Approved for distribution by the Publishing Board of the Russian Orthodox Church PB 13-314-2075 32 pp. Priest Daniel Sysoev. The Resurrection of the Dead. Daniel Sysoev Inc, New Jersey, 2018. ISBN: 978-5-4279-0083-0 The coming resurrection of the dead and the renewal of the universe is not the result of some natural process, but is rather the direct effect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. From Him proceeds the source of immortal life for all that exists. The kingdom of God is possible on this corruptible earth, and it has already come! This kingdom of God is called the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, the light of which denounces the darkness. The other faiths of the nations are not an indifferent matter, but rather they are darkness, an evil that reigns in the minds of men. The light shone forth from the tomb of Christ, and in its rays it became clear that there is the One True Path and then there are the many false, black roads and pathways of this world. The news of the resurrection is the news of division—a flaming sword that cuts the world asunder.
Booklet 12 of 12 from a series of talks given by Priest Daniel Sysoev entitled “How to Inherit Eternal Life.” Protected by USA Federal copyright law. Reproduction of this book in whole or in part is prohibited. Any attempt to violate the law will be prosecuted. © Daniel Sysoev Inc, 2018 © Yulia Sysoeva, 2018
CONTENT
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD The Second Paroimia of the Feast of Pascha ������������������������������������������������������������������ 4 Three Kinds of God’s Kingdom �������������������������� 8 A Unique Time and a Unique Place ������������������ 10 The Period of Lost Generations and the Period of the Silence of the Prophets �������� 13 The State of the Division of Mankind After Christ’s Coming Into the World ������������������������ 14 Resurrection at the State Level �������������������������� 16 The Great Assembly in Space and Time ���������� 18 Gifts of the Church ����������������������������������������������20 All Nations That Have Rejected Christ Shall Perish! ����������������������������������������������23 The Church is Holy ����������������������������������������������24 Other Prophecies of Isaiah ��������������������������������26
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
The Second Paroimia of the Feast of Pascha
A rise,
shine [O Jerusalem]; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they 4
shall shew forth the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory. Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows? Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in My wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. The sons also of them that afflicted 5
thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee; The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Whereas thou has been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron: I will also make thy officers peace, and thine exactors righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the 6
work of My hands, that I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his time (Is. 60:1–22). This prophecy was proclaimed by Isaiah, and a great deal is associated with it—both in the fate of the Christian Church and in the fate of the Jewish nation. The Jews singled out everything from this prophecy that concerns material wellbeing, and decided that they were promised the Kingdom of God on earth and that God’s power would be manifested in riches. In Christianity these words gave rise to the idea of a thousand-year kingdom of God on earth—the idea that a kingdom of righteousness must ensue on this corruptible earth, where there will be an ideal kingdom built by hands. This teaching is advocated to this day by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They distribute brochures that describe and depict people living in mansions, and that say they will labor only four hours a day at restoring the ruins of the burned-out universe. Where they got all this is a complete mystery, but we will leave this on the conscience of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Chiliast concept of a thousand-year kingdom on earth arose from an improper understand7
ing of Holy Scripture. Indeed, the kingdom of God is possible on this corruptible earth, but it has already come! This kingdom of God is called the Ecumenical Orthodox Church! It is the kingdom of grace. Three Kinds of God’s Kingdom
The first kind of God’s kingdom is the king-
dom of nature, because God is the Master of all that exists. He is the Lord of the heavenly hosts, the stars, the galaxies, the earth and all that is therein. This kingdom has not been violated by sin; it is maintained by the might of God. God established the kingdom of grace on earth. First the prototypical kingdom appeared—the people of the covenant, chosen by God. The Lord chose it out of all the nations on earth, and upon it He poured out His grace and the Holy Spirit. This is the kingdom of grace, in which people become gods (saints and righteous ones): it is called the Church. It was foretold by the prophets and became reality through the death and resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit. And the duration of this kingdom is called a millennium— 8
until all that God planned before the creation of the world has been accomplished. The third kingdom is the kingdom of glory, which will ensue after the end of all time, when Jesus Christ will appear on earth. This is the kingdom where God will reign over the universe—not merely as Creator, but as He Who will manifest His might in such a way that none can hide himself from His might. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Cor. 15:23). The kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory are related by the law of cause and effect. What will occur at the end of time (the resurrection of the dead, the renewal of the universe, etc.) is not the result of some natural process, but is rather the direct effect of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. From Him proceeds the source of immortal life for all that exists. The Lord is not the abstract god of the philosophers, but the absolutely concrete God the Creator, the Lord of the Universe, the God of history, Who is truly at work in the history of mankind. For example, when the Hebrews were leaving Egypt they beheld the true God Christ, Who appeared to them 9
in the form of a pillar of fire. Today we see many skeptics who deny the miracles of God. But the Word of God describes God’s miracles—the manna from heaven, the descent of fire upon the altar, healings. These regularly occurring miracles were numerous. There is nothing remarkable in this, since our God is not proud, nor is He in some far-off place: He constantly interferes in the course of world history and the life of every man. A Unique Time and a Unique Place
Arise, shine [O Jerusalem]; for thy light is come,
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee (Is. 60:1). In these lines the prophet foresees the future glory of Jerusalem after Christ’s resurrection from the dead and foretells to it that will shine. The twofold repetition of the word “shine” signifies the dual radiance that will go up from Jerusalem—of the Son and of the Spirit. The radiance of the Son appeared at the resurrection of Christ the Savior from the dead, and the radiance of the Spirit appeared when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The holy fire appeared for the first time on the night of the Resurrection, as Scripture says: when the 10
apostles John and Peter saw a light in the tomb at night they were terrified. Accounts that there was a light in the tomb date back to the second century, to the disciples of John the Theologian, who personally looked into the tomb. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed (Jn. 20:3–8). It is very important to remember that there is no equality in space. There is no equality among men, and there will be no equality of places in time and space. There is a unique time of salvation, which did not exist before and will not in the future. Prior to the incarnation of Christ God nothing became incarnate, and no incarnation will happen again—this is a wholly unique time. There is also a wholly unique place—Jerusalem. From a biblical 11
perspective, Jerusalem is at the center of the world: Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her (Ez. 5:5). For thy light is come (Is. 60:1) here means “Christ.” The Son is the Light, since He manifests Himself by the Light of the Father, reveals the Father to us, and He reveals Himself as a kind of radiance—on Tabor, to the apostle Paul. Christ is the Light; hence, He is the Enlightener of the world, Who enables us to navigate our paths, Who reveals the secrets of our hearts and pierces us with His radiance. For this reason when John the Theologian beheld the eyes of the Lord they were fiery—they burned the whole man through entirely, burning away evil and igniting good. “Thy light” means that He is not a stranger to the Hebrew nation: He was promised by the prophets, and His glory is not something new. He is the Light that illumined Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that led the Hebrews out of Egypt, and it was He that appeared in Jerusalem, risen from the dead. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory (1 Tim. 3:16). Christ is God, since He raised His 12
own Self. For if He is not God, then who raised Him? The question arises: perhaps God the Father raised Him? But Christ proclaimed that He is eternally existent, and if this is so then why would God the Father resurrect a liar? The Period of Lost Generations and the Period of the Silence of the Prophets
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. That
glory and radiance that rested above the tabernacle has appeared and shone forth upon you. This is important, because today God is not far off, but is constantly among His people. There have been two terrible periods in the history of mankind. One of these is the period of lost, forgotten generations, and the other is the silence of the prophets. The period of lost generations is that from Noah to Abraham, because in it those faithful to God were few and far between, and the majority had departed into idolatry: though they knew God they had renounced Him. Starting with Abraham, however, a new people of the Covenant began, which continued unbroken right up to Christ. But even among the people of the Covenant there was a very difficult period, called “the period of the silence of the 13
prophets.” It lasted for more than three hundred years—from the prophet Malachi to John the Baptist. During this period there was not a single prophet. And many people began to doubt that God was actually dwelling with His people. Christians should be chiefly interested in knowing whether God lives with His people, and if so, where to find Him! And the prophet Isaiah foretells that “the glory of the Lord” will appear among the people and come to dwell with them. This reference states that the time has come for a new “exodus from Egypt,” and the time will come for a great new Passover (Pascha). From the moment of Christ’s resurrection a new crusade beyond the bounds of death began. The great glory of the Lord leads all mankind beyond the borders of the universe, into the Kingdom of God the Father. The time of the Transfiguration ensues, the time of the decisive and irreversible victory over death. The State of the Division of Mankind After Christ’s Coming Into the World
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be 14
seen upon thee (Is. 60:2). Here we see opposite extremes. God’s appearance in the world sharply divides all men into two groups: those who are with God and those who are not. The most terrible punishment that can be is to wander through deserts and dead, black streets, knowing that to you the gates behind which the feast is being held are forever closed. And the Lord says that this state will come to pass: The darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. The light of God will rebuke the darkness: the other faiths of the nations are not an indifferent matter, but rather they are darkness, an evil that reigns in the minds of men. People demand that we be politically correct and respect the convictions of others, but the coming of Christ does not permit this. Almost all human opinions that have proven estranged from divine glory, those that have not submitted to Christ, have proven to be not merely indifferent, but foreign, darkening the minds of men. It is due to the light of the Pascha of Christ that we cannot agree that all roads lead to the same peak! The light shone forth from the tomb of Christ, and in its rays it became clear that there is the One True Path and then there are the many false, black roads and 15
pathways of this world. This is the contrast that the resurrection of Christ reveals. The news of the resurrection is the news of division; it is the fiery sword that divides the world. Christians are not willing to negotiate or to compromise: they simply proclaim the unimaginable victory that Christ the Savior has brought. Resurrection at the State Level
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Is. 60:3). This light will draw kings and nations to itself. The pull toward this light is ingrained in the heart of every man. Kings will be the first to follow Christ: The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord (Prov. 21:1). Rulers have special access to God, because they are appointed by Him, and even if they are pagan kings God rules them directly. Christian communities come into being regardless of the ruler. There are countries where the rulers are not Christians, yet Christian communities flourish, and so it always has been. But the conversion of nations to God takes place through rulers—this has been God’s plan from the beginning. After baptism the nations will develop in the spirit 16
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Except where otherwise noted, scriptural quotes are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. Quotes from the book of Psalms are taken from The Psalter According to the Seventy, published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Brookline MA; all rights reserved.
Priest Daniel Sysoev
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