O Heavenly King: The Holy Spirit

† Blessed is our God always, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.  ...  in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers and Mothers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

† Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

† Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

O Heavenly King:
The Holy Spirit

“O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.”

Pretty much any time before 100 AD, and even a long while after, cities were made with walls, which were patrolled by guards or watchmen.  Even in colonial America we would expect to hear the town crier, “It’s 10 o’clock and all’s well.”  Every three or four hours, one watch ended, and a new watch began.  Priests in Israel, Judah, and in The Church, pull such three-hour watches, at least in temple(s) and churches.  If we close our eyes we may picture in our minds an idea of the walls of Jerusalem; there we may envision the priests coming forth on a new watch, bearing swords or spears, singing their hymns as they marched around the walls of Jerusalem, armed both physically and spiritually, looking for every disturbance in the surrounding landscape or inside the city below.

We are all such watchmen, such priests in The Church, so our daily prayers or the prayers of the hours often begin with this prayer, requesting the help of the Holy Spirit: for the very first thing we must do in our duties as watchmen is to be armed with the power of the Spirit.

This is not an invitation to some silly antic, such as the “treeing of Old Scratch”.  The request for the Spirit’s help is always associated with Scripture:[1] so, we will not be surprised to learn that these ancient watch prayers, pray through the Psalms on a regular basis.  The midnight watch is even dedicated to Psalm 119.

“O Heavenly King”, reminds us that the Spirit is The Vicar of Christ on Earth.  We are not denying or even discussing whether the Pope is the vicar of Christ on earth: we are just getting things in their proper order, so this is no place for a theological debate.  The Spirit is The Vicar of Christ on Earth: therefore, if we would keep watch at all, either physically or spiritually, we cannot proceed without the Spirit’s help.  Yet, how many times do we pick up our Bibles, thinking that Bible reading is nothing more than an exercise of the mind; so, we try to begin without the Spirit’s help, and fail: in fact, we crash.  Bible reading is an act of prayer in the power of the Spirit: the mind is virtually worthless without the Spirit.  How often do we try to begin our day without the Spirit?  How frequently during the day, do we neglect to ask the Spirit how to solve problems, how to understand situations, what does the Father want us to do, what has Jesus told us to do, in such and such a situation.  The Spirit is our living powerful key to our indwelling relationship with the Trinity.

He is “the Comforter”, not that we ever seek comfort.  Who are we kidding, if not only ourselves?  Our world is falling to pieces all around us; yet, that internal Voice, reassuring us that God is still in control during the worst of all days, in the midst of our worst nightmares: that Voice is the voice of the Spirit bearing witness with our human spirits that we are the children of God.

He is “the Spirit of truth”.  In a world gone mad with lying, here is the exclusive franchise on truth.  Go to Him! Seek truth with all your might.  Get wisdom here; and with all your getting, get understanding; get it here, and get it now.  God is ready to pour, pour, flood, not dribble, answers into our hearts through “the Spirit of truth”.  This still requires a willingness to do hard praying and hard thinking on our part, a willingness to be led into all truth.  The Spirit gives truth freely; strive to get it.[2]

He is “everywhere and fills all things”.  If the inescapable omnipresence or ubiquity of God is felt anywhere, it is due to the work of the Spirit.  You are never alone.  You cannot be left alone.  You are not only surrounded; you are indwelt.  Do you feel abandoned, deserted, forgotten, forsaken, put on the bench, sidelined, sidetracked, unloved?  Look to the Spirit and Live.  You may have forsaken God; yet, God has not forsaken you, and the Spirit is right here, right now, inside you, to remind you of that fact: because God loves you like no other.

He is the “Treasury of blessings”.  Did you get a raise today?  Thank the Holy Spirit.  Were you awarded a prize, a patent, or other great recognition; did someone throw a party, start a parade, send a card in your honor?  Thank the Holy Spirit.  You didn’t really think that you achieved any of these things without His help, did you?  You didn’t really believe that you deserved these honors, did you?  No, all of these things are gifts from a loving God, delivered by the Spirit.

He is the “Giver of life”.  Are you still breathing?  Praise the Holy Spirit.  Are you in pain, dying, afraid?  The Spirit is beside you after all the doctors, nurses, and even your family have left.  Is your body lifeless?  The Spirit is the One directing angels as they escort your body to the grave, and your spirit into heaven.  Yes, God’s love for you is more powerful than death, reaching far beyond the grave.  This too, is the work of the Spirit.

This is what the Spirit does for us, He “comes and abides in us.” When we fall and sin, He “cleanses us from every impurity”, until at last, when He has perfected His work, we are made truly Christ like.  He also “saves our souls”: for Salvation is more than a one-time act, which is our baptism with the Spirit; Salvation is also an ongoing daily struggle, wherein the Spirit is gradually changing us; and finally, Salvation is our last hope, the hope of going to heaven, the hope of eternal life.

Truly the Spirit is worthy of the title, “Good One.”

The Church is the Body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit is the One animating this Body, giving it its vitality.

You are a soldier of Christ.  Now go pull your watches in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Do not go into spiritual battle unarmed.

[3]

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[1] Most especially the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27, 32, 44-45).  It is an absolute disgrace that the Old Testament is no longer read in our churches; nor is it commonly understood among us.  The Holy Spirit’s specific task is to refresh and repeat these lessons from Luke 24, which teach us the true meaning of the Old Testament.

[2] 1 Kings 3:9-11; Job 6:30; Psalm 119:104; Proverbs 3:13; 4:5, 7; 7:7; 15:32; 16:16; 17:16; 18:15; 19:8; Ecclesiastes 8:5; Isaiah 44:19-20; Ezekiel 44:23; Jonah 4:11; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 5:6; 16:3; Luke 1:15, 41, 53, 67; 2:40; 6:21; 12:56; Acts 2:4, 17-18; 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9, 52; 10:45; Romans 5:5; 15:14; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 11:29; 12:10; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 4:6; Ephesians 3:19; 5:18; Philippians 1:11; Colossians 1:9; 2 Timothy 1:4; Hebrews 4:12; 5:14; 10:22 — there are about 250 verses in the New Testament detailing the work of the Spirit: we are just scratching the service.  Would you be filled with the Holy Spirit, then emulate the behavior of those who were filled with the Spirit in the Bible: they pursued God and His Word, they accepted persecution, suffering, and death; they did not pursue strange tongues, or vain miracles; they faced humiliation and learned to hate their own lives as they took up their crosses to follow Jesus (Joshua 14:8; 22:29; Judges 3:28 (an icon of Jesus); Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 9:27; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21, 29; Mark 2:14-15; 8:34; 10:21; Luke 5:27; 9:23, 59, 61; 18:22; John 1:43; 8:12; 10:27; 12:26; 13:36; 21:19, 22; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 Timothy 6:11; Revelation 14:4).  Here is the reason that I don’t ask people to follow me: because there are so many charlatans in the world: follow Jesus, in the power of the Spirit.

^[3] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.  No rights are reserved.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 20

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 20

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

“Don’t you know, that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  Therefore, we were buried-together in Him by baptism into the death: that just as Christ was raised up from death by the glory of the Father, so also we could have walked in newness of life: for, if we, [the] planted-together, have been begotten[i] in the likeness of His death, moreover also we will be of the resurrection.  Knowing this, that our old man was crucified-together, that the body of sin would be made powerless, that we no longer be slaves in sin: for, the dead, has been justified from sin.  Yet, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live-together in Him; seeing that Christ, awakening out of death, no longer dies; death no longer has mastery of Him: for, in that He died in[ii] [our] sin, He died once; yet, in that He lives, He lives in God.  So also you, count yourselves indeed to be dead in sin; yet, alive in God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  [Do] not, therefore, let sin have domination[iii] in your dying body[iv] into submission[v] in her[vi] desires; nor commend[vii] your members as weapons of unrighteousness in sin; but, commend yourselves in God as alive from death, and your members as weapons of righteousness in God:[viii] for, sin will not have mastery of you: for, you are not under law, but under grace. — Romans 6:3-14

Summary: Having laid a foundation in the denouncing of Satan, St. Cyril proceeds to discuss the mysteries of baptism itself; especially that we share in the likeness or similitude of Christ’s death; which he shows from Paul to be far more important than the remission of our sins or our adoption, or even our reception of the Holy Spirit.  We have put off the old man and put on a whole new man.  We were cut from a wild olive tree and grafted into Christ, the true olive tree.  We have died in this similitude and been resurrected from the dead.  Not just once, either; but, fully three times entering into death, and three times being resurrected in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.[ix]

Preview:  1.  “These daily introductions into the Mysteries … are profitable to us; and … to you, who have been renewed from an old state to a new.  Therefore, I … lay before you [yesterday’s] sequel … that you may learn of what those things … in the inner chamber, were symbolic.”  2.  “… as you entered, you put off your tunic; and this was an image of putting off the old man with his deeds.[x]  Having stripped yourselves … imitating Christ, who was stripped naked on the Cross, and by His nakedness put off from Himself the principalities and powers, and openly triumphed over them on the tree.[xi]  For since … [your enemies] made their lair in your members, you may no longer wear that old garment … the old man, which waxes corrupt in the lusts of deceit.[xii]  May the soul which has once put him off, never again put him on, but say with the Spouse of Christ in the Song of Songs, I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on?[xiii]”  3.  “Then … you were anointed with exorcised oil, from the very hairs of your head to your feet, and were made partakers of the good olive-tree, Jesus Christ.  For you were cut off from the wild olive-tree, and grafted into the good one, and were made to share the fatness of the true olive-tree.[xiv]  The exorcised oil therefore was a symbol of the participation of the fatness of Christ….”  4.  “[Then] you were led to the holy pool of Divine Baptism, as Christ was carried from the Cross to the Sepulcher….  Each of you was asked, whether he believed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and you made that saving confession, and descended three times into the water, and ascended again … hinting … at the three days burial of Christ.”  “And at the self-same moment you were both dying and being born; and that Water of salvation was at once your grave and your mother.  … Solomon … said, in that case, There is a time to bear and a time to die;[xv] but … in the reverse order….”  5.  “O strange and inconceivable thing!  We did not … die, were not … buried, … crucified and raised again; … our imitation was … a figure, [but] our salvation … reality.  Christ was actually crucified, … buried, and … rose again … that we, sharing His sufferings by imitation, might gain salvation in reality.  O surpassing loving-kindness!  Christ received nails in His undefiled hands and feet, and suffered anguish; while on me without pain or toil by the fellowship of His suffering He freely bestows salvation.”  6.  “Let no one … suppose that Baptism is merely the grace of remission of sins, or … of adoption …  whereas we know full well, that as it purges our sins, and ministers to us the gift of the Holy Ghost, so also it is the counterpart of the sufferings of Christ.  … Paul … said, Or are you ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into His death.”[xvi]  7.  “Whatsoever things Christ endured, for us and for our salvation He suffered them in reality and not in appearance, and that we also are made partakers of His sufferings, Paul cried … For if we have been planted together with the likeness of His death, we shall be also with the likeness of His resurrection.[xvii]”  “He said not, For if we have been planted together with His death, but, with the likeness of His death.  For in Christ’s case there was death in reality … but in your case there was only a likeness of death and sufferings, whereas of salvation there was not a likeness but a reality.”  8.  “… keep [these things], I beseech you, in your remembrance; that I also, unworthy though I be, may say of you, Now I love you, because you always remember me, and hold fast the traditions, which I delivered unto you.[xviii]  And God, who has presented you as it were alive from the dead,[xix] is able to grant unto you to walk in newness of life:[xx] because His is the glory and the power, now and forever.  Amen.”

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[i] Born, born again, created: the new birth is clearly in view.

[ii] dative, His state at death, in our sin, not in His sin.

[iii] Third person imperative or emphatic, sin is the subject.  The Greek idiom does not require a second person imperative.  Do is supplied to make sense in English.

[iv] The force seems to fall just short of, “our dead corpse”: for we are to count ourselves as dead to sin.

[v] substantive infinitive

[vi] This is feminine, because it modifies a feminine noun, desires; so, what is the antecedent, if any?  Sin is the other feminine noun in the sentence: it is sin’s desires that are under discussion.

However, sin is said to reign in the body, which seems to contradict St. Cyril’s idea that the mind and will are the root of sin, the body being the innocent victim.

It is possible that St. Cyril’s concern is pastoral, insofar as he seeks to rouse the will to fight against the fleshly desires of the body: this is certainly necessary to sanctified Christian life; yet, these bodily desires, which seem to act involuntarily and independently of the rational mind or will, are only brought into subjection by decades of discipline: even then, they break out from time to time with surprising ferocity.  It is only through the power of the Spirit that we even hope to make any headway in this battle: it is a raging spiritual battle, which requires the participation of every Christian.  Nevertheless, St. Cyril’s pastoral concerns, if any, seem fully warranted; since Jerusalem was considered to be a licentious and wicked city in his day.  If the will is not aroused to engage in this battle; then, the soul’s war is hopelessly lost before it begins.  If the will is engage in this war; battles may be won or lost: but the Spirit brings the war to its victorious conclusion.

We perceive several possible errors of extremism here: the will has every affect (misnamed Pelagianism); the will has no affect (determinism); the will has power (category error); the body always acts independently of the will (excessive focus on involuntary muscles); the body never acts independently of the will (excessive focus on voluntary muscles).  Augustine’s illustrations concerning the penis are devastating to several of these excesses.

In modern times, John Romanides weighs in against Augustine; Georges Florovsky, and many others, value Augustine by appropriation.

[vii] Take a stand-beside, associate; in the political arena, to stand-beside in a photo-op, would be an implied endorsement of the person and any evil involved.

[viii] The opposing dangers here are: One.  To turn this into and justify physical war, or jihad, which this does not approve; Two.  To treat this lightly, as if no true spiritual battle were taking place.  This is clearly a call for commitment of the will; not a call to take up arms.

[ix] It is a vital matter of interest that St. Cyril gives no instruction about making the sign of the cross; left to right, right to left, or otherwise: he simply insists that we do it.  His descriptions of Baptism, on the other hand, are meticulously scrupulous in every least detail.  The Didache has such detailed instructions for Trine-Baptism; yet, these may be set aside as a superstition coming from an uncertain single witness.  Now, with St. Cyril’s voice also supporting the necessity of Trine-Baptism, there can be little doubt that the practice of Mono-Baptism is to be deplored and rejected in all its forms.  While we accept the persons Baptized by Mono-Baptism, we really wish the practice would stop: we cringe inwardly, in fear, every time we witness it.  Matthew 28:19

[x] Colossians 3:9

[xi] Colossians 2:15; 1 Peter 2:24

[xii] Ephesians 4:22

[xiii] Song of Songs 5:3

[xiv] Romans 11:17-24

[xv] Ecclesiastes 3:2

[xvi] Romans 6:3

[xvii] Romans 6:5

[xviii] 1 Corinthians 11:2; 15:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:15

[xix] Romans 6:13

[xx] Romans 6:4

Cyril of Jerusalem, Lecture 18, Part C

Cyril of Jerusalem

Lecture 18, Part C

https://www.swrktec.org/catechism

“The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” — Ezekiel 37:1

Summary: St. Cyril, after firmly and decisively showing that Judaism is cut off, sings the praises of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church[i] in a beautiful chorus and litany of Scripture quotations.  He warns of the dangers of false churches, and the wolves that would come, spoiling the flock; he especially reminds us of the fact of the resurrection and eternal life.  He emphasizes that salvation requires of us both faith and works.  He concludes his catechetical lectures, prior to Baptism, with the assurance that our Baptism should fill us with exceeding joy, as the wealth of the Spirit begins to grow within us.

Preview:  25.  “The Psalmist sang, Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord … from the fountains of Israel.[ii]”  After which there can be no doubt about the cutting off of the Jews as a chosen nation from the kingdom of God, because of their evil deeds; not as repentant individuals.[iii]  “But after the Jews … were cast away from His grace, the Savior built … a second Holy Church … of us Christians, concerning which he said to Peter, And upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.[iv]  And David … said plainly of the first … I have hated the Congregation of evil doers;[v] but of the second … Lord, I have loved the beauty of Your house;[vi] and … In the Congregations will I bless you, O Lord.[vii]  For now that … Judea is cast off, the Churches of Christ are increased over all the world … Sing unto the Lord a new song, His praise in the Congregation of Saints.[viii]  … the prophet also said to the Jews, I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty;[ix] … For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, My name is glorified among the Gentiles.[x]  Concerning this Holy Catholic Church Paul writes to Timothy, That you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the House of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.[xi]”  26.  But since the word Ecclesia is applied to different things … And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the Assembly,[xii] … [or] that there is a Church of evil doers … for this cause the Faith has securely delivered to you now the Article, And in one Holy Catholic Church; that you may avoid their wretched meetings [of false churches], and ever abide with the Holy Church Catholic in which you were regenerated.”  “for it is written, As Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it….[xiii]  and is a figure and copy of Jerusalem which is above, which is free, and the mother of us all[xiv]….”  27.  In this Church, “God has set, as Paul says, first Apostles, secondly Prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, various kinds of tongues,[xv] and every sort of virtue … wisdom and understanding, temperance and justice, mercy and loving-kindness, and patience unconquerable in persecutions.  She, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor,[xvi] in former days [of] persecutions and tribulations … and now in times of peace by God’s grace receives her due honors from kings and those who are in high place[xvii]….  And while the kings of particular nations have bounds set to their authority, the Holy Church Catholic alone extends her power without limit over the whole world; for God, as it is written, has made her border peace.[xviii]”  28.  “In this Holy Catholic Church … we shall attain the kingdom of heaven, and inherit eternal life; for which also we endure all toils, that we may be made partakers thereof from the Lord.”  “Wherefore … after the words, And in the resurrection of the flesh … we are taught to believe also in the life eternal, for which as Christians we are striving.”  29.  “The real and true life … is the Father, … through the Son in the Holy Spirit pours forth as from a fountain His heavenly gifts to all; and through His love to man, the blessings of the life eternal are promised without fail to us men also.  … for with God all things are possible.[xix]  … and that we may look for eternal life, Daniel declares, And of the many righteous shall they shine as the stars for ever and ever.[xx]  And Paul says, And so shall we be ever with the Lord[xxi].  … And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.[xxii]”  30.  “And many are the proofs concerning the life eternal [and ways of gaining it].”  “… it is by faith; for it is written, He that believes in the Son has eternal life….[xxiii]  … and again … Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears My word, and believes Him that sent Me, has eternal life….[xxiv]  … it is by the preaching of the Gospel; for He says, that He that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal.[xxv]  … [it is] by martyrdom and confession in Christ’s name; for He says, And he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal.[xxvi]  … [it is] by preferring Christ to riches or kindred; And every one that has forsaken brethren, or sisters[xxvii] … shall inherit eternal life. … it is by keeping the commandments, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill…. as He answered to him that came to Him, and said, Good Master, what shall I do that I may have eternal life?[xxviii]  … it is by departing from evil works, and henceforth serving God; for Paul says, But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life.[xxix]”  31.  “The ways of finding eternal life are many, though I have passed over them by reason of their number.  …  that … all might enjoy it without hindrance.  Thus much have we … spoken … concerning the life eternal … the last doctrine of those professed in the Faith, and its termination; which life may we all, both teachers and hearers, by God’s grace enjoy!”[xxx]  32.  “And now, brethren beloved … prepare your souls for the reception of the heavenly gifts.  As regards the Holy and Apostolic Faith … we have spoken through the grace of the Lord as many Lectures, as was possible … not that this is all we ought to have said, for many are the points omitted….  But now the holy day of the Passover is at hand, and you, beloved in Christ, are to be enlightened by the Laver of regeneration.  You shall therefore again be taught what is requisite, if God so will; with how great devotion and order you must enter in when summoned, for what purpose each of the holy mysteries of Baptism is performed, and with what reverence and order you must go from Baptism to the Holy Altar of God, and enjoy its spiritual and heavenly mysteries; that your souls being previously enlightened by the word of doctrine, you may discover in each particular the greatness of the gifts bestowed on you by God.”  33.  And after Easter’s Holy Day of salvation, you shall come on each successive day, beginning from the second day of the week, after the assembly into the Holy Place of the Resurrection , and there, if God permit, you shall hear other Lectures; in which you shall again be taught the reasons of everything which has been done, and shall receive the proofs thereof from the Old and New Testaments — first, of the things done just before Baptism, — next, how you were cleansed from your sins by the Lord, by the washing of water with the word[xxxi] …[how] you have become partakers of the Name of Christ … how the Seal of the fellowship of the Holy Ghost was given to you … the mysteries at the Altar of the New Testament … how ye must approach them, and when and how receive them … how for the time to come ye must behave yourselves worthily of this grace both in words and deeds, that you may all be enabled to enjoy the life everlasting.”  34.  “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice: for your redemption has drawn near,[xxxii] and the heavenly host of the Angels is waiting for your salvation.[xxxiii]  … the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord;[xxxiv] … Ho, you that thirst, come ye to the water;[xxxv] … Hearken unto me, and you shall eat that which is good, and your soul shall delight itself in good things.[xxxvi]  … Shine, shine, O thou new Jerusalem; for your light has come.[xxxvii]  … And afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, Zion, the faithful mother of cities; because of the law[xxxviii] which went forth out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,[xxxix] which word has from hence been showered forth on the whole world.  … Lift up your eyes round about, and behold your children gathered together;[xl] … Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves with their young ones to me?[xli]”  “… Who knows such things? Or who has seen it thus? Did ever a land bring forth in one day? Or was ever a nation born all at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.[xlii]  … Behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.[xliii]  35.  “… Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth; … for the Lord has had mercy on His people, and comforted the lowly of His people.[xliv]  … Behold, I will blot out as a cloud your transgressions, and as a thick cloud your sins.[xlv]  … Upon My servants shall be called a new name which shall be blessed on the earth,[xlvi] … Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ[xlvii] … in whom we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He abounded towards us….[xlviii]  … But God being rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, when we were dead through our trespasses, quickened us together with Christ….[xlix]  … But when the kindness of God our Savior, and His love towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we had done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs, according to hope, of eternal life.[l]  And may God Himself the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Himself, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened,[li] and may He ever keep you in good works, and words, and thoughts; to Whom be glory, honor, and power, through our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Holy Ghost, now and ever, and unto all the endless ages of eternity.  Amen.

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[i] He refers to neither the Orthodox Catholic nor the Roman Catholic churches: for, in the fourth century there was only one true Church, in spite of the claims of Donatists, Nestorians, Nicolaitans, Novationists, Rogatists, and many others… too numerous and tedious to list.

[ii] Psalms 68:26

[iii] We ought not suppose that the events around 1666 reversed this situation in any way.  There is no Judeo-Christian ethic or union.  There may be an Abrahamic-Israelite-Mosaic-Christian theology.  Make no mistake, the continuing Old Testament Church is Christianity, not Judaism: for Judaism continues to resist the Word of God in countless ways.  Repentance and faith are the only cures: Jews need to be baptized and become Christians.

[iv] Matthew 16:18

[v] Psalms 26:5

[vi] Psalms 26:8

[vii] Psalms 26:12

[viii] Psalms 149:1

[ix] Malachi 1:10

[x] Malachi 1:11

[xi] 1 Timothy 3:15

[xii] Acts 19:41

[xiii] Ephesians 5:25

[xiv] Galatians 4:26

[xv] 1 Corinthians 12:28

[xvi] 2 Corinthians 6:7-8

[xvii] 1 Timothy 2:2

[xviii] Psalms 147:14

[xix] Matthew 19:23-30

[xx] Daniel 12:3

[xxi] 1 Thessalonians 4:17

[xxii] Matthew 25:46

[xxiii] John 3:36

[xxiv] John 5:24

[xxv] John 4:36

[xxvi] John 12:25

[xxvii] Matthew 19:29

[xxviii] Mark 10:17-23

[xxix] Romans 6:22

[xxx] This seems to us to be a somewhat circuitous, complex and contrived way of saying the same thing that James 2:14-26 so clearly explains.  It is impossible that true biblical faith and true biblical works every be separated one from the other: for the Law, working alive within us due to the perfect work of Christ, urges us onward to do what is right in every situation.  There just ain’t no such thing as easy believism….

[xxxi] Ephesians 5:26

[xxxii] Philippians 4:4; also, Philippians 4:1-7

[xxxiii] Note that St. Cyril understands joining the Church through Baptism to be a specific act of the Spirit; not of the application of water, which is an act of man; yet, St. Cyril expects this spiritual act to take place along with the application of water, and he will be surprised if this spiritual act does not take place; nevertheless, the Spirit will not come wherever He perceives an evil heart of unbelief: this is not magic.  So, the Spirit Himself acts ex opere operato, wherever He wishes; but, humanity has no power to confect such an act, with or without water.  Therefore, we should be awestruck by the power of God in this matter: for He can neither be deceived nor denied.  Thus, the person being touched by the Spirit may experience considerable spontaneous emotional response and excitement.  Indeed, it is exciting every time the Spirit speaks to us; yet, He comes mostly in a still small voice, teaching the Bible, so our excitement quiets down into a more peaceful love.

[xxxiv] Isaiah 40:3

[xxxv] Isaiah 55:1

[xxxvi] Isaiah 55:2-7

[xxxvii] Isaiah 60:1

[xxxviii] Note the necessity of the Law here, and its equation with the Word of the Lord, Who is Christ Himself.

[xxxix] The Church is the New Jerusalem, the City of Righteousness.  Isaiah 1:21, 26-31; 45:13; Daniel 9:16, 18, 24 Septuagint

[xl] Isaiah 40:9, 26; 49:18; 60:4

[xli] Isaiah 60:8

[xlii] Isaiah 66:8 Septuagint

[xliii] Isaiah 65:18

[xliv] Isaiah 49:13

[xlv] Isaiah 44:22

[xlvi] Isaiah 62:2; 65:15-16; 66:22

[xlvii] Ephesians 1:3

[xlviii] Ephesians 1:7-9

[xlix] Ephesians 2:4-7

[l] Titus 3:4-9

[li] Ephesians 1:17-18