The Master's Ladder, Step Eight

The Master's Ladder, Step by Step 

Step Eight 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  KJV

Actually the King James bible records the wrong tense here.  The oldest, most trusted and reliable of Greek texts agree that it says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The Orthodox Study Bible using the New King James version does not correct this point. But the official Greek Bible of the Greek Orthodox Church follows the accurate rendering, “who have been persecuted.”  I think it is an important difference.  Being persecuted for righteousness sake and having withstood the persecution faithfully, having overcome the flesh, fear, wounded pride, anger, in fact all the passions, having emerged victorious over Satan, is different than being persecuted and failing in persecution.  How can one fail in persecution without abandoning the truth you know to be the truth. Faithfulness brings the Kingdom of God to the heart, with more power yet. Failure brings need for repentance and restoration. 

Persecuted for righteousness sake.
The persecution is undefined, it can be anything. We must understand there are no Marquess of Queensberry Rules in our battle with evil, and this goes for the interior as well as the exterior battle. Even the savage boxing ring has more civility that the battle to which we have dedicated to engage. Diabolical cunning or the boring persistence, dogged resistance to the good, is the rule not the exception.  

We went to great lengths to describe righteousness, in a previous step. We found it easiest defined in the negative, which oddly paints the positive definition in clearest relief.  We took the picture from the Prophet Isaiah59:14ff And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment."

The absence of righteousness, is also the absence of judgment, which is also the absence of justice, which is also the absence of ethical society and ethical governance, AS WELL AS, the absence of ethical behavior on the personal level; which is also the suppression of truth, which turns THE LIE into the common consciousness of the culture, and TRUTH the enemy of the culture; and he who dares to say anything true, who dares make a righteous judgment or acts in a righteous action, has departed from the common culture and is branded a suspect and dangerous to the common good and becomes prey, an object of persecution.We have described here both what righteousness is and why it is likely to draw to itself "persecution." 
Saint Anthony the Great:
“There is coming a time, when men will go mad. They will take hold of you and say, 'You are mad! You are not like us!”

Righteousness is first and foremost clearing the heart of all clutter, (purification) so that the vision of the heart-mind becomes operational and clear, so that perception of truth is possible; so then that judgment and the action upon that judgment is based upon what is absolutely true and absolutely real - The Holy Spirit of God.  Remember that the Kingdom of God, is first a contemplation of “realities.”   So Saint John Chrysostom says, “'On account of righteousness' that means, on account of virtue, for the protection given to others, and for piety.” 
“'On account of righteousness' that means, on account of virtue”;
obtaining virtue, a state of virtue, then he gives it a physical meaning.
“for the protection given to others”; 
and that has so many, many possible meanings in the life of the saint and the struggling sinner, and the life in but not of the world; then he finishes by saying, 
“and for piety.”    
Piety is first and foremost, “faithfulness.
He captured the meaning of that past tense,  “who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake . . .”  Holding virtue, able to see, able to make a judgment based upon the Spirit of truth, choosing to act, this is good but not complete, since then one must be faithful in the action and see it through. Piety is that faithfulness.  “For it is always His (Jesus') custom to speak of righteousness as the entire philosophy of the soul, that is the true philosophy of the spiritual life of virtue, discipline and doctrine.”  We will get back to this idea of “virtue, discipline and doctrine.” Piety . . . faithfulness takes all three. 

Why would it be that those who are "poor in spirit" (step one) and those who are "persecuted for righteousness sake" (step eight) would both be promised "the kingdom of heaven"? This would imply on the face of it that the effect of step one and step eight are the same. It leaves one thinking that the circle of steps are for nothing because we end up where we started. However the two things are very different yet the two things are the same. Step one shows the beginning of the work of the rule of God in the heart, the reanimating of the Heart-Mind. (NOUS)  Step one is a private affair, except for public confession of faith, which has to happen some time in those very early steps.  It can be taken solely with a single Spiritual Father or Mother, as one is lead to the opening passages of spiritual life.  

Modern clericalism has reduced this beginning step(s) to catechism classes taught usually by a priest in a more or less formal setting destroying in most cases the intimacy and reality of the early idea of the "soul-friend" (anamchara). In the Celtic Orthodox Tradition the anamchara was a spiritually developed Christian, like a personal counselor, a real spiritual friend, that one person to whom you may be totally honest and have total confidence and trust. It was often a monk or a nun, rarely a priest, and some time other "sanctified" lay-people, a working person with great virtue.  Sadly formal catechism classes rarely fit this description. 

Step eight far from personal, it is an action “into the world”.  And it is a circle and one does end up in the same place, with the Kingdom of God resting in the mind-heart.  But it being a circle it is a spiral because it is a long, long way from step one to step eight. 

But then again this linear picture is artificial and mechanical, and as we have stated before, according to our reception, circumstance and wisdom, these steps overlap, and can be partially formed, partially completed, where we are spread out across the steps not clearly defined in our progress by just one step.  I saw for instance, inmates, and in a few instances Satanists and gang members whose conversion had to be of such power, lacking real privacy and open to immediate persecution, they had to be instantly ready and capable as a baby Christian, to stand and be faithful in the abuse that was to swiftly follow their conversion.  In the most desperate cases I would take months, exorcising and catechizing before I would baptize them, so they could, as it were, struggle in advance, defend their intention before assuming the yoke of defending their reality, so that they were grounded in some semblance of virtue, discipline and doctrine able to give a defense for their own action of conversion, to their own heart, even if they were not articulate in defending themselves to others. I knew that voice of wisdom would come, IF their experience was real to them.  I grilled them in these steps. Outlined in much detail the path of healing/salvation with every bit of wisdom the Holy Spirit saw fitting. Along with the other lessons, they had to understand the next lesson clearly: 

Matt 5:11-12: 


Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.  - We commonly mistake this last section of this sentence to mean "so persecuted they the prophets" (period) as if the "that were before YOU" is a needless time marker as if the hearers do not know what era they live and what was the era of the prophets.

Jesus knew that the persecution of those who followed him would happen swiftly, just as I knew that these inmates would swiftly suffer for their faith. They had to understand, that the persecution that would quickly come, dangerous, certainly, even possibly deadly, that it could not be endure without realizing its absolute necessity, that it is as much a part of The Way as is catechism, baptism, chrismation and their first communion. With THAT comes the certain challenges of Satan. No one escapes testing and bitter trial, no one.  If you have escaped, you need to ask yourself a serious one word question; WHY? 


Why would Christians, people of The Way, people whose single crime is to know God in his reality, as he can be known by mortal creatures, who strive to dedicate to, and work for, the good . . . why should these people be singled out to be persecuted as the Prophets were persecuted?  The simple answer is because they would speak and ACT, from the well-spring of the same prophetic spirit.

What did it mean in times past to be a prophet? Except to perceive reality, (truth) having ones judgment restored, having that "open line" between the heart and the Holy Spirit, then able by “virtue”, through “discipline,” ACTING in piety, that is faithfulness.  This is what a prophet does. Why would Jesus make possible to us, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the same spirit present in the prophets of old, who have spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit from the beginning, IF not to create powerful prophetic witnesses, imbued with Gifts of the Holy Spirit?  Powerful people who could in Virtue act, prophetically, in discipline/doctrine and faithfulness.    

What one becomes by the work of these steps empowered by God's Grace, is a prophet, in that one becomes able to perceive, speak and act upon TRUTH. Many of the Holy Fathers, speaking of this spirit of prophecy, that is, being able to perceive and speak TRUTH, said by many words, that it didn't matter, if what one could say concerning the profound healing of The Way was a lot or but a little, since it is TRUE. Why?  Because in both instances one must ACT upon the prophetic reality, eloquence or mean speech is of little difference when the action of virtue, discipline/doctrine and faithfulness are required.  

One of the people in my young life, whose influence was profound on me, was a friend with an I.Q., of 97.  His uncomplicated grasp of virtue was humbling to me. Often times he would say, “Butch, you know that's not right” and it would have the force of an old testament saint speaking. His innate judgment seemed to me flawless, and it was impossible to con him, because he had no passion, pride or greed in which to sink the hook.  

One becomes a prophet when one becomes capable of "hearing and ACTING Truth." This is very different than simply "hearing the truth, conceptualizing it, intellectualizing it and reciting it."  Which sadly is the stunted condition of so many "bible only Christians" who are so sincere and have studied so hard.  So many are so serious and without the guidance of the Church are worse off and more blind than the Ethiopian Eunuch sitting on his chariot reading, wondering, contemplating what the words must mean.  No rather the modern Bible Only Religionist, lacks the humility of the Eunuch variously ascribing meaning to scriptures according to first and second path spirituality/theology; His interpretation is based upon an innovative tradition of man, according to the rational theological lines of his denomination, and/or what he rationally constructs, or emotionally constructs, without guidance, on his own. Often times the great Bible Quest creates a resultant spirituality of bitterness; it is a prideful fast to as Isaiah said, "for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness"  Would that he would say as the Ethiopian, "how can I understand when I have no one to interpret its meaning." Its meaning is not "hearing the truth, conceptualizing it, and intellectualizing it and reciting it as a weapon." Its meaning is ORGANIC HEALING.  

Rom 10:15" . . . How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, of those preaching the gospel of good things!" 
"How dare you talk about The Gospel of Peace and the Gospel of Good Things!   Don't you know that the New Testament is only the Gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified!" I actually had a Bible Only Christian say this to me, yet these are Saint Paul's words. So you may label this series The Gospel of deep psycho/spiritual healing; without which you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?"  So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

1Th_2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. 

What meaning is Faith devoid of Truth? That is the definition of delusion, fantasy, superstition and error.

Faith is the exercise of Truth, so that it may have effectual work IN us, "so that we may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God." Even this "good, acceptable and perfect" has application in this picture of the steps, the degrees of coming to know God's will in increasing understanding, knowledge and wisdom AS WE "Effectualize" "Internalize" HEAL and GROW. 

Truth/Faith comes by hearing; We are hearing the truth as we are dealing with all the sickness of
religion in ourselves on the level of each step, or we could not grow. Internalizing the truth, meeting the challenges truth causes in our person, in our psyche, we are beating back our own resistance to repentance, health and healing.  This internalization, this effecualization, is organic, biological before it is spiritual, and although we use concepts and intellect as tools, our goal and sphere of healing is organic of the whole person.  A reality beyond words creating peace beyond understanding.

 When one reaches Step Eight one begins to"speak the truth" in word and action, which is prophecy, which has the power to challenge everyone around, without a single challenge intended, really. Your very presence comes to be recognized as a challenge to the LIE.  In the previous steps we talked about "works of mercy."  These works become more powerful and cannot be hidden from the world.

Upon this step one has gained enlightenment, able to know the will of God.  The pride of this world (Satan), the ignorant arrogance of religious sickness, the pride of philosophies without wisdom, and scientific "advance" without wisdom., etc., etc., hates any source of the spoken "will of God." No matter how softly one speaks the truth, no matter how sugar-coated and timidly one speaks the truth, truth offends, grieves, insults and angers those who choose to hide in darkness. It also creates life in those who begin to hear, even if the initial encounter is painful.  

In practical experience of speaking the truth in love, a "spiritual father" or "mentor" leading people to Orthodoxia -(truth) will have the same person in the course of time praise him in ignorance, ascribing to him what he has not said, and liking it, since it is filtered through his own religious sickness.  Later the same person may scoff and disparage him as a heretic for the very same truth, when it begin to pierce the heart and expose the sickness, i.e shed light on the psycho-pathos and challenge it to change and healing.  

In resistance the same person may write huge tomes of explanation, knowing that certainly the problem has to be in the “mentor's” misunderstanding of their theological or philosophical stance, since theirs is so systematically and carefully formed to the satisfaction of their own ego. They will spend hours, days, grasping at straws like a drowning man.  Only to, when it is time, approach with great tears of repentance allowing the Holy Spirit his work, where there has been no coercion, no hypnosis of altar calls and other methods of manipulation.  Rather the person has come "rationally" conquering their own resistance, via the exercise of their free will, eyes wide open, (not eyes wide shut) seeing greater than dead tradition of men, greater than rational theology that had reduced God to their understanding and greater than the fantasy producing emotions mistaken as the movement of the Holy Spirit. Superstitions, fantasies and errors fleeing like ghost in the night. I've seen such people turn so solid, so eloquent, that I have to fight envy, seeing their grace, their gifts, under inspiration of TRUTH. 

Yet I have witnessed some turn snake eyed and venomous, spewing hatred and lies, in demonic demonstration, burn all the bridges between themselves and truth.  But even these are not necessarily lost. Some return and receive wonders of healing and enlightenment. 

To speak prophetically has nothing to do with reading the future and making predictions, although, it will often seem so.  It is simply the animated, Mind-Heart (the NOUS) awake to the Holy Spirit.  Many believe that we as Christians are supposed to"shave the truth" and not speak the whole truth less we offend someone.  We certainly do not blare from the roof top what is incomprehensible even to the sincere seeker, at first. We use wisdom in our actions, yet Jesus' works and words of truth comforted and taught those able to hear and the very same works and words of truth offended and troubled those unwilling or unable to hear, to the point they wanted to kill him.  Truth no matter how softly spoken, no matter what wise words are employed, cuts to the marrow and always holds the danger of creating violent reaction. 

I'm sure there were those pragmatists, and others dedicated to other philosophies, unable to hear Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, these steps, with any comprehension, and simply dismissed his words as poetic fantasy of an "idealist" with no application in the real world. 

Our president (Barack Obama) made it clear that this was his view of Jesus, he said dismissing Christianity specifically, in an odd speech packed with distortions,  and opprobrious dismissal of Christianity in general and These Steps in particular:

“More over, given the diversity of America's population the dangers of sectarianism are greater than ever. Whatever we once were we are no longer a Christian nation, at least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation and a Buddhist nation, and a Hindu nation and a nation of non-believers.  And even if we did have only Christians in our midst; if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would it be James Dobson's? or Al Sharpton's?  Which passages of scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests that slavery is okay, and that eating shellfish is an abomination, or we could go with Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith, or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, a passage that is so radical that it is doubtful that our own defense department would survive its application.”  A third of the audience booed, two thirds of the audience applauded. “Before we get carried away, let us read our Bibles now, some folks haven't been reading their Bibles.  Democracy demands that the religiously motivated translates their concerns into universal rather than religion specific values.  What I mean by that is that it requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason.  Now I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, to take one example. But if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I can't simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will.  I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to the people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.  Now this is going to be difficult for some who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible.   As many Evangelicals do, but in a pluralistic society we have no choice.”

The Fundamentalist Christian would find this offensive but would have little understand of the errors in his statement. They would tend to agree that the Sermon on the Mount is not a practical and pragmatic means of Governance.  On the Liberal end of the Protestant spectrum, they would also agree, since they reject most of the Sermon on the Mount, deconstruct it and form it to their prejudices (passions).  An Orthodox Christian would immediately recognize that the faith he is addressing is not their faith and has never been their faith. They would recognize that Obama's non-comprehension of the Sermon on the Mouth, shared to a degree by both fundamentalist and liberal protestants who "idealize it" does not reflect TRUTH. And that in the process of his speaking he has contradicted himself in a most dramatic fashion.

He said, "What I mean by that is that it requires that their proposals be subject to argument, and amenable to reason."  As if that is not the reality of the Christian faith. There is nothing unreasonable about the Christian faith. The fact that it exceeds the capabilities of reason, does not mean that it assaults what may be objectively known, held and understood in Natural Law. There is NOTHING in Christian belief and practice that assaults "things as they are" i.e. Natural Law, which in  reality is God's Law of Nature. He gave the abortion debate as an example, and as anyone who has genuinely applied natural law to the question knows, there is no debate, merely the resistance of those clinging to lie.  So here is the crux of it, and the deception in his words, which are probably unknown to him, since he is obviously an ignorant man on the subject.  This culture does not debate anything upon "reason" but debates between emotional fantasies. Rarely is the debate clearly between Reality and Delusion, Truth and Lie, What may be known vs what is violently rejected.  The abortion debate is exactly the latter, what is objectively and scientifically known vs the violent rejection of the same for the fantasy of a right a woman does not have. The right of unjust homicide. 

The president's little speech reflects the culture as we have previously described. Obama's blindness and glib rejection of the practical Steps of Jesus' teaching. The Sermon on the Mount, the TRUTH present in his words is capable of emptying the mental institutions, capable of destroying the demonic "crafts" of psychology and psychiatry, able to empty the prisons . . . I exaggerate only slightly.  But do you see, that based on the REALITY of these steps, nothing about them is threatening to national defense.  In fact, Government Domestic Policy, Foreign Policy and  Defense Policy based totally in reality, as these steps outline, would create the most just society the world has ever known, and the most powerful and just nation on the world stage, because it would be populated by powerful people no evil could compromise, no propaganda could fool, no conspirators could manipulate, no greedy banksters could control. It is clear that Obama has read the Sermon on the Mount with the same dismissal as  fundamentalists and liberal theologians . . . that being the claim that Jesus' words were some idyllic poetry, a wonderful comforting vision with little or no practical application.  In the debate about whether Obama is Christian or Muslim, regardless, his comprehension of basic Christian healing/salvation is zero. Why would Obama be fearful of Christian intent? Because he knows in his gut that it challenges his darkness.     

Those who heard Jesus and understood, in part, were challenged to the truth some willing to hear more, others unwilling to hear. Some eager to rid themselves of this troublesome person, willing to conspire in criminal conspiracy to kill him. That same spirit continues in the world and seeks the mortal life of all who speak from a foundation of the Truth of Jesus' Divine/Human Nature, who clearly teach and demonstrate in works the healing power the Apostolic Revelation, which is Healing/Salvation.

It is time to speak truth to power, firstly to the powers of Apostasy in the Church, next to the power of Death in the Culture. - And endure the consequences. We need to set this culture on FIRE.  We need to take the Sword to every precious and greedily held LIE. 

I listened to Mother Angelica the famed nun who created the Eternal Word Television Network, (EWTN)  a favorite stranger, for whom I have huge respect,  putting the wisdom of these steps into the language as presented by Saint John, the language of love, which everyone mistakes for "emotions" i.e. sweet feelings.  She explained that it was God sharing his love with us, that love permeating us, informs us, radiating out to our neighbors. She said that there is nothing we can do to create our own "spirituality." All we can do is cooperate with the Spirit of Love. She even talked about love "pushing out ones hatred and bad feelings."  

Nothing she said is false, actually. Yet in that passive picturing it is misleading.  Misleading in the way it would be if someone asked you how to make a car go and you answered "just let the attendant fill it with gasoline. Gasoline warms the engine, gasoline enlivens the engine, gasoline animates the engine, which animates the whole car, the whole car moves about and has an effect in the world because the attendant shared his gasoline with us." Nothing I've said is false, but it is hardly the wisdom of effective automobile movement in the world. It is rather a truncation of that.  The picturing of passivity vis a vis God's love is just as truncated.  The difficulty of Saint John's writings, is that his audience was never intended for those who had not already "ascended into the valley of weeping" ascended at least the first few of these steps.  He wrote for believers already active in the healing life.  These steps are given for sinners anticipating a climb. 

Next the Three Paths of Spirituality/Theology, then we will tackle the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount.