John_for_Christ,
Totally agree, and thanks for the encouragement! I must say that about 15 years ago I became so disenchanted with the protestant churches (and believe me I tried them all, all over the country), that I just stopped attending them and when on a 'search' for a couple of years. I was searching for a church that never changes it's values, never waivers from it's origional teaching, and seems like it's comfortable in it's own skin. I eventually discovered the Orthodox Church and spent a long time going over their info and fell in love. I've never been sooo happy to be a part of a church as I am now. It's a huge comfort to me because I like the tradition, the style or worship, and the steadfastness of their doctrine. I only wish I could attend more than I get to but that's what happens when you live in a rural area-everything is far away.
Anyway, this is what I was reading this morning, and is quite interesting to me (taken from The Raputre and the Orthodox Church (Archive) - Mohachos.net Discussion Community), see what you think:
The end times are not to be feared, but rather embraced as the will of God as prophesied in the Bible. Christian Faith is about love, "for there is no fear in love, and perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). The conclusion of the end times will result in God establishing His eternal Kingdom with beauty and peace that surpasses understanding, as described in Revelations: 21 & 22.
The idea behind a "secret rapture" before the second coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ "taking away Christians" before the Apocalypse of our Blessed Apostle St. John unravel is a 17th Century Protestant interpretation of St. Pauls letter.
Father David Moser11-05-2010, 06:02 PM
Rev 20:2-8
20:1-3 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan. and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a Seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
After the defeat of Antichrist, 8t. John saw an angel descending from heaven who had a key to the abyss and a great chain in his hand. This angel "laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent...and bound him a thousand years..." St. Andrew of Caesarea interprets this passage in this way: by this "thousand years" one must understand the whole time from the incarnation of Christ to the coming of Antichrist. With the coming of the Incarnate Son of God on earth - and in particular from the moment of His redemption of mankind through His death on the Cross-Satan was bound, paganism was cast down, and there came upon earth the thousand-year reign of Christ. The thousand-year Kingdom of Christ on earth is to be understood as the victory of Christianity over paganism and the establishment on earth of the Church of Christ. The definite number one thousand is used here in place of an indefinite number, signifying the long period of time until the Second Coming of Christ.
20:4 And I saw thrones. and they sat upon them. and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus. and for the word of God. and which had not worshiped the beast. neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived with Christ a thousand years.
This picture symbolically depicts the kingdom of the Christian faith after the overthrow of paganism. Those who have assumed judgment and sit on the thrones are all Christians who have attained salvation. for to them has been given the promise of the Kingdom and the glory of Christ (I Th 2:12). From this choir the holy Seer of Mysteries singles out in particular "those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God," that is, the holy martyrs. St. John says. "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded." From this it is clear that these saints who participate in the thousand-year reign of Christ are reigning with Christ and performing judgment not on earth but in heaven, for it speaks here only concerning their souls which are not yet united with their bodies. From these words it is evident that the Saints take part in the governing of the Church of Christ on earth. and therefore it is natural and proper to appeal to them with prayers, asking their intercession before Christ with Whom they reign.
"And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." Their "living" is of a moral and spiritual nature. The holy Seer of Mysteries calls this "the first resurrection" (verse 5). while further on he speaks of the second bodily resurrection. This reigning of the Saints with Christ will continue until the final victory over the dark impious powers under Antichrist.. Then the resurrection of bodies will occur, and the last frightful Judgment will begin. when the souls of the Saints will be reunited with their bodies and will reign with Christ forever.
20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
The expression "lived not again" means the dark and difficult condition of the souls of the impious sinners after bodily death. It continues "until the thousand years were finished." As in many other places in Sacred Scripture, this particle "until" (in Greek eos ) does not signify the continuation of an action only to a certain boundary: on the contrary, it is a complete denial of any limit (see, for example, Matt. 1:25). In other words, it means that the impious dead are denied forever the blessed life.
20:6 Blessed and holy is He that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ. and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
"From the divine Scripture we know that there are two lives and two deaths: the first life is temporal and fleshly because of the transgression of the commandments, while the second is the eternal life promised to the saints for the keeping of the divine commandments. Corresponding to these there are two kinds of death: one fleshly and temporal, and the other eternal as chastisement for sins, which is the fiery gehenna. Consequently, it is understood that if here on earth one has lived in Christ Jesus and has come before Him after the first death (that is, bodily death) with fervent faith in Him and filled with His grace, then one has no need to fear the second death, that is, the fiery gehenna" (Saint Andrew).
These first six verses of the twentieth chapter of the Apocalypse have served as a pretext for the development of a false teaching concerning the "thousand-year reign of Christ on earth" which has received the name of Chiliasm. In essence it teaches that not long before the end of the world. Christ the Saviour will come again to earth, defeat Antichrist, resurrect the righteous, and make a new kingdom on earth. As a reward for their struggles and sufferings, the righteous will reign together with Christ for the course of a thousand years. and will enjoy all the good things of temporal life. Only then will there follow the second. universal resurrection of the dead, the universal judgment, and the general giving of eternal rewards. This teaching is known in two forms. Some say that Christ will restore Jerusalem in all its beauty and reinitiate the fulfillment of Moses' ritual law with all its sacrifices; and that the blessedness of the righteous will consist in all manner of sensual enjoyments. In the first century this teaching was held by the heretic Cerinthus and other judaizing heretics: the Ebionites. the Montanists. and in the fourth century by the Apollinarians. Others, on the contrary, have affirmed that this blessedness will consist in purely spiritual delights. In this latter form, chiliastic ideas were expressed first by Papias of Hieropolis; later they are to be found in the holy Martyr Justin, in St. lrenaeus. in Hippolytus. Methodius and Lactantius. In recent times it has been revived with certain peculiarities by the Anabaptists, the followers of Swedenborg, the Illuminati and Adventists. One must be aware, however, that neither in its first nor in its second form can the teaching of Chiliasm be accepted by an Orthodox Christian for the following reasons:
1. According to the chiliast teaching, the resurrection of the dead will take place twice: the first, a thousand years before the end of the world-when only the righteous will be resurrected; and the second. at the very end of the world, when sinners also will be resurrected. However, Christ the Saviour clearly taught only one universal resurrection of the dead. when both the righteous and the sinners will be resurrected and all will receive their final recompense (John 6:39-40; Matt. 13;37-43).
2. The Word of God speaks of only two comings of Christ in the world: the first in lowliness, when He came to redeem us; and the second in glory. when He will appear to judge the living and the dead. Chiliasm introduces one more-a third coming of Christ a thousand years before the end of the world. The Word of God knows no such thing.
3. The Word of God teaches only of two kingdoms of Christ: the Kingdom of Grace which will continue until the end of the world (I Cor. 15:23-26). and the Kingdom of Glory which will begin after the Last Judgment and will have no end (Luke 1:33; II Peter 1:11). Chiliasm, however, allows yet a third, as it were a middle kingdom of Christ. which will last only a thousand years.
4. The teaching of a sensual kingdom of Christ clearly contradicts the Word of God. according to which the Kingdom of God is not "food and drink" (Rom. 14:17); in the resurrection of the dead they do not marry nor give oaths (Matt. 22:30); the rights of the laws of Moses had only a prefiguring significance and were forever done away with by the more perfect New Testament law (Acts 15:23-30; Rom. 6:14; Gal. 5:6; Heb. 10:1)
Certain ancient teachers of the Church - Justin, Irenaeus and Methodius - held Chiliasm only as a personal opinion. At the same time there were those who decidedly rose up against it such as Caius the Presbyter of Rome. St. Dionysius of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. Epiphanius. Blessed Jerome, and Blessed Augustine. To hold Chiliasm even as a private opinion was no longer permissible after the Church, at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381, condemned the teaching of the heretic Apollinarius concerning the thousand-year reign of Christ. At the same time this was confirmed by the introduction into the Symbol of Faith of the words "of His Kingdom there will be no end."
One must likewise know that the Apocalypse is a book which is profoundly mystical. and therefore to understand and interpret literally the prophecies contained in it-especially if such a literal understanding contradicts other passages of Sacred Scripture - is entirely opposed to the rules of hermeneutics. In such cases, it is correct to seek in perplexing passages a metaphorical or allegorical meaning.
20:7-8 And when the thousand years are expired.. Satan will be loosed out of his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog. to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
By the "loosing of Satan out of his prison" is to be understood the appearance of Antichrist before the end of the world. The liberated Satan will strive in the person of Antichrist to deceive all the nations of the earth, and will raise up Gog and Magog in battle against the Christian Church. St. Andrew says: "Some people think that Gag and Magog are the northern and most remote Scythian peoples or, as we call them, Huns, the most militant and numerous peoples of the earth. They are restrained from taking possession of the whole world only by the Divine right hand until the liberation of the devil. Others, translating from the Hebrew, say that Gog signifies 'one who gathers' or 'a gathering', and that Magog signifies 'one who is exalted' or 'exaltation'. And so, these names signify either a gathering of peoples or their exaltation. One must suppose that these names are used in a metaphorical sense to denote those fierce hordes who, at the end of the world, will arm themselves under the leadership of Antichrist against the Church of Christ."
From The Apocalypse of St John; An Orthodox Commentary compiled by Archbishop Averky (himself a great luminary of the faith).
Fr David
I know there are some English services, though it is kind of neat how they keep their home languages in their services very often even here in the West.