The 10 Commandments - Exodus 20:1-20, Deuteronomy

5:5-21
*Notera skillnad i placering "Thou shalt not kill"

3a. About the Veneration of the Cross

Do not make unto yourself an idol. And idol is an image of a god that does not exist. Defend
Holy Icons. Even though we have weeping, fragrant and miracoluos icons, other Christian
denimonations see them as graven images. Now we can describe God, because He became man.
In the Old Testament we could not describe Him, because He was invisible. In the New
Testament after the Incarnation, God became Man and be can describe Him. The struggle of
iconoclasm lasted for 100 years. Icons can be venerated, can be given honorary worship
(proskenisis) we we do proskenisis we honor the Saint, absolute worship belongs to God alone.
St. Gregory Palamas mentions this in the Philokalia. We do not worship anything created, all the
worship to God. We do not only venerated the icon of Christ, but venerate the Cross of Christ,
the weapon of Christians. The Greek word is "tropion", meaning the Trophy of Christ. The Sign
of the Cross, because the power of the Cross is great. The Sign of the Cross made miracles even
in the Old Testament. The uncreated energy of the Cross of Christ.

In the Old Testament; after the red sea. Moses struck the red sea with his staff first verticaly, then
horizontaly, making the sign of the Cross. Before Pharao told them to leave, God told Moses that
after the plague, "Tell the Israelites to kill a male lamb without blemish - take the blood of the
male lamb, and mark the doorposts with this blood, the horisontal posts and then the vertical
posts - the sign of the Cross." When the Israelites walked in the desert, God tested the Isralites
and disciplined them, they forgot the miracle and begin to threat Moses. Reached Mara, found
some water in the oasis, the water was very bitter. God showed Moses a tree; "cut from this tree
a branch and throw it in the water.", the wood prefigures the Cross. Exodus 17:12 after the
disbelief God allowed the enemies to attack to have them turn to God. The Amalekites attack,
and they are very powerful. The Isralites are fighting and Moses go up to the mountain. Moses
prefigures the crucifixion by holding the hands up, all day long.

In Ezekiel 9:4 Ezekiel the prophet sees a vision, because the Isralites are beginning to fall into
idolatry. The priests, instead of praying to the true God, are looking to the east, worshipping the
sun. God, Who is extremely worried and angry, appears in a vision to Ezekiel. God tells six
executioners to go out and kill everybody who worship the idols, but first, telling them to place a
mark in the forehead of all those who still maintain true faith in the true God. The word "mark"
in the Phoenician language, meant the letter 'T', like the Cross.
Just like in the days of the antichrist, the people who have the sign of Christ, and who believe in
the Sign of the Cross will be protected. Antichrist will put his mark on his people, 666, the
number of his name.
In I Kings 17:17 the widow of Zeraphta, was very hospital to Elijah the prophet, who was
persectured by Jessebel. The is no water, he is praying and there is a great famine because the
Israelites are idol-worshipping and crows are feeding prophet Elijah. He goes to Zeraphta, this
widow who was very pius. He stays there, she only has 5-6 pieces of bread left, instead of
feeding her children she invites him to come in. They were baking and baking and the flour
continued to multiply. Bad things happen to good things also because her son died. Elijah went
himself up, and as Scripture says, he stretched himself out, stretching his hands, he placed the
young man on the bed, and Elijah stretched out his hands tree times over the dead boy - once
again, the power of the Cross used by prophet Elijah many, many hundreds of years before the
crucifixion.

The Cross in the Old Testament was a killing weapon, and a person who died on the Cross was
cursed. That's why the Jews wanted Christ to die on the Cross, to stigmatize Him that he is the
greatest of criminals.

David, after he had killed Goliath in battle, he only had a slingshot and killed the giant with the
power of God. After David had killed Goliath, he took the sword of Goliath. David took the
weapon of Goliath, uses it, and cuts the head of Goliath off. What does he do with the sword,
throw it? No, he keeps it as a symbol of his victory. He takes it to the priest and the sword is kept
in the sanctuary - the weapon that kileld Goliath. Saul got jealous, "Saul has killed thousands, but
David has killed tens of thousands." and he became very envious, wanting to kill David. David
takes off with his soldiers without any weapons, and he goes to the priest Abimelech in the
sanctuary. The priest does not know what goes on, that David is chased by the king. David asks
the priest "Do you have anything for us to eat?", the priest said "I don't really have anything to
eat, expect holy bread. You can eat this holy bread, as long as your soldiers have not had marital
relations for three days." David says this "They have not been with a woman for three days."
Then Abimelech let David have some of the bread that was already blessed, used for the
sacrifice. He asked the priest "Do you have any kind of weapon here?" The priest answered "I
only have the one you used to kill Goliath." David said "Give me that one, there is none like it."
Later on, the sword of Goliath was kept in the temple of Solomon. Do you now see why we
venerate the Cross? Because the Cross was a weapon in the hands of the devil in the Old
Testament, used to kill thousands and probably innocent people, to hang them on a tree. Christ
grabs this weapon from the devil, He goes on the Cross, and uses the very weapon to bait the
devil, and now with the Power of the Cross the devil is destroyed. Now the Cross becomes the
tropion, or the trophy - the greatest Sign of Christianity. The power of the Cross is great. The
demons sizzle.

We have stories of people who went to demons, going to mediums and oracles; Julian the
Apostate, he wanted to know if he was to go to battle against this enemy. The oracles were
servants of the devil. Once Julian himself was the demons there personally, he was horrified and
habitually made the Sign of the Cross. Even though not being a believer. The demons took off,
and left. The Sign of the Cross, burns and horrifies the demons. It reminds them of the
catastrophy that happened to them on Golgotha.
The Sign of the Cross will shine forth trhoughout the entire Earth during the Second Coming.
Everyone will see this, even those who speared Him. One person speared Christ. But all of us,
with unrepentant sins continually spear Christ. If we continue to sin we spear the Body of Christ
all over again. Glorify the Sign of the Cross, that is, be a true Christian now, we crucify
ourselves. When you see the Cross of CHrist, you will have joy and boldness, and will Resurrect.

Venerate the icons of the saints, because they were co-crucified with Christ. What were the
saints? Icons of Christ, little christs, gods by grace. Saint Paul says: I share in the sufferings of
Christ, I participate in the sufferings of Christ. How do we do this? By living as true Christians,
being mocked, riddiculed, discriminated.

We also venerate the incorrupt bodies of the saints. The Greek word is "lipzano" translated as
relics. What are the relics of the saints? I every Orthodox Church, there are relics of the saints; in
the altar, the central pillar. Every Church is built on the bodies of the saints. Before the Church is
consecrated, we take the relics, the bishop takes a little silver disk and places the relics on them,
then there is a litany three times around the Church.

St. John Chrysostom says that the relics of the saints are depositories of grace. The healing
power flows from the soul to the body, from body to clothing, from clothing to shoes, from
shoes to the shadows. This is Scriptural I may add. Saint Peter, a few days after Pentecost, the
Church needed all the help it could get. The power had so much power, resurrecting dead people.

6. Honor Your Father and Your Mother

Honoring parents if we ourselves live spiritual lives.

Liturgical. Commemoration for the departed parents, during liturgy. Prayer of Trisagion very
helpful for the soul. During the Nativity Fast, 40 liturgies during 40 days - in some churches and
in almost all monastaries. The service of Proskomedie/Prothesis for the departed is very, very
helpful with great benefit. Departed people can not help themselves at all, but the Church prays
for them. The saints have the boldness, but also priests, to ask God to intervene for the departed
souls. God's mercy is great, but only in this life, and before the Second Coming of Christ.

7. You Shall Not Commit Adultery

About the Rich Young Man (Mat. 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-27 and Luke 18:18-27). What shall I do to
inherit eternal life? The Lord uses the list of commandments from Exodus;
Mk. 10:19Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not
bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.

Eve preceded with a deadly conversation with the snake in Genesis which led to sin. The devil
continues with compliment "You can become God's". Be well-aware of demonic complements.
Even began to see the fruit differently, desiring it with an unholy desire. Lust is the destortion of
desire. Desire was given from God, to want Him, to desire the things of God. After the fall, the
desire becomes distorted. People desire anything but Heaven.

Christ in the New Testament came to hit this evil fruit:

Mt. 5:27-28
27
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
28
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart.
After the fall two things took place; sloth, no eagerness and no thirst for the things of Heaven -
spiritual slumber and lazyness, a permanent state which we have to fight as long as we live.
Human beings in general will always prefer the mundane things of the world, because now our
compass is pointing downwards. The second is disorder, a divergence, things that God made
very, very simple - we complicate. This divergence, this disorder, struck the area of
reproduction the worst. Before the fall, they were naked in the garden, because they had the
grace of God, they could not think of lust and evil. But now, Adam runs to cover himself, and
he did well, because then shame was introduced. The element of shame is very healthy so
Adam did well, but he placed the leaves of frigtrees covering his reproduction area only. God
improved this by handing them garments of skin, to keep them from unbridling these passions.
Shame is a protective measure to control this unbridling of the passions. Without shame we
become like Sodom and Gomorra. "This people have become flesh.", that is, worthless. The
commandments help the human being who have this disorder, they remind us that it is to our
advantage to live the way God told us - if we don't, we will be punished. This speicific
commandment reminds us humans, who are easily tempted, to remember Genesis. The serpent
was condemned to eat dust. Do snakes eat dust nowadays?No, this is symbolic language. This
means to eat filth, the demons love filth, and for their rest of their lives they will drag people to
filth. Because they are spirits without bodies, they use the human bodies to enjoy themselves.
That is, when we commit adultery, the demons are right there. This is dust, feeding of the filth,
dragging humans down to the dirt.

Now, why is God telling us NOT to do this? What is the purpose? God would not have to explain
to us, but He will give us plenty of explanations in Holy Scripture. In this commandment, All
sexual sins are included. Artificial insemenation is adultery IF the donor is not the husband.
There are natural, unatural and ontological sins. The sin of adultery between a man and a
woman is natural, but is unlawful against God's Law. Homosexuality is not only unlawful but
unnatural. Why is it a sin for two people, who are engaged, but who are not yet married, to have
relations? Simply because God says so. Because this is the will of God, to live pure for our
sanctification 1 Thess 4:3. The goal is not to have 2-3 children, or a beautiful family; these things
are indeed great, but it's not the purpose. Degrees are wonderful, but are not the purpose. The
purpose of our life is sanctification. "that ye should abstain from sexual immorality", that is,
ALL FORMS. We should possess our own vessel in sactification and honor. I Cor 6:19We are the
temple of the Holy Spirit. The body AND the soul is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I Cor 5:5
handing the sinner over to Satan for the destruction of the body, so that his soul may be saved. I Cor
3:17defiling the Temple of the Holy Spirit means death. Destruction of the body, example with
Onan in Genesis. Most crimes are based upon pleasures, and stress damages the nervous system,
the level of depression - all this stems from the pleasure-seeking course we have been taught to
follow.

Lastly about the ontological dimension in the New Testament. We are members of the Body of
Christ. What does this mean? How to be members? Just like when we are members in a club or
pay membership to the Church? No, that's very shallow. We are ontological members of Christ,
and St. Paul stresses this in Ephesians 5:30. When we take Holy Communion, we carry the Flesh
of Christ inside of us, the actual Body and Blood of Christ. St. Paul tells the Corinthians; shall I
then take the members of Christ and make it the members of a harlot? A harlot in the Scriptures
was not only one being paid, but a person outside of Holy matrimony. To be joined to a harlot is
to be one body with her, for two becomes one according to St. Paul. Being joined to the Lord, is
one spirit with Him. Sexual immorality means sin against ones own body.

It is a mystery how all the other sins are outside the body, because the soul sins. When we steal it
is because the soul tells the body to do it. That's the mystery, how the sin of adultery/fornication,
specially offend the body. In a more vivid way; the person who commit the sin, and who goes
into the Church, brings the other adulterous person with him into the Church, because he is
united with that person. This is the ontological dimension. THIS IS WHY DIVORCE IS
ALLOWED, because of THIS reason. Not for any other reason, expect this reason, according to
Christ. Because, by uniting oneself with a harlot, one becomes one with her.

These sins are very very widespread. Thank God for the New Testament and for forgiveness.
Because many harlots became saints in the Church. If anyone has any guilt, based upon these
actions, the time to repent is now, and not at the time of our death. St. Gregory Palamas warns us
on this, and goes to the bottom of the matter immediately. New nicolaitans, modernist
theologians, teach that - as long as you are in love with the person it is not adultery. Now, it does
not matter if one loves a person, because the Law of God teaches that ANY ACTION outside of
marriage is unlawful and punishable. Therefore, you will not commint fornication so that you
will not find yourself being instead a member of Christ, a member of a prostitude, so that you
will not be cut off from the Divine Body and loosing the Divine inheritance.

There is a scary example in the Old Testament, by the way there was no forgiveness back then,
but punishable by stoning. If the daughter of a priest, if she were to be found fornicating, she
would be burned, because she ashamed her father. Her father was serving the Holy God, so the
priest was holy, and his children shared in this holiness. It was inconceivable for this sin to
happen in this case. St. Gregory Palamas says, if this was true in the Old Testament, then how
much more will we receive when we trangress against these commandments?

We are created in the image of God, of Christ to be specific. This sin offend Christ, because we
are created in the human nature of Christ and therefore offend the human nature of Christ.
Matthew 25:36,40 Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto me. When we sin against one of the brothers or sisters of Christ, we did this to Him
and sin against Him. One reason why this sin is widespread is because of ignorance because
nobody has any idea what the faith is all about. To push children to take Holy Communion with
the mere thought just to keep children closer to Church, as if this would be good for them. And
they know that they live in sin, but they urge them to take Holy Communion, and this is terrible.
Many priests, and this is an excellent practise - they warn that if the person has not been to
confession, and have not been to confession recently - please do not approach the Holy cup,
because you receive damnation instead of help. Our bodies will resurrect. St. Paul says; I Cor
6:13-14, everybody will be raised, however, the bodies that will be found with sexual sins,
unrepentant, unconfessed sins, will becomes unacceplable to God. God is extremely specific
when it comes to this; St. Paul says again I Cor 6:9. St. Paul mentions idolatry right between
fornication and adultery, because in essence, that's what it is. The word of God says; Do not be
deceived.

Only the marriage is the blessed state. But what marriage? People go to district court and get
wed, and then wait perhaps two years and get married. What foolishness. A marriage like that is
adultery. Marriage is honorable in all things, and the bed undefiled. But adulterer and fornicators,
God will judge. Any kind of activities inside of the marriage which do not agree with the word of
God is a sin and have to be confessed and repentant for. Keeping the marriage bed undefiled
means that you cannot go outside of your home to do the sin, but also, the body is to be kept in
honor because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Now then, how do we defend against these evils? These things are celebrated on TV and is
widespread. The root problem is spiritual, not sexual. Me have to learn how to keep our mind
and thoughts pure. Because everything starts at the though-level. Demons are noetic, go through
walls. Evil thoughts, suggestions, doesn't come without their action. At the initial stage, the
attack, when we just have the thought, when we see a filthy picture on the street, at that moment
we are not sinning. Use the weapons of the Church to fight the thought at this level - Jesus
Prayer, prayer, Holy Scripture, the crucified Lord with blood dripping down His face. We expel
this thought. The imagination, the great thief. If we entertain the thought, that is the second stage,
the dialogue. "Really, so we can become gods?", as Eve thought, instead of saying "My husband
is not here, I will not talk to you." Nowadays there are still snakes out there with word plays. Cut
the thought off totally, instead of keeping it with pleasure. Then we have the acceptance, "I
should do that, why not?" That's the decision to go ahead with the sin. Now sin begin to take
flesh and bones. When the counsciousness kicks in, the fight begins, which can last for a month,
two months. "Should I? or should I not?" this fight can take many, many months. When we fight,
we are not sure whether we are going to win or not. It is best to fight the sin in the beginning.
Crush it like an ant in the beginning, before it becomes a lion.

Does it stop here? No, after the sin is done, it won't stop there. Sin becomes like a glass of water
when it becomes a passion, that is, it goes directly from thought to action. When a person wakes
up, he wants to become free from the passion, he feels trapped. Passions are like chains.

7A. Homosexuality Worse Than Fornication

All sin of the body is included in the 6th commandment. Homosexuals will not inherit the
Kingdom of God. Homosexuality is a definite sign of the end-times. Homosexuality is a problem
related to idolatry. In Rev. 17:8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of
the bottomless pit. The beast, according to the Fathers, is idolatry and the devil. Idolatry existed
before Christ, but after Christ came the idols were crushed. The devil and the idols stopped and
was almost non-existent in Byzantium. But now towards end of time it will resurface. This
apostacy, according to St. Paul will bring the antichrist and after three and a half year there will
be Christ's Second Coming. Homosexuality is not predestined, that is, from birth. The western
countries are getting away from Christianity. But getting away from the biblical truths means
abandoment of God, which leaves us with demons who comes in again. 1054 the western church
broke of from the east. 1500 the protestants broke off, even more abandonment from God.
Scholasticism, scientific exploration, industrial revolution, world wars, atheism, homosexuality
and antichrist. When an evil spirit leaves a person it goes away into dry places and then returns
to the person, that same spirit find other seven spirits more wicked and enters that person again.
What person? The person who doesn't live the proper Christian lifestile. The worst atrocities
came out of Christian countries, because of abandonment of God. When we sin we invite the
devil to our lives. In the Old Testament their is the classic typology of Sodom and Gommora,
where young and old were infected with this sin and they were eliminated. In Acts 7:42 in the
apology of St. Stephen, he is defending his faith. He tells the Jews the story of Moses and WHY
God abandoned the Israelites. After they made the golden calf, God turned His Face away, and
gave them over to worship the host of Heaven. At those days they had been 90 days in the desert,
God had give them everything, and He gave them up to worship idols. The people turned into
animals, and God allowed them to walk like oxen through the desert for 40 years. When we
persist in sin stubbernly, then God abandons us, His love follows us, but from a distance. He
respects and revere our freedom so much, He will even allow us to commit suicide, He does not
want this, but if we choose this He will let us. This stubborness in sin leads to condemnation and
punishment.

There are two punishments; disciplinary and condemnatory. In the days of Noah the punishment
was condemnatory because the people has become flesh. In the desert the punishment was
disciplinary. There are two categories of sin which are especially offensive to God; the sins of
the flesh, and those of pride and arrogance. The sin of heresy is extreme pride and arrogance,
when we try to change the traching of the Church and the traditions of the Church, when we feel
that we can do things better, we possess a large amount of pride. And His Spirit departs from us,
and this abandonment creates hell. When God turns His face from people, or a nation, the
ultimate delution rushes in to overtake them. God hands people over to temptation. God does not
tempt anyone, but we tempt ourselves. We do not want to give up our passions. "Lead us not into
temptation", what does this mean? Realize that we have passions and ask for help. In Rom 1 St.
Paul speakes about the people of the Old Testament. But if he was alive today, he would speak
even strongly. History repeats itself. We have more inventions, but even 10 000 more diseases at
the same time. Most people today do not worship animals or statues, but instead they worship
themselves; idol of wealth, idol of family, idol of health, idol of atheltics, idol of pleasure etc.
God gave them up, He let them go. Rom 1:24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness
meaning self-pleasuring. What does this verse mean? Is this a fruit of idolatry? Yes. They
exchange the truth of God for a lie, and serve the creature rather than the Creator: Rom. 1:25. All
passions are bad, but the Bible calls the sins of the flesh as passions of disgust and dishonor.
"The males", St. Paul doesn't call them "men" in Greek. According to surveys, homosexuals
change patners over 200 times. The rate of suicide, alcoholism and disease is sky-high in the
sodomitic lifestyle. People can not vote until they are 18, nor buy alcohol, but at the age of 10
they can decide they want to be homosexuals?

Homosexuality is the fruit of idolatry because this passion makes us act like idolaters.
Homosexuality is a very strong demon. We need to bring the Church into our home, it is not
enough to let children go to Sunday school.

9. You Shall Not Murder

12. You Shall Not Covet

You shall not desire your neighbours wife, his land, his donkey, nor anything that belongs to
him. You will not desire anything that belong to your neighbour. The purpose of this
commandment is to eliminate the seed of sin, because when we begin to desire what belongs to
others leads us to action. This commandments serves as a bridge between the Old and New
Testament. It's not enough to avoid the action, but not evene entertain the thought. When we get
attacked by an evil thought we must push it away, right away, otherwise we ener into the area of
sin. In this we see the inadequacy of human law. If we believe that our neighbour is going to kill
us, we tell the police, and nothing happens. What then if the neighbour comes and kills me? Then
it's to late. But the Lord comes to destroy the evil seedling directly in the heart, before the action
and eleminates the possibility of action. God could easily say "Just stay away from what belongs
to your neighbour", but what God is is to specify it, "To not desire your neighbours wife, donkey
etc." What is the purpose of this specification? This commandment summarises ALL the
commandments. When the commandment says not to covet your neighbours wife, this
insunuates adultery. We saw this in the case of King David and Batsheba. He saw her, and this
led to the sinful action. This coveting continued, and led to murder when he killed Uriah, his best
friend, his own general. When it says, do not covet the servant of your neighbour. Today a
servant would be the excutive in the other company, when you steal that person, you slander the
company and the employer, in order to steal the employee. When it says, not to covet the ox or
donkey of your neighbour, this is to keep your from stealing. When it says, do not covet the farm
or garden. We saw this in the case of Jezzebel and Ahab with the wineyard. Ahab because of his
lust, desire and his covetting became sick and depressed, Jezzebel killed the landowner. God
internalized the commandments by eliminating the thoughts which destroys the sinful actions as
well. Christ internalises the Old Law in the New Testament. It's not enough to divorce, but this
makes the person commit adultery. It's not enough to kill your brother, but when you call your
brother things "you are stupid" you are in danger of hell, because you are already at the initial
stanges of murder when you get angry with your brother.

St. Gregory Palamas says, do not covet anything that your neighbour has, not his glory either.
We can covet glory. We can slander a person, to take his poisition. Covetting takes many forms.
Jealousy and citizising and we begin to slander, this happened to Aron and Miriam in the desert
because God favored Moses, and they gossiped their own brother. They talked about Moses, and
right away God got very angry with them, calling them to the Tabernacle, Miriam immediately
became white of leprossy, because Moses had married an ethipoian woman. All these are evil
seedlings which need to be eliminated. When desire is conceived in the soul gives birth to sin.
The distortion of desire happened after the fall, desire is meant to be desire God and His
Kingdom, now we desire anything but God. Desire is the satisfaction of egotism.

In the book of Revelation, 1/3 of the population will die from beasts, viruses. Wisdom that is not
connected with God becomes demonic wisdom. Desire enters us two ways; either bodily through
gluttony or lust, or spiritually through pride. Desire is the governor of fallen man. St. James, the
brother of God, says; Do not say that God is tempting you when you are tempted, but each one is
tempted by his own desire. When we are tempted, the desire is inside of us, like an evil seed, and
sin when fully grown gives birth to death, not only spiritual but sometimes physically as well.

To put Christ in a persons heart first before changing somebody. In the epistle of John we read;
do not love the world.

______________________________________

Spiritual Combat

Logismoi
Truth is a person, the is our Lord Jesus Christ, His truth is only revealed in His Body - the
Orthodox Church, the Church of the prophets, of the apostles, the saints and those who fear the
Lord. In our written tradition, the Holy Scriptures, and the oral tradition; in this we distunguish
three categories of Christians - prophets, saints and those who fear the Name of the Lord. The
Lord comes to give the price to His servants, and His servants are the prophets and the apostles,
the saints and the martyes - and the third category of us who fear the Lord. Brothers, sometimes

The 7 Deadly Sins

Dear brother and sisters in Christ, rejoice in Christ. Our message might seem conservative, we do
not try to be conservative, but are simple presenting the teaching of Orthodox saintly Fathers
who interpreted the Scriptures by living a life of the Holy Spirit while preserving the traditions of
the Church through the ages. True faith is a must in order to archive our goal is life;
sanctification. Christ Himself prayed for His disciples, and His disciples through all the ages, to
be sanctified in the truth. He prayed: John 17:17. True works along with true faith in Christ
sanctifies the Christian and glorify God. What are the 7 deadly sins, and the meaning of each one
of them? They are called deadly because they bring death to the soul, if I persist in the smallest
sin, even if it is small, can lead to death if it persists. Murder is not a deadly sin, it is a very
serious sin, but not a deadly one.

Lets start with the sin of gluttony, fornication, greed, anger, sadness, sloth/laziness and the last is
pride. Gluttony; the desire to have the stomach full. There are different types; a full stomach, or
to satisfy the taste buds / the pallet. Some people can do with little food, but it has to be the best.
Gluttony is to eat more that was is nescessary to live, this person can make food the soul purpose
to eat. That is, to live to eat. "Come let us merry, because let us eat and drink for life is short."
Shallow materialism turn taste and satisfaction into God. Gluttony is the door to the other sins.
Fornication is sexual immorality and love affairs, because only marriage is allowed by God.

Is fasting a virtue? Yes. It posesses the first place among all virtues. How do we know this?
What is the definition of a virtue? St. John of the Ladder says; virtue is a deed, towards God,
intiated from our free will. What does this mean? It is something that one does, that takes work
and effort, personal time, which is offered for the glory of God, out of ones free will. Does
fasting take effort? Yes. Doesn't this require effort, something we work for? This is the second
condition; does it come from the heart? And thirdly; even if it comes from the heart, is it done for
the glory of God? If so, then it is a virtue. If we lack these three conditions it is no virtue, even if
we lack one but keep two of the conditions it is no virtue. For example, if we fast with all our
heart and with every effort of our being, but if we do it not for the glory of God, but to lose
weight and to become slim, is this a virtue? Or on the other side; if I do a good deed for the glory
of God, but not from my heart and I begin to grumble and complain, which is especially true for
young people. It is not a virtue to just go along with something because we have to, but not out
of our own free will - such as being forced to fast or to attend Church.

Therefore, if we lack one of these three conditions it is not a virtue. Remember that fasting is one
of the three initial virtues that God required of Adam and Eve in Paradise. God gave them three
conditions; the first to work in the Garden, the second to protect the Garden, and the third to not
eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Fasting is of the same age as man himself, so it is a
very old commandment and is the first commandment.

You probably think; "But what about love, humility, mercy etc?" Well, we just said that gluttony
is the door to all other sins to be established. If someone does not repent he will surely loose his
soul. Reversely; fasting is the door opener to the all other virtues. Therefore we should work
especially on the virtues during the fasts. It is such a versitile virtue with so many benefits.
Obedience; "God said it, and that is good enough for me." God told Adam and Eve to fast for the
certain fruit. Our responsibility, no matter what other people say, is to be obedient to God
because His word is final. Unfortunately, in our times there are many spiritual people and priests
with a very relaxed attitude towards fasting. We find fasting all over the Scriptures; Moses
fasted, Daniel fasted, the three youths fasted, the Apostles fasted, St. John the Baptish, St. Paul
fasted. And lastly; Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself fasted for 40 days. With lack of fasting we lost
Paradise, and with it, it will help us gain it again.