The New Jerusalem Church – a church of the saints
Motto:
«Shake up the cold walls of the church from the world, which try to hide You within them, for You do not dwell in houses made by people! You dwell in Your temple, in the faithful man, Lord, for the heaven is Your throne and the earth is Your footstool. What kind of a house shall the man build to You? Wake up the one who sleeps to teach the people what church is and what Orthodoxy is, Lord!»
(Excerpt from the Word of God, the speaking of the St. John, the Baptizer, from 07.01.1997 – O.S. / 20.01.1997 – N.S.)
Has God been really understood by man?
In all times God has been manifesting in an antinomy manner, often even paradoxically in appearance and that is why the man, with a few exceptions, has never understood Him; and because He has not understood Him, He has always stood against Him. His works are both simultaneous and simple (worked out economically and ergonomically), and complex (the laws of universal interactions, the organizational similarity between macro-cosmos and micro-cosmos, the interpenetration between the visible and the invisible world, and the mysterious connections between them: the wave-corpuscle, the matter-energy- photon, magnetism-electricity, etc.). His teachings are easy and hard; easy because they promote the natural of love, of morality, of healthy and simple living; and hard because they press on the haughty and individualistic consciences of the people. His laws are simultaneously immutable, but also in an ongoing improvement (fulfillment); they are not changed because they are built on fundamental truths, but they are perfectible because they have been gradually revealed, each time in a form adjusted to the man’s power of assimilation and understanding (this being itself in slow positive evolution).
God is never absent and His representatives (angels on earth and in heaven) do not have absolute liberties. He did not die as Nietzsche believed, He does not sleep and He does not get tired but rather He rests in man, if this offers Him a loving dwelling place in his heart. He always works: «My Father is still working, and I am working, too» (John 5/17). God has enemies:
– the devil and his servants;
– the indifferent and scornful man;
– the man who replaces Him (antichrist) on earth.
God promises finality to this state of things in which the good and evil coexist, as the man wanted at the beginning. The realization of this started immediately after the man’s fall and has been unfolded by-stages:
– the promise (See Genesis 3/15);
– the election of a people of the promise, which was given to Abraham (See Genesis 22/17);
– the bringing of the Law down on earth (See Exodus 20/1-17);;
– the prophets who were to keep on the living flame of pure faith;
– Messiah and His sacrifice, Who brings the objective salvation into the world and empties the hell of the souls of the righteous, who had been waiting for ages for Christ’s coming; the old serpent, which is the devil and satan, was bound for one thousand years (See Revelation 20/2);
– The Holy Spirit and the Church foundation at Pentecost;
– the ascension into heaven and the Son’s standing at the right hand of the Father: the assumption of the second coming within a royal glory;
– one thousand years of confession of those who had been martyred, «beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the Word of God, and who did not worship the beast nor his image» (Revelation 20/4). During this time, there have been so many tragic events interlinked, and remained recorded in history: the Calvary of the early church, the persecutions, the martyrdoms; as well as the victories of the Christ’s Church through those 7 Ecumenical Synods (between 325-787, the Christian era);
– the year of 1054, when the great schism took place within the Church, then when the devil was unleashed for a while (See Revelation 20/3);
– the kingdom of one thousand years of the saints: «and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years» (Revelation 20/4), but also one thousand years of darkness for the world, as a consequence of the schism in 1054; the Protestantism, the offensive of Islam, the Inquisition, the guillotine, the Enlightenment, the proletarian dictatorship, the fascism, the masonry, the New-Protestantism, the demonic streams, the world wars, the holocausts, the genocides, etc.;
– the end of those one thousand years of the kingdom of the saints, when satan «will come out to deceive the nations […] and to surround the camp of the saints, and the beloved citadel. But fire came down out of heaven from God, and devoured them» (Revelation 20/8,9);
– the second coming of the Lord (see Matt. 24/30), (See Revelation 22/12), which brings on earth the reward for everyone according to his own deed, but which also brings the salvation of the righteous;
– the resurrection of the dead (See Revelation 20/12, 13);
– welcoming Him by a clean people («Blessed are they that wash their robes,…» – Revelation 22/14);
– the calling of Him by those who are faithful («The Spirit and the bride say: „Come!“» – Revelation 22/17);
– «and the books were opened […] and the dead were judged […] according to their works». (Revelation 20/12,13);
– «and His servants will serve Him». (Revelation 22/3).
That is why the man should examine himself to see if he is prepared to meet Christ. Every responsible individual has to answer himself honestly regarding some fundamental questions:
- Who am I?
- Where am I (location in space but also in time)?
- To which church do I belong (if I really belong to one)?
- What do I know (and what do I not know)?
- What do I do (and what do I not do)?
- How do I live (and if I still live)?
- What will I be (and where and with whom will I be)?
- Will I be?
The questions can be followed by negative or positive questions. The negative ones invite not only to a profound meditation but also to action. For example, an answer of this kind „Do I belong to the Orthodox Church?“, to question no. 3 is only a necessary assumption but not sufficient for salvation, as long as the answer to question no. 8 remains unsure. Only the answer to question no. 6 demonstrates that if „I live according to God’s will“, I have the assurance of salvation. Another example: the answer, „I do good and shun evil“, to question no. 5, does not mandatorily put the good in the sphere of the necessary. The good is useful only if it is done in the name of Christ and for Christ, even if it is applicable – to the creation apparently.
As a result of the self-examination, it follows, therefore, the action, which presupposes a substantial quality change: „I cannot remain like that; I have to do something“. CHe who is not within a church spirit, has to come in and to stay within a church spirit, because the church has the Spirit of God, for the church belongs to the saints, which the Lord says about: «The saints have the Spirit of God and all live in Me and are like Me and wait for Me to come with you, the little ones, to reach My day and theirs, the day of the fullness of time, the day of the Lord» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 20.07.2001 – O.S. / 02.08.2001 – N.S.). And if the church does no longer have the Spirit of God, it must be investigated what really casts out the Spirit. He who does not live within God’s will, but rather in his own will, then he has to work out for the modeling of his will; he who has two kings (God and mammon – the spirit of this world), has to renounce the one who brings about death, for he cannot serve two masters (of whom one brings death) and to remain alive. Therefore:
– he will choose the exclusive service for God;
– he will call on His name («Come, Lord Jesus!» – Revelation 22/17);
– the clean one (who has been waiting for God), will see the Lord’s people, to take as a model.
But what does it mean to be a clean people? How can he be recognized among all who call themselves Christians?
The clean people already lives for and within God’s kingdom, for His Christians carry it into their hearts:
– live like the angels in heavens, who do not marry and are not given in marriage (See 1 Cor. 7/29);
– „flee” from the world and its temptations, for friendship with the world is enmity with God, and the prince of this world is the devil (See John 14/30, 16/8);
– They fulfill God’s will concerning food (See Genesis 1/29), their every day dressing (See 1 Corinthians 11/6) and behavior (See 1 Corinthians 5/9-11).
But who teaches these Christians this way? Firstly, the Holy Scripture, as I have shown above through the mentioned grounds and then the Word of God, through its care for those who receive it with faith and love.
The sleep of reason gives birth to sin
Even since 1834, assigning themselves the title of “saints of the last days” (although for free due to their stray teachings), the Mormons have felt an imperative request: holiness, which was missing in the Christian churches of the time, called by them “apostate.” Here it is not only about a label, given to shy wisdom, being concerned not to give reasons for punishment, but about that cleanliness of body, soul and spirit, to make a luminous house for the Holy Spirit in man. The idea of holiness, as old as humankind, although it was illustrating the only way of reconciliation to God, went out of use as soon as the churches of the world started to coquette with the opinion that sin is a natural and inevitable manifestation of life, against which the battle is being fought on and on, each victory meaning the beginning of a new defeat. The inefficiency of this battle fought reluctantly by churches, and more on their own account, sometimes deliberately ignoring the possible contribution of the heavenly hosts, has overcome the enthusiasm of the few who tasted the sweetness of the kingdom of the heavens, causing in return negligence, disappointment and repression.
Soon, the Christian theologians started to reason rhetorically: „Is there really someone without sin?“, bringing arguments in this respect from the Holy Scripture (See 1 John 1/8-10; James 4/17), and immediately offering for tasting the poisoned apple of defeatism: «Did really Christ come for the righteous or for the sinners to call to repentance?» (See Matt. 9/13). So, they came to a conclusion, the church is not formed only of saints, but by all means, of sinners as well. Unfortunately, the life realities seemed to fully confirm the reasoning, although they were not revealing them at the same time, and which were their part of guilt: superficiality, negligence, self-complacency and especially their own inclination to sin, which brings about the departure from God and the darkening of mind. Alternatively, this haze was giving birth to a vicious reasoning in which the sin seemed to be an inevitable and eternal attribute for humankind.
In reality, the sin does not have an inevitable character, until the coming into the world of the Son of God, the One without sin, «Who gave Himself for our sins and was risen for our justification» (Romans 5/12), making the «grace reign through righteousness». (Romans, 5/21). The man has to bow down before this sacrifice and decide: «Shall we really continue in sin, that grace may abound?» (Romans, 6/1). The saint apostle Paul answers promptly, marking out the option of the net detachment from sin as being both possible and irreversible: «May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?» (Romans, 6/2).
The St. Cyril of Alexandria shows that «only by assuming Christ’s state of sacrifice can we have access to the Father. […] Christ is a burnt offering that is wholly and not partially, offering Himself as a sweet-smelling fragrance to God and Father. Through this it truly is the Saint of the Saints. But we have also been sanctified in Him» ((Glaphyra. P.G., 69, col. 545-552).
The church becomes not only an objective of sanctification, which is being poured out of heaven from God, but also the place where the Christians can cultivate their virtues: «Our sacrifice, as renunciation of sins – diverse forms of egoism, takes the forms of virtues. That is why the Church is also a place in which virtues are cultivated, with loving openings to God, after Christ’s likeness, Who is the „being of the virtues“» (Pr. D. Stăniloae, “The Orthodox Dogmatic Theology,” Ed. I.B.M. of B.O.R., Bucharest, 1978, vol. II, page 221).
On this background, the apologists of the shared experiences (both with the world and with God; and, in other words, both with sin and with the ongoing aspiration, but inefficient, to holiness), those who preach a church of „lukewarm people,” forgetting the bitter reward of this (See Revelation 3/15-16), will argue that the church is a seminary of „aspirants for holiness,” of „sick people that need a doctor,” and they will ask: „“Does one really need to create a church, separated from the world, a church of «saints»? Who has appointed us judges over the others as to classify the people in saints and sinners? Do those who think of themselves «saints» not really fall automatically from holiness, by their own opinion, in fact an obvious option, into the sin of haughtiness, in which, having been fallen, they have been self-proclaiming «elected»?“.
It is true that Christ came for the sinners, so that they may no longer remain sinners, but to be worthy of the new birth baptism, which makes them sons, and as sons, they can partake in the Eucharist Supper, that is they are alive in the church. He who does not take the Lord’s Body and Blood because of unworthiness is dead in the church (See John 6/53-58). He who takes the Lord’s Body and Blood in an unworthy manner does it to his judgment and death (See 1 Cor. 11/27-30). Christ preached His word to everyone, but He gave the supper only to His disciples, and Judas, the Iscariot, having the sin of greed, took the morsel to his death. And again, all received the word by which they were washed, but not all of them were clean (See John 13/11). Paradoxically, even the „Our Father” prayer, so well known that the pickpockets invoke it before „sorting out” their victims, is a prayer destined only to Jesus Christ’s disciples. Only those who are truly disciples reach out to the height of their Teacher and thus receive the quality of sons, and only then within this quality, and only so, they have the right to utter the „Our Father” prayer.
The Church, the body of Christ
The church is the Christ’s Body as long as it receives His Body and Blood with cleanliness through the Holy Communion. But if it receives the Holy Mysteries like Judas, it will inevitably have his destiny: then its members are dry branches, which are cut and thrown into the fire (See John 15/5-6).
However, God has always set a Church apart, made of branches, which have remained in the vine, for He promised that He will remain with the saints to the end of the ages (See Matt. 28/20).
Holiness is, therefore, not an exaggerated and impossible claim. It is a necessity formulated by God even from the beginning of the visible world: «Adam was put into the Garden of Eden to keep it and to dress it» (Genesis 2/15). But from whom was he to protect it since there were not enemies? He had to keep it and to dress it from his fall from holiness, from the stain of the sin of disobedience.
Sanctify yourselves and you will be holy!
Then, on the receiving of the Law, Moses renewed the exhortation of God to holiness: «You shall be holy men to Me!» (Exodus 22/31); «Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I, your Lord God, am holy» (Leviticus 11/44; 1 Peter 1/16).
But how is holiness being done? It is done by the word of God: «Sanctify them in Your truth; Your word is truth; […] For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth». (John 17/17-19). Thus holiness is not an option of an elite, and by no means is it a privilege reserved to the caste of priests. All the people receive the word of God and all are called to holiness: «If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master’s use, prepared for every good work». (2 Tim. 2/21).
The sanctification of the man is fulfilling God’s will: «For this is the will of God; your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you knows to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor. […] For God called us nor for uncleanness, but in sanctification». (1 Thess. 4/3, 4, 7).
Therefore, because the saints do not belong to another world, they do not have to be detached from our life, for in this case, there may be the temptation of a shallow honor, which by all means will be manifested from the distance, a distance, which will separate for eternity the visible world from the invisible one. They are a living reality and they are with us and among us, with the condition that we may have the cleanliness of our feelings and life, to be able to discover, and especially not to cast them away from us. The church of the saints becomes a reality if we preserve for us the sanctifying work of God: «May the God of peace sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ». (1 Thess. 5/23). Therefore, sanctification is not lacking motivation, orientation and finality: the perspective of sanctification is meeting Christ at His second coming. The church of the saints is, therefore, the bride, who prepares herself with sanctified oil in candle and with righteous garments to go out to meet the Bridegroom. (See Matt. chapter 25).
At the same time, holiness is a work pertaining to the Holy Spirit. The man is called only to prepare his field, to make it the recipient and warm for the seed of the word of God: «The time of the Scripture comes, which says that all will be then full of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying „What did God say or answer?“, for all body will be full of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit and all the hidden things will be seen then» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 10.07.1991 – O.S. /23.07.1991. – N.S.), (Jeremiah 31/34); for the word of God is for the spiritual, not for the careless and natural: «The words of the Holy Spirit are for those who are spiritual, who have in them the Holy Spirit, descending from God; who stay wrapped up with the Holy Spirit and work out His mysteries in the middle of the people» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 24.05.1993 – O.S. / 06.06.1993. – N.S.).
An existential dilemma: between sin and holiness
How has the worldly church received the calling of the Spirit to holiness? I have already seen how some have been considering separation from sin as being impossible. „If the robber on the cross, who did so many sins, was saved, how much more we, who have not killed anyone, for great is God’s mercy!“ – will they try to encourage one another. It is right that God is merciful, but it is also right that He will judge according to justice. The robber on the cross repented and he had also done no more sins, as he remained crucified on the cross. Or, the sinners, the self- indulgent, do not want to remain on the cross and to be crucified from their sins. Zacchaeus, the tax collector, was forgiven, but he sinned no more. The same was with Mary of Magdala. The condition of forgiveness is, therefore, death to sin. Others had tried to show that they could make reconciliation between sin and holiness, as though the light could be kept untroubled, putting it together with the darkness under a bushel. Others are more Pharisee, claiming demagogically that they belong to a church called „one, holy, synodal and apostolic“ and which sanctifies them automatically. They deliberately forget that:
– The church is not one for a long time, but there are many instead, even if they (incorrectly!) caress each other by the appellation „sisters;”
– The holy church on earth was conquered by the order of sinners, who took it over and cast the saints away right in the Church from heaven, to their places (as they say), „which they deserve“;
– The apostolicity was also moved, once with the apostles and prophets, into the invisible world;
– The catholicity is still only occasional, and anyhow, it was stolen from the Christ’s local churches and assumed by the institutionalized churches, phantom-organisms, which, after having conquered the world and totally being mixed with it, became „universal,” that is of the world.
The calling to the Lord’s Supper
However, God does not let Himself be mocked endlessly (See Galatians 6/7). On the fullness of the time and of the prophets, He blew His apocalyptic trumpets to wake up the world from confusion and carelessness. His Word is heard now to the margins of the world and it calls to the supper of the King’s Son all those who are scattered into the highways; it calls them to put on the holiness and the wedding garment and to come to supper: «Oh, children of Jerusalem, coming down with Me by this work! Here I am with you by the word. […] Behold, I have called and gathered you from your places to sit and dine with you. I am the Bridegroom and you are My true bride, the one with the burning candle, the wise one, who knows from Me how to watch, how to dress and who is to dress her» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.).
The calling, therefore, finds an echo only in the chosen one, the Christ’s bride, the New Jerusalem Church that lives the faith that it preaches, and that is why it itself is the true church, which keeps burning the candle of love, which is taught and teaches to watch (to wait for Christ), how to clothe with the Lord, Jesus Christ (See Romans 14/14) (taking the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness), and who is to put it on (the priesthood newly established by grace). In return, the carelessness of the priests from the churches in the world has alienated the people from holiness and truth:: «And I started to cry and to look around and see the poor coming, the lame, the deaf, the stragglers and the lepers, but they did not know how to come; they did no longer know the way if those who were teaching them were not watching with God and did not know that the Bridegroom had to come» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.).
Indeed, some of the pastors from the churches in the world preach an attitude of indifference to the moment of meeting with Christ, which «no one knows, but the Father», as they say, quoting correctly from the Scriptures, but interpreting tendentiously, for the Scriptures also say: «I and the Father are one» (John 10/30). Their motivation could be totally different: not only to scrupulously observing the word of the Scripture, especially its letter, but also the fear of not being taken by surprise in a guilty state of not being prepared for the second coming of the Lord. It might be believed that the attitude of alienation has been influenced by some hazardous prophecies made by some sects, which in the course of history, have successively “predicted” new „precise data” concerning the „end of the world,” and which have never been fulfilled. There is here a tragic consequence of the churchman’s separation from God to the point of not recognizing Him when He is coming and personally introducing Himself. How much distance from the immediate and total availability of Abraham: «My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not go away from Your servant» (Genesis 18/3); of Moses: «Here I am, Lord!» (Exodus 3/4); or that of David, overwhelmed by humility, «Who am I, Lord, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?» (2 Sam. 7/18); of Jeremiah: «O, Lord, God, behold, I do not know how to speak; for I am a child» (Jeremiah 1/6); or of Saul from Tarsus: «Lord, what do You want me to do?» (Acts 9/6);; or of holy Virginia: «Lord, behold, I give You an eye, come back to take it» (Excerpt from the Life of the Saint Virginia). The carelessness of the priests has encouraged to carelessness even those that already are used to exhort one another with the saying: „eat and drink well, because no one knows the day of tomorrow!“.
As in the time of Noah, the people of today are eating and drinking, they are marrying and given in marriage, and are regardless of Christ’s coming back, now, as the Judge of the world. The work, hostile to God, strikes into the preparation of the heavenly victory on earth by antichrist’s servants, who bring deception on earth and encourage the man to defilement: «The antichrist does not like holiness; he does not like it because the holiness does not let him live in lusts, in aggrandizements and pleasures» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.). The antichrist, dressed in a church robe and disguised as God’s servant, has accomplished the fulfilling of the prophecies concerning the sin of the faith denial, «willing to fulfill himself the Scriptures of New Jerusalem between heaven and earth. But he is blind and mindless and does not know that the Scriptures are for those that are holy, not for him, and that the curses of the Scriptures are for him» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 28.09.1998. – O.S. / 11.10.1998. – N.S.).
Carelessness casts away holiness.
The servants from the churches in the world have grown out of the habit to execute the lack of holiness. Formerly, even those who were called, catechumen (who, anyway, followed a „detoxification cure” of sins), were taken out of services when the solemn moments were coming close, of great holiness: «Those, who are called, come out! All of you that are called, come out, so that no one of those who are called may remain!» (Of the Holy Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom), and there remained only the faithful, that is the saints. For they, it was prepared the calling «Let us be attentive, the Holies are given to the saints!», what meant that the holy Eucharist was given to the saints, not to the sinners. That is why, at present, the climax of distortion in the priestly responsibility is reached by carelessness and superficiality, which the Holy Communion was shared with, that is, undifferentiated, without a minimum of self- examination, to the flock of Christians ritualistic-conformists, who have been used to cross the threshold of the church once in a while. Carelessness has lead to the territorial conquer that the uncleanness of the world has made into the interior of the church by the priests’ incompetence established over Christ’s flock: «…they have allowed Caesar to get over all the things of the Lord, until he has destroyed the cleanness and holiness in the church, until he has replaced everything that was well established by the fathers, and the servants of the church allow themselves be bought by those from the earth, and then they allowed to be swallowed by everything that is at work today, and by so doing, they have deceived the Lord» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.).
There is here, in God’s word, a disclosure of a gradual decadence of the servants of the church, first in the tasting of temptations, so called „not guilty,” of the world, then in the compromises with the world, and finally, in the Christ’s betrayal, they betraying Him as Judas did. The degradation of the mystery of confession (which came to be the most sold mystery in every possible aspect), the enlistment into the atheist communist political police, buying church dignitaries with money, or even selling church services – which were supposed to be free, even if the priest remains in his parishioners’ care, are some of the forms, which the treachery put on.
However, the Lord chose a holy people for Himself, the new Israel, to be His tool with which He «will sow again as in the beginning, and the new Eden, holy, clean and incorruptible, will appear again». The people of the New Jerusalem is a people with a heavenly seal, a people called to come into the «ship of holiness of spirit and body», called to wisdom, to the work of the Kingdom of God. The holiness of this people is a state, which has to be carefully protected: «Be wise and do not dirty your eyes, your hearing, your mind or your food, and get your little hand to work and do your job and get used to separate from the enemies of the Holy Spirit» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.).
A church of the saints
Holiness brings about likeness to God: «Seek to take after Me and then you will see whom you resemble and you will be glad» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.). The holiness works in the Christian according to God’s word: by smashing his idols, by smashing the lust and lawlessness. Holiness is not egoistic, but rather it is worked out in a council of revival within all Christian community. The Christian does no longer eat or drink at the world table, into the highways and on every corner, doing satan’s will. He does no longer take from the hand of the people without God; he does no longer receive carrion as food and does no longer take intoxicating liquors to drink. He shuns any dirt as he would shun fire; he flees from the teaching of the world, taken on the road and mixed with foreign languages by God; he flees from antichrist’s science, which alienates him from God’s word understanding and which springs from heaven; he flees from the teaching of the people with a hidden face, for they are the servants of the hell. The Christian works with his own hands those that he needs and does not love luxury, wealth and the lusts of this age. He keeps the children away from the teaching, which comes through the window of antichrist (television – monitor) and through worldliness, so that he may give them clean to God. The Christian gets ready for the hard times when Caesar will try to subdue any man by the power of his money. The wise Christian lets himself be worked out by God’s word, which opens his mind and wisdom and his heavenly eyes to see the dangers around him and around his house. He does not get tired with worldliness, but rather he gets together on the road and sets himself to watching and praying, fulfilling God’s exhortation with joy: «… stay in your house, and work out holiness upon you, as there is no time to get out and pass through the dead […] and you will be established on a new earth and in a new heaven, as the Lord has promised you» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.; Revelation 20/11, 2 Peter 3/10). The Lord seals with a holy seal these promises made to His people that He loves: «… you are a blessed people. […] Let there be peace between you and God and this is how you are to live forever. […] Peace and holy patience, holy peace upon you, sons! […] May the chrism of the Holy Spirit flow upon you and may you be filled by the power, which comes from the work of holiness. […] Peace and New Jerusalem upon you, people of glory, which comes from Me! Jerusalem, be worthy of your new name, which is coming from heaven, for My glory will accompany you, and the nations will know My blessed people» (Excerpt from the Word of God, from 15.08.1993. – O.S. / 28.08.1993. – N.S.).
All the churches in the world have got Christ, because they confess Him by the word of mouth, but they honor Him and show Him to the world, as they have Him from their works: a dead Christ, crucified on the cross and seated this way before the chair from above, in the Holy Altar, body and blood, Who is forever silent, nailed to the cross and with His face turned away from people. This is how they have Him, this is how they honor Him and this is how they give Him as communion to their parishioners.
The New Jerusalem Church has Christ living and working by His word, and this is how it receives Him and this is how it confesses Him before the people: the right Judge sitting alive on the throne of the cross and always speaking and preparing them with Body, Blood and living Word, for His second coming.
God, by His blessings and prophecies, makes the New Jerusalem Church into a new Church, a living Church, which is and will be a Church of the saints.