Spritual Man

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Pope Shenouda III

The

Spiritual Man

by

His Holiness Pope Shenouda III


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The Spiritual Man

Copyrigh t 1998 by COPT

Coptic Orthod ox Publication and Translation

Postal Add ress:

PO Box 631

KOGARAH NSW 1485

SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

All rights reserved.

Title: The Spiritual Man

Author: His Holiness Pope Shenouda III

ISBN: 0 908000 28 6

Translated by: Em ile & Ram za Bassiliou sEdited by: COPT

Printed in Au stralia

First Edition 1998

Published by

C.O.P.T.


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Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, King of Kings and

Lord of lords


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His Holiness Pope Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandriaand Patriarch of the See of Saint Mark


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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 6

1. THE IMAGE OF GOD ........................................................................... 9

2. PUTS GOD FIRST IN ALL HIS CONCERNS....................................... 19

3. AMONG HIS QUALITIES: DEPTH ...................................................... 29

4. HIS HEART IS WITH GOD .................................................................. 40

5. A STRONG MAN ................................................................................. 49

6. DOES NOT DEPEND ON HIS HUMAN HAND ................................... 76

7. IN THE CONCEPT OF REST AND LABOUR ...................................... 85

8. LIVES BY THE SPIRIT, NOT BY THE LETTER .................................112

9. BETWEEN THE SPIRIT, THE SOUL AND THE FLESH .................... 123

10. AMONG HIS QUALITIES: SELF-CONTROL..................................... 138


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11. LIVES: ABOVE THE LEVEL OF WHAT IS SEEN .............................. 147

12. HAS THE INTEGRAL PERSONALITY .............................................. 156

13. AMONG HIS QUALITIES: PROSPERITY ........................................ 167

14. LIVES ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLE:IF WE LIVE, WE LIVE TO THE LORD ............................................ 178

15. THE LIFE OF VICTORY AND TRIUMPH........................................... 188

INDEX ................................................................................................ 205


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INTRODUCTION

Many v arious and separa te lectu res were given at the Cathed ral, St

Marks hall at Anba Reweis and at Alexand ria ... but remained unassembled

under one topic.

Then we selected about tw enty lectures to comp ile this book under the

title The Spiritual Man.

Perhaps such a su bject might cover the w hole life and therefore in-

clud es all the spiritual lectures. How ever, in th is book we wanted to talk

to you ab out b asics, wh ich contain man y d etails...

Each item of these details might need a special book.

Other subjects which relate to the Spiritual Man w ere covered by books

previously issued such as . The Life Of Faith, The Life Of Thanksgiving,

Hope, Being With God, The Life Of Repentance And Purity, The Spir-

itual Wake and Holy Zeal...

About the qualities of the Spiritual Man, I will try to issue books on them

this year su ch as Love, Fruit of the Spirit, Fear of God, Hu mbleness, Meek-ness... also The Spiritual Means w hich m ust be followed by every sp ir-

itual p erson...

And other topics wh ich m ight app ear in Part two of this book .

However, in this book I wanted to talk about the basics, or some of these

basics, leaving out what w e previously published ...

The book in you r hand s is the outcome of lectures, some of which w eregiven in the sixties, some in th e seventies and eighties... It was Gods will

that they were assembled together from these years. Also, they were pu b-

lished in serial weekly articles in Watany new spap er. Then we compiled

them in this book.

Here, they are pu blished in a concise way. Perhap s some of these top-

ics may be re-printed in a special book or booklet.


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Pope Shenouda III

This book was printedon

The Feast of the Apostles

1998.

Now, dear reader, I leave you amid the pages of this book.

In you r reading of each topic, I would like you to m emorize some ofthe Bible verses men tioned th erein, to form sp iritual principles that would

become firmly established in you .

Such verses remind you of the facts relating to them, wh ich rep resent

spiritual p rinciples by w hich you lead your life... You will find many verses

in each top ic; select w hat m oves your heart, easy to m emorize and take it a

sphere for contemplation.

Till we meet again in Part Two.

Please pray that God gives me time.

Pope Shenoud a III


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The Image of God

CHAPTER 1

THE SPIRITUAL MAN:

THE IMAGE OF GOD


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THE IMAGE OF GOD

Perhaps this question is addressed to every person:

Who are you? What is man?

Some wou ld answer:

Man is a body, soul and spirit.

Another wou ld answer :

Man is a living, sensible, talking, free, wishfu l creatu re.

Others say - with a sense of hu mility - that Man is dust and ashes, as

our father Abraham said about himself (Gen 18:27).

All this is said abou t any m an, then wh at is the accurate answer? We

say it is the definition of the Spiritual Man accord ing to the Holy Bible:

HE IS THE IMAGE OF GOD

This is what God said in the History of Creation: Let us make man in our

image, according to our likeness. So God created man in His own image; in the

image of God He created him. (Gen 1:26,27).

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Perhaps m an in h is divine image was wh at ph ilosopher Diogenes was

searching for, or wh at the intellectuals mean by the word Superm an.

Of course, by the d ivine image, it is not meant that man resembles God

in H is Divine qu alities, such as eternity, infinity and the p ower to create!Not to be though t of! But it means the relative qualities such as:

THE CREATION OF MAN IN THE IMAGE OF GOD IN

PURITY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

The spiritual man - before the fall - was innocent and simple. He did

not know sin at all. I mean ou r parents Adam and Eve before the fall, when

they were both naked an d w ere not ashamed. (Gen 2:25). They have not

yet eaten from the tree of life and therefore they d id not know evil. They

were like the innocent child ren, wh om Jesus loved and said , Assuredly, I


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say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no

means enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mt 18:3).

The serpent deceived and lied to our m other Eve who d id not doubt the

serpents word s because she d id not know lying, deceit or susp icion. Suchwords were not in her intellectual dictionary at that time.

MAN WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD IN

HOLINESS:

Ind eed how beautiful w ere the times w hen Ad am an d Eve were holy

before the fall. Bu t, what happen ed w as that by sin m an lost his holiness

and accord ingly he lost his divine image.

Man became captive to a strange d ua lity w hich still accompan ies him:

good and evil, lawful and un lawful and what follows that of life and death.

Thus, God said to h im: I have set before you today life and good, death and evil...

blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that you may live (Deut 30:15-19).

And as man lost his d ivine image by the loss of holiness, he lost pu rity

and simplicity and also lost the knowledge of his d ivine image...

Then came Th e Lord Jesus Christ the image of t he invisible God (Col

1:15) and returned to us, by H is incarnation, the im age of God to try and

be similar to it...

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How can the spiritual man reach such image? The beloved St John said:

He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked (1 Jn

2:6). By this, God selected His saints... to be conform ed to the image of HisSon (Rom 8:29). If man acted u p accordingly on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ

- in th e general resur rection - will transform our lowly body that it may be con-

formed to His glorious body (Phil 3:21).

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As regard s the return to the image of God in h oliness, the Lord says:

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy (Lev 11:45). And again repeated it in

(Lev 20:26). Also, St Peter the Apostle adapted the same ph rase when h e

said:


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But as He w ho called y ou is holy , you also be holy in all y our con-

duct (1 Pet 1:15).

And added: Be holy, for I am holy (1 Pet 1:16), namely, return to your

d ivine image...

By th is holiness we are w orthy to p artake in th e Divine Sacram ents...

and it is said: the holies are for the holies. We call the Mass at w hich the

congregation receives Communion Liturgy of the Holies... By holiness, the

believers prep are for Holy Comm union and also by which they are sancti-

fied. What a beautifu l ph rase which Samuel the Proph et said to the hou se

of Jesse when he chose David as a King, Sanctify yourselves and come with me

to the sacrifice (1 Sam 16:5). Here we ask:

HOW IS THE SPIRITUAL MAN CALLED A SAINT?

+ He is a saint because he is created in the image of God, according to

His likeness.

+ He is a saint because he is the temp le of God and the Sp irit of God

dwells in him. (1 Cor 3:16). It is imp ossible that the Spirit of God dwells in

an un clean temp le. It is said: Holiness adorns your house, O Lord, for ever (Ps 93:5).

+ Sup posedly, he is a saint for being a son to God . The Bible says, Who-

ever is born of God does not sin... and the wicked one does not touch him (1 Jn

5:18) And he cannot sin, because he has been born of God (1 Jn 3:9).

+ He is a saint because of the Divine Sacraments working in h im.

He is a saint by the sacrament of Baptism in which ... our old man was cruci-fied with Him (Rom 6:6). His sins were washed away (Acts 22:16), through

the washing of regeneration and renew ing of the Holy Spirit (Tit 3:5). He is

a saint by th e sacram ent of Repentan ce in w hich his sins are forgiven and

the sacrament of the Eucharist by which he abides in Christ and Christ abides

in h im (Jn 6:56).

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+ He is a saint because he is a mem ber in the b ody of Christ (1 Cor

6:15).

And as the Body of Christ is holy and he is a member in it, he must be

holy, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what com-munion has light with darkness? (2 Cor 6:14). In the days of the Apostles, the

believers were called saints. The phrase called to be saints w as repeated

in the Epistles of St Paul (Rom 1:7), (1 Cor 1:2), (Eph 1:4), (Col 1:22). In h is

Epistle to the Ph ilipp ians, he says: Greet every saint in Christ Jesus (Phil

4:21).

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MAN WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD INPERFECTION

Naturally we mean the relative perfection as to what th e spiritual man

can achieve in h is struggle accord ing to h is abilities and the extent of the

work of grace in h im. But the full perfection belongs to God alone.

It was said about Job the Righteous that He was blameless and upright

(Job 1:8). It w as also said: N oah was a just man, perfect in his generations(Gen 6:9). God said to our father Abraham: Walk before Me and be blameless

(Gen 17:10). And the Lord said in the Sermon on the Mount :

Therefore, you shall be perfect , just as y our Fat her in heaven is per-

fect (Mt 5:48).

And the Lord Jesus Christ, in each stage of His life was perfect, during

His incarnation on earth. So He showed us how to be in the Divine image in

the periods of our childhood, boyhood, youth and manhood.

Then, we must seek perfection in order to be an image of God and fulfil

His comm and ment to us...

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We also say when God created m an in H is image, H e did not create

him in His image only, in holiness, righteousness and perfection, but ...


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GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS IMAGE IN AUTHORITY:

The Lord said : Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have

dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing

that moves on the earth (Gen 1:28)...

God gran ted the same blessing to our father Noah after the ark rested:

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on

every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth and on all the fish of the sea (Gen

9:2).

When m an w as in the image of God, he was kin g and m aster of the

creation .

And when he lost the divine image, the creation started to rebel against

him ... the serpent shall bruise his heel (Gen 3:15) and When you till the ground,

it shall no longer yield its strength to you (Gen 4:12). And m an began to hunt

animals and beasts began to kill man , who lost his respect when he lost his

d ivine image...

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ALSO GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS IMAGE IN

STRENGTH:

The spiritual man is a strong p erson an d I do not m ean the samsonic

bodily strength, but I mean the strong personality: strength of the spirit,

though t, will and endurance, strength to combat diabolic wars and spiritual

struggle. Also, strong m orals: the spiritual man d oes not shake, fear, hesi-

tate or let the thoughts of despair and failure rule over him.

He who is in the image of God n ever fears.

In th is, David the Prophet said: Though an army should encamp against

me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this I will be

confident (Ps 27:3). Who is fearful is not in the image of God, therefore the

coward ly will not en ter the kingd om (Rev 21:8). Ad am , after the fall, was

afraid (Gen 3:10). And Cain, after he sinned, was over taken by horror (Gen

4:14 , because both lost the d ivine image.


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The saints and prophets gave a profound illustration of having no fear.

St Anth ony first lived in a grave an d he d id n ot fear the w arfares of

Satan. He was not afraid wh en the devils appeared to him in the shap e of

beasts, screaming in horrible sounds and attacking him.

The martyrs d id not fear all the threats and tortures of the rulers. Daniel

the Prophet d id not fear the lions den and the three youth d id not fear the

burning fiery furnace.

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AND HE WHO IS IN THE IMAGE OF GOD IS ALWAYS

SUCCESSFUL:

And therefore a failu re or an u nsu ccessfu l person is not the image of

God because the one who is in the image of God: He shall be like a tree planted

by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruits in its season and whatever he does

shall prosper (Ps 1:3). It is also said about the Upright Joseph : The Lord was

with Joseph and he was a successful man (Gen 39:2).

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AND HE WHO IS IN THE IMAGE OF GOD MUST BEHUMBLE:

Indeed , God is the sole humble One in the accurate und erstand ing of

the word , because as He is the high in the highest, comes down to our level,

deals with us, talks with us and listens to our p rayers. But m an also can be

humble according to his level. At least he knows h imself being dust and ashes

and should not take to himself the though ts and manners of pride, haughti-

ness and vain glory. The hum ble man scares the devils because they see in

him the image of the humble God wh en He mad e Himself of no repu tation

(Phil 2:7). But, the proud m an is dep rived of the divine image.


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THE SPIRITUAL MAN IS IN THE IMAGE OF GOD IN

MANY QUALITIES:

Among the attributes of God is love and he w ho is in the image of God

must be loving like Him: and who abides in love abides in God and God in him

(1 Jn 4:16). He is gentle and lowly in heart and w ants us to learn from Him

(Mt 11:29). Likewise in other virtu es... God is the light of the world (Jn 8:12).

He is the tru e light (Jn 1:9). He also called u s: You are the light of the world

(Mt 5:14), considering th at we are in His image and likeness.

The Lord said: I am the good shepherd (Jn 10:11). And at the same time,

H e Him self gave some to be p astors (Eph 4:11). And although H e is the

teacher - and He was called so - yet He gave som e to be teachers (Mt 28:19,20).

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Some said th at God created m an in His image in H is incarnation. Of

course He knew the image He will take wh en He came to our salvation, so

He created us in H is image and likeness...

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God w ants us to be like Him, in H is image, even at w ork, to walk in H is

way, to have His same will: On earth as it is in heaven. (Lk 11:2) . We speak

as if God is speaking in our mouths. We utter His words: For it is not you

who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Mt 10:20) . In our

actions, ... also to walk just as He walked (Jn 2:6) and d o His work. In all that

we do, we ask ourselves first: If the Lord Christ was in our p lace, would H e

do tha t ?... And in all our life, whoever sees us w ill say: Truly, they are the

children of God, they are like their Father, as real sons to H im...

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The message of the children of God is to carry the image of God in them-

selves to the world, whoever sees them knows God and loves Him because

he loved His image.

Whoever sees them in their love, calmness, integral personalities and

living examp les, glorify their Father in heaven. The Lord Christ ascended to

heaven ... but H e left H is image in H is Disciples to be carried from genera-

tion to generation with His teachings.


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Some may ask: How can m an be in the image of God w hile God alone

is un limited? Is man in His image in this too?!

The answer: Man is definitely limited and cannot be like God w ho is

un limited. How ever, God who created h im in His image put inside him thelonging to all that is unlimited. From here, man has the ambition and a lso

the grow th and lack of satisfaction . He continually forgets those things which

are behind an d reaches forward to those things which are ahead, pressing

toward s the goal for the prize (Phil 3:13-14)...

Natu rally m an, wh o is in th e image of God, wou ld h ave the spiritual

ambition and growth and not the ambition in materialistic and worldly mat-

ters.

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The second question: How can m an be in the image of God and God is

Creator?

Of course God is the sole creator, bu t also He gave man th e gift of in-

vention and creative thinking, which constantly produce new things which

were not available before... But the d ifference is that God creates from noth-

ing and m an uses what God created to make a new thing.

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I CAN ALSO SAY THAT WE ARE THE IMAGE OF GOD

IN TRINITARIANISM AND MONOTHEISM

Man is a self with a m ind and a spirit , and the self, mind and spirit areone being. In this, he is the image of God who is Self, Mind and Spirit and

all three are On e.

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Finally, I say: As long as we are the image of God, we should keep this

image and strive not to be the image of the world.

I wond er at those who w ant to copy the p eople of the world in every-

thing so that they are called modern and not backward . We should be wisein this matter as St Paul the Apostle says:

And do not be conformed to this world... (Rom 12:2).

Which m eans do not be like it, as your image is much better than that

of the w orld, you are the image of God and St John the Apostle says: In this

the children of God are manifest. (1 Jn 3:10) . Therefore it is not righ t for the

spiritual man to copy the peop le of the world, but be an example to them,

light to the w orld in whom they see the image of God an d love it...

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The sp iritual man comp ares himself to the Divine Image and constantly

asks himself: Where am I now and how far have I reached?

In the happy eternity there is one image, God and those who are in H is

image. But those who are not in H is image will be cast out into outer dark-

ness.

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Brethren, you w ere not created to be just d ust and ashes because God

created you to give you H is glory, so that your beauty becomes perfect

throu gh the splendour bestowed on you ( Ezek 16:14).

St Pau l the Apostle, w hen he w anted to clarify this picture, said in aph rase w hich also needs clarification:

For as many as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ . (Gal 3:27).

What is the meaning of have pu t on Christ?

Do I stand before it as an explainer , or stand in astonishment and amaze-

ment ... before the image of God...?

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Puts God first in all his concerns

THE SPIRITUAL MAN:

PUTS GOD FIRST IN ALLHIS CONCERNS

CHAPTER 2


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PUTS GOD FIRST IN ALL HIS

CONCERNS

References: (Is 44:6 - Rev 1: 84:7 - Rev 12:6 - Rev 22:13)

God is always the first. He said about Himself: I am the First and the

Last. (Rev 22:13).

And as God is th e first, He cared ab out th e first fruit of things and

asked for them and gave us the comm and men t of the first fruit, its offer-

ing an d blessing...

He said :Sanctify to me all the first-born whatever opens the womb. It is mine

(Ex 13:2) . Also, the firstling of cattle and sheep, the first-fruits of your labours

from the field ...you shall bring a sheaf of the first-fruit of your harvest, (Lev 23:

10) even the shearing of the sheep.

The Lord God d id n ot requ ire the first-fruit only bu t he blessed them

too...

Everything to H im is blessed and sanctified and so H e said: Sanctify to

me all the first-born . God blessed the first-born : he has the blessing, the

birthright, the share of two of his brothers, the headship of the family after

his father and th e priesthood, before Aarons priesthood.

The feeling of whoever gave the first fruits was that God comes first...

The prod uce of his land , the offspr ing of his sheep and cattle and also

the first-born w ere all to God an d not to man, and he w as glad that God is

the first to take.

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So, if we look at the first comm and men t, we find it belongs to God ...

Yet it is not on ly the first comm and ment, but a lso the first four com-

mand ments, all the command ments of the first tablet concern God. The com-

mandments of the second tablet relate to human relations, because God comes

first.


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Likewise love is directed to God first, then later to peop le...

The first comm andment of all is: And you shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.

This is the first commandment. And the second , like it is this: You shall loveyour neighbour as yourself. (Mk 12:30-31). So God is first...

Because love is for God first, the Lord said: He who loves father or mother

more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me

is not worthy to me (Mt 10:37).

Even th e soul d oes not come first, but God ...

And so He said that for the sake of God you have to deny yourself andfollow Him. He also said: He who finds his life will lose it, and who loses his life

for My sake will find it (Mt 10:39).

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The Spiritual Man pu ts God first in h is life and h is concerns .

No interests to h inder his love for God, or receive priority in his life....

The Lord Christ said to Martha: You are worried and troubled about many

things. But one thing is needed (Lk 10:41).

But Mary has chosen the good part and looked after H im.

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And you m y brother, wh at is your concern? What are the p riorities inyour life? According to your p riorities, so would be your work and your

will.

People differ in their interests as Martha and Mary. Marys concern was

with His love, sitting at His feet and listening to Him..

On e became a m odel for service and the other a model for contemp la-

tion.


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The Spiritual Man

A few - like St Paul the Apostle- hold the two things. The pastors looked

after the service and the monks were interested in the life of contemplation.

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IS GOD THE FIRST IN YOUR LIFE?

In order to un derstand this question, we pu t before us the story of our

father Abraham to w hom God gave a son in his old age. And wh en he re-

joiced in him , the Lord God sa id to him : Take now your son, your only son

Isaac, whom you love and offer him to Me as a burnt offering (Gen 22:2).

How did our father Abraham act? He did n ot think tw ice but put God

first, and his feelings as a father last. Also the feelings of Sarah, the m other

of Isaac. God is the first ,we love Him and obey Him, then comes Isaac who

never p recedes God . The Lord wants h im as a burnt offering so the Lord s

comm and mu st be enforced promp tly and with content.

Also, the story of Hannah, the mother of Samu el, who was given a child

after years of being barren, praying and weeping. But she pu t God first, and

gave the child Samuel to serve the Lord in the temple.

It is a lesson to every moth er wh o refrains from giving her son to God

to serve Him .

Whether he w anted to become a m onk or a p riest... God is first and the

m otherly emotions com e second or th ird. H ow ever, it is ap p rop riate to

present this son with joy.

This is also a lesson to every w ife wh ose husband is called for priest-hood . It is not right tha t she says: the service will preoccup y him and keep

him aw ay from me and from home!!! But it is proper that she presents him

to the Lord and says: God is first.

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The Spiritual Man m akes God first in obedience...


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And says with the Apostle: We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts

5:29). The commandments of God first, then peoples request , then ou r w ishes

and personal requests. The spiritual Man m akes obed ience to men in th e

bound s of his obedience to God. But, if it contrad icts with it, God ought to

be obeyed first.

And as he pu ts God first, he p laces himself last and never looks at

h imself at all...

Consider the story of John the Baptist, who w hen Christ appeared, he

aband oned his service, his glory, his preaching and his d isciples too, and

handed th e bride to the bridegroom an d stood afar rejoicing as a friend of

the bridegroom , saying: He must increase, but I must decrease (Jn 3:30).

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THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS FULLY CONCERNED

WITH OTHERS AND WITH THE KINGDOM OF GOD:

He went about doing good (Acts 10:38)Preaching the gospel of the king-

dom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people(Mt 4:23). He had compassion on all, and satisfied all from His delight... He

preached good tid ings to the poor; liberty to the captives and the opening of

the p rison to those wh o are bou nd (Is 61:1) .

In the meantime He did not care about h imself, and h as nowh ere to lay

his head . (Lk 9:58).

He did not care about his dignity when a Samaritan village rejected H im.

He rebuked his disciples who commanded that fire comes dow n from heavenand consum e that village, and said to them: You do not know what manner of

spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy mens lives but to save

them (Lk 9: 51-56).

Even on the cross, His whole concern was the salvation of men and for-

giveness for those who crucified Him, and the parad ise to the thief. He also

cared for His Mother, the Virgin St Mary and His Disciple St John .

And you , what is you r first concern? Is it yourself?!!


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The Sp iritual Man comes ou t of the self circle, to care abou t others,

in a sp iritual w ay ...

Care from the depth of the heart, in w hich his service reaches high lev-

els of giving and sacrifice, to the extent of giving the self too. He sacrificeshis comfort for the comfort of others.

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SOMETIMES, ALL MANS INTEREST IS TO REACH A

CERTAIN OBJECTIVE:

And it might not be a spiritual objective, bu t to prove the existence ofthe self...

To reach this point, he does not care about the m eans: spiritual or non-

spiritua l... It does not w orry h im if it is a hu man or w orldly trick or sinful

ways... The whole concentrat ion is how to reach th e objective even if this

man ru ins himself... Similar to what king Ahab d id to take the vineyard of

Naboth the Jezreelite and what Queen Jezebel did so that her hu sband would

reach his aim, even by crime, false accusation of Naboth and false witnesses....

And they both received pun ishment for what they did (1 Kings 21).

Also, what Rebekah d id so that her son receives the blessing of his fa-

ther. The purpose was spiritual , yet the concentration on it mad e them lose

the good means and so they used deceitful ways (Gen 27).

2 2 2

Likewise, a servan t might care to fill the m inds of his listeners w ith in-

formation without giving attention to how they grow in their spiritual lives....His only interest is in the information not the sp iritualities.

Or a father w ho gives his children w ord s from the Bible to memorize

and does not care about the spiritual exercises that d eepen their relationship

with God . The H oly Bible says, These you ought to have done, without leaving

the others undone (Mt23:23).

Anoth er person in th e service, his goal is how to fill the chu rch w ith

people and he does not care about their getting to God. He might even turn

to worldly means!


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Some sects give financial and social subsides to attract those who are in

need , taking th em away from th eir churches! Their m ain interest is not in

the kingd om, bu t to increase their num ber, even at th e exp ense of other

churches.

2 2 2

Now, we ask ourselves, what is our main concern?

Our Lord Jesus Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount:

But seek first t he k ingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6:33).

There is a problem that we find in the spen ding an d projects of somechurches...

Most of the mon ey they spent on bu ilding an d construction w orks or

the beau tification and d ecoration of the chu rch with icons and expensive

chand eliers. The chu rch council or the pr iests do not show the same interest

to the service of the needy or to the neighbour ing d istricts or even th e spir-

itual service in the chu rch itself... Unfortuna tely, all the interest is concen-

trated on the bu ild ing and the decor..

2 2 2

THE SAME SITUATION APPLIES TO THE FAMILYS

CARE FOR THE CHILD...

The father and mother say that their main concern is to bring u p their

children and care for their futu re. It is well said. But which typ e of upbring-

ing they care about? They care about their health, eating, drinking and cloth-ing. Also their education, preparing them for a suitable job and then getting

them married... Afterward s, each of the father and the mother w ould say:

Thank you Lord , I have fu lfilled m y mission tow ard s my child ren. Now

my conscience is at ease.

How ever, they do not p ut in to consideration th eir child rens spiritual

edu cation an d everlasting fate. !


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They do not give them their spiritual daily bread like giving them their

material food. If you ask them abou t their duty, perhap s they would answer:

We have sent them to Sund ay school ... without following up the lessons

they received or m emorized, and w ithout ad ding anything during the week,

as if the father is not responsible for his sons religious information and hisspiritual up bringing! And as if the m other is not responsible, and she is the

one w ho received him from the bap tistery as his godm other, to look after

his spiritual needs, religious education and practising virtues...

2 2 2

In the social service, we might find the same phenomenon.

Our main or sole concern is to look after the poor financially or the un-emp loyment p roblems or sickness or accomm odation, and rarely we give

true attention to their spirituality. And if a spiritual meeting is held for them,

it could be formal, not caring to unite these people with God or to m ake

sure of their spiritual lives, their confession, repentance and partaking in Holy

Communion.

2 2 2

In the field of service, the sam e situ ation ap plies to prayer, as well as

the lives of many servants ... They care abou t the p reparation of the lesson

more than caring to p repare them selves spiritually... They care abou t the

hours of service, the meetings, the pictures and presents, the library, the club,

the visitation an d the activities ... Rarely - by the sam e measu re- they care

about their prayers. There are no prayer meetings like the youth meetings.

Activities take the first attention and not p rayers.

If we enter into details, we find out that the spiritual work does not take

the first attention... For example the club: we care abou t its location, games,

sport activities and entertainment. We may look after the arran gement of

cards, timetables , comp etitions, acting and chorus group s..

In all this, there might be no full spiritual sup ervision and we find that

the clubs in their noise and mistakes do not give the expected sp iritual p ic-

ture. Perhaps such clubs will not d iffer from the pu blic clubs because of the

absence of the spiritual supervisor.


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Why? The open answer is: ... because we failed to pu t God on the top of

our interests.

2 2 2

You, for examp le, when you wake u p every morning, what d o you care

for?

Do you care about you r d aily life, wash your face, have breakfast, wear

your clothes and get ready to go to w ork? Or your first concern is how to

start your day with the Lord, with prayer, with reading and contemplation?

Your action will be accord ing to you r interest....

Some apologize saying: I did not have time to pray. And I always re-ject su ch excuse, w hich I d o not consider as the rea l cause, and say: If you

pu t p rayer and contemp lation first, you w ould make the time... Therefore

give God p riority in everyth ing...

2 2 2

At your leisure, do not p refer your bodily relaxation to you r spiritual

work with God, whether in p rayer or service. Do not give in to sleep or slack-

ness but you ought to sacrifice your rest for the sake of God.

Also, in fasting, do n ot say my h ealth, my need for proteins and amino

acids, but say: God is first.

And so let God be first in the question of giving and the tithes...

Do not worry abou t your other expenses, pu tting God at the end of your

list - if anything is left for him, it is okay. Otherwise, we apologize to God ordelay H is rights because God is not the first .

2 2 2

Let God be at the beginning of every work and every day.

The first to talk to is God. Every work you do, pu t God in it first. Pray

in your coming in or going ou t, in your eating and drinking. In your w ork,

you speak to God first.... If you put God first, you w ill not sin to Him:


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Because you p ut Him above your w orldly desires, above every earthly

pleasure... God is always before you and the world is behind you ...

Man sins because he does not pu t God in front of him, does not remem-

ber Him before every fall and does not consider His feelings.

Make God the first, with regard to time, imp ortance, desires, love and

longing and obedience too ... Let Him be the first in everyth ing.

And w hen God says:My son give me your heart (Prov 23:26), He means

that H e has th e pr iority in you r life, feelings and interests and if anyth ing

contrad icted w ith Him, you say from within: For what is a man profited if he

gains the whole world, and loses his own soul (Mt 16:26). The loss of his soul is

its depr ivation from God ...

2 2 2

The Spiritual Man d oes not only pu t God first and before everything,

bu t his relationsh ip w ith G od is everything in h is life...

He says with the Apostle: For to me, to live is Christ (Phil 1:21). And

also says: It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Gal 2:20).

Finally, I do not want to overburden you with many advices , but I say

to you one ad vice only, if carried out, you have fulfilled all the command -

ments:

Make God the prime of your concerns, and do not live separate or away

from H im. Begin your day and every work you d o with Him.


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Among his qualities : Depth

THE SPIRITUAL MAN:

AMONG HIS QUALITIES:DEPTH

CHAPTER 3


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DEPTH

DEPTH IN PRAYER:

I was really tou ched by the Psalm 130 in w hich David the Prop het

pleaded , and with w hich w e begin the p rayer of the Twelfth H our, Com-

pline:

Out of t he depths I have cried to You, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice!

Out of the d epths I have cried: Out of the d epth of the heart and pas-

sion, out of the depth of the call for help, as it says in Psalm 119 : With my

whole heart I have sought You . Out of the depth of faith and confidence thatYou will respond. Ind eed, out of the dep ths I have cried: Out of the dep th of

my weariness and neediness... Out of the depth of my weakness, frailty and

inability... Out of the dep th of the bottomless pit w here I am..

2 2 2

It is a deep p rayer similar to Jonahs prayer from th e fishs belly.

Indeed , out of the depths I have cried to You, because there is no one

else bu t You who is sincere and is a saviour... Entirely like the p rayer of the

peop le before the m oving of Al Mokattam Mou ntain... A prayer on which

the whole futu re of the church relied.

Or perhap s like the prayer in the heart of Daniel when they threw h im

in the lions den.. Or the p rayer of the three young men when they were cast

into the midst of the bu rn ing fiery furnace... Ou t of the d epth of the hear t,

out of necessity... Like the voice of a drowning person calling the rescue boatto hasten to reach him before he d rowns...

Like the p rayer of Elijah, asking for the water to fall over h is burn t of-

fering (1 Kings 18), or the prayer of the people marching around the w alls of

Jericho (Josh 6).

2 2 2


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It is not imp ortant the length of the prayer or the selection of its words,

bu t the dep th of feelings in it...

The prayer of the Pharisee was longer th an the prayer of the tax collec-tor (Lk 8:14). Why? Because it was a p rayer ou t of the d epth: the d epth of

hu mility, contr ition, feeling of remorse and sham e... He stood afar off with-

out d aring to raise his eyes to heaven .. His few w ords were enough because

God looked at his depth...

And like th e p rayer of the tax collector, so was th e p rayer of the thief

on the right hand .

A short prayer but deep. A prayer of a person in his last hours, on theverge of death. Out of his depth he yearned for his eternity, and asked God

to remember him. He said to the other criminal before: And we indeed justly,

for we receive the due reward of our deeds (Lk 23:41). Tru ly, it w as a cru cial

prayer, it was said in depth.. It was heard.

One sentence a man says in d epth , like Lord have m ercy, so one of

the twenty four elders comes forward and takes this p rayer in his golden

censor and ascends with it to the throne of God as a smell of incense which

are the p rayers of the saints (Rev 5:8). Another m an says the sam e prayer

tens of times and not one is received, as if he did not p ray!

2 2 2

Then h ow can we d istinguish the d eep prayer?

It is a prayer w hich has a feeling of relation w ith God, a prayer w ith

passion, und erstanding, contemp lation, concentration, warmth , love, hu mil-ity, contrition... with faith, confidence and hope... A p rayer w ith a sp irit and

not mere word s... Its length is not imp ortant bu t its depth, as the scribes and

Pharisees and th e like, were - for a reason- making long prayers (Mt 23:14).

St Pau l said : I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I

may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue (1 Cor 14:19)... And

so our p rayers ought to come out of our d epth; and if we h ad length w ith

the depth, it wou ld be much better.


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THE IMPORTANCE OF DEPTH:

How beautiful is the saying of the Psalmist:

The royal daughter is all glorious w ithin (Ps 45:13).

And although her clothing is woven w ith gold in robes of many col-

ours, but all her glory is in her depth ... Within her heart.

Believe me, one single deed a m an d oes in d epth , may assess his whole

life. Such d eed rem ains and will be recorded in h istory because of its depth .

I will give you an examp le:

THE DEPTH IN GIVING:

Take the depth by which Abraham took his son to offer him as a burnt

offering:

In his offering, he was in d epth of love to God... He loved God much

more than h is son, his only son w hom he loved, the son of promise which

was fulfilled after many years... Also, in his offering he was in the dep th of

obedience to God and in the dep th of faith, because he believed that d espiteof his offering, surely his descendants w ill mu ltiply as the sand which is on

the sea shore...

In th e offering of Isaac, Abraham was in th e dep th of giving.

There is no giving more deep than this. Another example is the widow

who pu t the two mites. The Lord p raised her and said: She has put in more

than all those who have given, because she put in all that she had, her whole liveli-

hood (Mk12:41-44).

Also, among other examp les, what the widow of Zarephath offered to

Elijah the Prophet: Only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar (1

Kings 17:12). The depth of this offering is that she gave all what she had at

the time of famine... To prepare for herself and her son, that they may eat it

and die.. But she gave p reference to Elijah over herself and her son...

We can also see the dep th of giving in other examp les:


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The one who presents the tithes of his money wh ile he is in great pov-

erty and need. Or he wh o gives his first salary, which he was w aiting for to

pay his debts... Or a servant who gives his time to the service dur ing days of

exams wh ile he needs every minu te... Or he who d onates one of his organs

to transp lant into a sick person whom he loves... Or he w ho borrow s to givea needy man ...

THE DEPTH IN PREACHING:

The h istory of Christianity began w ith its depth in the w ork of preach-

ing which w as concentrated in twelve apostles, some of them from th e fool-

ish things of the wor ld an d things w hich are despised (1 Cor 1:27-28). But

with all seriousness, honesty and comm itment, they entered the service with

every effort. They end ured flogging, imprisonment and persecution to take

the w ord of God to everyone. And so those: Where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world

(Ps 19:3-4).

St Paul th e Apostle expresses the dep th of the w ork of preachin g and

says:

But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much pa-tience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in la-

bours, in sleeplessness, in fastings, ...as deceivers;... unknown;... dying;.. as sorrow-

ful (2 Cor 6:4-10).

Their depth appeared in their holy zeal wh ich never calmed d own.

They worked for God at a ll times, in season and out of season ( 2 Tim

4:2) ,even in p rison ( Acts 16:24). St Pau l wrote some of his epistles wh ile he

was in prison; even d uring their trials... when St Pau l stood before Felix theGovernor and before King Agripp a. They were ,preaching the Kingdom of

God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confi-

dence, no one forbidding him (Acts 28:31).

This remind s us of the m issionaries who carried the faith to coun tries

pop ulated b y cann ibals...

Here comes out the d epth in th e love of God an d His Kingdom , and

the dep th in serving the w ord...


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THE DEPTH IN THE SERVICE:

Some servants asses their service with w rong m easures which have the

formal appearance from th e outside but have no dep th. Like the one wh o

measu res his service by the great nu mber of his stud ents or the quantity oflessons and their varieties, and what the stud ents receive of religious knowl-

edge. Or a servant who evaluates his service by his promotion from p rimary

to second ary or to preparation of servan ts, or other aspects of organ ization,

preparation books or books of visits. And in all of this, he forgets what con-

cerns the depth of the service and its work in lead ing the stud ents to repent-

ance and to the love of God.

2 2 2

There could be a servant w ithou t a class, but h as a deep er service.

Like the servant w ho w orks single hand ed and wh oever he m eets, at-

tracts him to the love of God and inflames his heart with the word s of grace

that come out of his mouth . Each day he brings to the chu rch new members

who never came to church before...

Or to serve in solving family problems, with hard work, depth and p er-severance. He might spend long days, stay up late at night to persuade and

convince, so that God s peace comes to the house, and no one of the churchs

elderly servants wou ld know anyth ing about his service...

I know a servant who was w orking w ith u s more than forty years ago.

We nam ed h is class The Weird Class because he used to bring over you th

who w and er about in the streets, in coffeehouses and infront of amu sement

centres, and h e turned them n ot only to perm anent stud ents at chu rch, but

some of them became servants...

Among the examp les of the d eep service is the story of Philip and the

Ethiopian eunuch....

Philip w as walking along the road , saw the Chariot of the eunu ch in

which he was reading Isaiah the Prophet. He began to explain to him in depth

,to attract him to the faith. When the eunu ch declared h is belief with all his

heart ,both Philip and the eunu ch w ent dow n into the water, and he bap-

tized h im.. How long d id th is service take, an h our or m ore or less. Bu t itwas deep and fruitful...


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Also, the service of John the Baptist and Stephen th e Deacon.

In great depth, John the Baptist served abou t six months or a little more.

In this short period, he prepared the way before the Lord w ith people led to

repen tance. The Lord said about him, A ssuredly, I say to you, among thoseborn of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist. And a lso

said, ...and more than a prophet (Mt 11:11-9).

Also, Steph en, his service was short but very d eep. His tale began in

(Acts 6) and w as martyred in (Acts 7). He was able to make many m ulti-

tudes to join the faith. He confuted many of the synagogu es: And they were

not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10).

2 2 2

The deep w ord can b ear much fruit.

One sermon w ith the dep th of the Holy Spirit in it, add ed th ree thou-

sand souls to the faith and were baptized on the fiftieth day...

A person says a word to you which touches your heart and never leaves

your mind , walks with you, accomp anies you in your sleep and waking, It

does mu ch to you. It is a word which came out of the depth and reached the

depth. It had its effect, influence and pow er and turn ed into d oing a deep

work, similar to its dep th...

2 2 2

We move to another point which is the depth in worship:


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THE DEPTH IN WORSHIP

Many care abou t the linear m easure in fasting for example, in prayers

and the number of psalms and prostrations metanyas without caring about

the depth in worship. Man could fast for forty or fifty five days and perhapsexerts pressure on himself with regard to food, but w ithout depth in the spir-

itual work, to trium ph over ones self in controlling the w ill, the senses and

mind dur ing fasting. As if fasting is an external app earance, and nothing at

all inside in the depths. Then h e comes out of fasting w ith the same charac-

ters and faults. As for one w ho fasts with spiritual depth where his soul fasts

with his body, combined with contrition, repentance, subm ission and spir-

itual p ractices, he yields many fru its.

Also the prostrations metanyas, in their depth and not in the nu mber.

A person w hose soul clings to the dust and not just bows his head, with-

out bend ing his pride from the inside.

2 2 2

The same ap plies to reading, its dep th an d its effect.

It is not imp ortant to read many chapters , but the dep th and effect that

such reading leaves in you .

One verse wh ich the youn g man Anthony heard and took in d epth,

man aged to change h is whole life and set up a great spiritual p rogram fol-

lowed by thousands of earthly angels and heavenly humans. Its effect spread

out for man y generations... Do you r ead w ith the same d epth by w hich St

Anthony listened to this verse?

The scribes and Pharisees used to read m uch and they w ere scholars of

their time in the Holy Bible, but they had no depth either in the understand-

ing or the ap plication. They d id not benefit a thing bu t they stum bled oth-

ers.

Consider David the Prophet in th e depth of his reading.


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He says to God ; I have seen the consummation of all perfection, but your

commandment is exceedingly broad (Ps 119:96). And: Open my eyes, that I

may see wondrous things from your law (Ps 119:18). H is d epth in read ing

brought him joy and delight: ...as one who finds great treasure, How sweet

are your works to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Ps 119:103)..

THE DEPTH OF REPENTANCE

Many have repented and returned to the way they w ere because their

repentance was not deep.

But those wh o deeply repen ted, they never return ed to sin again.

Repentance was a crucial point in their lives, from w hich they gradu-

ally progressed to grow in the life of righteou sness, until they reached high

degrees of Christian p erfection, like David the Prophet in h is contrition and

tears. And Au gustine who became a monk and then a bishop who defend ed

the Christian faith. He had very deep spiritual contemplation. Also Moses

the Black, who grew in love and meekness and serving p eople and became

one of the Desert Fathers. And Mary of Egyp t w ho rose h igh in the life of

seclusion and became a hermit and blessed St Zosima the priest.

2 2 2

Those wh o have sins which they repeat at every confession, they have

not repented yet...

And those whose repen tance does not includ e the feelings of contri-

tion, remorse and u nw orthiness, they have no d epth in their repentance, and

how easy they go back to sin. Likewise, those who in their repentance, they

hasten to the life of joy, before their repentance fully d evelops and bears fruit.


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THE DEPTH OF FAITH:

The common faith is claimed by all, bu t not every faithful is deep in it.

Peter the Apostle believed for some time. He walked on the water to go to

Jesus and when his faith weakened, he fell and the Lord said to him: O youof little faith why did you doubt? (Mt14:31). The deep faith d oes not doubt or

fear bu t it can m ove the moun tains. The best saying about the deep faith is:

All t hings are possible to him w ho believes (Mk 9:23).

Faith w hich has its pow er, its victory and its effectiveness to contain

the w hole life.

THE DEPTH IN FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE:

You m ay have a friend for twenty years and for a certain word or on

hearing false news, he turns out and changes and you say to him: Neverthe-

less I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev 2:4). But, about

the d eep love, the Holy Bible says:

Many w at ers cannot quench love (Song 8:7) .

For love is as strong as death. (Song 8:6). Love never fails. (1 Cor 13:8).

Whether it was love toward s God or toward s man .

Deep as th e love of a m other to her babe... Like the love between David

and Jonathan.

Love that follows to the cross, like the love of St John to Jesus. Love:

Not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (1 Jn 3:18).

The d eepest love is the on e that gives, even itself.

As the love of God on the Cross: For God so loved the world that he gave...

(Jn 3:16).


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THE DEPTH OF PERSONALITY:

There are persons who are d istinguished for their depth, others for shal-

lowness.

A deep p ersonality has depth in thinking, intelligence and understand-

ing. Such person enjoys expan sive intelligence which includes everyth ing.

If he d iscusses a subject, he looks into it from all angles, takes into account

all consequences and reactions. When he speaks, he speaks in dep th...

Also, at work or post of respon sibility, he hand les everything in dep th,

like the Upright Joseph w hen he was in charge of supplies in Egypt, and like

Jochembed the mother of Moses...

For example, the stud ent who stud ies in d epth, with un derstanding,

concentration and a sharp m ind, he does not forget. It is not important the

nu mber of hours of his stud y, but the d epth of comp rehension and mem o-

rizing.


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THE SPIRITUAL MAN:

HIS HEART IS WITH GOD

CHAPTER 4


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His heart is with God

HIS HEART IS WITH GOD

The life of the spiritual man is not an external app earance, or mere prac-

tices or obligations or m ere laws (i.e.. command ments to be carried ou t liter-ally). Bu t his sp iritua l life - before any th ing else- is The life of the hear t

with God as the Lord says:

My son, give me your heart, and let y our eyes observe my w ays (Prov

23:26).

The imp ortant th ing is to give Me your heart. If you do ,your eyes will

observe My w ays. The Divine inspiration in the Book of Proverbs says too:

Keep your heart with diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life (Prov 4:23)...Mans spiritual life comes out of this heart . So, man ought to care about h is

heart and its pu rity. The Lord said in his beatitud es in the Sermon on the

Mount:

Blessed are the pure in heart , for they shal l see God (Mt 5:8).

Indeed , how great is the rewar d for the p u re heart... It sees God! The

spiritual life is not word s or an external app earance. The chanter says in the

Psalm: The royal daughter is all glorious within despite her clothing is wovenwith gold, in robes of many colours (Ps 45:13).

2 2 2

Concerning His comm and ments, the Lord said:

And these words, which I command you today shall be in your heart

(Deut. 6:6).

And the Psalmist said : Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might

not sin against you (Ps 119:11) When Gods comm andment is inside the heart,

it is also linked to the love in th e heart, as David said in th e Psalm: I love

your commandments more than gold. Your word is very pure; therefore your serv-

ant loves it (Ps 119:127-140). The heart is the centre of feelings, and God wants

the feelings of your heart, wants your love, and so He said:

You shall love the LOR D your God w ith all your heart , w ith all yoursoul, and w ith all your mind (Mt 22:37).


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Also: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The Lord said abou t

this love, that by it hang all the law and the Prophets (Mt 22:40). The phrase

(with all your heart) means that there is no one or any thing in the heart to

comp ete with God in th e love of the heart for Him.. So, He said : He who

loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son ordaughter more than Me is not worthy of Me(Mt 10:37). All the heart to God ,

and God asks for it.

He says in The Song of Solomon:

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon y our arm (Song 8:6).

As a seal up on your heart with regard to love, and up on your arm with

regard to work. The work w hich the spiritual man does is a natural result ofhis love for God an d m ankind ... And the more his heart is deep in its love;

his work for God becomes stronger...

2 2 2

The w ords of the pu re heart are pu re and its thou ght is also pu re, be-

cause the th ough t comes from the h eart as well as the w ords. In th is, the

Lord said :

A good man out of t he good t reasure of his heart brings forth good;

and an ev il m an out of t he ev il t reasure of his heart brings forth evi l (Lk

6:45).

So, the heart is important because Out of it spring the issues of life. It is

the spring out of which comes the thought, the words and emotions, even it

affects the senses too. Some may defend an angry person who proceeds harsh

words out of his mou th, and say: despite his anger, his heart is white! No,because the white heart gives out wh ite words. The Lord said:

For out of t he abundance of t he heart the mout h speak s (Mt 12:34).

And so, the sin of tongue is a second or a following sin, but th e first sin,

which precedes it, is in th e heart. If the heart holds hypocrisy, hypocritical

words come ou t of it, and if it holds anger, angry w ords will come ou t of it.

If the heart holds kindness and symp athy... and so on. The Psalmist says:

My heart is ov er flow ing w ith a good t heme (Ps 45:1).


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That is with those who are good and whose hearts and tongu es are in

one stream, as we say in the Praise Eltasbeha (my heart and tongue praise

the holy). Contrary to th is are the hyp ocrites, whose hearts are unlike their

tongu es! Those whom the Lord rebuked , saying: ...How can you, being evil,

speak good things? (Mt 12:34).

This hyp ocrite who speaks d ifferent from what is in his heart, his looks

reveal him, as the eye is often the mirror of the heart w hich show s all his

feelings... The features of his face or the tones of his voice could d isclose him.

2 2 2

The spiritual man is simp le hearted an d d oes not conceal other than

he shows!

He is an op en m an, wh at he says is w hat is in h is heart. If he praises

someone, he tru sts in h im in h is heart. If he apologizes, his apology truly

comes ou t of his heart. While another may ap ologize but h is apology is not

accepted because it d oes not come ou t of the heart. He m ay say to someone

May God forgive you and he m eans May God repay you according to

your work!

God k now s wh at is in the heart because the Lord w eighs the hearts

(Prov 21:2).

The Holy Bible said abou t God that H e is, ...Testing the mind and the

heart (Jer 11:20) For he knows the secrets of the heart (Ps 44:21). The Lord

knows the thoughts of man (Ps 94:11). It is also said: The heart is deceitful above

all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart; I

test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways... (Jer 17:9-10).

But the spiritual man has an up right heart before God.

The Lord k nows th e up right and the p erverse hearts.

The H oly Bible says: Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the

upright in heart. (Ps 97:11) an d Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomi-

nation to thee Lord (Prov 11:20). The H oly Bible says abou t those w ho are of

an upright heart, they call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2Tim 2:22) . David

the Prophet in his Psalm of repentance says about this heart:


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The Spiritual Man

Create in me a clean heart , O God, and renew a st eadfast spirit w ithin

me (Ps 51:10).

2 2 2

This point br ings us to repentance and its relation w ith the hear t...

True rep entance is not just leaving sin in effect, but leaving sin from the

hear t, the heart no longer loves it. The perfection of repentance is hatred of

sin. If man d isliked sin, he will not retu rn to it again, so his repen tance be-

comes a dividing line between a life away from God and a new life that longs

for God . One of the saints said , Repen tance is to exchan ge a d esire for a

desire, which m eans leaving the lust of the world an d mans wh ole desire

becomes living w ith the Lord. The Lord said about repentance:

Turn t o m e w it h al l y our heart (Joel 2:12).

So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God

(Joel 2:13). Repentan ce is a longing to retu rn to God , hearing H is voice, and

the work of His grace in the heart. On the other hand , he who d oes not re-

spond to His voice, is a hard hearted person. The Apostle says:

If y ou w ill hear his voice, do not harden your hearts (Heb 3:8-15).

And he repeats it in (Heb 4:7). It is the same as said in the Psalm: To-

day, if you will hear his voice; do not harden your hearts (Ps 95:7-8).

Then God looks at non-repentan ce through the rejecting hear t, before

the insurgent work. Therefore, when H e leads us to repentance He p rom-

ises us the chan ge of this heart. And if changed , the behaviour changes ac-

cord ingly. The Lord says:

I w ill give you a new heart and put a new spirit w it hin y ou (Ez ek

36:26).

...And take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh

(Ezek 11:19) ... He considers that rep entance begins from th e heart, and the

non-contr ite heart is a stony heart, a rocky hear t, a hard h eart, as Pharaohs

heart.


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The Lord repeats the same in the Book of Jeremiah the Prophet, and says:

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My

people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart

(Jer. 24:7).

2 2 2

The return of man m eans that the will of his heart unites with the

will of God.

God w orks in h is heart, and he returns with his heart to God. God says

in the Book of Joel the Prop het: Turn to Me with all your heart (Joel 2:12).

And in th e Book of Ezekiel: Cast away from you all the transgressions which

you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit (Ezek 18:31).

And about the outcome of this new heart, St Paul the Apostle says: ...but bythe renewing of your mind:. (Rom 12:2). If the hear t chan ges from the inside,

his thoughts change too. For out of the heart proceed evil thought (Mt 15:19).

Thus, the heart m ust change.

The fault of man y is that th ey assum e repen tance is just confessing

the sins, and they keep a d esirable sin in th e heart.

Because of this sin that they love, they back away from their repen t-

ance and fall many times, as the heart is not wholly for God an d they d id

not return to God w ith their w hole hearts... and their m inds have not been

renew ed as the th ought is still clinging to sin, and so is the hear t. ...Their

repentance is from the ou tsid e and not from th e insid e. God looks insid e

and says: My son, give Me your heart. Ananias and Sapph ira laid the money

at the ap ostles feet but th ey d id n ot put God in their hearts.... The love of

money - even a part of itwas in their hear ts (Acts 5:1-4).

2 2 2

Often w e ask children to be mod est in their clothes withou t planting

mod esty into their hearts!

Although, if God enters their hear ts they w ill be entirely convinced by

it, and then modesty in apparel and make up w ill automatically become natu -

ral without any ou tside p ressure.

We ought to rise above the level of visible works, to the heart feelingswithin.


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The Spiritual Man

There is a son w ho m ight obey his father because of fear or su bmission,

while his heart is rebellious over his fathers orders.. A man might pay his

tithes with uncomfortable heart; he paid from h is pocket and not his heart...

But th e spiritual man , when he gives, he gives from his heart, with con-tent and cheer, according to the saying of the Bible: For God loves a cheerful

giver (2 Cor 9:7).

A man m ight fast by his mouth but h is heart is not turn ing away from

such food , so he resorts to tricky means and ways to find vegetarian bu tter,

cheese and chocolate. He also looks for the cooking method which makes

the vegetarian food more ap petizing !!. Where is the core of fasting here?

And what is its relation to the heart?

A man might p rostrate (give a metanya) with his body while his h eart

did n ot bow like his head.

In his prostrat ion, there is no essence of contrition, subm ission or re-

pentance. Accord ingly, when h e apologizes to another with prostration, it is

not acceptable...

A man might confess his sins bu t his heart is not remorseful!.

A man might stop talking by his tongue, but has much talk in h is mind!

A man might speak with humble words, but his heart is not modest. His words

could be softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords (Ps 55:21). In all this, the

Lord says: My son, give Me your heart.

2 2 2

The spiritual man gives the heart to God as the heart contains all feel-ings and spiritualities.

Take faith, for exam ple: There is a big d ifference betw een th e faithfu l

by nam e, and the faithful from the d epth of the heart, who shows h is faith

by a ll his works. (Jas 2:18)... The faithful w ho sees God before him all the

time, and to him the existence of God is not a mere belief. It is a life which he

lives and feels...

The holy zeal is not just works or words but it comes out of the heart.


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Meekness, hum bleness and other virtues are not m ere external works.

There is a big difference between the hu mble by tongu e and the hu mble in

heart ,who is convinced w ithin that he is a sinner and weak and if it was not

for the grace of God w hich sup ports him, he could have fallen d own like

others...

2 2 2

Also, the h eart is th e source of dream s, susp icions, thou ghts an d

doub ts.... as well as th e source of th e fru it of th e sp irit (Gal 5:22).

For examp le: Love, joy and peace... They all come out of the heart... And

long-suffering, kindness good ness and self-control... They also come out of

the heart. Otherwise it will lose its meaning an d the righteou sness that is init...

Goodn ess is not w hitewashed tombs (Mt 23:27). But it is the good ness

of the heart. Purity is not just escaping from sin, but it is the p ur ity of the

heart...

2 2 2

The spiritual man, in all the w ork he d oes, kn ows that God is looking

at his heart, his in tention an d h is objective.

Out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, For where

your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Mt 6:21). H is only treasure is

God.. All the time, he says to the Lord : My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart

is steadfast(Ps 57:7). Even if he fell asleep, his soul says to God : I sleep, but

my heart is awake (Song 5:2).

2 2 2

The sp iritual man , his p rayers come ou t of his heart.

And not like those about w hom the Lord said: These people honour me

with their lips, but their heart is far from me (Is 29:13) (Mt 15:8)...

But his heart is in contact with God completely. He speaks and feels his

being in the presence of God, and that he talks to God and says: My heartand tongue p raise the Holy and repeats with David his saying:


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The Spiritual Man

W ith m y w hole heart I have sought you (Ps 119:10).

Even d ur ing Mass or Praise, Tasbeha, his prayer is not just a tune or

words to repeat, bu t the feelings of a heart poured before God in contrition,

in subm ission, in faith, in love, in un derstand ing, in contemplation and inwarmth.

One of the twenty four elders wou ld ad vance and take his prayers in

his golden censor and ascends u p.


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Strong Man

THE SPIRITUAL MAN:

A STRONG MAN

CHAPTER 5


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The Spiritual Man

A STRONG MAN

The sp iritu al man is a strong m an. We mean sp iritu al strength ., as

strength is different from violence.

He is a strong man because he is created in the im age of God an d to

His likeness (Gen 1:27). And God is strong. And being like a son of G od,

he is sup posed to b e strong in the spirit...

The spiritual man is the temple of the H oly Spirit, (1 Cor 6:19), and the

Holy Spirit dw ells in h im (1 Cor 3:16). And so he receives strength from the

Sp irit tha t w orks strongly in h im. The p romise of the Lord Jesus Chr ist is

also fulfilled in h im, as He said :

But you shall receive pow er w hen the Holy Spirit has come upon you

(Acts 1:8).

And the Lord said about th is pow er that it is pow er from on high (Lk

24:49). This strength sh ow ed in th e preaching of our fathers th e Apostles.

And so it was wr itten in the Acts of the Ap ostles: And with great power the

Apostles gave witness to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was

upon them all (Acts 4:33). And also by that, the Lords saying w as fulfilled :There are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of

God present with power (Mk 9:1).

2 2 2

The strength of the spiritual man is from God H imself:

As David the Prophet said: The Lord is my strength and song, and He has

become my salvation (Ps 118:14). And as St Pau l the Apostle said: Be strong

in the Lord and in the power of his might (Eph 6:10). And also said: I can do all

things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13). The phrase I can d o all

things p roves the extent of the pow er received by the sp iritual man in Je-

sus Christ. Even the Lord says:

All t hings are possible to him w ho believes (Mk 9:23).

As far as all things are p ossible to him, then the sp iritual m an shouldnot su ffer from d espair, collapse or become faint-hearted . Because with faith


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Strong Man

he becomes strong w ithin, with a strong soul and strong spirit. He never

gets weak, worried or troubled and he does not stand helpless. He is strong

in the Lord w ho works in h im, God w ho strengthens him...

This strength app lies to individuals and group s:

It applies to the spiritual man as a faithful, and to the chu rch as a group

of faithful. And so it is written in the Song of Solomon about Solomons couch,

which is a symbol of the church: Behold, it is Solomons couch, with sixty val-

iant men around it . Of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in

war. Every man has his sword on his thigh because of the night (Song 3:7,8). And

also in the Song of Solomon , the characteristic of the stren gth by which the

church and the hum an soul were described:

I hav e compared y ou, my love, to m y favourite foal among Pharaohs

chariots (Song 1:9).

The horse and also horsemen are symbols of strength (Is 31:1). And pre-

pared for the day of the battle (Prov 21:31). And ph araoh always chose for

his chariots the strongest and most firm h orses. And by this compar ison,

the Lord describes the strength of the chu rch which H e loves...

Maybe this comparison proves tha t the Song of Solomon is a Book that

has spiritual symbols and not just m ere songs exchan ged betw een a lover

and the one he loves, as some accuse it to be!! Because no loved one w ould

accept her lover to d escribe her as a h orse in Pharaohs char iots. And with

the sam e logic, w e talk about th e Lord s saying abou t this beloved., the

church, in the Song of Solomon:

Aw esome as an army w it h banners! (Song 6:4).

And the word banners is the plural of a banner in the army, which

includ es a large nu mber of battalions, brigades an d vehicles. The sam e de-

scription of the church or the human soul as being aw esome as an army with

banners has been repeated in th e same chap ter (Song 6:10). And d efinitely,

it is impossible for a loved one to accept th is descrip tion from her lover as

being awesome! Or that she is like an army with banners! Then it is a sym-

bolic talk about the church or the human soul.

2 2 2


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The Spiritual Man

This soul that lived w ith God and took from His strength , strength

for her life.

As the spirit of the sp iritual man takes strength from the H oly Sp irit

that d wells in her. He is a member of the group of conquerors and winners,those w ho fight the Lord s w ars w ith strength . And the H oly Bible called

them: Mighty men of Valour.

We read in the Book of Ju d ges that the an gel of the Lord ad d ressed

Gideon by saying:The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour! (Judg 6:12).

And it is said about David the Prophet that he is: skilful in playing, a mighty

man of valour, a man of war, prudent in speech.., and the Lord is with him (1 Sam

16:18). And it was said about good children that they are: Like arrows in the

hand of a warrior (Ps 127:4). And it was also said about the men of Joshuawh om h e took to enter the promised land , that they w ere: Mighty men of

valour (Josh 8:3)... All these and others are sym bols of those who enter spir-

itual wars against spiritual hosts of wickedness. They are the strong in the spirit

who put on the whole armour of God, the shield of faith, the breastplate of right-

eousness, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit (Eph 6:11-17).

2 2 2

The H oly Bible gave us many examp les of such strong men.

For examp le Elijah th e Prop het, wh o cleansed th e land from all the

prop hets of Baal and from the prop hets of Asherah (1 King 18:19,40). Like-

wise John the Baptist, about w hom the angel wh o announced his birth said:

He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to make ready a people

prepared for the Lord (Lk 1:17). And Stephen the Deacon w ho w as full of the

Holy Spirit and of faith. Three synagogu es disputed w ith him: And they were

not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which spoke (Acts 6:9,10).

St Paul listed the n ames of a chain of these strong men .

And he conclud ed by saying: A nd what more shall I say? For the time

would fail me to tell of.. who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteous-

ness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire,

escaped the edge of the sword; out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in

battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Were tortured, not accepting deliver-

ance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Of whom the world was not wor-thy (Heb 11:32-38).


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Strong Man

The h istory of the chu rch gave many examp les of strong men .

For example, the martyrs who w ere strong in their faith, strong in their

endu rance and also strong in the wonders and miracles that God d id throughthem . And there are other examp les of heroes of the faith, who stood w ith

all strength against heresies and heterodoxies. They defended the faith with

strength in understanding, conviction and perseverance. An example of such

men is St Athan asius the Ap ostolic. He stood against the heresy of Arius,

endured isolation, exile, plots and accusations. And it was said to him: The

whole world is against you, Athanasius. And he said : And I am against

the world. Therefore they called h im Athanasius contramondum w hich

means : Athanasius against the w orld.

2 2 2

Man was created strong, with auth ority :

And God said : Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; have

domination over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living

thing that moves on the earth(Gen 1 :28,26). But m an lost his natural strength

when he sinned and began to experience fear... Then God returned and gave

man strength throu gh the work of His grace in him, through the pow er of

the Holy Spirit, strengthening h im by His promises and by being w ith him...

2 2 2

The spiritual man remind s us of the spirits of the angels.

Those about w hom David the Prophet said: Bless the Lord, you his an-

gels, who excel in strength(Ps 103:20). Those angels whom Daniel the Prophetsaid about one of them: My God sent his angel and shut the lions mouths (Dan

6:22). And in the Book of Kings: The angel of the Lord went out, and killed in

the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand (2 Kings 19:35).

The source of the angels strength is that they are sp irits close to the Spirit of

God . Whoever acts in a sp iritual man ner w ill be like them and w ill enter

into a fellowship w ith the Holy Spirit and God w ill work in him.

Therefore, the spiritual man in wh om the Sp irit of God w orks, mu st

be strong.


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The Spiritual Man

David the Prop het upon w hom the spirit of the Lord came (1 Sam 16:13)

was strong. He was stronger than Saul the King. And whenever the evil spirit

troubled Saul, David u sed to take the harp and p lay it with his hand , then

Saul w ould become refreshed and well, and the d istressing sp irit would de-

part from him (1 Sam 16:23). Because the Spirit of the Lord that was in Davidis what cast away th e distressing sp irit. David w as even stronger than the

whole army w ho feared Goliath. As for David, he went forward to fight Go-

liath and said to him: This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand.. that all

the earth may know that there is a God(1 Sam 17:46).

2 2 2

The spiritual man has no fear because God is w ith him :

And so David the Prophet said to the Lord , his Shepherd: Yea, though I

walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for you are with

me (Ps 23:4). And he w as able to sing a beautiful song: Though an army

should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against

me, in this I will beconfident (Ps 27:3). And also said: Some trust in chariots,

and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have

bowed down and fallen; but we have risen and stand upright (Ps 20:7).

Here is the strength of th e spiritual man s heart that is derived from

God.

He has no fear because God is with him. God w ho said to Joshua: Be

strong and of good courage, do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your

God is with you wherever you go, No man shall be able to stand before you all the

days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor

forsake you. Be strong and of good courage (Josh 1:9,5).

He is also the One w ho said to St Paul the Apostle, in a vision at n ight:

Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent , for I am with you, and no one

will attack you to hurt you (Acts 18:9,10). He is also the One wh o said to Jer-

emiah the Prophet: For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an

iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land. They will fight against you,

but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you, says the Lord, to de-

liver you ( Jer 1:18,19).

2 2 2


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Strong Man

Therefore it amazes me w hen good weak ens and evil gains strength

before it!!

It amazes me when I see men of the world being strong, with a strong

personality and confidence, declaring their opinions p ublicly and achievingtheir aims withou t shaking before the storms. While the men of God ap pear

like weak and do not w ithstand ! As if evil is stronger than good! Or evil is

the one to prevail! Why then th is weakness?! And why d oes not good with-

stand , announcing righteousness and calling for it, as the Apostles used to

do : With all confidence, no one forbidding them (Acts 28:31).

2 2 2

Spiritual strength is not against gentleness and low liness at all.

Many like gentleness, bu t they misund erstand it. Gentleness is d istin-

guished by kindness and calmn ess. But it never stops a man from having a

strong p ersonality and still remains gentle and lowly. Here is perfection and

virtue with no contrad iction.

The Lord Jesus Chr ist was a m od el for th is perfection. He is the One

who said: Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart ( Mt 11:29) . And

at the same time, He had a strong personality, strong in His argument with

all those who op posed Him from the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief pr iests,

the elders of the people and the Sad d ucees. And He used to silence them

and spread His message with strength...

And H e is the One about whom it was said: He is clothed with majesty;

He has girded Himself with strength (Ps 93:1) And it was also said abou t Him:

Gird your sword upon your thigh, O Mighty One, with your glory and your maj-

esty (Ps 45:3)... To Him is the power and the glory.

Then it is possible for one to be gentle and strong. The importan t thing

is: what is the concept of strength? And also, what is the concept of gentle-

ness and lowliness?

2 2 2

What is the concept of strength ? And wh at is the d ifference between

false strength and true strength ?


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The Spiritual Man

Strength is the strength of th e spirit inside, expressing itself in a spir-

itual manner on th e outside.

Strength is not violence. Chr istianity is against violence. And it is not

the desire to dominate and subjugate others. And it is not rashness, hasti-ness and boldness with w hoever is big. Like a stud ent w ho challenges his

teacher or a son w ho d ares his father. And strength is not a Sam sonian

strength, in the body and mu scles.. and it is not self assertiveness in the w rong

way and pr idin

Spritual Man

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