The Last Judgment, Viktor Vasnetsov, 1904
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12). Those who follow Christ need much patience. It takes great strength to keep God’s commandments and remain faithful to Christ. God gives this strength to those who entreat it from Him. To whom does God give power? Those who desire it. We have no power, so what do we have? We have freedom. “Give God your intention and receive strength from Him,” the Holy Fathers say. Tell God your desire: “Lord, I want to follow You; I want to be with You.” And God will give you strength in response to your request; He’ll give you strength to remain faithful to the end. If you don’t make it to the end, it means your intentions and will were infirm, uncertain, not as they should be for you to have the strength to go all the way.
And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them (Rev. 14:13). All who die in the Lord, who are faithful to the Lord, who are united with the Lord for the sake of love of Him, are blessed and happy. “Yes, indeed it is so,” says the Holy Spirit. After all, now they’ll find peace from their labors, and their righteous, holy deeds will follow them. The death of the righteous is blessed. For them, death is rest from the labors and struggles of earthly life. But good and holy deeds will follow them; they’ll be their advocate before God for them to enter the Kingdom of God. Those who have done good deeds will be followed by their good deeds.
And if we’ve done evil deeds, then unfortunately we’ll take our malice, cunning, and hatred with us. The only thing we won’t take is our money. But unfortunately, we’ll take our avarice, malice, ill-will, greed, and unbelief. And our deeds will condemn us. Why? Because we won’t have any good deeds to justify us. Then we’ll realize that we’ve remained barren, and without good deeds we won’t find rest in the Kingdom of God.
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped (Rev. 14:14–16). The Apostle John sees a new picture before him: a white cloud on which is one “like the Son of Man.” This is Christ, the Son of Man. And on His head—a golden crown; and in His hands—a sickle.
Another angel comes out of the temple and exclaims in a loud voice, addressing the Son of Man Who is wearing a gold crown and holding a sickle: Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
The time has come to gather the harvest of all the earth. The One sitting on the cloud took out a sickle and began to reap the harvest, gathering everyone to Himself. What will He do with all this? He’ll keep the wheat and use it, but as the Gospel says, He’ll take the weeds and tares and throw them into the unquenchable fire to burn.
Vision of the Lord sitting on a cloud with a sickle in His right hand, 17th C. In the parable of the tares, Christ says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who went to the field and sowed wheat, good seed. Then someone else came and sowed tares. They grew and blossomed. The workers saw them and told the lord: “What is this? Someone sowed weeds in the field. Let’s go pull them out.” But the lord said to leave them to grow with the wheat. After all, when you tear up the weeds, there’s the danger of pulling up the wheat too. When the time comes to gather the harvest, then He’ll divide one from the other: The wheat will be placed in granaries and the weeds will be burned (cf. Mt. 13:24–30).
In Revelation, this parable about the Kingdom of God is confirmed when the Lord reaps the harvest at the end of human history, separating the wheat from the chaff, from those who created intrigues and scandals, who sowed problems and temptations in the field of the Church. Christ warns us to be very careful that when we remove the tares we not pull up the wheat and thereby cause great harm. Let us trust God. God will reap the harvest at the end of time, separate the good wheat from the chaff, give to everyone justly and make everything clear.
And another angel came out of the temple which is in Heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe (Rev. 14:17–18). Another angel comes out from the altar. He has great power over fire. He addresses the angel with a sharp sickle and loudly orders him to thrust in the sharp sickle to harvest the ripe grapes.
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs (Rev. 14:19–20). All the grapes that were harvested were trampled. Blood flowed from the winepress up to the horses’ bridles, stretching 1,600 furlongs—another picture showing that this is the case of the Last Judgment, when everything will become clear and everyone will receive according to his deeds. Everyone reaps and will receive what he’s done in his life: either good, holy deeds, or sinful. Man will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven or be separated from it into eternal torment, separated from God.
With this ends chapter 14. Let’s go ahead with any questions.
—How will people be able to distinguish the signs and wonders shown by the evil one from those worked by the saints?
—The most reliable criterion is the Church. The Church of Christ is the criterion of truth. When someone shows a sign, it’s not automatically from God. The demons can show signs too. It says there that the beast will perform miracles by the dozen. Do you remember in the Old Testament when Moses, as a messenger from God, went to Pharaoh and performed signs, while the magicians worked their own signs at the same time? The New Testament says that the devil will appear in the form of an angel of light and seduce men. What is happening and doesn’t bear the mark of the Church, of the presence of Christ, of faith in Christ and the energy of the Holy Spirit is doubtful and unclear. The antichrist and his minions and followers will fight the Church; they’ll be outside the Church and against it, against Christ.
Preaching of the Antichrist, Luca Signorelli, 1499
Therefore, the most reliable criterion is the Church. We might start saying: “Aren’t those who will work miracles good people?” Yes, they’ll seem like good people, they’ll seem helpful, perhaps they’ll do things that mankind needs. But the reliable criterion is the Church. That’s how we’ll know where there’s deception and where Divine grace is truly present: with Christ and the Church.
—Won’t there be people in the Church who can delude us?
—Of course, there will also be such people within the Church. But they won’t be true members of the Church—they’ll be deceived. This happens from time to time: Bishops, priests, patriarchs, and ascetics have been deluded. But the Church isn’t just some people. The Church is all the people. The Church isn’t just people, but also the teaching, Tradition, experience, the presence of Christ—all of this makes up the Church of Christ. It’s absolutely sure that there will be delusions in the Church. The Apostolic epistles speak of such people: They went out from us, but they were not of us (1 Jn. 2:19). They will bring evil into the world. What did the heretics do? Who were they? Were they not people of the Church? They were clerics, bishops, patriarchs, but became heretics and shook the Church for many years. For example, Arius was a presbyter of the Church. Being clergy isn’t a guarantee that you’re not dangerous.
How many times have we publicly spoken about those who come in sheep’s clothing but are themselves filled with evil; who put on the clothing of a priest, bishop, monk, but are essentially predatory wolves. It’s not enough to be a monk, priest, or bishop—this alone doesn’t make you an ecclesiastical person. Many priests and bishops have fallen. Who was the first bishop of the Church? The Pope of Rome. And he fell. He separated from the Church and dragged many down with him.
St. Justin (Popović) believed there were three tragic falls for mankind: the fall of Adam, the first man, that of Christ’s disciple Judas, and that of the Pope of Rome, who separated from the Church, became a heretic and heresiarch, and led a large portion of Christians away with him. Do you see what’s happening because of this, how much we have to endure? It doesn’t mean we hate this man. We love him, although we don’t know him. But the first bishop of the Church separated himself; he fell. And many other monks, bishops, and patriarchs became heretics, such as Eutyches and Nestorius. It’s not enough to accept ordination or tonsure. In our days, you have to be attentive. There are many such cases.
About a week ago, a man came here, a fake priest, dressed in clerical clothing, whom no one had ordained. He started wearing a riassa and vestments himself, went to the Old Calendarists, gained the trust of their archimandrite, and started acting like he was some important figure. Simple people come to him, even bishops and metropolitans from Thessaloniki and Athens, but there’s no grace of the priesthood with such people. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, anything can happen. There are such deluded people in Limassol. And although it’s an unpleasant position, we must say that this man is in spiritual delusion and that we have to stay away from him.
The False Prophet and the Crowd, 1270
One said he’s an Athonite, a monk, but he’s neither an Athonite nor a monk at all. Some ordinary people started believing him, and unfortunately, they don’t listen to us when we say he’s deluded. What can we do? Let’s be careful. Christ told us to be attentive so as not to be deceived in the last days. It’s possible that even the elect will be deceived. Don’t run wherever you hear that a monk has arrived from the Holy Mountain, a monk from Jerusalem, an elder from somewhere. That’s not how it is. Elders, ascetics and prophets aren’t people of the internet. Their pockets aren’t full and their arms aren’t outstretched. They’re humble people who live in obedience to the Church, within the Church. We must say: “Beware this man, beware that one.” For there are many phenomena: Such are the times we live in.
—Geronda, it’s worrying that even the elect can be deceived. Millions have been deceived along with the Pope of Rome. Who can we talk to in the last times when the Antichrist comes?
—God will also give people the Church in the last days, which will show us the way. At all times, God has those who please Him, those who will resist and hold the banner of the Church high. Don’t be afraid! God will take care of us. He won’t leave the Church helpless, He won’t give it into the hands of satan. May it never be so! Only those who want to be deceived will be deceived, those who are inclined toward delusions and lies. But those who don’t wish to go astray and wish to remain faithful to Christ, who want to follow Christ out of pure love for Him and for the Church won’t be deceived. God won’t abandon us, won’t allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. He knows that our powers are limited. He won’t leave us to perish in the hands of the devil. Don’t worry—we won’t be lost.