My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVERS SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
HOMILIES ON THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION (Part IV)
By Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios
Chapter 16
Revelation 2:24
Freemasonry---The Depths of Satan
"But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay upon you any other burden" (2:24).
So now the Lord addresses all those Christians in Thyatira who did not accept the polluted teachings of the woman, Jezebel, the faithful who did not know the so-called deep things of wisdom which are nothing but the deep secrets of Satan. Under the name Jezebel, my friends, we must also include another category of faithful, who much like the self-illumined of last week's lesson stay in the Church, attend Church and receive Holy Communion. However, their activities as far as the faith goes are totally irreconcilable with the teachings of the Church. Let's not forget that the woman, Jezebel in this epistle of the Lord to the bishop of Thyatira is of a Gnostic background, for the Lord says, "She teaches and deceives my servants to commit fornication and eat food sacrificed to idols" (cf. 2:20).
Do you remember when we dealt with the Nicolaitans who were also of a Gnostic influence? The important thing here is that this so-called knowledge, or the things falsely called knowledge--as the ancient Church Fathers, particularly Saint Irenaeus described--is categorized as satanic. The Lord now addresses all those who were closely connected with the bishop and had stayed true to the healthy teachings. They were not indoctrinated, as the heretics would claim, in the deeper knowledge and wisdom, or in reality the demonic knowledge and demonic wisdom.
These heretics speak about the depths of their wisdom as an exclusive wisdom, as secretive knowledge, and as an unapproachable and untouchable wisdom to the infidels, that is, to the unsacred and uninitiated. The secret work of lawlessness is constantly at work according to Saint Paul, especially today as we have an offspring Gnosticism, which is freemasonry, or simply, masonry. Masonry is a Gnostic heresy. Sure enough, the books of the Masons call us, the non-Masons, defiled, or unsacred. They claim to have the light, the illumination, and the pathway to the depth of knowledge, the depth of wisdom, the depth of philosophy, of which as they claim we are ignorant.
Freemasonry is nothing less than a natural descendant of ancient Gnosticism. It can be classified as neo-Gnosticism, if you will. I may have referred to Masonry so many times that I may be at risk of being labeled as somewhat of an anti-Masonic psychotic. I assure you my friends this is not the case. Masonry is a contemporary reality which affects everyone and everything in our times. It is certainly not a good strategy to underestimate the capabilities of the enemy. In order to fight an enemy (Satan) successfully, we cannot underestimate his power. Masonry is powerful; it is the power of Satan. That is precisely why we are fighting, and we will always continue to fight, as long as we live, against Freemasonry.
Do not be misled by the fact that it has no transparent public life: no publications, no open lectures, no apparent recruiting agenda or advertising. It works secretly Masonry is Gnosticism. With God's help, that is precisely what we will show today. We will prove that Masonry is of a Gnostic dimension. We will see this by referring, to the official documents of Masonry that we have in our possession. Once we prove this, then their doctrine must included in this very letter of the Lord to the bishop of Thyatira which condemns the woman, Jezebel...
"...Because Gnosticism may not be familiar to everyone I will simply say a few things about it, even though I have done so a number of times in the past. In a few words, we could say; in reality, Gnosticism is a religious philosophy. It accepts a god, a world, and a human being. It accepts certain relations between god, the world, and man. It looks at the world with dual vision, as good and evil. So, it sees good and evil in the world and it states that good in the world must be the work of the good god, and that what is evil in the world be the work of the evil god. Consequently, god is not one, but two persons. God consists of two personalities, or simply two gods.
Please keep in mind that there are great variations within Gnostic philosophy. There are great differences between the Gnosticism of Marcion and the Gnosticism of Vasilides, and in many others; they each have their own idiosyncrasies. However all these different Gnostic systems maintain the foundation of dualism, which is the existence of two gods, the good god and the evil god. The good god creates good and the evil god creates evil. They are always at war against one another and in the midst of this battle man is always the unfortunate victim. Man is forever struggling to become free from the evil god.
In the final analysis, Gnostics believe that man always hopes for such deliverance. He lives within nature. The Gnostic man does not believe in an omnipresent God even though he considers God invisible. In reality for him, God is not above time or space. Gnosticism strives to borrow many elements from outside because Gnosticism in itself is an empty and naked philosophy that does not have anything of its own merit. It takes from whatever every human philosophy has to offer and whatever the mystical religions have to offer; Orphism, Eleusinian mysteries, Hermetism, the thrice grand Hermes, the Eastern mysteries, Cybele, the mysteries of Osiris and Isis; these are ancient Egyptian mysteries. It has used elements from all these; it has taken elements from Judaism and from Christianity. Gnosticism has made a philosophical mixture of all these which it then offers as its own.
The danger behind Gnosticism is that it does not officially deny Christianity. Now if someone tells me, "I don't agree with you. I deny your beliefs. You are my enemy." I understand this and I keep my distance. However, when you hide and you do not show any denial; if you move about, you exist, breathe and slither within the Church; you take Holy Communion; you attend Church and yet you are an enemy and estranged from the Body, then there is real danger. This is plainly seen in the Freemansons; they take Holy Communion, they may be on the parish council, they are always in church and they will use this to their advantage. If one would question them they would have no problem responding, "Yes I am a Mason, but I am also a good Christian. I come to church, I take Holy Communion, I love my brothers." This is not to their advantage but to their detriment. It is most unfortunate. This is the predicament of the woman, Jezebel, who moved freely within the Church of Thyatira. She is the typology of the contemporary Gnostics and Masons as she was for the ancient Gnostics. As I promised, we will expose some of their documents and their own literature.
We will notice that in and on the exterior of Masonic lodges, as well as in their booklets, a central position is reserved for the letter G, which is placed within a star. In the Greek lodges, the third letter of the Greek alphabet is used, the letter gamma. In the Latin lodges, the letter G is used which is placed within the center of a star. It is a very common symbol that can be seen on the welcoming signs of every city and every small town. It is a blue sign, and in the center of the sign is the letter G enclosed by the configuration of a square. On top of a ninety-degree angle of the square, like the square tool of builders, is a compass [an instrument used for drawing circles] open at a forty-five degree angle. This is the most popular sign of the Masons. You see it on the rings of bankers, maybe some attorneys, on the lapels of some judges and on the temples of Freemasonry as you drive around.
Now the square and the compass are not as commonplace as we think. The symbolism around this figure is very rich and multi-sided. I will only tell you some of the most basic symbols. The square on the bottom of the right angle is the symbol of matter. On the top, the open compass, opened at a forty-degree angle, symbolizes the spirit. So, the symbolism pertains to spirit over matter that is the basis of all dualism and the chronic tug of war between spirit and matter. Keep in mind my friends that Christianity does not accept two godly sources. There are not two Gods. God made the heaven, the earth, and the things of the earth. There is nothing that has not been created by the One God. "All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made" (St. John 1:3).
(To be continued)
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MY BLESSING TO ALL OF YOU
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George