February 24, 2025 • 44 mins
In Jesus's time He had to deal with a group called Pharisees. They were a group that were the enforcers of the law of Moses.
Today do we still have Pharisees in the Church that make life difficult for people to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ?
Listen and find out.
O Gladsome Light is broadcast live Mondays at 11AM ET Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com O Gladsome Light is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
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Today do we still have Pharisees in the Church that make life difficult for people to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ?
Listen and find out.
O Gladsome Light is broadcast live Mondays at 11AM ET Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com O Gladsome Light is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
O Gladsome Light Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:21):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Welcome to the Old Lansome Light Podcast. This program contains
preaching and teaching from an Orthodox Christian perspective to help
you when your walk with Jesus Christ and to be
victorious in Him.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Well, welcome to the show. It's eleven o'clock Monday morning
and it's time for the Old Labsham Light Radio Show.
I'm your show host, Doctors. I have a degree a
doctor degree in Divinity and also known as Father Petros
of the Orthodox Church of Upyrus. I am broadcasting on
W four CY Radio innet radio around the world twenty
(01:13):
four to seven. In addition, I have a podcast on
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the videos, please like subscribe to my two YouTube channels.
One is called Almayn's which is the radio show, and
(01:35):
the other one is called Archipetros which is my Sunday sermons.
In addition, I'm also posting my sermons on Rumble under
the name of Man's Aid. The show is blessed by
Metropolitan Makisldeck of the Orthodox Church of Upyrus. We have
a slogan here in this radio show blassom Light pairing
(01:56):
Souls for Heaven, Paring Souls for Heaven. Also broadcasting from
Saint Peter and Paul Orthodox Chapels in West Palm Beach.
Today show topic it's called modern day Pharisees, and that
show topic is going to make these modern day Pharisees upset.
(02:16):
But I'd have to do the show content of modern
day Pharisees today. So today is very easy and very
popular to do what seems right when people aren't watching
you what the Lord knows people are watching. In the
days of the Lord's ministry on Earth, there was a
sect called the Pharisees who were always watching to see
(02:38):
if you wash your hands before you ate, or if
you spoke to anyone who was on clean And then
the law of Moses had a ritual they had to
go through if they spoke to anybody who was on clean.
All this watching that they were doing was in order
to detect external virtues, which are false virtues only on
(02:59):
the outside, not true virtues of the heart. True virtues
of the heart are seen when no one is watching.
The true virtues of the heart are seeing by God,
not just when the Pharisees were watching. You definition of
integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.
That's a pretty good definition I think of integrity doing
(03:22):
the right thing when no one is watching. Now, there
was a discussion between Christ and the scribes and the
Pharisees about purity in one of the Gospels. There we
witness the unbelief of the scribes and the Pharisees. We
witness also their love for argumentation, for discussion and quarreling.
We witness their arrogance, as also their pride. Now there
(03:46):
is a lesson we must learn from these modern day Pharisees.
We must not fall into that easy trap of crawling
around like a lion like the devil seeking someone to
judge and devour. You know, the mo of the devil
is to steal, still and destroy. Everything he does is negative.
(04:06):
And while I'm talking about devouring, let me read the
Galatians Chapter five, verses thirteen through eighteen. Chapter five, verses
thirteen through eighteen. A. Brethren, you have been called onto liberty.
Only use not liberty for nication to the flesh. But
you love, serve one another for all the law is
(04:28):
fulfilled in one word, even in this thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour
one another, take heed that you not be consumed one another.
Then I say, walk into spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh or the flesh lusses
(04:48):
against the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary to one another, so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would. But if you
are let by the spirit, you are not under the law.
And that's Relatians Chapter five, verses thirteen through eighteen. Also
one more scripture in Psalm one thirty three, verse one,
(05:11):
it tells us brothers are to be together. Brothers are
to be together, not separated from each other. They are
to dwell together. And I'm going to show you here
in this show what happens when there is that division
between the brothers of Christ. I'm talking about the modern
(05:32):
day Pharisees. Now, so we must not fall into the
habit and it is easy in which we also are
constantly looking for other people who have transgressed some law,
some rule, some measure of goodness, so we can hold
them accountable. It's called the gotcha clause. But Christian must
be different. Christian must have an entirely different perspective. Christian
(05:57):
must be looking for sins and transgressions one place, in
one place, only in his or her own heart. In
Matthew chapter seven, verse five, the Lord said, first cast
out to being out of thine own eye, then thou
shalt see clearly to cast out to mote of thy
(06:18):
brother's eye. And a lot of that's going on today,
and that's why I'm doing this show on modern day Pharisee. Now,
this technique here of being a modern day Pharisee is
really used by superficial people. But we Christians are must
strive not to be superficial. We must enter into the
depths of the heart or we can find Christ, and
(06:40):
Christ can change us if we let him. Remember, the
Lord says, the Kingdom of God is within you. And
this is the opposite of the Pharisees. This is the
humble path of the Christian life. So let me go
back and define. So who were the Pharisees in Jesus' time?
The Pharisees were a Jewish sect that existed in the
(07:01):
time of Christ and are mentioned in the New Testament.
Pharisees were a Jewish sect that practice in the Holy Land.
They were a social movement in school of thought that
emphasized strict adherence to the Law of Moses. Their beliefs
influence Ribbonic Judaism, which is still practiced today. So what
are the beliefs of these Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in
(07:25):
the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife. Contrary to
the Sadducees, they did not believe in the resurrection of
the dead, but the Pharisees did. They believed that God
created the world and chose Israel as his chosen people.
The Pharisees also believed that the Law of Moses contained ambiguities.
(07:46):
They tried to resolve by creating rules for every situation.
They believed that oral laws or traditions passed down by
the prophets like Moses, were holy, and they believed that
a messiah would come and bring peace and prosperity. Please
note this, So in Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, came,
they rejected him. They wanted another, or did they want another?
(08:09):
Or were they happy with their current status? You know,
they wanted the king to rule on the world and
to deliver them from the Roman boot of tyranny. That
Christ did not come to rule the earth. The place
he came to take care of the sin problem. And
also his kingdom is not of this realm, it's in heaven.
(08:33):
Little history on these Pharisees. They emerged as a distinct
group around one sixty five, one sixty before Christ. It
was shortly after the Maccabean revolt. They were a group
of laymen and scribes, separate from the Sadducees, who were
a party of the high priesthood. Their traditions became the
basis for Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of a second
(08:58):
temple in seventy eight. Now what is their legacy. The Pharisees.
Insistence on the binding force of oral tradition is still
a basic tenet of Jewish theological thought. The Pharisees are
often depicted in the Gospels as being hostile towards Jesus.
And why was that the Lord was bringing clarification to
(09:18):
the law of Moses. Jesus demonstrated mercy and compassion his
teachings and his actions. And also during Jesus' time, that's
his short time of ministry, because he was baptized by
John in the Jordan, and then he started his public ministry,
which is about three years of duration. And he started
(09:42):
to encounter the problems with the Pharisees. And so the
Lord came to them and proclaimed the seven woes. Woes,
the seven woes, keeping one of them is keeping people
out of the Kingdom of heavens, teaching hypocrisy to the converts,
(10:02):
practicing hypocrisy and tything, being blind guide to strain out gnats,
but swallow camels, being clean on the outside, but full
of greed and self indulgence inside, appearing righteous, but being
full of ungodly thoughts feelings, being sons of those who
murdered the prophets. So Jesus tried to call them out
(10:23):
he saw their hypocrisy. So jesus intent was to describe
how the Pharisees missed what they were aiming for. He
wanted them to feel sorrow and grief over their actions
and to decide to change their ways, in other words, repent,
but didn't go that way. Now, Jesus' condemnation of the
(10:44):
Pharisees was a denunciation of false religion as ugly abhorrent
to God. He was also warning to the teachers of
the law that they would be destroyed that they continued
in their present path. Jesus tried to instruct and provide
to them a pathway to repentance, but they rejected it.
(11:05):
So let's look at the difference between the Pharisees of
that time and having a heart for God, take heed
that you do not do your alms before men to
be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of
your Father, which is in heaven. These are the teachings
of Christ to the people and the Pharisees. And he says, therefore,
(11:29):
when thou doest thine arms, do not sound the trumpet
before thee, as the hypocrites do. In the synagogues and
in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Barely,
I say under you, they have their reward. But when
thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand is doing, that thy alms may be
(11:50):
in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly. And these sayings on these scriptures are
coming out Matthew chapter six. And he goes on. He says,
and when thou prayest, thou should not be as the
hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they
(12:12):
may be seen of men. Very last say on you,
they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, when thou hast shut the door, pray
to thy Father, which it's in secret, And thy Father,
which seeth in secret, shall reward the openly. Also from
Matthew chapter six. But when you pray, he use not
(12:32):
vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they
shall be heard for their much speaking. Look, the apostles
ask Christ, so how do we pray? And that's when
he taught him our Father, our Father, which are in heaven. Hell,
will be thy name, thy Kingdom. Come, Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
(12:54):
this their daily bread, and forgive us our deaths, as
we forgive our debtors, lead us down and do temptation,
but delivers from the evil one. For thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father
and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Men. Also
from Matthew chapter six, So if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you
(13:17):
forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive
your trespasses. And also he goes on more over, when
you fast, be not those hypocrites of a said countenance,
For they disfigure their faces that they may appear onto
men too fast. Earlier I say under you, they have
their reward. But thou and thou fastest, anoint thy head
(13:40):
and wash thy face, that thou appear not onto mendo fast,
but onto thy Father, which is in secret. And thy
Father shall see it in secret and shall reward the openly.
Also from the Gospel of Matthew chapter six. Now he
says in Matthew seven. Not everyone that saith to me
(14:01):
lords go enter ends to the kingdom of heaven. But
he that do the will of my Father, which is
in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In
thy name cast out the devils, and in thy name
have done wonderful works? And then I will profess to
hontor them. I never knew you, depart from me that
(14:24):
you work iniquity. So the Lord didn't make friends with
the Pharisees. He did not make friends. He spoke truth
and they couldn't handle the truth. You earned that from
a movie, right, a few good men Jack Nicholson on
the stand in the courtroom. There he says, you can't
handle the truth. And the Pharisees apparently could not handle
(14:45):
the truth, and they came against Christ and eventually crucified him,
the lords of the next subject here is Phariseeism and
the worship of God. On these four stundies which precede
the Great Fast, also known as a preparation for the
Lenten season, the Church presents us with the fundamental principles
upon which we must build our forty day fast on
(15:08):
the first Sunday call the Sunday of the Public, and
the Pharisee. The parallel reveals to us the spirit with
which we must pray and pray during the upcoming fast.
The essential meaning of this passage revolves around two essential themes,
pride and conceit on the one hand, and humility and
(15:28):
repentance on the other. The first two are nothing but
rotten and fake worship of Christ, whereas the last two
are the foundations of salvation in Christ. Our salvation depends
on how we worship God. Our worship of God can
justify us, but it also can judge us. In the Church,
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we worship the true God, but our worship can become
self centered. The Church, phariseasm has become a symbol for
pride and haughtiness. Some use it from moralistic point of
view to indicate epidemic in society. Others use it to
describe anyone who doesn't agree with their stance or their thoughts.
(16:11):
Rice rejected pharisaic pride and judged it not only because
pride destroys all virtue in the believer, but rather because
it destroys all sense of truth in him. The beginning
of pride appears in judging others, self justification and self righteousness.
Sin of self justification is the antithesis of repentance, if not.
(16:35):
It not only makes a man seem righteous in his
own eyes, but also feedes his egotism and attachment to
do his own thoughts and will. These serious passions are
availed over our spiritual eyes. It is precisely for this
reason that the Pharisee didn't see the need to seek
God's mercy and the forgiveness of his sins. And whoever
(16:58):
sees only his own right seas judges others easily and
despises them. This is why every fall in history and
every heresy that grew up in the world was primarily
caused by Pharisee pride and self righteous conviction. Man will
never humble himself and feel the weight of his sins
(17:19):
so long as he counts his feats and takes pride
in his great works. The enumeration of feats and taking
pride in them is the primary fuel for pride, and
most Christians live a sort of popular Christianity that feeds
the spirit of egotism. So the easy fall prey to
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the passions of conceit being glory, pride, and even heresy.
Christ warned. Christ wanted to warn us from the fault
from falling into these deadly passions when he said, woe
unto you, when all men shall speak well of you.
That's Luke chapter six, verse twenty six. From the standpoint
(18:01):
of faith. True phariseeism comprises this darkness into which the
prideful soul falls, so that it no longer differentiates between
what is from the spirit of God and it is
from the spirit of the devil. The soul becomes unable
to discern truth from delusion. Only the humble are truly
(18:22):
spiritual because they obey the Church, its faith, and its canons,
and God grants them the gift of discernment and the
ability to separate which is true from false teachings that
disfigure this truth. These are the teachers and fathers of
the Church and the defenders of its faith. This is
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a constant struggle between cursed pride and blessed humility. Blessed
humility Phariseeism, and obedience, self reliance and repentance. This struggle
will accrue as we advance towards the end. The sin
of Phariseeism is not that the soul strays from the truth,
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but that it insists on its delusion despite being shown
the truth. Intimous leads others into the air while suggesting
that they're in the right Sursism is blindness to the
truth when the truth is fully present before us. Pursism
isn't the obstinate adherence to our orthodox faith and calling
false teachers heretics, but the pathological adherence to our own
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personal convictions, which oppose the teachings of the Church and
stem from a worldly spirit and the instabilities of the
new Age. I know there's a lot of words here.
I'll tell you there's a lot of truth in these
statements that I'm making here the day on this radio show.
Price did not judge the sinner, but he himself judged
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the heretic when he said that all blasphemies are forgiven,
that he shall blast him against the Holy Spirit. Hath
never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal DAMNAE that
comes out of the Gospel of Mark chapter three, verse
twenty nine. Our Holy Church Fathers understand unforgivable blasphemers. Blasphemers
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as heretics and false teachers. How I can stop and
fix this? Hold on when I try to get this
go right? Here we go? Okay, I'm back now where
did I leave off at? Our Holy Fathers understand unforgivable
blasphemers as heretics and false teachers. Our Christ is the
Christ of the humble, who blesses what the Church blesses,
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and anathematize what it anathematize. Such people commit no sin
against God, nor against men, nor against the faith, nor
against love. But love does not unify man can Love
does not unify mankind? Did you hear what I just said?
Love doesn't unify mankind. I'm going to explain that just
(20:54):
hang on. The Orthodox faith, which is the true worship
of God, is what unifies but unifies mankind in a
way that is internal and intimate. When they believe the
same faith, they become one. Love then seals this unity
through the participation in the one body and Blood of Christ,
(21:17):
which we call the Holy Eucharist. Whoever reads about the
path of the Church throughout the New Testament with a
humble mind clearly sees that it is a path with
a single faith which unites us to Jesus Christ, the
one true faith that resists all distorted and crooked teachings. Love,
as the Apostles of the New Testament use the term,
(21:39):
is nothing but an affirmation of this union with each
another and with God for those united by the One Faith,
which is activated by partaking of Christ's Holy body and
blood in the Eucharist. As for love that isn't built
on the one faith, it is but an external pharisaic love,
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a hypocritical love, like the love that the Pharisee displayed
towards God and his fellow men in his prayer fasting
an almsgiving. The Pharisee thought he was justified by his works,
so he enumerated them and relied on them. But as
for the Publican, he relied on his faith in God.
The strength of that faith is revealed when he seeks
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the mercy of God with such a contrite spirit. The
sincerity of man's faith is revealed by the frank confession
of his sin before his spiritual father in the Church,
and his faith is strengthened by seeking the mercy of
God with on wavering insistence. The scripture I want to
read and from this Publican and the Pharisee in Luke
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chapter eighteen, verse thirteen. And the publicans standing afar off,
but not lift up so much as his eyes onto heaven.
But he smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful
upon the sinner. And I said, that's Luke chapter eighteen,
verse thirteen. These are the signs of true repentance and
self knowledge. David the Prophet describes him as follows. A
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sacrifice on to God is a broken spirit, a heart
that is broken and humbled. God will not despise Psalm
chapter fifty, verse seventeen. The Pharisee prayed like any other person,
but a prayer like this, but a prayer like his,
with a spirit that is haughty and unaware of its sins.
As a prayer is offered to the demons and not
(23:26):
to God. He praise truly must be filled with compassion
for others and love, not judgment or sinners, for we
all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God.
The Pharisee took pride in this fasting. While the goal
of fasting is to break and humble the soul so
that it may advance in control over the bodily passions.
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The purification of our thoughts and the renunciation of our
earthly cares. He took pride in tithing and all his belongings.
While the goal of tithing is to trans form our
egotism into sensitivity to others and to free us from
the love of money, and that love of money is
the root of all evil. I hear people say that
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all the time mooney is the root of all evil. No,
the love of money is the root of all evil.
Just to be clear, this is the pharisee spirit that
is opposed by the humble spirit, a spirit that loves
Christ more than itself. This is the beginning of our
journey towards pasca. The Church teaches us through this parable
to a company fasting with humility, that we might grow
(24:35):
in the holy faith, self knowledge and awareness of our sins.
The goal of fasting is to heal the soul from
its corrupt desires, spiritual ailments, and perverse tendencies. But fasting
is sterile without focused prayer and heartfelt prayer doesn't exist
without humility, size and repentance. Now, there is a disease
(25:00):
in this in our church today. It's called the correctness disease.
And I want to read a quote from from Father
seraphrom Rose. Regarding this correctness disease, he says, there is
a there is a disease of today's Orthodox Christians which
can be deadly, the correct the correctness disease. If you
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are critical of others, self confident about your correctness, eager
to quote canons to prove someone else's wrong, constantly knowing
better than others, you have the germs of correctness disease.
These are signs of immaturity in your spiritual life. And
(25:42):
that was by Father seraphrom Rose of Platina. I want
to read a paper now that's very important. It was
written by Metropolitan Mikisldek of the Orthodox Church of You
through Pyrus. The meaning of the meaning of canonicity, which
seems us I just talked about this in Father Sarah
from Roses discourse on the Disease of correctness? What is
(26:06):
the meaning of canonicity? We have always held that the
essence of being Orthodox is following the teachings of Jesus
christis follows Hindo doomatic proclamations of the Seven Ecumenical Council,
being organized in an ecclesial body in spiritual communion, whether
formerly or not with all branches that have remained faithful
(26:29):
to the Orthodox Christian way of life in both teaching
and in practice, in the bishops holding uninterrupted succession. This
means that apostolic succession is always rooted in the Apostolic tradition,
not a mere independent laying on of hands. In all
due respect, being part of a particular branch or synned
(26:52):
or carrying of prestigious labels does not want make one
orthodox or canonical. This is especially so. This is especially
crucial as certain parts of Orthodoxy and modern times seem
to have changed the Orthodox understanding of canonical into a
new version of the papacy. Their definition of Orthodoxy is
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focused on being recognized, for instance, by the patriarch of Constantinople,
as if he were some sort of Eastern pope, whereas
there is no such rule in the entire canon law
the book we call all the rudder. They appear to
have adopted the corrupted Roman ecclesiology ecclesiology by making legitimacy
(27:41):
or canonicity dependent upon recognition by a particular patriarch or pope.
This neo papal concept has no historical precedence in Orthodoxy
and contradicts centuries of Easter in the tradition back to
the times of the Holy Apostles. It is as if
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being in communion with a particular segment of Orthodoxy, whether
patriarchal or not, somehow makes one orthodox seeking orly recognition
in the eyes of men and a fallen world. By
merely emphasizing the administrative legal entity of the Church instead
of true unity with Ortho praxis is spiritually detrimental, utterly
(28:28):
false in the not at all Orthodox. The forming of
self styled organizations in mutual recognition with the purpose of
denouncing others or in proclaiming themselves as the only legitimate
institutions exemplifies the grave sin of condemning one's brother and sister,
(28:48):
and that is the prayer of Saint Ephrium. So what
is our call in this situation? In order to remain faithful, loving,
and compassionate, we cannot join in such on Holy Day. Ever,
living the Orthodox faith must be most important to us.
Engaging in insults and others is contrary to the Holy
faith and most simple. Let us continue to live as sincere, compassionate, exclusive,
(29:15):
and welcoming Christians to who obey the Gospel commands. As
we invite those of goodwill to join us. We hope
and pray that the hearts of the worldly minded, through
the grace of God, will be transformed to understand what
being Orthodox means. In its essence, the truth shall be revealed.
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Where faith and practice prevail, there is Orthodoxy. The more
this is compromised, the more of the Orthodox way of
life is absent, despite any claims of legitimacy and the
spiritual walls that have been created through our official means
and worldly aspirations. This message was given at Seward, Nebraska
(29:59):
on the first they have made twenty two thousand and
two by Metropolitan the Kieseldeck is a metropolitan and hirearch
of the Orthodox Church of Pyrus. He also wrote another
paper called the Heresy of Recognition quest. The question is
who is recognized by whom can sometimes be challenging. It
(30:22):
all depends on more or less subjective opinions. The same
applies to any Orthodox jurisdiction, even outside Orthodoxy, such as
the Roman Catholic Church, which is not recognized by the
Catholic traditionalists. For example, the Ukrainian Orthodox World, similar to
the Greek Olkkan calendarism, is quite colorful and multifaceted. This
(30:45):
may indeed be confusing. Hence we have issued a Grammata
on canonicity to clarify such matters which I just read. Hence,
true Orthodoxy is not concerned about striving for recognition, especially
in the general administrative disumanity of Eastern Orthodoxy. We are
too conciliatory and paternal as to be focused on whether
(31:08):
or not our efforts are acknowledged by someone else. As
long as we are at a spiritual home where genuine
Orthodoxy is practiced, we will always be in the right place.
The Gospel truth is clear about this matter. It is
needless to point out that the so called organic connections
to selected patriarchates and never be a determining factor of
(31:32):
validity and Orthodoxy. This is a modern day heresy and
naturally not supported by patristic teaching, orthodox ecclesiology, and canon law. Thus,
the Greek State Church, which is under the under Constantinople Patriarchate,
would not recognize in writing the validity of the old
(31:53):
calendar jurisdiction. The Orthodox Church would not recognize Roman Catholic
orders even of the two, the extent that Orthodox people
may now receive Holy communion in Roman Catholic churches under
certain circumstances, and vice di versa, the Orthodox Church would
(32:13):
not recognize the validity of the Oriental churches, which are
in schism with all of the Byzantine patriarchs since the
fourth century and so forth. In regards to independent apathetic succession,
the truth is that when an Orthodox hierarch openly commits
radical acts in defiance, thus separating himself from his senate
(32:34):
or patriarch, church canons deny him validity only on the
ground that he had broken Orthodox apotholic succession, which is
intrinsically connected to Orthodox teaching and practice, but out on
the premise of administrative unity if he had otherwise remain Orthodox.
This differs from the Roman Catholic in otherwords, the Augustinian view,
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to which Eastern Orthodoxy does not hold. By virtue of
being in the One Holy Orthodox Church, all canonical jurisdictions
are naturally in communion. However, due to church politics, this
communion is not always expressed or explicitly recognized by each branch.
In all due respect, being part of a particular branch
(33:19):
or syned or carrying prestigious labels does not make one Orthodox.
This is especially crucial, crucial, as certain arts of Orthodoxy
in modern times seem to have changed the Orthodox understanding
of canonical into a new version of the papacy. Their
definition of Orthodoxy is focused on being recognized, for instance,
(33:41):
by the patriarch of Constantinople, as if we were some
sort of Eastern pope, whereas there is no such rule
in the entire canon law. They appear to have adopted
the corrupted Roman ecclesiology by making legitimacy or canonicity dependent
upon recognition by a particular patriarch or pope. This is
(34:02):
neo papal comnship that has no historical precedence in Orthodoxy
and contradicts centuries of Eastern tradition back to the time
of the Apostles. It is as if being in communion
with a particular segment of Orthodoxy, whether patriarchal or not,
somehow would make one Orthodox seeking worlly recognition in the
(34:24):
eyes of men and a fallen world. By merely emphasizing
the administrative legal entity of the Church instead of the
true unity and orthopractice is spioucely detrimental, utterly false, and
not at all Orthodox. From a spiritual aspect, the forming
of our of self. The forming of self style synods
(34:46):
in mutual recognition with the sole purpose of denouncing others
or in proclaiming themselves as an elite organization exemplifies the
grave sin of condemning one's brother and sister from the
prayer of Saint Ephrium, contrary to a worldly recognition. Here's
where our focus should be. One we reflect the love
(35:10):
of God to those around us, regardless of class, free race,
walk of life. Two, we strengthen and encourage the existence
and growth of community. Free we teach and practice the
Orthodox Christian faith as handed down by the Holy Church
throughout the ages. And four we are a place of peace,
(35:35):
healing and reconciliation. And that was a message written by
Metropolitan Maccasaldeck of the Orthodox Church of Pirates. So I
want to talk a little bit about these contemporary issues.
And one of the bones of contention is married bishops
(35:55):
in the Orthodox Church. And if you're a married bishop
are ignored. You're called the schismatic or apostate from the
true Faith and so forth. Well, apparently there's ignorance all
about going on here about this, because the Holy Apostle
Paul gave explicit in care clear direction in his epistles.
(36:17):
A bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife,
and again or ordained elders in every city, if any
be blameless, the husband of one wife or a bishop
must be blameless. The word blameless is best translated as irreproachable,
according to our can in law the Rudder. The Orthodox
Church agrees and is attested by Saint John Prsostem in
(36:40):
Canon twelve of the sixth Econmenical Council that the word
elders in the original means bishops alsha Bishops deal with
their wives. Art thou bound onto a wife, sheeat not
to be loosed, defraud deprived, Be not one another, except
to be with consent for a time that you they
give yourself to fasting and prayer, and come together again.
(37:04):
Let Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Vers Corinthians,
Chapter seven, verse five. Marriage is honorable, and the bed
is on the file is Hebrews tell us for a
bishop is for a bishop to shoun his wife would
make it apparent that he dishonors the marriage that he
thinks of intercourse to be impure. But the apostle calls
(37:27):
marriage honorable and intercourse on the file. During his Sermon
on the Mount, the Lord said, I say unto you
that whoever should puts away his wife, saving for the
cause of fornication, causes her to commit adulfree, and whoever
shall marry her, that is divorce, committeth adultrey. This is
(37:48):
from the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter five, verse
thirty two. Also the Lord said, whatever God is put together,
let not man put asunder. And by the clear testimony
of Holy Scripture, man who is married to one woman
may be a bishop, and he in his most grave
error if he shuns her bed or divorces her for
any reason, then fornication. Therefore, only the learned. Therefore, only
(38:12):
the unlearned could argue that Holy Scripture forbids the married
episcopate the bishops. Indeed, the manner in which the apostle
Paul writes in his epistles Verse Timothy chapter three, verse
two and Titus chapter one, verse five through seven, suggests
that he married episcopate was even normative. Further, the other
(38:33):
scriptures cited above make it unmistakably clear that any married man,
including a bishop, must respect and honor his marriage, including
intimate relations with his wife, and that is a grave
hera to divorce his wife or to entirely shun independent
relations with her. It is impossible to enforce as having
(38:54):
doctribal doctrinal significance any canon which actually conjued it the
book the clear meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Hence the
canons to which we ascribed are those are only and
truly consistent with the Holy Scriptures. Now we have a
book in the Church called the Rudder Medalion in the
(39:17):
Greek and their Sacred Canons, and there is eighty five
canons of the Holy renowned Apostles collected in this book
called the Rudder, And those which are considered by many
have been promigigated, promily iligated by the Holy Apostle themselves,
either by all of them, or perhaps only by Saint
Paul and Saint Peter through Clement, the Bishop of Rome.
(39:41):
These canons are the highest degree of importance to us,
being Apostolic in origin. First and first and most importantly,
Canon five of the eighty five Canons of the Holy Apostles,
which was cited earlier, Mason explicit and clear beyond any
honest argument that the ancient tradition of the Holy Church recognized, valued,
(40:02):
and positively promoted married bishops. Again, no bishop or presbytery
deacon shall put away his own wife under the pretext
of reverence. So it goes on and talks about mary bishops,
and the church today seems to scoff at married bishops,
saying you're non canonical. Well, there's too much evidence in
(40:24):
our church to the rudder the canon law to show
that bishops and should be married, not just be celibate.
So I want to look at this for a moment.
There's a scripture that I think I need to say.
It tells us to hold faster traditions which you have
been taught. Let him who is without sin cast the
(40:46):
first stone. So that's very dangerous when they start throwing stones,
that these married bishops saying you're non canonical, very dangerous.
In twenty sixteen, Suitedious Metroleaxis wrote an article named every
turned to tradition, the marriage of bishops and the Greek
Orthodox Church. In twenty sixteen early Church fathers who were married.
(41:08):
Saint Peter, the First Apostle, one of the first apostles,
had a wife, has remembered Jesus healed the mother in law. Also,
Saint Gregory of Nisa was married, Saint Gregory of Nnzazias
was married. Saint Spirito the bishop of Primethus, and Saint Denias,
Bishop of Potomias. They were all married and they are
(41:30):
well documented up until the twelfth century. The dispute of
married bishops could be nepotism, which means giving the title
to the son after the bishop reposes. We don't do this.
Another issue could be the property. Where does the property
go of a married bishop? Is to go to the spouse,
the surviving spouse or to the church. That the bishop
(41:51):
is married and he reposes, then where's the money go to?
The property? Were to go to the spouse of the church,
I would say to go to the spouse. So the
problem today and this is why I did this show
on modern phariseasm. The mainstream Orthodoxy does not accept married bishops.
They're viewed as maybe heretical, schismatics or even outcasts. Another
(42:13):
question is do married bishops have divine grace to serve
the holy mystery? When they consecrate the body of blood
of Christ. Are they truly consecrating aboudy in but of Christ?
Or is it just no grace, no divine grace to
do that? Do the lady follow the current tradition of
the thurgy without knowledge of history? And I say yes?
And we're now supposed to blindly follow that. We're supposed
(42:34):
to have knowledge, We're supposed to read and understand the
history of our church. Now. Back in July fourteenth of
nineteen ninety, the New York Times wrote an article called
Greek Orthodox Group facts married bishop And this is nineteen ninety.
At the time, Archibishop Ylchabus was the head of the
(42:56):
Greek Orthodox Church in America. He suggested that married clergy
be allowed to become bishops. What has happened to them?
Church theologians agree that the restrictions on married bishops the
matter of church discipline rather than doctrine. Therefore it can
be changed. Father Stepanoculis said that technically a case could
(43:19):
be made that the bishops of a self governing Orthodox
church like the Greek Orthodox had the right to institute
such a change. So those are open issues right now
with the Holy Orthodox Church. Do we throw out the
bishops with the bathwater, the married bishops or do we
keep them? Or do we try to understand church history
(43:40):
and look at the scriptures and also the rudder of
the canon law of our church. We need to we
need to be not have knowledge, because the scriptures tell
us my people are destroyed because they lack knowledge. So
we need to gain knowledge, not be ignorant. And that's
(44:03):
my radio show today on modern phariseasm Hothully. With God's grace,
those who are in that will come out of it
and be like I said, be like the publican and
not the Pharisees we heard in the Gospels. During our
preparation for Lent, in the name of the Father entered
the Son and the Holy s Glory me to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Thank you for listening to the Oh Glassome Light podcast.
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(00:21):
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Welcome to the Old Lansome Light Podcast. This program contains
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Well, welcome to the show. It's eleven o'clock Monday morning
and it's time for the Old Labsham Light Radio Show.
I'm your show host, Doctors. I have a degree a
doctor degree in Divinity and also known as Father Petros
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(01:13):
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a slogan here in this radio show blassom Light pairing
(01:56):
Souls for Heaven, Paring Souls for Heaven. Also broadcasting from
Saint Peter and Paul Orthodox Chapels in West Palm Beach.
Today show topic it's called modern day Pharisees, and that
show topic is going to make these modern day Pharisees upset.
(02:16):
But I'd have to do the show content of modern
day Pharisees today. So today is very easy and very
popular to do what seems right when people aren't watching
you what the Lord knows people are watching. In the
days of the Lord's ministry on Earth, there was a
sect called the Pharisees who were always watching to see
(02:38):
if you wash your hands before you ate, or if
you spoke to anyone who was on clean And then
the law of Moses had a ritual they had to
go through if they spoke to anybody who was on clean.
All this watching that they were doing was in order
to detect external virtues, which are false virtues only on
(02:59):
the outside, not true virtues of the heart. True virtues
of the heart are seen when no one is watching.
The true virtues of the heart are seeing by God,
not just when the Pharisees were watching. You definition of
integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching.
That's a pretty good definition I think of integrity doing
(03:22):
the right thing when no one is watching. Now, there
was a discussion between Christ and the scribes and the
Pharisees about purity in one of the Gospels. There we
witness the unbelief of the scribes and the Pharisees. We
witness also their love for argumentation, for discussion and quarreling.
We witness their arrogance, as also their pride. Now there
(03:46):
is a lesson we must learn from these modern day Pharisees.
We must not fall into that easy trap of crawling
around like a lion like the devil seeking someone to
judge and devour. You know, the mo of the devil
is to steal, still and destroy. Everything he does is negative.
(04:06):
And while I'm talking about devouring, let me read the
Galatians Chapter five, verses thirteen through eighteen. Chapter five, verses
thirteen through eighteen. A. Brethren, you have been called onto liberty.
Only use not liberty for nication to the flesh. But
you love, serve one another for all the law is
(04:28):
fulfilled in one word, even in this thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour
one another, take heed that you not be consumed one another.
Then I say, walk into spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh or the flesh lusses
(04:48):
against the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary to one another, so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would. But if you
are let by the spirit, you are not under the law.
And that's Relatians Chapter five, verses thirteen through eighteen. Also
one more scripture in Psalm one thirty three, verse one,
(05:11):
it tells us brothers are to be together. Brothers are
to be together, not separated from each other. They are
to dwell together. And I'm going to show you here
in this show what happens when there is that division
between the brothers of Christ. I'm talking about the modern
(05:32):
day Pharisees. Now, so we must not fall into the
habit and it is easy in which we also are
constantly looking for other people who have transgressed some law,
some rule, some measure of goodness, so we can hold
them accountable. It's called the gotcha clause. But Christian must
be different. Christian must have an entirely different perspective. Christian
(05:57):
must be looking for sins and transgressions one place, in
one place, only in his or her own heart. In
Matthew chapter seven, verse five, the Lord said, first cast
out to being out of thine own eye, then thou
shalt see clearly to cast out to mote of thy
(06:18):
brother's eye. And a lot of that's going on today,
and that's why I'm doing this show on modern day Pharisee. Now,
this technique here of being a modern day Pharisee is
really used by superficial people. But we Christians are must
strive not to be superficial. We must enter into the
depths of the heart or we can find Christ, and
(06:40):
Christ can change us if we let him. Remember, the
Lord says, the Kingdom of God is within you. And
this is the opposite of the Pharisees. This is the
humble path of the Christian life. So let me go
back and define. So who were the Pharisees in Jesus' time?
The Pharisees were a Jewish sect that existed in the
(07:01):
time of Christ and are mentioned in the New Testament.
Pharisees were a Jewish sect that practice in the Holy Land.
They were a social movement in school of thought that
emphasized strict adherence to the Law of Moses. Their beliefs
influence Ribbonic Judaism, which is still practiced today. So what
are the beliefs of these Pharisees. The Pharisees believed in
(07:25):
the resurrection of the dead and the afterlife. Contrary to
the Sadducees, they did not believe in the resurrection of
the dead, but the Pharisees did. They believed that God
created the world and chose Israel as his chosen people.
The Pharisees also believed that the Law of Moses contained ambiguities.
(07:46):
They tried to resolve by creating rules for every situation.
They believed that oral laws or traditions passed down by
the prophets like Moses, were holy, and they believed that
a messiah would come and bring peace and prosperity. Please
note this, So in Jesus Christ, the true Messiah, came,
they rejected him. They wanted another, or did they want another?
(08:09):
Or were they happy with their current status? You know,
they wanted the king to rule on the world and
to deliver them from the Roman boot of tyranny. That
Christ did not come to rule the earth. The place
he came to take care of the sin problem. And
also his kingdom is not of this realm, it's in heaven.
(08:33):
Little history on these Pharisees. They emerged as a distinct
group around one sixty five, one sixty before Christ. It
was shortly after the Maccabean revolt. They were a group
of laymen and scribes, separate from the Sadducees, who were
a party of the high priesthood. Their traditions became the
basis for Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of a second
(08:58):
temple in seventy eight. Now what is their legacy. The Pharisees.
Insistence on the binding force of oral tradition is still
a basic tenet of Jewish theological thought. The Pharisees are
often depicted in the Gospels as being hostile towards Jesus.
And why was that the Lord was bringing clarification to
(09:18):
the law of Moses. Jesus demonstrated mercy and compassion his
teachings and his actions. And also during Jesus' time, that's
his short time of ministry, because he was baptized by
John in the Jordan, and then he started his public ministry,
which is about three years of duration. And he started
(09:42):
to encounter the problems with the Pharisees. And so the
Lord came to them and proclaimed the seven woes. Woes,
the seven woes, keeping one of them is keeping people
out of the Kingdom of heavens, teaching hypocrisy to the converts,
(10:02):
practicing hypocrisy and tything, being blind guide to strain out gnats,
but swallow camels, being clean on the outside, but full
of greed and self indulgence inside, appearing righteous, but being
full of ungodly thoughts feelings, being sons of those who
murdered the prophets. So Jesus tried to call them out
(10:23):
he saw their hypocrisy. So jesus intent was to describe
how the Pharisees missed what they were aiming for. He
wanted them to feel sorrow and grief over their actions
and to decide to change their ways, in other words, repent,
but didn't go that way. Now, Jesus' condemnation of the
(10:44):
Pharisees was a denunciation of false religion as ugly abhorrent
to God. He was also warning to the teachers of
the law that they would be destroyed that they continued
in their present path. Jesus tried to instruct and provide
to them a pathway to repentance, but they rejected it.
(11:05):
So let's look at the difference between the Pharisees of
that time and having a heart for God, take heed
that you do not do your alms before men to
be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of
your Father, which is in heaven. These are the teachings
of Christ to the people and the Pharisees. And he says, therefore,
(11:29):
when thou doest thine arms, do not sound the trumpet
before thee, as the hypocrites do. In the synagogues and
in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Barely,
I say under you, they have their reward. But when
thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand is doing, that thy alms may be
(11:50):
in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly. And these sayings on these scriptures are
coming out Matthew chapter six. And he goes on. He says,
and when thou prayest, thou should not be as the
hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the
synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they
(12:12):
may be seen of men. Very last say on you,
they have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter
into thy closet, when thou hast shut the door, pray
to thy Father, which it's in secret, And thy Father,
which seeth in secret, shall reward the openly. Also from
Matthew chapter six. But when you pray, he use not
(12:32):
vain repetitions as the heathen do, for they think they
shall be heard for their much speaking. Look, the apostles
ask Christ, so how do we pray? And that's when
he taught him our Father, our Father, which are in heaven. Hell,
will be thy name, thy Kingdom. Come, Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
(12:54):
this their daily bread, and forgive us our deaths, as
we forgive our debtors, lead us down and do temptation,
but delivers from the evil one. For thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory of the Father
and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Men. Also
from Matthew chapter six, So if you forgive men their trespasses,
your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you
(13:17):
forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive
your trespasses. And also he goes on more over, when
you fast, be not those hypocrites of a said countenance,
For they disfigure their faces that they may appear onto
men too fast. Earlier I say under you, they have
their reward. But thou and thou fastest, anoint thy head
(13:40):
and wash thy face, that thou appear not onto mendo fast,
but onto thy Father, which is in secret. And thy
Father shall see it in secret and shall reward the openly.
Also from the Gospel of Matthew chapter six. Now he
says in Matthew seven. Not everyone that saith to me
(14:01):
lords go enter ends to the kingdom of heaven. But
he that do the will of my Father, which is
in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In
thy name cast out the devils, and in thy name
have done wonderful works? And then I will profess to
hontor them. I never knew you, depart from me that
(14:24):
you work iniquity. So the Lord didn't make friends with
the Pharisees. He did not make friends. He spoke truth
and they couldn't handle the truth. You earned that from
a movie, right, a few good men Jack Nicholson on
the stand in the courtroom. There he says, you can't
handle the truth. And the Pharisees apparently could not handle
(14:45):
the truth, and they came against Christ and eventually crucified him,
the lords of the next subject here is Phariseeism and
the worship of God. On these four stundies which precede
the Great Fast, also known as a preparation for the
Lenten season, the Church presents us with the fundamental principles
upon which we must build our forty day fast on
(15:08):
the first Sunday call the Sunday of the Public, and
the Pharisee. The parallel reveals to us the spirit with
which we must pray and pray during the upcoming fast.
The essential meaning of this passage revolves around two essential themes,
pride and conceit on the one hand, and humility and
(15:28):
repentance on the other. The first two are nothing but
rotten and fake worship of Christ, whereas the last two
are the foundations of salvation in Christ. Our salvation depends
on how we worship God. Our worship of God can
justify us, but it also can judge us. In the Church,
(15:50):
we worship the true God, but our worship can become
self centered. The Church, phariseasm has become a symbol for
pride and haughtiness. Some use it from moralistic point of
view to indicate epidemic in society. Others use it to
describe anyone who doesn't agree with their stance or their thoughts.
(16:11):
Rice rejected pharisaic pride and judged it not only because
pride destroys all virtue in the believer, but rather because
it destroys all sense of truth in him. The beginning
of pride appears in judging others, self justification and self righteousness.
Sin of self justification is the antithesis of repentance, if not.
(16:35):
It not only makes a man seem righteous in his
own eyes, but also feedes his egotism and attachment to
do his own thoughts and will. These serious passions are
availed over our spiritual eyes. It is precisely for this
reason that the Pharisee didn't see the need to seek
God's mercy and the forgiveness of his sins. And whoever
(16:58):
sees only his own right seas judges others easily and
despises them. This is why every fall in history and
every heresy that grew up in the world was primarily
caused by Pharisee pride and self righteous conviction. Man will
never humble himself and feel the weight of his sins
(17:19):
so long as he counts his feats and takes pride
in his great works. The enumeration of feats and taking
pride in them is the primary fuel for pride, and
most Christians live a sort of popular Christianity that feeds
the spirit of egotism. So the easy fall prey to
(17:40):
the passions of conceit being glory, pride, and even heresy.
Christ warned. Christ wanted to warn us from the fault
from falling into these deadly passions when he said, woe
unto you, when all men shall speak well of you.
That's Luke chapter six, verse twenty six. From the standpoint
(18:01):
of faith. True phariseeism comprises this darkness into which the
prideful soul falls, so that it no longer differentiates between
what is from the spirit of God and it is
from the spirit of the devil. The soul becomes unable
to discern truth from delusion. Only the humble are truly
(18:22):
spiritual because they obey the Church, its faith, and its canons,
and God grants them the gift of discernment and the
ability to separate which is true from false teachings that
disfigure this truth. These are the teachers and fathers of
the Church and the defenders of its faith. This is
(18:42):
a constant struggle between cursed pride and blessed humility. Blessed
humility Phariseeism, and obedience, self reliance and repentance. This struggle
will accrue as we advance towards the end. The sin
of Phariseeism is not that the soul strays from the truth,
(19:02):
but that it insists on its delusion despite being shown
the truth. Intimous leads others into the air while suggesting
that they're in the right Sursism is blindness to the
truth when the truth is fully present before us. Pursism
isn't the obstinate adherence to our orthodox faith and calling
false teachers heretics, but the pathological adherence to our own
(19:26):
personal convictions, which oppose the teachings of the Church and
stem from a worldly spirit and the instabilities of the
new Age. I know there's a lot of words here.
I'll tell you there's a lot of truth in these
statements that I'm making here the day on this radio show.
Price did not judge the sinner, but he himself judged
(19:47):
the heretic when he said that all blasphemies are forgiven,
that he shall blast him against the Holy Spirit. Hath
never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal DAMNAE that
comes out of the Gospel of Mark chapter three, verse
twenty nine. Our Holy Church Fathers understand unforgivable blasphemers. Blasphemers
(20:11):
as heretics and false teachers. How I can stop and
fix this? Hold on when I try to get this
go right? Here we go? Okay, I'm back now where
did I leave off at? Our Holy Fathers understand unforgivable
blasphemers as heretics and false teachers. Our Christ is the
Christ of the humble, who blesses what the Church blesses,
(20:34):
and anathematize what it anathematize. Such people commit no sin
against God, nor against men, nor against the faith, nor
against love. But love does not unify man can Love
does not unify mankind? Did you hear what I just said?
Love doesn't unify mankind. I'm going to explain that just
(20:54):
hang on. The Orthodox faith, which is the true worship
of God, is what unifies but unifies mankind in a
way that is internal and intimate. When they believe the
same faith, they become one. Love then seals this unity
through the participation in the one body and Blood of Christ,
(21:17):
which we call the Holy Eucharist. Whoever reads about the
path of the Church throughout the New Testament with a
humble mind clearly sees that it is a path with
a single faith which unites us to Jesus Christ, the
one true faith that resists all distorted and crooked teachings. Love,
as the Apostles of the New Testament use the term,
(21:39):
is nothing but an affirmation of this union with each
another and with God for those united by the One Faith,
which is activated by partaking of Christ's Holy body and
blood in the Eucharist. As for love that isn't built
on the one faith, it is but an external pharisaic love,
(22:00):
a hypocritical love, like the love that the Pharisee displayed
towards God and his fellow men in his prayer fasting
an almsgiving. The Pharisee thought he was justified by his works,
so he enumerated them and relied on them. But as
for the Publican, he relied on his faith in God.
The strength of that faith is revealed when he seeks
(22:21):
the mercy of God with such a contrite spirit. The
sincerity of man's faith is revealed by the frank confession
of his sin before his spiritual father in the Church,
and his faith is strengthened by seeking the mercy of
God with on wavering insistence. The scripture I want to
read and from this Publican and the Pharisee in Luke
(22:42):
chapter eighteen, verse thirteen. And the publicans standing afar off,
but not lift up so much as his eyes onto heaven.
But he smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful
upon the sinner. And I said, that's Luke chapter eighteen,
verse thirteen. These are the signs of true repentance and
self knowledge. David the Prophet describes him as follows. A
(23:04):
sacrifice on to God is a broken spirit, a heart
that is broken and humbled. God will not despise Psalm
chapter fifty, verse seventeen. The Pharisee prayed like any other person,
but a prayer like this, but a prayer like his,
with a spirit that is haughty and unaware of its sins.
As a prayer is offered to the demons and not
(23:26):
to God. He praise truly must be filled with compassion
for others and love, not judgment or sinners, for we
all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God.
The Pharisee took pride in this fasting. While the goal
of fasting is to break and humble the soul so
that it may advance in control over the bodily passions.
(23:49):
The purification of our thoughts and the renunciation of our
earthly cares. He took pride in tithing and all his belongings.
While the goal of tithing is to trans form our
egotism into sensitivity to others and to free us from
the love of money, and that love of money is
the root of all evil. I hear people say that
(24:11):
all the time mooney is the root of all evil. No,
the love of money is the root of all evil.
Just to be clear, this is the pharisee spirit that
is opposed by the humble spirit, a spirit that loves
Christ more than itself. This is the beginning of our
journey towards pasca. The Church teaches us through this parable
to a company fasting with humility, that we might grow
(24:35):
in the holy faith, self knowledge and awareness of our sins.
The goal of fasting is to heal the soul from
its corrupt desires, spiritual ailments, and perverse tendencies. But fasting
is sterile without focused prayer and heartfelt prayer doesn't exist
without humility, size and repentance. Now, there is a disease
(25:00):
in this in our church today. It's called the correctness disease.
And I want to read a quote from from Father
seraphrom Rose. Regarding this correctness disease, he says, there is
a there is a disease of today's Orthodox Christians which
can be deadly, the correct the correctness disease. If you
(25:21):
are critical of others, self confident about your correctness, eager
to quote canons to prove someone else's wrong, constantly knowing
better than others, you have the germs of correctness disease.
These are signs of immaturity in your spiritual life. And
(25:42):
that was by Father seraphrom Rose of Platina. I want
to read a paper now that's very important. It was
written by Metropolitan Mikisldek of the Orthodox Church of You
through Pyrus. The meaning of the meaning of canonicity, which
seems us I just talked about this in Father Sarah
from Roses discourse on the Disease of correctness? What is
(26:06):
the meaning of canonicity? We have always held that the
essence of being Orthodox is following the teachings of Jesus
christis follows Hindo doomatic proclamations of the Seven Ecumenical Council,
being organized in an ecclesial body in spiritual communion, whether
formerly or not with all branches that have remained faithful
(26:29):
to the Orthodox Christian way of life in both teaching
and in practice, in the bishops holding uninterrupted succession. This
means that apostolic succession is always rooted in the Apostolic tradition,
not a mere independent laying on of hands. In all
due respect, being part of a particular branch or synned
(26:52):
or carrying of prestigious labels does not want make one
orthodox or canonical. This is especially so. This is especially
crucial as certain parts of Orthodoxy and modern times seem
to have changed the Orthodox understanding of canonical into a
new version of the papacy. Their definition of Orthodoxy is
(27:14):
focused on being recognized, for instance, by the patriarch of Constantinople,
as if he were some sort of Eastern pope, whereas
there is no such rule in the entire canon law
the book we call all the rudder. They appear to
have adopted the corrupted Roman ecclesiology ecclesiology by making legitimacy
(27:41):
or canonicity dependent upon recognition by a particular patriarch or pope.
This neo papal concept has no historical precedence in Orthodoxy
and contradicts centuries of Easter in the tradition back to
the times of the Holy Apostles. It is as if
(28:02):
being in communion with a particular segment of Orthodoxy, whether
patriarchal or not, somehow makes one orthodox seeking orly recognition
in the eyes of men and a fallen world. By
merely emphasizing the administrative legal entity of the Church instead
of true unity with Ortho praxis is spiritually detrimental, utterly
(28:28):
false in the not at all Orthodox. The forming of
self styled organizations in mutual recognition with the purpose of
denouncing others or in proclaiming themselves as the only legitimate
institutions exemplifies the grave sin of condemning one's brother and sister,
(28:48):
and that is the prayer of Saint Ephrium. So what
is our call in this situation? In order to remain faithful, loving,
and compassionate, we cannot join in such on Holy Day. Ever,
living the Orthodox faith must be most important to us.
Engaging in insults and others is contrary to the Holy
faith and most simple. Let us continue to live as sincere, compassionate, exclusive,
(29:15):
and welcoming Christians to who obey the Gospel commands. As
we invite those of goodwill to join us. We hope
and pray that the hearts of the worldly minded, through
the grace of God, will be transformed to understand what
being Orthodox means. In its essence, the truth shall be revealed.
(29:35):
Where faith and practice prevail, there is Orthodoxy. The more
this is compromised, the more of the Orthodox way of
life is absent, despite any claims of legitimacy and the
spiritual walls that have been created through our official means
and worldly aspirations. This message was given at Seward, Nebraska
(29:59):
on the first they have made twenty two thousand and
two by Metropolitan the Kieseldeck is a metropolitan and hirearch
of the Orthodox Church of Pyrus. He also wrote another
paper called the Heresy of Recognition quest. The question is
who is recognized by whom can sometimes be challenging. It
(30:22):
all depends on more or less subjective opinions. The same
applies to any Orthodox jurisdiction, even outside Orthodoxy, such as
the Roman Catholic Church, which is not recognized by the
Catholic traditionalists. For example, the Ukrainian Orthodox World, similar to
the Greek Olkkan calendarism, is quite colorful and multifaceted. This
(30:45):
may indeed be confusing. Hence we have issued a Grammata
on canonicity to clarify such matters which I just read. Hence,
true Orthodoxy is not concerned about striving for recognition, especially
in the general administrative disumanity of Eastern Orthodoxy. We are
too conciliatory and paternal as to be focused on whether
(31:08):
or not our efforts are acknowledged by someone else. As
long as we are at a spiritual home where genuine
Orthodoxy is practiced, we will always be in the right place.
The Gospel truth is clear about this matter. It is
needless to point out that the so called organic connections
to selected patriarchates and never be a determining factor of
(31:32):
validity and Orthodoxy. This is a modern day heresy and
naturally not supported by patristic teaching, orthodox ecclesiology, and canon law. Thus,
the Greek State Church, which is under the under Constantinople Patriarchate,
would not recognize in writing the validity of the old
(31:53):
calendar jurisdiction. The Orthodox Church would not recognize Roman Catholic
orders even of the two, the extent that Orthodox people
may now receive Holy communion in Roman Catholic churches under
certain circumstances, and vice di versa, the Orthodox Church would
(32:13):
not recognize the validity of the Oriental churches, which are
in schism with all of the Byzantine patriarchs since the
fourth century and so forth. In regards to independent apathetic succession,
the truth is that when an Orthodox hierarch openly commits
radical acts in defiance, thus separating himself from his senate
(32:34):
or patriarch, church canons deny him validity only on the
ground that he had broken Orthodox apotholic succession, which is
intrinsically connected to Orthodox teaching and practice, but out on
the premise of administrative unity if he had otherwise remain Orthodox.
This differs from the Roman Catholic in otherwords, the Augustinian view,
(32:58):
to which Eastern Orthodoxy does not hold. By virtue of
being in the One Holy Orthodox Church, all canonical jurisdictions
are naturally in communion. However, due to church politics, this
communion is not always expressed or explicitly recognized by each branch.
In all due respect, being part of a particular branch
(33:19):
or syned or carrying prestigious labels does not make one Orthodox.
This is especially crucial, crucial, as certain arts of Orthodoxy
in modern times seem to have changed the Orthodox understanding
of canonical into a new version of the papacy. Their
definition of Orthodoxy is focused on being recognized, for instance,
(33:41):
by the patriarch of Constantinople, as if we were some
sort of Eastern pope, whereas there is no such rule
in the entire canon law. They appear to have adopted
the corrupted Roman ecclesiology by making legitimacy or canonicity dependent
upon recognition by a particular patriarch or pope. This is
(34:02):
neo papal comnship that has no historical precedence in Orthodoxy
and contradicts centuries of Eastern tradition back to the time
of the Apostles. It is as if being in communion
with a particular segment of Orthodoxy, whether patriarchal or not,
somehow would make one Orthodox seeking worlly recognition in the
(34:24):
eyes of men and a fallen world. By merely emphasizing
the administrative legal entity of the Church instead of the
true unity and orthopractice is spioucely detrimental, utterly false, and
not at all Orthodox. From a spiritual aspect, the forming
of our of self. The forming of self style synods
(34:46):
in mutual recognition with the sole purpose of denouncing others
or in proclaiming themselves as an elite organization exemplifies the
grave sin of condemning one's brother and sister from the
prayer of Saint Ephrium, contrary to a worldly recognition. Here's
where our focus should be. One we reflect the love
(35:10):
of God to those around us, regardless of class, free race,
walk of life. Two, we strengthen and encourage the existence
and growth of community. Free we teach and practice the
Orthodox Christian faith as handed down by the Holy Church
throughout the ages. And four we are a place of peace,
(35:35):
healing and reconciliation. And that was a message written by
Metropolitan Maccasaldeck of the Orthodox Church of Pirates. So I
want to talk a little bit about these contemporary issues.
And one of the bones of contention is married bishops
(35:55):
in the Orthodox Church. And if you're a married bishop
are ignored. You're called the schismatic or apostate from the
true Faith and so forth. Well, apparently there's ignorance all
about going on here about this, because the Holy Apostle
Paul gave explicit in care clear direction in his epistles.
(36:17):
A bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife,
and again or ordained elders in every city, if any
be blameless, the husband of one wife or a bishop
must be blameless. The word blameless is best translated as irreproachable,
according to our can in law the Rudder. The Orthodox
Church agrees and is attested by Saint John Prsostem in
(36:40):
Canon twelve of the sixth Econmenical Council that the word
elders in the original means bishops alsha Bishops deal with
their wives. Art thou bound onto a wife, sheeat not
to be loosed, defraud deprived, Be not one another, except
to be with consent for a time that you they
give yourself to fasting and prayer, and come together again.
(37:04):
Let Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Vers Corinthians,
Chapter seven, verse five. Marriage is honorable, and the bed
is on the file is Hebrews tell us for a
bishop is for a bishop to shoun his wife would
make it apparent that he dishonors the marriage that he
thinks of intercourse to be impure. But the apostle calls
(37:27):
marriage honorable and intercourse on the file. During his Sermon
on the Mount, the Lord said, I say unto you
that whoever should puts away his wife, saving for the
cause of fornication, causes her to commit adulfree, and whoever
shall marry her, that is divorce, committeth adultrey. This is
(37:48):
from the Sermon on the Mount Matthew chapter five, verse
thirty two. Also the Lord said, whatever God is put together,
let not man put asunder. And by the clear testimony
of Holy Scripture, man who is married to one woman
may be a bishop, and he in his most grave
error if he shuns her bed or divorces her for
any reason, then fornication. Therefore, only the learned. Therefore, only
(38:12):
the unlearned could argue that Holy Scripture forbids the married
episcopate the bishops. Indeed, the manner in which the apostle
Paul writes in his epistles Verse Timothy chapter three, verse
two and Titus chapter one, verse five through seven, suggests
that he married episcopate was even normative. Further, the other
(38:33):
scriptures cited above make it unmistakably clear that any married man,
including a bishop, must respect and honor his marriage, including
intimate relations with his wife, and that is a grave
hera to divorce his wife or to entirely shun independent
relations with her. It is impossible to enforce as having
(38:54):
doctribal doctrinal significance any canon which actually conjued it the
book the clear meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Hence the
canons to which we ascribed are those are only and
truly consistent with the Holy Scriptures. Now we have a
book in the Church called the Rudder Medalion in the
(39:17):
Greek and their Sacred Canons, and there is eighty five
canons of the Holy renowned Apostles collected in this book
called the Rudder, And those which are considered by many
have been promigigated, promily iligated by the Holy Apostle themselves,
either by all of them, or perhaps only by Saint
Paul and Saint Peter through Clement, the Bishop of Rome.
(39:41):
These canons are the highest degree of importance to us,
being Apostolic in origin. First and first and most importantly,
Canon five of the eighty five Canons of the Holy Apostles,
which was cited earlier, Mason explicit and clear beyond any
honest argument that the ancient tradition of the Holy Church recognized, valued,
(40:02):
and positively promoted married bishops. Again, no bishop or presbytery
deacon shall put away his own wife under the pretext
of reverence. So it goes on and talks about mary bishops,
and the church today seems to scoff at married bishops,
saying you're non canonical. Well, there's too much evidence in
(40:24):
our church to the rudder the canon law to show
that bishops and should be married, not just be celibate.
So I want to look at this for a moment.
There's a scripture that I think I need to say.
It tells us to hold faster traditions which you have
been taught. Let him who is without sin cast the
(40:46):
first stone. So that's very dangerous when they start throwing stones,
that these married bishops saying you're non canonical, very dangerous.
In twenty sixteen, Suitedious Metroleaxis wrote an article named every
turned to tradition, the marriage of bishops and the Greek
Orthodox Church. In twenty sixteen early Church fathers who were married.
(41:08):
Saint Peter, the First Apostle, one of the first apostles,
had a wife, has remembered Jesus healed the mother in law. Also,
Saint Gregory of Nisa was married, Saint Gregory of Nnzazias
was married. Saint Spirito the bishop of Primethus, and Saint Denias,
Bishop of Potomias. They were all married and they are
(41:30):
well documented up until the twelfth century. The dispute of
married bishops could be nepotism, which means giving the title
to the son after the bishop reposes. We don't do this.
Another issue could be the property. Where does the property
go of a married bishop? Is to go to the spouse,
the surviving spouse or to the church. That the bishop
(41:51):
is married and he reposes, then where's the money go to?
The property? Were to go to the spouse of the church,
I would say to go to the spouse. So the
problem today and this is why I did this show
on modern phariseasm. The mainstream Orthodoxy does not accept married bishops.
They're viewed as maybe heretical, schismatics or even outcasts. Another
(42:13):
question is do married bishops have divine grace to serve
the holy mystery? When they consecrate the body of blood
of Christ. Are they truly consecrating aboudy in but of Christ?
Or is it just no grace, no divine grace to
do that? Do the lady follow the current tradition of
the thurgy without knowledge of history? And I say yes?
And we're now supposed to blindly follow that. We're supposed
(42:34):
to have knowledge, We're supposed to read and understand the
history of our church. Now. Back in July fourteenth of
nineteen ninety, the New York Times wrote an article called
Greek Orthodox Group facts married bishop And this is nineteen ninety.
At the time, Archibishop Ylchabus was the head of the
(42:56):
Greek Orthodox Church in America. He suggested that married clergy
be allowed to become bishops. What has happened to them?
Church theologians agree that the restrictions on married bishops the
matter of church discipline rather than doctrine. Therefore it can
be changed. Father Stepanoculis said that technically a case could
(43:19):
be made that the bishops of a self governing Orthodox
church like the Greek Orthodox had the right to institute
such a change. So those are open issues right now
with the Holy Orthodox Church. Do we throw out the
bishops with the bathwater, the married bishops or do we
keep them? Or do we try to understand church history
(43:40):
and look at the scriptures and also the rudder of
the canon law of our church. We need to we
need to be not have knowledge, because the scriptures tell
us my people are destroyed because they lack knowledge. So
we need to gain knowledge, not be ignorant. And that's
(44:03):
my radio show today on modern phariseasm Hothully. With God's grace,
those who are in that will come out of it
and be like I said, be like the publican and
not the Pharisees we heard in the Gospels. During our
preparation for Lent, in the name of the Father entered
the Son and the Holy s Glory me to Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Thank you for listening to the Oh Glassome Light podcast.
We hope this program is encourage you to fight the
good fight of faith and walk in the accordance with
the commandments of our Lord. May God bless you on
your journey to salvation.
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