By the Grace of God and Elder Athanasios Revelation Volumes 1-5 is now complete…after 23

years!!!

Lesson 101
Revelation 22:17-21

The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him
who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. I warn every
one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will
add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words
of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I
am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

March 25, 1984

And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared
as a bride adorned for her husband (Revelation 21:2). The Spirit is the Holy Spirit, Who
descended at Pentecost and henceforth remains in the Church. The Lord confirmed this to
His Apostles before His Resurrection when he said, I will ask the Father and he will give
you another Paraklete (Counselor, Comforter), that he may abide with you until the
age… the Spirit of Truth (John 14:16). The first Paraklete is Christ, and the other
Paraklete is the Holy Spirit. The other Paraklete will abide in you until the age, until the
end of history, to guide the Church Militant through time within history. The Spirit of
Truth, Whom the world cannot receive, will stay in the Church until the end of the age,
until the end of history (cf. John 14:17).
It will also abide in another bride, the soul of every faithful Christian.
Accordingly, the Holy Spirit abides in the Bride Church and in the bride soul. When the
Holy Spirit abides in the Church and in the bride soul, It illumines, sanctifies, and
increases it in Christ Jesus and showers it with grace. In the midst of temptations, the
Church and the soul of every faithful Christian has the succor of the Holy Spirit. Saint
Paul writes, Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses; for we do not know how to
pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered (Romans 8:26).
During a period of fervent prayer a person utters a word or a sentence with sighs or
groanings; this is characteristic of fervent prayer. We must always keep in mind that the
Holy Spirit abides in the Church, and in every soul, and assists us in our temptations,
illnesses, difficulties, and falls, and makes intercessions for us with groanings, which
cannot be uttered. This is an exquisite expression which shows the Holy Spirit’s great
love for us. Saint Paul writes again, and do not grieve the Holy Spirit, by Whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). We grieve the Holy Spirit when we
sin. If we could only embrace the conviction that we are not alone, and the Holy Spirit is
with us, and prays for us. Just like Christ was praying to the Father—to the holy Triune
God, and this is a mystery—in the same way the Holy Spirit prays to the Father and to
the entire Trinity, because God is One in essence. Being God, It prays to God. This is an
amazing expression of the mystery of the love of God.
Above all, however, the Holy Spirit comes to reveal to us our sonship to our God
and Father. Saint Paul writes, and because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba Father’ (Galatians 4:6). So, the descent of the
Holy Spirit during Pentecost is the great affirmation that seals the authenticity of the
work of Christ. If Christ were a deceiver, the Holy Spirit would not come to offer Its
witness and Christ would be punished in Hades. Yet, the Holy Spirit came to affirm and
testify that Christ is truthful, and to assure us that we have become children of God. The
Holy Spirit and Its grace comes into our hearts and enables us to call God “Father.” If
you ask someone agnostic to call God Father it would be impossible for him. The person
who calls God Father with all of his heart does not act on his own. He has the Holy Spirit
as his helper. Saint Paul accentuates this by using two words, Abba, Pater [in the original
Greek], Abba in Hebrew, Pater – Πάτερ, in Greek; both words mean Father.
Thus, the Church is never alone in the world. The Holy Spirit, Who is always in
the Church, reaches out to the world and to God. He speaks to the hearts of the faithful
and the faithless. The Holy Spirit draws the world to the Church. If the Church is pulled
by the world, the Holy Spirit does not participate in the life of such a secular church
(secularism is such a terrible plight). So, the Holy Spirit saves, It strengthens, It reproves,
It disciplines, It rejuvenates, and It also judges. Now, the same Holy Spirit of God
responds along with the Bride-Church, or with the bride-soul, to the word of Christ that is
coming quickly and says, “Come!” We see such dialogues of eternal love between the
Bride-Church and every soul in holy Scripture, New and Old Testament.
I synopsize: In the second chapter of the Song of Solomon, My beloved is mine, and
I am his… he feeds his flock among the lilies. Until the day breaks and the shadows flee
away… (until the day of this age is over)… Turn my beloved…(return as you promised
with your Second Coming). And be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains
(2:17). By night on my bed I sought the one I love, I sought him, but I could not find him
(3:1). The Church, and the soul, seeks the Lord and does not find Him because the Lord
is taking His time. He is long-suffering, awaiting more and more people to be saved. The
Lord is delaying His Second Coming. The dialogue continues here in Revelation: Let him
who hears say, “Come.” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the
water of life freely (Revelation 22:17).
It is noteworthy that after the Bride-Church, now the Lord addresses every
faithful, And let him who hears say “Come.” This shows that the eschatological
expectation is not and should not be limited to the Church, but the Second Coming of
Christ should be the personal expectation of every believer. Every faithful Christian
should be awaiting Christ and should say, “Come my Christ; do not delay.” And let him
who thirsts come is a more dynamic stance of the faithful person, who cannot be sitting
around, but hastens to meet Christ. This becomes more obvious in the parable of the ten
virgins. We read, and at midnight a cry was heard: behold the bridegroom is coming, go
out to meet him (Matthew 25: 1-13)! He will not come inside to find you. You must go
out to meet him.
Here, in the last verses of Revelation, we have the image of the thirsty man,
aiming to show the desire of the soul to meet Christ. This parallels the image of the
thirsty deer. As the deer for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul
thirsts for God, for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2). The thirsty deer does not drink water
from muddy rivers, but it drinks from springs and brooks, where the water is crystal clear.
Likewise, the soul thirsts for the water of life, it thirsts for the living God. Christ said,
anyone who thirsts, let him come to me and drink (John 7:37). This calls for an exodus
from our comfort zone and from our static condition. It calls for a dynamic state to meet
the coming of Christ. And if we doubt ourselves due to our unworthiness for such a high
calling (who am I to go and meet Christ?), the Lord adds this most encouraging
admonition: take the water of life freely (Revelation 22:17). Being poor is not an issue, as
we see in the parable of the Mystical Supper, where the master says, “Compel them to
enter, because some people may think, “I am in rags,” “I am lame,” “I am in dire straits,”
how can I appear before this master or king? The servants are instructed to compel them
to enter. Tell them that the entrance is free, and they do not have to pay anything.
This reminds us of the verse of Isaiah, which we read on the feast of Epiphany;
every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price (55:1). In other words, do not
hesitate, my brother. God is calling you. Come out to welcome Him. Whoever desires, let
him take the water of life freely. This is noteworthy, because it shows that being thirsty is
not enough. Many are they who have a metaphysical thirst, but they do not want to come
to Christ to quench their thirst. Christ says, whoever desires, whoever wants to.
He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord
Jesus (Revelation 22:20)! This is the last dialogue between Christ and the Church, and it
is the zenith of mysticism. To be a mystic suggests entering into the deeper meaning of
things. In this case, it is to enter the life of God, and to have God enter my life. This is
called mystagogy. The term mysticism is not a theological term, but a philosophical one.
The proper theological term is theosis, the communion or union of man with God. Here,
we have the seventh and final confirmation that Christ is coming quickly. In this verse we
see the mutual desire for the Church and Christ to unite, to come together. Yet, this time
has not arrived. Saint Andrew writes, “for the presence of the Lord is most desirable to
the Saints (PG 106, 453A).” He who testifies to these things is none other than Christ,
Who is the source of all that is truthful, of every truth. It is sure testimony. He says, Yes,
truly I am coming quickly. This YES of God is absolute certainty and absolute
faithfulness.
John the Evangelist now answers as a representative of the entire Church with a
bilingual response: Amen, nai - (yes)! He says it in Hebrew and Greek. Yes Lord, let it be
as You say. We cannot wait! This Amen, yes also gives a liturgical invocation, which
shows the eschatological nostalgia of the ecclesiastical gatherings of the Apostolic age.
The Church back then yearned to see Christ. Saint Paul writes, if anyone does not love
Jesus Christ let him be anathema (1 Corinthians 16:22). Let him be excommunicated, or
distanced from the Church. Maranatha means “come our Lord, come,” an expression full
of yearning and eschatological expectation, very prevalent in the early Church. This
eschatological expectation of the Second Coming of Christ, will follow the Church and
Her journey through the centuries.
The Lord expressed this with two verses which seem contradictory although they are
not: there will come a time when you will desire to see one of My days and you will not
see it (Luke 17:22). He also said, and lo I will be with you always until the end of the age
(Matthew 28:20). Or a third verse, and we will come to him (We, the Three Persons:
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and we will make our abode in him (John 14:23). There is
nothing contradictory in these verses. You will not see Me physically, walking with you
as in the days that you met Me at the Sea of Tiberias, but you will have Me and meet Me
in the Christian mysteries. Christ will be present in the heart of every theosis-bound
Christian. Christ will live and be seen in His Mysteries, where the eternal dialogue of
Church—Christ, soul—Christ will continue forever. Also, Saint Paul did not see Christ
here on earth. He saw him when he was taken up to the third heaven, to Paradise, where
he heard unspeakable things.
A few years later (around 104 A.D.) Ignatius the Godbearer, wrote his epistle to the
Romans on his way to Rome for his martyrdom. The following few excerpts are a true
masterpiece, indicative of a mystical, deified life and soul. This clearly shows that the
Saint lives Christ, sees Christ, and does not need any proofs, for the proof is within him.
He wrote to the Christians of Rome who were trying to intercede, to avert his martyrdom
in the city amphitheater. ”Let me be given unto the wild beasts, for through them I can
attain unto God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I
maybe found to be pure bread of Christ… Now I am leaving in my bonds to put away
every desire… Come fire and cross and grappling with wild beasts, cuttings and
minglings, wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushing of my whole body, come
cruel tortures of the devil to assail me. Only be it mine to attain unto Jesus Christ. The
niceties this world shall profit me nothing, neither the kingdoms of this earth. It is good
for me to die for Christ rather than to reign over the farthest of bounds of the earth. Him I
seek.”
Listen to the depth of his mysticism! “Him I seek!” And he was not saying these
things from a desk chair while in his climate controlled episcopal office with all the
amenities, but bound with chains headed to Rome. He was guarded and escorted by ten
soldiers whom he named “leopards, who only wax worse when they are kindly treated.”
These soldiers acted like beasts on the journey from Antioch to Rome. Saint Ignatius
suffered much abuse on this journey, yet he writes, “Him I seek, the One who died on our
behalf. Him I desire who rose again for our sake. Allow me to obtain pure light: When I
have gone there, I shall indeed be a true man of God. Permit me to be an imitator of the
passion of my God.” And that unparalleled phrase: “My love has been crucified.” Christ
is His crucified love. “My love has been crucified, and there is no fire in me desiring
anything earthly, but there is within me living water that lives and speaks, saying to me
inwardly, ‘Come to the Father.’ I have no delight in corruptible food, or in the pleasures
of this life. I desire the bread of God, heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh
of Jesus Christ, and I desire the drink of God, namely His Blood, which is incorruptible
love and eternal life.” Unparalleled verses, my beloved! Superb. Here one sees the
dialogue between Christ and the soul in the journey through time.
I will also provide for you an excerpt of Saint Simeon the New Theologian from his
twenty-first hymn, perhaps not the best, but certainly one of his great ones. Saint Simeon
lived a continual state of theosis, constantly in the light of Christ. “Let me be locked in
my cell. Let me be with God, Who only loves humanity. Go away, to a far distance, and
let me be alone. Let no one knock at my door. Let no one call upon me. I do not want the
company of friends, the company of relatives, to distract my mind and break its
concentration from the vision of my good and beautiful Master. Let no one bring me food
or drink. I no longer wish to see the light of this world, not even the sun, nor the joys of
the world, because I see the Lord. I behold my King. I see Him who is all light, light and
the Creator of every light. I see the Source of all good. I see the Cause of all. I see the
beginningless Principle, the One who created all things. So how can I exit my cell, and
leave Him all alone? Because looking at Him my heart gets wounded.” These verses are
not philological, but are the overflow of this blessed heart that lived in the continuous
vision of Christ.
In his second hymn, he sees Christ without form in the uncreated light and asks:
“How, what? How was I deemed worthy to see all these amazing things? Christ
answered: “I am God who became man out of my love for you. And since you sought me
out with all your heart, behold, from this day on you will be My brother, My co-heir and
My friend.’” The Church lives this experience in Her journey through history.
As the Revelation comes to an end, beloved, the dialogue also closes with the final
verse: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (22:21). The entire book
the Revelation has the form of an epistle, which John the Evangelist needed to write and
send to the seven churches of Asia Minor, to the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic
Church. This is the reason it closes with the epistle-like ending and with the Apostolic
blessing. The book was read at ecclesiastical gatherings, and rightfully ends with the
Amen.
My beloved brothers and sisters, the grace of God has granted us the great privilege
and blessing to approach the most theological and last book of the New Testament in one
hundred and one hourly lessons. Surprisingly, based on your presence here, your interest
and zeal remains unchanged after all these years. I believe we have benefitted, as we
witnessed the unfolding of the historical future of the Church within the area of prophecy
(without looking for chronology, year and days). The powers of evil will not continue
forever, because finally good will prevail and the victor will be Jesus Christ, the King of
time and eternity, the Incarnate Son of God. So let us offer every doxology to the only
wise and Holy Triune God, Whose absolute love works out the salvation of all natural
creation. Amen.
Final thoughts by C. Zalalas
These one hundred and one lessons took Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios four years to
complete. It took twenty-three years to translate, and sixteen years to transcribe, edit and
publish. A translation is never like the original, and is always exposed to some risk due to
the personal spiritual state of the translator. Editorializing is always a temptation and I
pray that our Lord, and Elder Athanasios, do not judge me very severely. I always
believed, and the Elder agreed with me, that it is often more beneficial to sacrifice the
letter of the translation to preserve the spirit of the work. In this volume, I exercise this
liberty, which was blessed by the Elder early in our relationship, a bit more since a few
paragraphs were exact repetitions from the early volumes. While repetitions are
understandable in the spoken word (due to the new members of the live audience over the
years) they would be redundant in the published written lessons. If my bilingual brothers
and sisters disagree, I humbly ask for their forgiveness and understanding as I sadly
realized, a bit too late, that I undertook a task far greater than my abilities.

In the last few weeks I also realized that live-streaming videos are far beyond my
abilities. In the weeks to come I will continue to prepare a weekly lecture, pre-record it
by Saturday and upload it to our channel by Sunday.
Thank you in advance for your prayers and forgive me for my many shortcomings.
In Christ,
CZ