saints is not worship and wanting to imitate the Saints is not worship. If these acts are considered acts of worship then we should not respect or love anyone or anything here on earth, we should certainly not give consideration to St Paul's statement referred to above in regards to imitating him and we should not desire the prayers of a righteous person because according to opponents of Orthodoxy these are all forms of worship. In preparedness to a typical protestant objection claiming that the Saints are dead and therefore loving or asking for prayer from a living person is a different matter, well actually no, it isn't. Death was destroyed at the Cross and no longer reigns over us and we also read that "God is a God of the living and not the dead" Matthew 22:32, death does not separate the Church of Christ! The Saints who have physically past from this life unto the next are alive in Christ, how then can we claim that they are dead?

To answer the third question it is necessary to understand why we look up to these special men and women and as has been alluded to previously, it is simply because of their faith in Christ and their deeds that allowed them to reach a level of holiness that we should all strive to attain. We as Orthodox Christians understand that if it was not for Christ these men and women would not be able to perform miracles or display the wonders of God that they so often did, it is all through the grace of Christ that these Saints were able to reach a state of purity and righteousness. Let us imitate them by following Christ, even unto death.

Lastly I would like to make clear that we do not focus all our attention onto the Saints (I believe there is a lack of focus to be honest), the Church of the East focuses solely on Christ and places nothing equal to or above Him other than God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which together are the one triune God. Claims of over emphasis on Saints by detractors of the Church of the East simply fail to provide examples of such occurrences and their objections should always be taken with a grain of salt. God established this Church and the gates of hell will never prevail against it.

May the prayers of the Saints be with you all.

Amen

Edifying each other

We should constantly strive to achieve total humility thinking of ourselves no better than anyone else, but rather willingly and joyfully serving and edifying one another. Edification can be manifested via various acts being dependent upon the situation. For example, if a spiritual brother or sister is feeling down, a simple word of encouragement may assist them in realising, that although they may be emotionally drained or burdened, God will never leave their side and that we are there to help them through difficult times. Another example would be to attempt to break away from our comfort zones and proactively introduce ourselves to new parishioners. By so doing, your act of kindness, warmth and genuine display of love will leave a lasting impression upon this person or persons and may ultimately be the difference between them drawing nearer to God or walking away from the faith.

We have been called to love one another as Christ has loved us, John 13:34. If we are to love one another as Christ has loved us then we must always think of and act towards one another with a fervent desire of servitude. By edifying each other we are ultimately building up the members of the Church and this will have a positive affect on the person being edified and on the entirety of the church in general. We read in Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV)

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, [12] for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, [13] till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; [14] that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, [15] but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- [16] from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

And again in Romans 14:19 (NKJV)

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.

We are all a part of one body spiritually united in the love of Jesus Christ who is the Head of the Church, so if one part of the body is injured the other parts should do what they are able, to ensure that specific part is cared for and ultimately healed. If we cut ourselves, don't we clean up the wound and bandage it? Or do we ignore it and allow it to become infected? No, we do what we can to heal ourselves and we should respond with the same desire and concern for members of the spiritual body of Christ.

Edification can also be acted upon in times of peace, joy and happiness. We can send messages of encouragement to one another, call on one another and ask about each other, discuss the love of God with one another, read the Bible together or simply carry out a random act of kindness toward one another. We should behave with other members of our spiritual body by displaying kindness, by forgiving and by exhibiting genuine love and concern that will ensure Christ is glorified and that His church is edified. We sometimes forget to edify one another and inadvertently act in a manner that is contrary to God's will but is in conformity with the will of the world, we are all guilty of forgetting the importance of engaging with one another in a manner that is in complete contrast to that of the world. Always remember that we have Christ abiding in us as we are partakers of His sanctifying Body and Blood, we are not of our own and we should reflect upon the significance of this mystery when conversing and dealing with our brothers and sisters in the faith, as they too, have Christ abiding in them.

Amen