Full transcript
Intro
0:00I will love
0:02>> [singing]
0:07>> thee,
0:07>> [singing]
0:08>> oh Lord, my strength.
0:13The Lord is my foundation [singing]
0:22and my
0:22>> [singing]
0:24>> refuge
0:25and my
0:27deliverer.
0:33Father,
0:37Son, [singing]
0:38and Holy
0:41Spirit,
0:42>> [singing]
0:45>> Trinity,
0:48coessential [singing]
0:52and
0:53undivided. [singing]
0:59>> In the name of the Father and of the Son
1:03and of the Holy Spirit, our one true
1:06God.
The 7 Churches of the Apocalypse
1:07So now I want to take
1:11a little passage from the teachings of
1:13the Orthodox Church.
1:16If someone buys this book and can read
1:19it and understand it,
1:21they will become so wise
1:24in Orthodoxy.
1:26This is section on the seven churches
1:30that
1:31are in the Apocalypse,
1:33the Revelation of St. John. And this is
1:38a beautiful interpretation
1:40compiled of all the seven churches. I
1:42thought you would be very interested in.
1:46The seven churches can be interpreted as
1:50the seven ages of the history of the
1:54church.
The 1st Church
1:55The first church, Ephesus,
1:58represents the apostolic age in which
2:02the faithful toiled with patience,
2:05resisted false apostles,
2:09and fought against the heresy
2:12of Nicolas of Antioch.
2:15That's one of the seven deacons.
The 2nd Church
2:18Smyrna
2:21represents the
2:22age of persecution under the pagans and
2:26the Jews.
2:28This is the second church.
2:31Represents the age of persecution under
2:33the pagans and Jews, the synagogue of
2:37Satan. Oh my.
2:40The Lord
2:41comforts his martyrs.
2:44Quote,
2:46"Do not at all be fearful of the things
2:49which thou art about to suffer.
2:52Indeed, behold, the devil is about to
2:56cast some of you into prison in order
3:00that you might be tried.
3:03Keep on becoming faithful until death,
3:08and I will give you
3:10the crown of life." The third is
The 3rd Church
3:13Pergamos. Is the age of the seven
3:17ecumenical councils, the golden age of
3:20the church fathers.
3:23They struggled against various heresies
3:27with the sword of the spirit,
3:30and did not deny the faith
3:34despite the efforts
3:36>> [snorts]
3:36>> of the
3:38noetic
3:39Balaam, or the devil,
3:42to lead them into fornication
3:45of false religion.
3:49He calls
3:50false religion a fornication.
The 4th Church
3:53The fourth church is Thyatira.
3:56Symbolizes the age of the Latin heresy,
4:02Jezebel,
4:04who teaches and leads astray my slaves.
4:09As Saint Andrew, the Archbishop of
4:13Caesarea, notes, Christ likens
4:18the gathering of the heretics to an
4:22adulteress,
4:23since she does not wish to repent of her
4:27fornication.
4:29There is no point engaging
4:33in word games
4:35with scholastics
4:38or in the words
4:40of the wise Andrew,
4:43{quote} To the more simple, he says,
4:46"Since you, through your simple manner,
4:50are not able to endure the cunning and
4:52quick-witted men,
4:55inasmuch as you do not know the deep
4:58things of Satan,
5:00as you say, I do not request that you do
5:05battle through words,
5:08but that you safeguard
5:11the teaching which you have received."
5:15So, he said, "Don't debate these
5:17scholastics. They're going to
5:20Their mind is all muddled
5:23and they will get your mind muddled."
The 5th Church
5:26The next is Sardis.
5:29Depicts the age of the cruel Turkish
5:32yoke because
5:35of the people's sins, God permitted the
5:38Muslims to overrun
5:41the Byzantine Empire
5:43and afflicted its people with servitude.
5:48The Lord Jesus addresses them sternly to
5:51lead them to repentance.
5:54For I have
5:56He says, "For I have found no works of
5:59thine
6:00which have been made complete before
6:03God."
The 6th Church
6:05The Church of Philadelphia represents
6:08the first half of the 20th century,
6:10including the Russian Revolution.
6:13That the achievement of all the new
6:17martyrs and confessors
6:19under communism
6:22is brought to mind. "Thou hast a little
6:24strength
6:26and has kept my word and does not deny
6:29my name."
6:31Although this century was full of
6:34bloodshed, the Orthodox in general were
6:38steadfast in the faith. The savior
6:41encourages them
6:42by explaining that they will not have to
6:45experience the tribulation of Antichrist
6:49in the last times.
6:52I quote, "I also shall keep thee from
6:55the hour of temptation, which is about
6:58to come upon the whole inhabited world
7:01to try them who dwell upon the earth.
7:04Behold, I am coming quickly. Keep on
7:08holding fast that which thou hast in
7:12order that no one should take thy
7:15crown."
The 7th Church: the Church of our times
7:18For the Church of Laodicea,
7:22the Lord has not even one word of
7:26commendation. This is the last age of
7:30this world, the age of the pan-heresy
7:35of ecumenism
7:37and the great apostasy,
7:40which will precede the
7:43of the man of sin,
7:45the Antichrist.
7:47The ecumenists
7:49are neither cold nor hot. That is,
7:54neither fervent in faith nor entirely
7:58unbelieving. But if thou wer't still
8:03un-
8:04unbelieving, there would be yet there
8:07would yet remain to thee a hope the hope
8:10of conversion. Whereas now that thou
8:14dost not
8:17do the will of the Lord, which thou
8:19knowest, thou shalt be cast forth from
8:23the bosom of my church. The Saint Bede
8:27said this.
8:28So, truly, ecumenists are neither cold
8:31nor hot.
8:32They're not fervent in Orthodoxy.
8:36They're not hot. And they're not
8:37completely cold because they say, "We're
8:40Orthodox. Uh we will
8:43we will pray
8:45and break every rule and still call
8:48ourselves
8:49Orthodox."
8:51As Saint Archbishop Andrew observes,
8:55in faith, the middle way and the
8:58lukewarm
9:00are worthless.
9:02Furthermore, in this age, mankind has
9:05become more wealthy and arrogant than
9:09ever. Thou sayest,
9:12"I am rich. I have gotten riches and
9:16have need of nothing.
9:18And knowest not that thou art wretched
9:22and pitiful and blind and naked."
9:28>> [clears throat]
9:29>> That's the entry about the uh about
9:33the ages of the church in the teachings
9:36of the Orthodox
The Meaning of the Double-Headed Eagle
9:38Okay, we had a question to us about the
9:41double-headed eagle. It's an Orthodox
9:43symbol.
9:45It is from Byzantine times.
9:49But other
9:51people
9:52like to incorporate it in their
9:56They like to incorporate it as their
9:58own.
10:00But
10:01even if the if the Masons use it,
10:05it doesn't matter
10:06because it's not theirs.
10:09It's an Orthodox symbol. It symbolizes
10:11the harmony
10:12between the church and the state.
10:16Both of them are Orthodox
10:20and they work together
10:22to the glory of God.
10:24And we see that in the middle is the
10:27icon of St. George.
10:30That's
10:31That's a beautiful symbol, the
10:33double-headed eagle.
10:36So, remember it's an Orthodox symbol
10:38that everybody likes to steal.
10:41And
10:42shh and
10:45and use as their own.
10:47But don't be deceived.
10:49Okay. Okay.
10:51Thank you for listening.
10:53God bless you
10:54and do the right thing.