The Unchanging Church: Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

On Point

Someone asked, where do the quotes come from? The answer is from the people who uttered them. But, how did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but overall mostly from Bryan. He always has a few great ones to share. On to the On Point quotes –

I have heard some people complain that if Jesus was God as well as man, then His sufferings and death lose all value in their eyes, ‘because it must have been so easy for Him’. Others may (very rightly) rebuke the ingratitude and ungraciousness of this objection; what staggers me is the misunderstanding it betrays. In one sense, of course, those who make it are right. They have even understated their own case. The perfect submission, the perfect suffering, the perfect death were not only easier to Jesus because He was God, but were possible only because He was God. But surely that is a very odd reason for not accepting them? The teacher is able to form the letters for the child because the teacher is grown-up and knows how to write. That, of course, makes it easier for the teacher; and only because it is easier for him can he help the child. If it rejected him because ‘it’s easy for grown-ups’ and waited to learn writing from another child who could not write itself (and so had no ‘unfair’ advantage), it would not get on very quickly. If I am drowning in a rapid river, a man who still has one foot on the bank may give me a hand which saves my life. Ought I to shout back (between my gasps) ‘No, it’s not fair! You have an advantage! You’re keeping one foot on the bank’? That advantage—call it ‘unfair’ if you like—is the only reason why he can be of any use to me. To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself?

CS Lewis

Mere Christianity

Tirian, with his head against Jewel’s flank, slept as soundly as if he were in his royal bed at Cair Paravel, till the sound of a gong beating awoke him and he sat up and saw that there was firelight on the far side of the stable and knew that the hour had come. “Kiss me, Jewel,” he said. “For certainly this is our last night on earth. And if ever I offended against you in any matter great or small, forgive me now.”

“Dear King,” said the Unicorn, “I could almost wish you had, so that I might forgive it. Farewell. We have known great joys together. If Aslan gave me my choice I would choose no other life than the life I have had and no other death than the one we go to.”

CS Lewis

The Last Battle

‘Niceness’—wholesome, integrated personality—is an excellent thing. We must try by every medical, educational, economic, and political means in our power to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up ‘nice’; just as we must try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat. But we must not suppose that even if we succeeded in making everyone nice we should have saved their souls. A world of nice people, content in their own niceness, looking no further, turned away from God, would be just as desperately in need of salvation as a miserable world—and might even be more difficult to save.

For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to pro- duce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are just beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on the shoulders—no one could tell by looking at them that they are going to be wings—may even give it an awkward appearance.

CS Lewis

Mere Christianity

TO GENIA GOELZ: On the reality of our individuality in the body of Christ; and on the meditation.

20 June 1952

Thanks for yours of the 10th. I would prefer to combat the ‘I’m special’ feeling not by the thought ‘I’m no more special than anyone else’ but by the feeling ‘Everyone is as special as me.’ In one way there is no difference, I grant, for both remove the speciality. But there is a difference in another way. The first might lead you to think, ‘I’m only one of the crowd like anyone else’. But the second leads to the truth that there isn’t any crowd. No one is like anyone else. All are ‘members’ (organs) in the Body of Christ [I Corinthians 12:27]. All different and all necessary to the whole and to one another: each loved by God individually, as if it were the only creature in existence. Otherwise you might get the idea that God is like the government which can only deal with the people as the mass.

About confession, I take it that the view of our Church is that everyone may use it but none is obliged to. I don’t doubt that the Holy Spirit guides your decisions from within when you make them with the intention of pleasing God. The error would be to think that He speaks only within whereas, in reality, He speaks also through Scripture, the Church, Christian friends, books et cetera.

Jack Lewis

The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume III 

Compiled in Yours, Jack

Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions.

James Madison

Essay in the National Gazette, 1792

If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!

Samuel Adams

Speech to the State House in Philadelphia, 1776

They who voluntarily put themselves under the power of a tyrant deserve whatever fate they receive.

Aesop

6^th century BC Greek philosopher and author

Propers

Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding.

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. If you have a hard time remembering, “Do I read the Collect from last Sunday or next Sunday during the week?” Remember Sunday is the first day of the week. There are also two Bible readings, the Epistle and the Gospel. While they are “lessons”, they are not the First Lesson and the Second Lesson, they are the Epistle and the Gospel. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament. The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we normally do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off. Red Letter Feast, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days. Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events. Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.

The Propers for today are found on Page 218-220, with the Collect first:

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

RANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle for this morning which came from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Sixth Chapter, beginning at the Tenth Verse. In these passages, Paul gives his clearest definition of the spiritual war between the forces of Satan and those who would follow God. It not only assures us that there is a spiritual war, but it warns us that apart from utilizing the weapons which God has provided for us, we are hopelessly underpowered. This passage tells us what our divine weapons are. Beyond this, these weapons imply the nature of the struggle which we are in. The weapons which God has provided for us are those weapons which best repel the attacks of Satan, and thus we can learn a great deal about the nature of Satan’s opposition from simply considering each of the weapons at our disposal.

After a consideration of the war in general, we will then proceed to examine in more detail each of the weapons Paul mentions, and the offensive strategy of Satan which they imply. May God give us open hearts and minds to understand the spiritual war, and the means which He has provided for our defense.

Y brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Rev Jack Arnold read the Holy Gospel which came from the Fourth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John beginning at the Forty-Sixth Verse. This is a telling of the story of the healing of a Jewish nobleman's son Capernaum through the faith of his father. When the man came to him asking for help, he responded as he often did to Jews, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” The man persisted and because Jesus saw faith in him, he said, focusing his attention on faith in God, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” or "Be on your way. Your son is alive." In other words: "Do not worry. My Word can heal your son at a distance." The boy was healed in the very instant when Jesus spoke the Word. The father believed this Word. So did his household, wife, children and servants. More than one person was healed on that occasion.

This miracle shares characteristics with the previous healing of the Centurion’s son:

Jesus has just come back to Galilee.
Someone comes to him with a request.
Indirectly Jesus seems to refuse at first.
The person persists.
Jesus grants the request.
This leads another group of people (his disciples, the nobleman’s household) to believe in him.

Note the necessity of trusting in Jesus as the giver of life. Of the text, Luther wrote: "Although the Lord performed miracles and signs to make Himself known and to lead people to faith in Him, the underlying purpose was to focus their attention on the Word rather than on the signs which served merely to attest the truth of His testimony. Faith must rest on the Word of God." Another Lutheran theologian wrote: "In affliction faith is practiced and chastened. If a person does not see, taste and experience the help and grace of the Lord, then that person learns to trust the Word and nothing but the Word. That is the true faith, trusting the Lord for its own sake. Such faith comes not from flesh and blood. It's the Lord to which faith clings. That almighty Word works faith."

Jesus led this nobleman from a "miracle" faith to a true faith in His Word. He does this to us also.

"Be on your way. Your son lives." This Word of Jesus was not only a prophecy. It had the power to heal the sick boy. And this Word took the nobleman's worries away.

HERE was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into Galilee.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.

As is oft the case, today’s propers are all tied together. As is usual, they call for action not just thoughts. Consider these words from the Collect:

… Grant … thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind …

We ask Got to pardon our sins that we might serve Him with peace of mind. That we might do His Work without having to worry about our fate. It is good to have a clear mind when you go into battle, to be free of worry that you might do your best. You do not want to have a foggy mind when you are doing an action that requires your best concentration, so that is what we are asking from Him. To give us clarity of mind that we might do what is right.

Paul gives his clearest definition of the spiritual war between the forces of Satan and those who would follow God. It not only assures us that there is a spiritual war, but it warns us that apart from utilizing the weapons which God has provided for us, we are hopelessly underpowered. This passage tells us what our divine weapons are. Beyond this, these weapons imply the nature of the struggle which we are in. The weapons which God has provided for us are those weapons which best repel the attacks of Satan, and thus we can learn a great deal about the nature of Satan’s opposition from simply considering each of the weapons at our disposal:

Clothing Truth; this our cloak, as well as our cover;

Breastplate or Armored Vest Righteousness; being at one with the One True and Triune God;

Boots The Gospel; the Word of God will get you there;

Shield Faith; able to not only ward off blows of evil, but quench the fiery darts hurled at us;

Helmet Salvation; we are saved already, thus we cannot be harmed by any of the forces of this world, the armored helmet of the gift of salvation given to us by our Lord will protect us in the end, the only time that counts;

Weapon Up to now, the equipment has been defensive or at least supporting; but to win a war, you need to be on the offense, our offensive weapon is the sword of the Holy Ghost, the Word of God!

Now, what to do? Clearly we are commanded to take the offensive, to “ride towards the sound of gunfire.” Where the fight is, that is where we must go. With the help of the Holy Ghost, we should open our “mouth boldly[1], to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” You don’t play the defensive in this spiritual battle, as in tactical warfare, nobody ever won a battle by being stuck on the offensive. You must go out and preach boldly and speak the truth and not worry about the consequences of doing so.

The Word spreads “by word of mouth” and by action. Your mouth, your actions!

Speaking of actions, Winston Churchill said, “Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”[2]

Churchill was not the first. God wants us to persist. Consider the case of the nobleman of Capernaum. The man asked Jesus for help for his son. Jesus did not immediately grant the request as He needed the man to persist to make a point for those around him. He responded as he often did to Jews, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” The man persisted and because Jesus saw faith in him, he said, focusing his attention on faith in God, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” or "Be on your way. Your son is alive." In other words: "Do not worry. My Word can heal your son at a distance." The boy was healed in the very instant when Jesus spoke the Word. The father believed this Word. So did his household, wife, children and servants. More than one person was healed on that occasion.

This miracle shares characteristics with the previous healing of the Centurion’s son:

Jesus has just come back to Galilee.
Someone comes to him with a request.
Indirectly Jesus seems to refuse at first.
The person persists.
Jesus grants the request.
This leads another group of people (his disciples, the nobleman’s household) to believe in him.

Jesus led this nobleman from a "miracle" faith to a true faith in His Word. He does this to us also.

"Be on your way. Your son lives." This Word of Jesus was not only a prophecy. It had the power to heal the sick boy. And this Word took the nobleman's worries away. As it will take ours away if we will let it.

We are asked to let God forgive us our sins and go to battle in this world with His armor. With Him all things are possible; when we depend on our own pitiful resources, the outcome is in doubt and the result unlikely to be favorable in the end. When you believe in our Lord and act on that belief, victory is certain in the end. Understand, the result here on earth may not be the one you want, but it is the one God wants for you. God expects you to accept His help and act with His help to gain victory over the prince of this world.

Consider also that God, through our Lord, offers forgiveness. Forgiveness lets you restart your life, regain your foothold, strengthen your soul. If you accept the forgiveness and go forward you can do great things. If you will not, and likewise you will not forgive, you will be bound by the prince of this world and doomed to failure. You will never attain the greatness of which you are capable with God’s grace and help.

Do what is right, I would say no matter if there is no one looking; but He is always looking. It is not that hard. Believe, take His help, act on the belief you profess, never ever give up.

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail. The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

Bishop Ogles’ Sermon

We are oft fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes. Today is one of those Sundays. Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

Sermon Notes - Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity - 20 October 2013, Anno Domini

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

The Collect.

As this biblically-based prayer of Collect clearly reveals, forgiveness and comfort can only come to those who are faithful to the Lord. We must know and believe that the Blood of Christ is sufficient to cover our sins, and that He is ready and willing to grant pardon according to our faith. It is through this means of faith and pardon that our minds can be still and stayed on Him during every turbulent storm on the seas of life.

The Epistle  Ephesians vi. 10.

If we were to cringe and withdraw into our desert dugouts, we would need no armor. A non –belligerent needs no armor. But we are soldiers of the cross locked in mortal combat with the very enemy of the soul of man – the Devil and his legions. Our battle must be more of offense than of defense since we bear the advantage of the higher terrain and every resource of heaven. So our armor is to protect ourselves, but also to inflict devastating blows to the enemy in the field. He has attempted to misappropriate and corrupt the Creation of our Lord. But the decisive victory has already been won by the Captain of our souls at Calvary. We must now occupy the land and eliminate his pockets of resistance and silence his vedettes and lines of pickets. Truth is our strength and support. Our hearts are covered with the imputed righteousness of Him who has commissioned us to His Army. The Gospel of Peace, having been instilled in our hearts through study and preparation, is the liberty of movement and maneuver which we enjoy on the field. Our main protection against the blows of the enemy is our Faith. The helmet of our salvation is the strength of our learning and belief. Our Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God which is a Two-Edged Sword to either condemn, or convict of sin. Prayer is our communications network whereby we are in constant supplication for the entire army and for each other. This, and the Prayer of Collect, join together as a hand to the glove the Imperative of Faith as our most treasured possession of victory!

The Holy Gospel - (John 4:46-54)

The Gospel text provides an example of victorious faith over the curse of Eden. Faith is the crown jewel of our religion and, without it, there can be no reconciliation to God. Our souls would remain in the dark abyss and our bodies wracked with every sore and boil without the Balm of the Faith of Gilead. The Gospel is a fitting benediction to that overcoming faith described in both the Collect and the epistle for today.

God would have us, I believe, to learn 1) that ‘believing faith’ is a faith that will draw down the miraculous powers of heaven; 2) Faith believes where evidence does not appear. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Heb 11:1-3); 3) Faith must have a vehicle upon which to move – hearing; 4) Faith compels us, in our dire need, to draw on the smallest morsel of faith to satisfy that need; and 5) Our proper response to faith is immediate and without delay or procrastination. Its urgency is compelled by love.

Cana has been blessed with the first miracle of Christ, and a land that lends itself, by faith, to one miracle shall receive more. “So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.” This is the city at which Jesus, in due regard for the high esteem in which He holds the first institution of God at Eden, honored the same estate by turning six large, stone vessels full of water into wine. It was a divine tribute to Marriage as an institution. Now, Christ, in His second miracle, will pay tribute to the blessed fruit of marriage – the child! The miracle would issue from Christ at Cana, and find its fulfillment in Capernaum, in the healing of a young boy.

There was a nobleman with connections to the power of the ruler whose son was deathly ill at the point of death. There was no earthly hope for the son so insidiously had the fever possessed his small frame. “And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.” Capernaum was some sixteen miles from Cana; however, that was a good day’s travel in the time of Jesus. The nobleman had, without doubt, sought after every remedy, treatment, and physician at close hand who might improve his son to no avail. He had, most likely, expended every resort. When hope faded as a distant star on the horizon, suddenly, there came news of the coming of the man called Jesus coming out of Samaria into Cana of Galilee. He may have been present at the first miracle of Jesus at Cana, but not likely in my thinking. Certainly, he had heard of the miracle for it was voiced abroad in the area. Suddenly, that fading star of hope became, to our nobleman and loving father, the Bright and Morning Star! Hope often gives birth to the primitive germination of faith, and so it was for this nobleman.

47 “When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.” He had not seen Jesus previously in all likelihood, yet, when he heard that Jesus was coming, hope gave over to the early yearnings of faith – there was Light breaking over the distant landscape! “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Perhaps the nobleman had heard at the lips of a single, or many, witnesses. But SOMEONE had told him of Jesus and His coming. How sad that many have not had the benefit of hearing that Jesus has come, and will come again! I might add that ALL are at the very point of death without Christ. The need is great to carry the Gospel into every dark corner.

It was the elemental tug of faith that impelled action on the part of the distraught nobleman and father. Such a faith crosses all lines of class and stature – the poor as well as the rich and powerful. There comes a moment in the lives of great men such as General Naaman of Assyria whose leprosy made wreckage of his life, to the poor blind Bartemaeus whose hope hinged on the miracle he besought from a man he could not see outside the gates of Jericho. When all hope is abandoned, there remains only faith to rekindle its warm light. So, desponding of all possibility of an earthly cure, the nobleman now latched onto the Fountainhead of all Hope and Healing in that early touch of faith that suddenly penetrated the fortress walls of his heart. Here we see a man of great influence begging a favor of a poor itinerant carpenter! Does this make sense? No, it doesn’t make a bit of worldly sense, but the actions of heaven are not dictated by worldly intelligence. Life and death matters (which are the concern of Heaven) breach all lines of royal propriety and academia. No time for role-playing when his son is at the very point of death! So he begs mercy from an unlikely source, but the only Source of life and miracles. What may seem unlikely to the world may make perfect sense with God.

How would the itinerant Master receive the nobleman of stature? He makes a very telling statement of fact. He is not questioning the nobleman’s faith, but EXPOSING it as a contrast to the lack of faith that abounded among common men. 48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” This man had not seen signs and wonders as many of the latter multitudes had seen, yet still did not believe. This man had not seen, yet believed still! That is the faith that begets miracles and the favor of God! This approach is very like a father telling his precious little daughter, with tongue in cheek, “Surely you do not want this candy treat – you are just pretending!” Jesus already knew the heart of this nobleman. He would have those who listened to his pleas to know his heart of faith as well. There is no discouragement or rebuff that will quench the light of earnest faith.

The gentle rebuff of Christ in no way diminishes either the faith, or its kindred, perseverance, of the nobleman. His nobility of character comes to light in his manner of responding to Christ. It is as if he knows that Christ will not deny him. His faith has told him this. 49 “The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.” “Please, Lord, let us not mince words – my son will die if you do not come down!” He knows Jesus well enough in his heart of faith that He will not slam the gates of mercy on a child – and He never has done so! He spoke out of faith but not out of mature spiritual knowledge. He believed that Jesus must personally come to where his son was to heal him, but faith and divine power knows no distance.

Having exposed the child-like faith of this nobleman to the multitude gathered, Jesus speaks again, 50 “Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” If the man did not understand before that Jesus need only say the Word, and not come personally to heal his son, he knew it now form the lips of Jesus whom he believed explicitly. The nobleman had no need of pressing his point further….mission accomplished! He immediately believed the word of Jesus and went on the trip back to his son at Capernaum. God will give this man CONFIRMATION of his faith is a most delightful way. Faith of the believer is ALWAYS confirmed in due time. We may be facing challenges that appear to have no end other than tragedy, but clinging to that morsel of faith that has been planted in our hearts; we believe the impossible….and the impossible comes to pass!

The servants of the nobleman have been standing a sorrowful watch over the man’s son whom they most likely loved more than even the nobleman himself. Suddenly, they noted his perilous fever had broken and the boy was well – as well as he had ever been! In amazement, they ran along the road to Cana to tell the nobleman. 51 “And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.” Note here, again, the direction the man was traveling. He had experienced a mountain-top experience with the Savior. Any direction we take after being with Christ in either presence or prayer is down again to the valleys in which we must move and labor. When told that his son lived, he inquired of the time of his improvement for the sake of confirmation of his faith. The journey from Cana to Capernaum was at least a day’s travel. When told that the son recovered the previous day at the 7^th hours (1 P.M.), the nobleman was not surprised but rejoiced in the confirmation of that small kernel of faith that had brought him face-to-face with Jesus. I hope you, too, have had that kernel of faith that has brought you face-to-face with Jesus. After that encounter, that kernel will grow into a hundredfold, an even untold harvests of souls.

We must not dismiss the results of the faith of the fathers for the children. Remember Zaccheus whose was saved with his whole household at his faith in Christ. See here how the noblemen believed AND HID WHOLE HOUSE (including servants). We have the promise of God that our children shall not depart in old age from that righteous path wherein the fathers walked if they are trained up in the nurture of the Word of God. One of the imperatives of baptism is to raise the child according to the promises of God, and that child shall confirm the faith of the parents in due time. What a glorious and loving Lord we have in Christ!

Roy Morales-Kuhn, Pastor - Covenant of Grace Anglican Chapel - Anglican Orthodox Church, USA Sermon for Passion Sunday

A real treat today, a sermon from Pastor Roy, one of the Western Ministers of the AOC, West of the Mississippi by ten miles. Roy is a great speaker, I am confident you will enjoy this!

The Book of Isaiah Chapter 59, verses 15-21:

Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.  

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.  

For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.   59:18

recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.  

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.  

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.  

As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. 

There are so many lessons from today’s Old Testament reading. Foreshadowing the coming Savior, a redeemer, an advocate, a protector. He will be known worldwide. His name will cause fear for those who live and work in evil, He will protect, He will bring salvation, His righteousness will sustain those who He has come to protect. Notice the phrases in verse 17, St. Paul will paraphrase and expand this illustration on how we are to address the “slings and fiery darts” of the Evil One, Satan. Just as Christ showed us in the wilderness temptation, you address the issue of evil with the WORD of God.

We really aren’t even supposed to directly confront Satan, he is after all an angel, yes a fallen angel. We see examples of this from the letter St. Jude who wrote “....(9)Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee...”. A reference to St. Michael contending with the soul of Moses gives rise to the idea that those fights should be left to the ‘professional’. Those who are in the heavenly realm, after all we are not fighting a physical foe, Satan is an evil spirit, so the Holy Spirit will fight those battles for us.

In the meantime, we are not defenseless, we have the whole armor of God as illustrated here in the verse in Isaiah and more fully explained by Paul in Ephesians 6:11-18. The last part of the Ephesians passage give the full explanation “...and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (18) Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints....” So essentially we are not to go into battle unarmored and unprepared. We are to pray, use the Word and rely on the Holy Spirit to fight for us in the great spiritual battles we face everyday. In other words as I state earlier, leave the fight to the spiritual professional, the Holy Spirit.

Another aspect that Isaiah points out is the universal nature of God’s work. After all He created the world and in a real sense once the world knows that this world is His creation, they fear God. Now fear of God can be the beginning of understanding and salvation. You understand that He who is greater than you, He being the creator, we being the created now understand, through the light given us by the Holy Spirit, a discerning spirit, know that He is our salvation. But this sense we find in the 19^th verse is of those who oppose God, the lost, the followers of the prince of the air, Satan. They first off they fear the name of the Lord coming from the west and his glory coming from the rising of the sun,(the east) in other words the whole earth fears him. Isaiah further illustrates that as a flood the enemy shall come. But the Spirit and the Lord shall lift up a standard against him (Satan). The standard symbolizes the great power and might of God that will prevail against all evil, most especially Satan.

And now the promise of the future, especially those who follow Christ and his Kingdom, is two-fold. First, one must turn from evil and live. “...And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” One must turn from their transgressions and turn to the Lord. The second part of this promise is expressed in verse 21. “...this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth,...” The rest of the verse teaches us that the faith once delivered and the words of such given by the Spirit of the Lord shall not depart from those whom He has put that word there. In an awkward way of telling this, what I am trying to say is that if the Lord has called and sanctified you, then you will not in any way be turned away. That is a promise. He whom God has given Him(Jesus) no one can take away from Jesus. As the verse ends with these words, “...from henceforth and for ever.” to which I would like to add...amen and amen.

Let us pray:

Most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is immortal, and which thou hast manifested unto us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty; Open, we beseech thee, our eyes to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him by whom all things were made, thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

he grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen

Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon

We are fortunate to have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

In today’s Epistle, St. Paul admonished the Christians at Ephesus (6:1-18) to properly arm and armour themselves against the wiles of the devil and those who would do his bidding. The apostle was very knowledgeable concerning the Roman soldier and his equipment. He well knew that the Roman soldier of the first century A.D. tended to be faithful in his duties. St. Paul likely observed firsthand that he was careful with his weapons and armour because they afforded him protection against injury or death while in combat. The apostle recognized that, just like those Roman soldiers of his day, we who are true and faithful Christians possess a type of armour— a spiritual armour— which provides us with a greater level of protection against our most dangerous and powerful adversary. No one should doubt that Satan has worked indefatigably in tempting us to set aside our spiritual armour for he knows that without it we would be helpless before his assaults. Only by keeping our armour on and in good condition will we be able to fight the good fight in our Lord’s service. With that in mind, let us examine the apostle’s prescription for arming and armouring ourselves in this great cause.

To begin with, the apostle informed us with whom we are wrestling: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (v.12) While the devil’s human agents are visibly a threat, they are only the physical representatives of our real enemies. We need only look behind our earthly enemies to see who is pulling their strings. The dark forces of satanic power have had control over the mass of unregenerated humanity since the fall of man in the Garden. These unseen puppet masters insinuate and instill in their unsuspecting earthly minions those things which their master would have them think, say, and do. Some will attack us with anger and malicious words; while others will subtly seek to overthrow us by appealing to our desires for goods, gain, and entertainment. And while some of those items may not be wrong or sinful in and of themselves; still, we ought to exercise a proper level of discernment so that we might avoid the evil and choose the good which dovetails with our next point.

We should stand as a soldier on guard girt about the loins with truth (v.14). In order to do this, it is incumbent on each of us to familiarize ourselves with the Scriptures. The Bible says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge... (Hosea 4:6a) and such accurately sums up the devil’s intention for us as he has diligently sought to keep us from having a daily regime of prayer and Bible study. The Devil knows well that ignorant Christians are an easy mark for him as they have no protection from his program of lies and deceit.

Satan also knows that God’s word is the truth (St. John 17:17), and that it has great power. St. Paul tells us in his second epistle to St. Timothy that, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be throughly furnished unto all good works (vv.16-17). The person who cannot accept what God has said in his word written — particularly on account of his or her doubts about its authenticity — is a perfect candidate for deception. Blunt, but true. We are commanded to be obedient to God’s word, so it stands to reason that we must know it and accept it as the living truth; but not in the same sense that some would say about our Constitution being a living document — one being subject to interpretive change by those in power for their own purposes. No, the word of God is the living truth as Jesus Christ is alive and at the right of the Father (see St. John 1:1-2). It has a fixed meaning and understanding which transcends time. It cannot be changed because it was given by him who does not change. If we believe it, then we have a powerful and sure defense as well as the strength to go forward. Imagine: an armor that can infuse its wearer with zeal!

We are to put on the breastplate of righteousness (v.14b). A breastplate was designed to protect the upper chest and mid-section of the body. In this case, righteousness is a protection against wickedness. If we seek the righteousness of God we will humble ourselves before him. In recognition of our weakness to do nothing on our own, we are lifted up by our Lord to stand for all that is holy, just and pure (Philippians 4:8).

We should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace (v.15). The apostle wrote in his epistle to the Romans (12:18) that we should live peaceably with all men. The gospel we have been entrusted with is a gospel of peace. It is not an earthly panacea or cure-all which can be employed by the profane and the godless. It is spiritual in nature and will one day result in everlasting joy for those of the household of faith. Being within God’s peace means being satisfied within oneself that God will do as he has promised. And that settled nature will be communicated to others around us in more ways than just through our words. Through our living the Christian witness, others will both hear and see, and perhaps will also receive the blessing of God’s grace.

We need to take up the shield of faith which quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked one (v.16). Satan’s minions are constantly battering at our defenses. If subterfuge does not work, then they will attack us directly and in some cases, unexpectantly. But if we have our shield of faith in the atoning work of Christ, we will quench their malicious missiles. Faith is not based on the things we see, but on a trust in him that we cannot now see but will one day be known to us as we are known to him (I Corinthians 13:12; Hebrews 11:1). Faith protects and faith projects. Your standing with God and your eternal destiny is wrapped up in your faith. If you have not that shield of faith, you will be injured by the adversary rather quickly.

It is also important that we put on the helmet of salvation (v.17a). Being knocked senseless is something the devil would love to inflict on every true believer. Our heads are synonymous with our mental faculties. If our minds have been turned away from perceiving the evil devices of our adversary, then we will not develop a proper plan of action to counter them. Thus a true and faithful Christian will protect himself or herself at all times, which includes covering every part of his body, soul and spirit. God has issued the regenerated Christian a helmet so there is little excuse for our going into battle against the forces of darkness without it. The unregenerate may attempt to defeat our mutual adversary using his or her own faulty equipment; but such will not cover every vital area, and in the end, he or she is doomed to fail (St. Matthew 12:43-45).

We are also called to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God (v.17b). A sword is a weapon with both offensive and defensive capabilities. But the essential difference between God’s sword and one of earthly origin is that God’s weapon is far sharper than any sword of man’s invention. For it is by the workings of the Holy Ghost that he brings to us both the will and the word of God (see St. John 16:7-11; Hebrews 4:12). The evil one will seek to use his weapons of lies and deceit against us, but he is powerless against the Sword of the Spirit. St. James (4:7) tells us in his epistle to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Through our proper use of God’s word and the empowerment of the Holy Ghost, we are able to not only withstand the powers of darkness, but to strike them as well. The truth of the word through the power of the Spirit spells defeat for Satan. His task has been from the beginning to diminish the use of this weapon by taking away godly zeal from the various Christian churches, rendering them more worldly and less faithful to God’s word. Without the word being taught authoritatively as truth, the Holy Ghost is quenched and the people are weakened and ripe for being overcome by the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4).

We must avoid faithlessness and the quenching of God’s fire in our hearts by embracing the many and varied false doctrines and fables of man’s invention which have been popping up like tares among the wheat since the beginning of our Lord’s earthly ministry. The new bible versions — which began appearing in the early 1880's— have been the vehicles for every sort of heretical belief and aberrant doctrine. When you compare the new versions with the Authorized Version, you will find them potholed with deletions, brackets and footnotes. God expects his whole counsel to be revealed; but the new version editors have amended him in a host of places. If you have to spend time comparing and contrasting your new version with the Authorized Version then you need to get rid of it and learn anew the wonderful words of God in the English language. You cannot hope to successfully fight the good fight using a half-baked bible which has much of its truth removed, bracketed or edited to mean something else.

Finally, we are able to bring to full utility our spiritual amour through the power of prayer. The effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much or so penned St. James in his epistle (5:16). As we are temples of the Holy Spirit, our prayers directed heaven-ward are heard all the more as we have God’s abiding Spirit operating within us. Prayer said kneeling in humble recognition that God is our Sovereign Lord and lover of our souls creates within us a state of being whereby we confess our sins and seek his divine forgiveness for them. In this manner we are cleansed and purged of those things which the devil would use to corrupt us and put us at variance with God.

Once we have been spiritually purged, we are then ready to don our armor and do battle. That is our duty, our mission, our labor, our calling. The first line of our sermon hymn today sums up today’s message, “Fight the good fight with all thy might, Christ is thy strength and Christ thy right; lay hold on life, and it shall be thy joy and crown eternally.” May it be your desire to fight the good fight wearing the whole armor of God and keeping to his standard always.

Let us pray,

ather, you have given to us thy word written as a lamp to our feet and light to our path; give us also hearts and bodies that are willing to do as thou hast commanded: to put on thine whole armour, that we might ever live in obedience to thee; for this we ask in the name of him who is the captain of our souls, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed week, Bryan+

From Bishop Jerry

This article by the best authority on Anglican Worship is a critique of Romish ritual that has crept into Reformed Anglicanism such as reserved Sacrament, ornate statuary, elaborate vestments, excessive bowing, elevation of not only the host, but even the offering. I believe you will find this article meaningful and useful:

Comment – It is nice to see Bishop Ryle affirming the practice of both Saint Andrews and Faithful Centurion of using matzo bread rather than wafers.

The Teaching of the Ritualists not the Teaching of the Church of England

Church Association Tract 4

Revd. John Charles Ryle, DD

The Ritualists have two devices which it is well to notice.

First, they represent themselves as Catholics, and say they are eager to revive the traditions and worship of the Primitive Church. This representation is contrary to the fact. The Church of England took that course at her Reformation; all that was pure, primitive, and Catholic, both in worship, faith, and order, she retained. She cast off only the fictions, idolatry, and error by which Roman Priest-craft and Italian ambition had disfigured the Apostolic faith.

But the Reformation and the works of our Reformed Church is denounced by Ritualists as mutilated, Antichristian, and a pestilent heresy, while, in fact, the Ritualists are merely reintroducing the ceremonies and dogmas which our fathers cast off as idolatrous and superstitious. When therefore they call themselves Catholics, they mean Romanists.

Their second device, when they meet their countrymen, is to disguise and cloak their opinions.

They appeal to that just sentiment which prevails, the desire to reclaim and instruct the masses.

They represent themselves as devoted to this duty. Whereas, when you watch their acts and visit their churches, you find them doing the work of Roman priests, endeavouring by appeals to remorse, by demands for confession, by offers of absolution, by sacrifices of masses, by urging of prayers to Saints and the Virgin, by appeals to the senses, music, incense, shows and dresses, to allure to Church the frivolous, careless, and dissipated. The result of this is, what it is in all European countries where Rome prevails, to bring power, repute, and gifts to the priest; to leave unchanged the vices and appetites of the people.

Ritualism then is in its faith and forms Romanism; and, in order not to misrepresent it, we shall take its own organs to describe its practices, and learn its words and ways from its tracts, magazines, catechisms, manuals of devotion, and the newspapers, which the Ritualists publish.

They declare that the doctrine of Rome and England is the same, they attend the Roman mass, and recommend others to do the same and they pray for union with the corrupt Church of Rome.

1 “The breach between us and Rome is not so wide as is commonly thought.”—Dr. Pusey's Eirenicon, p. 207.

“What I have said to the Gallican [i.e. Romish] Bishops, and what they have clearly unde rstood, is this, ‘that I believe the Council of Trent, whatever its look may be, and our Articles, whatever their look may be, each could be so explained as to be reconcilable one with the other.’” Speech by Dr. Pusey, at Annual Meeting of the English Church Union, 1866. See E. C. U. Circular, for July, 1866, p. 197.

“None but those who have reduced ignorance to a system, now deny that the differences between the authoritative documents of Rome and England are Infinitesimal—that the priesthood is the same, the Liturgy virtually the same, and the doctrine the same.”—Church Times, June 18, 1869.

2 “We have attended mass in a hundred great cities of the continent, and found out that there is not of necessity an idol in every foreign Church; but that it is very possible to worship with a Roman priest, and not only to receive no harm, but some good.”—Rev. W. J. E. Bennett’s Essay on “Some Results of the Tractarian Movement of 1833,” in the Church and the World, p. 19. 1867.

3 “If the traveller should assist at Protestant worship, he is aiding and abetting that the doctrine, heresy, and schism from which he prays in the Litany to be delivered. If he does go to the Anglican Church Association chapel, he is nevertheless bound to be present at an early Mass in the Roman parish church.”—Church News, July 7, 1889

4 “It is the distinct duty of all who pray for the peace of Jerusalem to repudiate foreign Lutheranism, Calvinism, &c., and to do their utmost to show that the English Church of which they are members, is really one with the Church of Rome in faith, orders, and sacraments; whilst the Protestant bodies are branches cut off from the True Vine of which the Roman and Anglican and Eastern Communions are living boughs.”—Church News, July 7, 1869.

“We had been chosen by God to be the colonists of all newly discovered lands, and we stood, like Aaron, between the living and the dead—between the living Church and the dead and decaying forms of a corrupt Protestantism. We were bound to come forward with our message to both—to the living, that they be not high-minded, but fear; to the dead, that they arise and return to the pure bosom of their mother the Catholic Church.”—From Notice of Sermon by Rev. Dr. Littledale on the Anniversary of the A. P. U. C. in the Church Times, Sept. 10, 1869.

2. They revile Protestantism. They call it heresy,5 a pest,6 a cancer,7 a monstrous figment,8 and they vilify the Reformation and the Reformers9 in terms equally coarse;10 and yet they quietly remit in incumbencies and curacies within the Church of the Reformation.

5 A writer in The Church and the World (Ed. 1866, p. 237) says, “Our place is appointed among us Protestants, and in a communion deeply tainted in its practical system by Protestant heresy, but our duty is the expulsion of the evil, and not flight from it.”

“They (the ministers) carry on a school, and are indefatigable in visiting the poor, and in infusing into the veins of an ignorant and unsuspicious populace the poison of Protestant heresy.” “Pest of Protestantism.”—Church News, May 5th, 1869.

But we should much prefer seeing attention centred on theological matters and questions of discipline, and extirpating that ulcerous cancer of Protestantism, which must be fatal, sooner or later, to any Church that does not use moral steel and fire upon it.”—Church Times, Sept. 3, 1869.

8 “By way of protest against the monstrous figment of Protestantism.”—Ibid.

“We are bound to correct one of the speakers [at the Islington Clerical Meeting] who remarked that the Tractarian School, whatever its good points may be, loses sight of the distinctive doctrines of the Reformation. We do not lose sight of them at all. We are busy in hunting them down, and have no intention of foregoing the chase till we have extirpated them. That is plain speaking enough, we trust.”—Church Times, Jan. 28th, 1870. “Anathema to the Principle of Protestantism.”—Palmer’s Letter to Golightly.

10 Dr. Littledale, in his Lecture on Innovations, calls the Reformers a set of miscreants, all utterly unredeemed villains.

3. They propose to abandon, and labour for the abolition of, the xxxix Articles of Religion, which “contain the true doctrine of the Church of England agreeable to God’s Word.”

”First of all come the xxxix Articles, those Protestant Articles, tacked on to Catholic Liturgy, those forty-stripes-save-one, as some have called them, laid on the back of the Anglican priesthood—How are they to be got over?”—Essay by Rev. L. Blenkinsopp on “Reunion of the Church,” in the Church and the World, 1866, p. 202.

See proposal of Dr. Pusey that the Universities should abandon subscription to the xxxix Articles as the practical qualification for orthodox Church of England Protestant teaching, in Letter to the President of the Wesleyan conference, 1868.

“It will soon become the duty of Churchmen to labour actively for the abolition of the Articles, which have long ago done their work and are really of extremely little use now, discrediting us (as they do) in the eyes of foreign Catholics.”—Church News, July 29, 1868.

“We have never seen the use of retaining the Thirty-nine Articles at all.”—Church Times, March 12th, 1869.

“The abolition of the Thirty-nine Articles, the adoption of Edward VI. First Communion Office…would win for the Disestablished Church the respect of Christendom.”—Church Times, Sep. 3rd. 1869.

4, They hold with the Church of Rome that there are seven Sacraments,12 whereas our xxvth Article declares that there are two Sacraments ordained of Christ in the Gospel—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

See Article on “The Seven Sacraments,” in Tracts for the Day, edited by Rev. O. Shipley. In the Prayer Book for the Young, or complete Guide to Public and Private Devotion for youthful members of the English Church, “Confirmation,” “Confession,” “Visitation of the Sick,” “Holy Orders” and “Matrimony” are enumerated among Sacraments, p. 10.

Rev. Orby Shipley states in his “ Sermons on Sin ,” that “there are seven Sacraments and personal extensions of the incarnation of God”—“Baptism,” “Confirmation,” “Eucharist,” “Marriage,” “Orders,” “Extreme Unction,” “Penance.” And he adds, “The seventh and last sacramental extension of the Incarnation of our God, I need not tell you, my brethren, in theological language, is termed the “Sacrament of Penance.”—pp. 43 to 50.

5. They pray to the Virgin Mary and elevate her to a throne in heaven;13 and our Church declares such adoration to be superstitious and idolatrous.

“Blessed Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin, pray for us.”—Litany of the Blessed Virgin, in Invocation of Saints and Angels, by Rev. O. Shipley p. 66.

“Hail Queen of heaven; hail Mistress of the Angels, hail root, hail gate, wherefrom the light of the world is sprung! Rejoice, O Glorious Virgin, pre-eminently fair, and very lovely, hail! Mayst thou pray Christ for us.”—Monastic Breviary, used at Rev. J. L. Lyne’s Monastery at Laleham Covent at London, &c. p. 80.

See The Female Glory, edited by Rev. Orby Shipley, M.A.., 1869.

6. They pray to saints and invoke their intercession. Our Church terms such prayers “repugnant to the Word of God.” (Art. xxii.) St. Paul says there is “one Mediator between God and man.”—1 Tim. ii. 5.

“O holy Michael, Prince of the Heavenly Host pray for us.” “O Raphael, pray for us”—Invocation of Saints and Angels edited by Rev. O. Shipley pp. 45, 46.

“Of our patron saint. Most Holy Confessor of the Lord ( ) mayst thou intercede to Christ for us.”—Little Office book. p. 17.

“I pray that Blessed Mary, ever a Virgin, Blessed Michael the Archangel, blessed John Baptist, the holy apostles Peter and Paul, our Blessed Father Benedict, all the Saints (and you, my brothers) may pray for me to the Lord our God.—Monastic Breviary, used at Rev. J. L. Lyne’s Monastery at Laleham, &c., p. 7

7. They set up images of the Virgin and of the saints; and introduce into their churches the Romish pictures of ‘the Twelve Stations of the Cross’ and publish forms of prayer to be said at each Station,15 as in the Roman Catholic Church; whereas our Church warns us that images “if they be publicly suffered in churches will lead to idolatry.” (Art. xxxv, and Homily against Peril of Idolatry)

15 See Decorations in Ritualistic Churches—St. Michael’s and All Angels, Shoreditch, and others.

See the ‘Way of the Cross’ in the Treasury of Devotion, pp. 191 to 200.

8. They pervert the Communion Table into an Altar, the Communion into a Mass, and the Clergyman into a sacrificing Priest, who elevates material elements incorporating the Deity, and direct these to be adored by the worshipper with genuflection and prostration; whereas our Church declares that the Mass “overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament” (Art. xxviii), and that such worship is “idolatry, to be abhorred of all faithful Christians.” (Communion Service.)

“This prayer we say (to use the word common to us all) in the Mass which we now offer in many places daily on our altars.”—Rev. W. J. E. Bennett’s Essay. “Some Results of the Tractarian Movement of 1833” in the Church and the World. p. 19. 1867.

“Grant that the Sacrifice, which I a miserable sinner have offered before Thy Divine Majesty may be acceptable unto Thee, and through thy mercy maybe a propitiation for me, and all for whom I have offered It.”—Priest’s Prayer Book, p. 13.

Evidence before the Royal Ritual Commission. Question 2608.—Do you consider yourself a Sacrificing Priest? Answer by Rev. W. J. E. Bennett.—“Yes.”

“THE PRIEST AT THE ALTAR IS VIRTUALLY CHRIST HIMSELF.”— Catechism of Theology, p. 58

“Q.—Is not the Holy Eucharist also a Sacrifice?—A.—Yes”—Catechism, p. 35. Oxford. 1863. “May the Lord receive this Sacrifice, etc.”—Little Prayer Book, p. 18.

“Now kneel upright, your hands clasped upon your breast; follow the Priest in silent awe, for Jesus thy God is very nigh thee, he is about to descend upon the altar, surrounded by the Fire of the Holy Ghost, and attended by the angels. At the Consecration and Elevation prostrate yourself to the dust and say, ‘Hail Body of my God hail Body of my Redeemer—I adore—I adore—I adore thee.”— Manual of Devotions and Directions Members of the Church of England, intended especially the Young.

9. They enjoin the reservation of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, whereas our xxxviiith Article says:—“The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was not by Christ’s ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.

“Celebration in private rooms should be avoided as much as possible. For this purpose it is well to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the church (where this may be done), but especially in collegiate and monastic chapels, where it should always be reserved. The priest should, on due notice being given, carry it from thence in the pyx (in both kinds of course), to the sick man’s house.…. The priest carries the blessed Sacrament in a monstrance (as described in appendix for reservation in both kinds), or he will convey it in the chalice, the Holy Body being placed previously therein by him, soaked in a few drops of the precious Blood, the chalice being covered with a white veil, and burse, with a corporal folded inside.”—The Ritual of the Anglican Clergy, p. 23.

10. They pray for the souls of the Dead, and they declare their belief in Purgatory, and in the power of the priest to relieve from its penalties;17 whereas our Church declares purgatory to be “a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded on no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.” (Art. xxii.)

17 “What seems to be agreed upon is :—That, meantime, the souls of those persons are benefited by the prayers and Offerings of the Church, and by Alms given in their behalf; that those who have not died beyond the pale of salvation receive mitigation of their sufferings and ultimate release; and that, possibly, those who are lost also gain a mitigation of their sufferings, which mitigation may last through Eternity.” —Article on Purgatory in Tracts for the Day edited by Rev. O. Shipley, p. 29.

“We beseech thee, O Lord God Almighty, for the souls of the faithful departed” —Altar Manual, edited by a Committee of Clergy, p 34.

The souls of the departed thus abiding in their place of rest may be the subjects of prayer to those who are still alive upon the earth,” because “the souls that are departed are not in their perfection.’—Church’s Broken Unity, by Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, p. 122.

“Accept this Sacrifice, which, to the honour of thy Name, we have offered for the faithful, both living and departed, and for all is our sins and offences.”—Altar Meal. p.36.

“The state of the departed souls, whether in pain or pleasure, is not yet final. The truth is that they are in custody, easy or harsh, awaiting “Trial.”

“The best and holiest men (and much more the average believers) leave this world bearing the stains of earthly sins and error, which must be cleansed somewhere before they can be fitted for heaven.”—Prayer for the Dead, by Rev. Dr. Littledale, p. 2.

See Dr. Pusey’s Address, headed, “The prayers for departed Companions of the Society of the Love of Jesus.”—p. 127, 8.

Also notices at the doors of Ritualistic Churches, “Of your Charity pray for—,” and then follow the names of persons sick and dead.

11. They omit the Prayers for the Queen, the Royal Family and Parliament,18 and are

agitating for a separation of Church and Sate.19

18 In Ritualistic Churches the State Prayers are generally omitted.

“There does not seem to be any great reason for retaining the prayer for the Queen, bearing in mind the very full and emphatic terms in which her Majesty is mentioned in the Canon. Most people, we suspect, would be exceedingly glad if this prayer, as well as the Comfortable Words and the Addresses were dropped.”— Church Times, Jan. 20, 1866.

19 “I referred to an extreme faction in the Church of very modern date that does not conceal its ambition to destroy the connection between Church and State.”—Letter from the late Premier to Rev. A. Baker, dated 9th April, 1863.

See Rev. W. J. E. Bennett’s Sermon at Bristol, on May 2, 1869 advocating the separation of Church and State, and speaking of their connection as an adulterous love between the kingdom of the world and the kingdom of God. —Ch. Times, May 7, 1869.

12. They also introduce the Romish practices of Extreme Unction,—Incensing persons and things,— Substituting wafers for bread at the Communion Service,’—Using Holy Water,—Consecrating and censing Palm branches on Palm Sunday, —Consecrating ashes, and rubbing them on persons’ foreheads on Ash Wednesday,—Censing candles and sprinkling them with Holy Water on Candlemas day.

See Essay on “ Unction of the Sick “ in Tracts for the day edited by Rev. O. Shipley, where the writer speaks of “the Sacrament of Unction” p. 342, and adds (p. 359) “The principal effect then of Unction is the removal of the relics of Sin; its consequential effect, the remission of the guilt of any Sin it may find in the soul.”

“The recognized consecration of chrism and holy oil for various rites cannot be much longer postponed. It will certainly come in somehow”—Dr. Littlerdale's Letter to the Archbishop on “Catholic Revision.” p. 28. Liturgy of Church of Sarum dedicated by permission to Bp. of Salisbury.

13. They advocate the Procession and Veneration of Relics.

See instructions for Procession and Veneration of Relics in Oratory Worship.

“It is well, when the relics are to be exposed, to erect a resting-place for them just within the chancel, or in some place calculated to facilitate the veneration of the faithful,” p. 32.

Then follow details of the service, and it concludes by saying, “After the Te Deum the officient and his ministers should proceed to the chancel gates, and there hold the inner relic-case to be kissed by the faithful, wiping the glass after each osculation with a piece of cotton wool”.—p. 34.

14. They encourage and enjoin habitual auricular confession to a priest, and seek to

restore Judicial Absolution by a Priest, and the Romish Sacrament of Penance;20 whereas our Church says, “to maintain their auricular confession withal they greatly deceive themselves and do shamefully deceive others.” “It is most evident and plain that this auricular confession hath not the warrant of God's word.”—Second part of homily on Repentance.

20 Mr. Dodsworth, writing to Dr. Pusey, eighteen years ago, says :—” Both by precept and example you have been amongst the most earnest to maintain Catholic principles. By your constant and common practice of administering the Sacrament of Penance; by encouraging everwhere, if not enjoining, auricular confession, and giving special priestly absolution, &c. Mr. Maskell, addressing Dr. Pusey about the same time, wrote, “He (Mr. Dodsworth) knew that you have done more than encourage Confession in very many cases; that you have warned people of the danger of deferring it, have insisted on it as the only remedy, have pointed out the inevitable dangers of the neglect of it, and have promised the highest blessings in the observance, until you had brought penitents in fear and trembling upon their knees before you.” Dr. Pusey, in a Letter to the Times Nov. 29th, 1866, says: “During the twenty-eight years in which I have received Confession, I never had once to refuse absolution.”

In the “Ordinance of Confession” the Rev. W. Gresley, MA ., Prebendary of Lichfield, has given very minute directions both to penitent and confessor. He also says that the priest when he hears confessions, should wear his robes of office and then at p. 96 he speaks thus about absolution:

“The giving Absolution is not a matter of course, but is dependent on the judgment of the priest.

He has power to retain as well as remit sins—to give absolution or refuse it.” Awful thought!

“Listen carefully to all the Priest says to you, be sure to remember the penance he gives you, and receive the Absolution thankfully.”—Little Prayer Book, p. 83.

“The essential form of Absolution is not to be put forth after the manner of a prayer, but as by authority, being a judicial act.”—The Priest in Absolution, p. 50.

“Confession is one of the lesser Sacraments, instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ by means of which those sins which we commit after Baptism are forgiven,” &c.— Prayer Book for the Young, p. 71.

15. They are restoring Monasteries and Convents.

The Rev. J. T. Lyne (Father Ignatius) has established a Monastery at Laleham, a Convent of Sisters of St. Benedict in London; and there are convents of Benedictines in London, Newcastle, and Norwich, and a Priory of Benedictine nuns at Feltham.

“The Rev. R. M. Benson, MA., Incumbent of St. John the Evangelist, Oxford, and a prominent member of the High Church party (Ritualistic?) in that city, has been holding a ‘Retreat’ at his Monastery in Marston-street, Oxford, which has been attended by a large number of clergymen from all parts of the United Kingdom. During its corrtinuance the brethren, as they are called, give themselves up to fasting and prayer, maintaining the strictest silence and reserve. The Services in the chapel attached to the Monastery are incessant, the members of the Brotherhood appearing to spend the whole of their time between prayers in the chapel and meditations in their cells. The whole of the brethren are clothed in long black cassocks, confined at the waist by a cord, and wear large black felt hats.”— Morning Advertiser, Oct. 1869,

See account of service at what is called the Feltham Nunnery, quoted is the Guardian, September 9th, 1868 in which it is stated that —“The Priest commenced with the Communion Service of the Church of England, the young lady who was to receive the veil was dressed as a bride. The novice’s habit, scapular, girdle, and sandals, wimple and cloak, were solemnly blessed, her long black hair was all cut off, her white dress changed for a Benedictine frock, the white veil solemnly blessed and incensed, and then placed over her head, and she took the three vows for one year. The nuns are entirely enclosed, never go out, only see visitors at a grating in the Convent parlour, and then their faces are covered, and they obey the strict Benedictine rule.”

In the same account it is stated that in a previous week a nun took the black veil in the house with ceremonies still more striking and solemn.

16. They recommend the celibacy of Priests.

“All Catholics who seriously desire the spiritual well-being of our Church ought earnestly to long to see some such discipline as that which prevails in the Holy Eastern Church established among ourselves—to have some stringent law or Canon enacted making the reception of at least Priest's Orders a bar to subsequent marriage on pain of perpetual irregularity.”—Church News Oct. 13th, 1869.

The Rev. W. Humphrey in an essay, “The Three Vows” in The Church and the World, enjoins the necessity of the three vows of Chastity, Obedience, and Poverty, and says, “Perpetual continence is requisite in order to the perfection of Religion.”—p. 517.

“We are perfectly convinced that until the celibate life for men, and especially for priests, is very widely recognized and practised among us, we shall be lacking in an important feature necessary to the perfection of a Christian Church.”—Church News, April 7th, 1869.

17. They deny the sole authority of God’s Word. For its supremacy, they substitute the traditions of the dark ages, introduced by an ambitious priesthood, to enrich and

aggrandize their order.

With a clear note, our Church rebukes those views, declaring that “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation” (Art. vi.); and that “while each Church has the right and the power to decree ceremonies”—(Art. xx.)—“it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything that is contrary to God’s Word written;” and “whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as in article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.” (Art. vi.)

19 “If all the Bibles in the world could be gathered together tomorrow into one place and cast into the sea, I see nothing to hinder the Christian mission spreading in the world, in the same way as it spread between tine years 33 and 80 AD. (or whatever date may be assigned for the completion of the New Testament Canon). Neither, to take a practical case, which involves no such extravagant hypothesis, do I think that a Christian Priest, sent to a heathen land to win converts to the Faith, has any need to take a Bible with him, or any call to use it with the heathen previous to their baptism, or in any sense to treat it as a necessary element in the work of conviction.”—Kiss of Peace. Sequel 59.

“In the sense in which it is commonly understood at this day, Scripture, it is plain, is not, on Anglical principles, the Rule of Faith.”—Tracts for the Times, No. 90, p. 11, republished with Preface

by Dr. Pusey, 1865.

“I most firmly believe, O my God, whatever thy Holy Catholic Church believes and

teaches.”—Little Prayer Book, pp. 13, 14.

“There are a great many persons who are under the impression that the Bible is intended to teach

us our religion. Let me say most distinctly and definitely that this is a thorough mistake.”—An Open

Bible. Lecture by Rev. J. E. Vaux, p. 18.

“If we would decide between conflicting opinions on fundamental doctrines, we must appeal to the

Universal Church. Her voice will tell us ‘What is Truth.’”—Ib. p. 17.

The Church is not the Church of the Rome, but the Bible is the Book of the Church.”—Ibid. p. 15.

18. Even on the Primacy of the Pope, which by acts of Parliament and by the Order of our Reformed Church was rejected, these men are now approaching Popery with their entreaties. They set up Associations to promote reunion with Rome: they desecrate public worship by prayers for it; they hail the Papal Council; they declare the identity of our Articles with the Papal Creed; and the language, in which some of their leaders have lately expressed themselves, leaves no doubt as to their design. In St. Alban’s, Holborn, Dr. Littledale, accompanied by three other Priests, asked all present to pray.

“That Pentecostal fires might descend upon that great Council which was about to assemble under the chief Bishop of the Church, so that some of the scandals of the last 300 years might be removed.”

One of their organs expressed plainly the sentiments of the party:

The cry of the earnest and devout in our Communion to the successor of St. Peter is ‘Come over and help us.’ Will he stop his ears and beat back the hands stretched towards him, or will he advance half way and fall on our neck and kiss us? We are quite content to allow that we have been, as a Church, separate, degraded by the State to keep swine, and famished on the husks it has cast to us, but we do not forget that we are sons.”—Church News, Sept. 15, 1869.

We cannot wonder that in a Roman Catholic newspaper, a letter from an Ecclesiastic of high position is given, which states:—

“It is notably impossible for the Holy Father and the Council to ignore the reunion with the Holy See expressed by so many pious Anglicans.” From information “received from Catholics in England, from Archbishop Manning downwards,”— “the present spirit of the more advanced Anglicans is all that could be desired.”— Weekly Register, Sept. 4.

Therefore, it is no exaggeration to describe the Ritualistic party as Romanists, who have

reached already with bold advance the worst errors and idolatries of the Church of Rome.

The conspiracy now is organized, its practice open, its purpose avowed. To unprotenstantize our Church and to overthrow our reformed faith is their deliberate and unconcealed design. Nor is the evil or the danger small; in some cases the laity have been corrupted by their teaching and have imbibed Romish errors, but the great majority of our laity are shocked and startled to find such heresies suffered within our Church, and they ask, with wonder and impatience, why is nothing done? what are the heads of our Church doing?

One conclusion is, that the faithful members of our Protestant Church must look for a remedy under God, not to others but to themselves.

Union is as necessary as Action. If the faithful members of our Church are, through God's blessing, permitted to resist the two great dangers of Ritualistic and Romish superstition on the one hand, and Unbelief on the other, they must learn to think, to deliberate and act together, but above all to be earnest in prayer. This course was pursued by the members of the early Church; and ended by God’s blessing in harmonious agreement. This should be our course. That which we must look for, which alone will serve us, is the cordial union of Clergy and Laity, and their united prayer to Him who ordereth all things according to his good pleasure.

[1] Note the word is boldly, not cruelly or thoughtlessly or superciliously.

[2] Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School

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Sunday, October 20, 2013

Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity

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