“For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.”

Here the Word of God highlights the example of Abraham. The preceding verse reads, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” And the following verse continues, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Here the meaning of righteousness is more like ‘justification’. Man does unspeakable injustice to God by sinning. The holiness of God is infinite, and so an insult to God deserves the highest punishment.

We should pray in such way as to pull down the strongholds of the forces of darkness and to lift up the mountains of demons in our territory, so that the Holy Spirit may descend, God may show His power, send His blessing, the kingdom of God may come into human souls, and a spiritual breakthrough and change may take place. When and how shall it come?! Let us leave it to the Lord; what we need to do is stand in faith and not doubt in prayer. Then on the Day of Judgment our prayers will become manifest – it will be revealed how we prayed:

What did the Prophet Elijah say when the fire of the Lord fell on Mount Carmel and consumed the burnt sacrifice? “I have done all these things at Your word.” Nothing more and nothing less. But we often want to add something, because we like it that way, or on the other hand we think that something is extreme. However, God wants us to learn obedience through small things; He teaches us to walk in the Spirit, to follow Christ. Jesus says: “Follow Me.” (Lk 5:27), and He also says: “Father, My food is to do Your will.” Whose will do I do? My own – as the mood takes me? Or the will of a spirit of jealousy, anger, revenge, mammon or an unclean spirit? Who do I serve? Myself? We should be the servants of the Most High! Our victory is with Him! And it does not matter at all whether someone kills us in the fight or withdraws us from the battle. We do not care. We only care about one thing: seeking and doing God’s will. And then… as the Apostle Paul says: “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness … and not for me only…”

“…whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith.

This was to show God’s righteousness, because in His divine forbearance

He had passed over former sins.”

Whom did God put forward? Jesus Christ, His Son.

For what purpose? As a propitiation.

How? By His blood.

For whose sake? For the sake of all who will receive it by faith.

How did God show His righteousness? By the forgiveness of sins.

Let us realize that God forgives our sins because Jesus became a propitiation.The condition on our part is the faith in Christ who is the Saviour, the Son of God, who paid the just price for my sins by His blood and obtained the forgiveness for me.

13 October 2017

This year marks the centenary of the apparition at Fatima. What preceded it and what followed it?

The 18^th century saw the rise of the Enlightenment. The continuation of the Enlightenment in the 19^th century was Modernism. It resulted in the destruction of the fundamental truths of Christianity – apostasy in the Church.

St Pius X issued an encyclical and imposed an anti-Modernist oath. Some of the bishops, priests and theologians who were Modernists consciously rejected those measures.

After the death of Pius X, the first success of the Masons was the installation of Pope Benedict XV (G. della Chiesa, 1914-1922). He enabled again the development of Modernism in the Church. In 1917, the Blessed Virgin appeared several times to children at Fatima, Portugal. She called for repentance. Benedict’s successors were Popes Pius XI (1922-1939), Pius XII (1939-1958), and then John XXIII (A. G. Roncalli, 1958-1963).

(Biblical lectures for the Women’s Third Order
of the Contemplative Monastery of St. Elias the Prophet)
Part 1.1.

Part 2.1.

+ Elijah
Patriarch of the Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate

21 October 2017

At a critical moment at the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the King of Poland intervened with his troops, and Europe was saved from the crescent rule!

Faced with current Islamization, the Poles turned to God for help by the prayer of the Rosary. The government subsequently quitted a credit line from the IMF and refused to implement migrant quotas! At the same time, however, Archbishop Wojciech Polak abused his pastoral authority with a gross lie and opposed the authority of God! He threatened to exclude every priest who protects the faith and the nation. Let the punishment by which he threatens fall on him. Let him be excluded!

Jesus says: “You must be ready, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming.” This is the greatest wisdom – to be ready for death. For we do not know whether or not something bad will happen – we can develop cancer or have a car accident and launch into eternity. We know neither the day nor the hour. We do not know when we will meet our Lord face to face. But we must be mindful of it. We know that it will come. We must not delay our conversion. We must begin today, as God’s Word says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” To delay repentance until death is foolishness. Certainly, there have been some people who were converted in the hour of death, but this is an exception. To rely on it is a RISK! To lose eternal life is something frightful!

Christians say that they believe they will once stand before the judgment seat of God but they live as if the judgment, heaven and hell was a mere myth.

The greatest power is the almighty power of God. By His almighty power God created the whole universe out of nothing – millions of stars, our Earth… By the almighty power of God Christ was raised from death. And He gives us a share in this power; He gives us His authority – “in My name”. We cannot act in our name, demons would laugh at us. When a policeman in a uniform waves at a driver on the road, everyone has to respect him and stop. If someone else waves, the driver is not bound to respect it and he can go on. The policeman has power – authority.

«All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

being justified freely by His grace

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.»

Here the Word of God says clearly that all have sinned. Naturally, little children cannot sin because they are not able to discern sin; however, they are already programmed for sin and it is only a question of time before it manifests itself. It means that all have been infected with the spiritual poison of original sin and, as a consequence, all fall short of the glory of God. This is a sad reality. But there is another reality too. The reality of God’s love. God has given His Son for our salvation. So we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Let us confess like Peter: “Lord, I have sinned!” What was the encounter of Peter with the risen Jesus like? Why did Jesus not appear e.g. to John? Why did He appear to Peter who had betrayed Him, denied Him with an oath? Peter sinned out of weakness but he loved Jesus sincerely. And Jesus gave him a chance. Peter confessed: “Lord, I have betrayed You.” And then Jesus asked him: “Do you love Me?” He answered: “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Even if your sins are many, Jesus asks if you love Him and if you believe Him; if you believe that He died for you and took all your sins on Himself. That is the main thing. Therefore, confess to Him: “Jesus, You are the Lord of my life. You are my Saviour. You died on the cross for me. Your blood was shed for my sake, that my sins may be forgiven. You also deliver me from the bondage of original sin, from the chains which are in me.”

When we are to fight, we need to know who we fight against. We do not fight against a dead territory – factories, airports, arms depots… We do not fight against any physical, i.e. dead energies but we fight against the kosmokratoras – spiritual forces, intellectual evil beings, who have spiritual power. But they too must bow to God’s Majesty, to the Word of God. To the Word of God spoken through His faithful servants. They must bow whether they like it or not. However, the Word of God must be spoken in faith, with no doubting. For the Apostle James says: “He who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” (Jam 1:6) Jesus says: “Do not doubt but believe!” In what? Not in our own strength, our skills or experience… Yes, we need to have experience and we can use it in the fight, but the main thing is to have a connection to the “centre” – to Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

And immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was

healed, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was healed, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

Jesus healed a man who had been sick for 38 years. It happened in Jerusalem near the pool called Bethesda. Jesus first asked him: “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered sadly: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” When the sick man described his situation of complete helplessness, Jesus said to him: “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was healed, took up his bed and walked. Jesus showed His divine power here. He spoke a word and the man was healed. Behind the word of Jesus is not only His will but His divine power too. On the part of the sick man, one can see an attitude of the obedience of faith; he took up his bed and walked, carrying his bed, although that day was the Sabbath. He thus came into conflict with the Jews, who said to him: “It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”