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| Before Abraham was, I AM. |
Passion
Sunday
Passion Sunday is the
fifth Sunday in Lent, and the first Sunday in Passiontide, the last two weeks
of Lent, beginning on Passion Sunday and ending on Holy Saturday (the Saturday
before Easter).
All crosses, pictures, images are
covered with opaque purple veils and Gloria Patri is often omitted during this
period. Passion Sunday is so-called because in the gospel for that day (John 8:
46-59) Jesus begins his sufferings by being stoned out of the temple. Under the old calendar, Passion Sunday
was also known as Judica Sunday,
after that day's Introit: "Judica me, Deus" ("Judge me, O
Lord") from Psalm 42 (43), and was called Black Sunday in Germany. This alternate name originates from the
fact that after Passion Sunday, the Judica Psalm was not said again until
Easter; the German title comes from the old practice of veiling the crosses and
statues in the church on that day.
The Roman Catholic Church has
completely suppressed Passiontide and eliminated Palm Sunday during the course
of abandoning much of the Christian history and doctrine. They now refer to Palm Sunday as “Passion
Sunday.” Traditional catholics[1]
still observe Passiontide as well as its rites and ceremonies. Passiontide is observed in the Anglican
Communion.
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 some great ones to share. On to the On Point quotes –
On
hell
[The fictional George MacDonald is speaking.]
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will
be done’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that
are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice, there could be no Hell. No
soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who
seek, find. To those who knock, it is opened.”. . .
“Hell is a state of mind—ye never said a
truer word. And every state of mind, left to itself, every shutting up of the
creature within the dungeon of its own mind is, in the end, Hell. But Heaven is
not a state of mind. Heaven is reality itself. All that is fully real is
Heavenly.”. . .
“Hell is smaller than one pebble of your earthly world: but
it is smaller than one atom of this world, the Real World. Look at yon
butterfly. If it swallowed all Hell, Hell would not be big enough to do it any
harm or to have any taste. . . .
“A damned soul is nearly nothing: it is shrunk, shut up in
itself. Good beats upon the damned incessantly as sound waves beat on the ears
of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their teeth
are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they
cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouths for food, or their eyes to
see.”
“Then no one can ever reach them?”
“Only the Greatest of all can make Himself small enough to
enter Hell. For the higher a thing is, the lower it can descend—a man can
sympathise with a horse but a horse cannot sympathise with a rat. Only One has
descended into Hell.”
Jack
Lewis
The Great Divorce
“Creatures, I give you yourselves,” said the
strong, happy voice of Aslan. “I give to you forever this land of Narnia. I
give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you
myself. The Dumb Beasts whom I have not chosen are yours also. Treat them
gently and cherish them but do not go back to their ways lest you cease to be
Talking Beasts. For out of them you were taken and into them you can return. Do
not so.”
Jack
Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
Not a tame Lion
Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face.
“There,” it said, “that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your
sorrows.”
Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had
never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the
fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by
lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan
and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the
desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how
they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded
Aravis. . . .
“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.
“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two
the first night, and—”
“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.”
And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the voice continued.
“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted
you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you
while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear
for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the
lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near
death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to
receive you.”
Jack Lewis
The Horse and His Boy
Screwtape reveals the Enemy’s
intentions:
Now it may surprise you to learn that in His [the Enemy’s] efforts to
get permanent possession of a soul, He relies on the troughs even more than on
the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper
troughs than anyone else. The reason is this. To us a human is primarily food;
our aim is the absorption of its will into ours, the increase of our own area
of selfhood at its expense. But the obedience which the Enemy demands of men is
quite a different thing. One must face the fact that all the talk about His
love for men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not (as one would
gladly believe) mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He really does want to
fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself—creatures
whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not
because He has absorbed them but because their wills freely conform to His. We
want cattle who can finally become food; He wants servants who can finally
become sons. We want to suck in, He wants to give out. We are empty and would
be filled; He is full and flows over. Our war aim is a world in which Our
Father Below has drawn all other beings into himself: the Enemy wants a world
full of beings united to Him but still distinct.
Jack Lewis
The Screwtape Letters
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his
handiwork.
Psalm 19:1
The bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall
be filled with gravel.
Proverbs 20:17
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
St. Matthew 7:24
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out.
St. John 6:37
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them
that dwell upon the earth.
Revelation 3:10
The vocabulary of the King James Bible was not common, even in the
1500s. In the 1800s Archbishop Trench said, “It is good that the phraseology of
Scripture should not be exactly that of our common life;... just as there is a
sense of fitness which dictates that the architecture of a church should be
different from that of a house.” The style of a building identifies what’s
inside... Style communicates— architectural style, dress style, and writing
style... Words, like clothing and architecture, suggest things. Connotation is
the expression of the face of a word. Any English sentence can be rendered in a
variety of tones. The KJV is not the language of earth... Just as pollution and
pollen are inhaled with every breath of good air, so the words the world uses
go into the mind, along with all of the filth surrounding them. They are stored
in the memory. When that word is read again, the file containing that word pops
to the forefront of the mind— hand in hand with all the pollution it has been partnered
with.
Gail Riplinger
19th and 21st century American Bible scholar and
author
(In Awe of thy Word, pp. 191-192)
According to New Testament usage, all true Christians are saints... It
has well been said, If you want a “saint” to pray for you, find a true
Christian and make the request of him. His prayer will be more effective than
any request that can be made through dead saints. We have no need for the
intercession of Mary, or dead saints, or angels, for we ourselves have direct
access to God through Christ. Furthermore, not only do we have no single
instance in the Bible of a living saint worshipping a dead saint, but all
attempts on the part of the living even to make contact with the dead are
severely condemned.
Dr. Loraine Boettner
20th century American theologian and author (Roman
Catholicism, p. 145)
Religion is the principal driving force behind politics...Every
politician has a worldview. He believes something that causes him to go in the
particular direction he goes in.
Gary Kah
20th and 21st century American Christian author.
Propers
The Propers for today are found
on Page 132-133, with the Collect first:
The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called
Passion Sunday.
The
Collect.
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W
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E beseech
thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great
goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is
followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today, which
came from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, starting at the Eleventh Verse of the
Ninth Chapter. Paul summarizes both the symbolism and
the substance of the Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf. Paul opens the secret of the One Perfect Sacrifice, One
Time, for All Time and All Mankind.
Paul is clearly appealing to the sense of the Jews when he asks them if
the blood of goats will set aside or atone for sin, how much more can be done
by the Perfect Sacrifice made on our behalf?
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HRIST being come an high priest of good things to
come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to
say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an
heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how
much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
Hap Arnold read this
morning’s Gospel which comes from the Gospel of Saint John, starting at the
Forty-Sixth Verse of the Eighth Chapter and tells the story of Jesus’
confrontation with the Pharisees in the temple. Like much of John it is filled with deep explanation of
Jesus and His purpose here.
Knowing them looking to find the worst in Him, Jesus
asked, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye
not believe me?” In a point
central to Christianity, he went on, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye
therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” When we hear the term Jews here, we should hear the world in
general, for He spoke to all who would not hear. When they would not hear, He pointed out He sought not glory
or praise from them, but only from the Father whom in reality they knew
not. Here He offers the singular
benefit of Christianity, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” This concept being foreign to them,
they asked if He thought He was greater than Abraham. That brought the crowning touch, “Your father Abraham
rejoiced to see my day.” Knowing
He was only in his early 30s, they could not grasp how he could have seen
Abraham.
In a demonstration of the non-linearity of God’s
time, He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.[2]” As might be expected, this offended the
Keepers of The Law.
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ESUS said, Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth,
why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye
are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do
dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and
judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast
a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my
saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is
nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your
God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him
not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know him, and keep his saying. Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at
him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
Sermon – Reverend Hap Arnold - Time and
Action
Today’s sermon brought
the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the
forewords above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… thy people; … by thy great
goodness … may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul …
In the Collect, we ask
God to help us to look to Him for leadership and direction that we might be
saved, both our physical bodies and souls. For, if we do not look to God for our guidance and direction
we are surely lost like a man in the wilderness without a compass. When we ask that we might be governed
and thus preserved by His great goodness,
we are in effect asking for His Guidance for us to be guided. Guided, that means we need to ask,
then listen to what He Tells us, then actually follow that guidance. Recall to mind this quote from GK
Chesterton:
·
“Christianity has not been tried and found
wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
It does absolutely no good for us to ask God for
guidance, then when He gives it to us for us to ignore or pretend we did not
hear. After all, there are none so
deaf as those who will not hear, a concept discussed more fully in Matthew
13.13. Thus, we need to ask for He
Help, His Guidance, then actually do our very best to follow Him.
If we look to Him for guidance, we then look to Him
for safety. Safety means only
the safety of our soul, our eternal life.
Things may get tense here, for as Aslan is not a tame lion, God is not a
tame god. He is the one true and
triune God. Not tame, but the
savior of mankind. Think about
this; pretty clearly the Mosaic Law with its 613 rules did not really work to
save mankind. The constant
sacrifice of animals could not make us accounted for as perfect in God’s eye. After all, an animal would never work to
cleanse our sins, account us as perfect and let us enter into heaven, as
Christ’s sacrifice by the terrible death on the Cross did for us. An animal is
a poor substitute for a divine being that is our conduit from heaven to earth,
and visa versa. We were always
destined to fail. We cannot make
the grade on our own. We need the
One Sacrifice, One Time, for all mankind, for all time.
Our only means of being accounted as perfect when we
come before God is to rely on the sacrifice and intermediary priesthood of His
Son, our Savior Jesus Christ to account us as perfect before God on that final
day. Your AOC ministers, while
officially titled as priests are not intermediary priests, there is one high
priest, Jesus Christ the Righteous who is also the propitiation for our
sins! He is our Savior, our
Leader, our Teacher, our Master, our Example!
At the same time, as imperfect creatures with free
will if we do our very best to follow His Word, we will not be perfect. On the other hand, we will be better
than we will if we do not. Thus,
without the sacrifice of His Son, we will not make the cut. We will end up in the pit. We need that one sacrifice, one time,
for all mankind, for all time. If we did not need that sacrifice, then we
wouldn’t be seeing all the troubles in the world today. Today’s world makes clear the need for the
sacrifice He made for us; one time for all time. Unlike the sacrifices of the Old
Testament, which required multiple sacrifices a year, this sacrifice was made
one time, one year, for all time.
In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that if we believe in
Him and keep His Word (keeping His Word meaning acting upon it), then we shall
make our seamless journey from the Shadowlands to His Home. Few of the Pharisees could conceive, or
peradventure would not conceive, that God would send His Son to this world for
us. They did not even believe He had a son, they were looking for the Messiah
figure they thought couldn’t be Him. The Messiah was in fact Jesus, the Christ
of God. They expected an earthly
savior, one who would drive the Romans out and put the Jews in charge of that
corner of the world.
Their problem was that Jesus came to save our souls
and give us eternal life, eternal life starting right then. Not just for the Jews and Israel, but
the whole wide world, Jew, Gentile, Greek and all others. Jesus brought salvation and life to the
entire world. That was not what
the Pharisees were looking so hard for with their magnifying glasses as they
examined Torah and The Law. Pharisees
were not big picture people, and as Calvin told Hobbes, “We big picture people
rarely become historians.” It would seem that also applied to the Pharisees though
they were not “big picture people”, they misinterpreted the prophecies of the
Messiah. Regardless, even though some people chose to misunderstand the
prophecies, He came and He made that one sacrifice, at one time, for all
mankind, for all time. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life[3].
Who is Jesus?
Our Savior? Indeed. But, more He has been since before the
beginning of the world, for He is one with I Am.
Through His Actions, we are saved.
Do ye likewise:
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
Fifth Sunday
in Lent, commonly called Passion Sunday
6 April 2014,
Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)
The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called
Passion Sunday.
The
Collect.
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W
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E beseech
thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great
goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed
by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
|
A
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
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ESUS said, Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth,
why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye
are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not
well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do
dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and
judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast
a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my
saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father
Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?
Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is
nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your
God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him
not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know him, and keep his saying. Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at
him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.
(John 8:46-59)
God speaks to His own, and
His own hear His Voice. If we are born of God, we shall surely enjoy His
counsel and comfort. When God’s Word is proclaimed with power and conviction,
no argument can stand against it. Since the enemies of God cannot brook the
preaching of the Word, and cannot refute it, the weapon of choice is to attack
the messenger. Their great problem in attacking Christ is not only the fact
that He is the Messenger, but also the Message. How often have we seen their
futile attempts to trap Him in His Words redound to their detriment? Even the
Church has often struggle with faith. The Church of the modern era no longer
struggles with faith – they have lost it! Can it be true that those who believe
upon the Lord Jesus Christ shall never see death? If we believe God, we will
believe all that He has told us. Every material entity in a material world must
fade away and die, but those who are born of the Spirit in Christ have spirits
that shall never perish in death or Hell. What is it that makes a man own a
reputation of character and strength? It is not his own bragging of himself for
reputations are established by more than mere words – it is the testimony of
others who know the man and his life that establishes strong reputation and
character. Christ did not testify of Himself because His Father in Heaven had
already given, and was giving, a Holy Testimony and Revelation of His Son. When
we are under God’s care and protection, the most violent of criminals cannot
lay hand on us without the Father’s permit.
46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the
truth, why do ye not believe me? Has
any man present brought charges against Christ? How often did they tempt Him to
make a misstep, but He always turned the tables on clerical rascals every bit
as greedy in nature and egregious in false teaching as those modern day wonders
who populate pulpits across America in our own day. Even when He proved to them
their error, they never turned from it. To be honest, they could not turn, for
they were of their children the devil.
47 He that is of God heareth
God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. I never heard the counsel of another father
and mother in my own home though it was given in every home in my neighborhood.
I heard only the counsel of my own God-given parents. If we are
sheep of our Special Shepherd, we may even hear the mumblings of other
shepherds with other flocks, but is the Voice of our own shepherd that we hear
and follow. It is a fact that wolves will not hear the gentle commands of the
Good Shepherd. It is not their intent to hear, but to tear and destroy the
sheep. They do not hear and follow because it is not in their nature to hear
and follow.
48 Then
answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a
Samaritan, and hast a devil? Since Christ has truly identified
these culprits as not true members of the family of God, they return to their
old, trite argument of bloodlines. They call Christ a Samaritan (which they do
not consider members of Israel). Suddenly, just by merely speaking words of
reason and logic – and doing or saying nothing vile – Christ is labelled as
having a devil! Need I remind you that rulers of the Jews have committed
blasphemy and, this, not the first time?
49 Jesus
answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my
Father, and ye do dishonour me. Christ
has accused these men of nothing that is not an absolute of the Holy
Scriptures. Since Christ honors the Word of God the Father, and these men do
not, which of the two have a devil? The Pharisees and Jews refuted, in custom,
tradition, and action, the Word of God. They dishonor God thereby and even so
His Son.
50 And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh
and judgeth. Christ came to
redeem and not to judge. The judgment has already been made by God’s Holy Word.
It is by the standard of that Word that men are judged. If we are IN Christ, we
are not under the terms of the Law and condemnation. But these men were far
from the gates of the Holy City of God. Their deeds would judge them by that
perfect standard of the Law.
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying,
he shall never see death. This solution is too simple – too
plain bread – for the sophisticated oracles of Judaism. How short a stride from
hate and condemnation to freedom and liberty in Christ, but East is East and
West is West and never the twain shall meet:
OH, East is East, and West is West, and
never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at
God’s great Judgment Seat;
Rudyard
Kipling (1865–1936)
52 Then
said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead,
and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never
taste of death. They are actually accusing Jesus of denying that
Abraham followed God. They know that there is a grave in Machpelah that
contains the bones of Abraham. Their dim wits, lighted by darkness only, cannot
comprehend (or refuse to) the words of Christ. All they know and understand is
the “here and now”. An eternal Heaven escapes their imagination. They may make
allusions to that Heaven, just as false professor of our own time do, but they
do not believe that any “educated” marvel could ever seriously believe it.
53 Art
thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead:
whom makest thou thyself? They know DEATH, but they do not know
LIFE! Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Their scale-covered eyes do not
see because they have dwelt in darkness so very long that they are blinded by
Light.
54 Jesus
answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing:
it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
How can men know intimately a great King and not recognize His sons and
daughters? It is actually impossible. The King sends His Son to greet those who
claim His sovereignty. He forewarns them of His son’s Coming. He has written to
them of it, spoken of it to them by the prophets whom they killed, and now the
genuine Article stands before them and they know it not – or DO they?
55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I
should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him,
and keep his saying. It is
likely that the Jews have a head knowledge of God, but they have changed His
character and description from that which He claims to be, to one which suits
their own passions. When we know God of a truth we cannot disavow His sayings
as the Chart and Compass of our lives.
56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw
it, and was glad. Quite often
we fail to remember that Abraham was a Christian like unto the true Christian
of this day. His view of Christ was ALL of faith. He looked forward, in
faith, to the Coming Redeemer in Christ. He was preached the Gospel and he
believed the Gospel. Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith,
the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that
God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. (Gal 3:6-8)
It was not the Stones of Sinai, or of Moses, that saves, but the Grace of God
in Christ Jesus.
57 Then
said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen
Abraham? God is the God of the living and not the dead. Of course,
Jesus has seen Abraham. As a matter of fact, grasp this: He saw Abraham before
Abraham saw himself.
58 Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Before Abraham was, I am. Yes,
He was before Abraham, He was before Adam, He was before the worlds (which He
made) were cast into orbit by the artful Finger of God. He was before Gabriel
and all created angels. Don’t we recall that He was before the beginning of all
things? There was never a time when Christ was not in the Eternal Presence – I
AM!
59 Then
took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the
temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Ah, yes,
the Ancien’ Regime! Destroy all opposition – if not by words,
then, by all means, with stones. Though truth may lie trampled beneath the iron
heel of hate, it cannot be destroyed. Like the Spirit Itself, Truth shall
arise time and again after the futile attempts of the ungodly to silence it.
But, alas, it was not the appointed time of Christ to offer Himself. Though
they would have stoned Him, He wonderfully passed through them, out of the
Temple, under cover of Light. So may we all be protected from the wiles of the
devil!
It is a great comfort to realize that our Lord is Eternally Present with His
people, and He passes by unobserved by those who reject Him. Do you know the
Presence of Christ in your heart today?
Roy Morales-Kuhn,
Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is
pastor of the biggest AOC parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the
Diocese of the MidAmerica. Roy’s
sermons are well done and easy to understand. You always get something good out of them. Today is no exception.
Fifth Sunday in Lent
commonly called Passion Sunday
The
Spirit v the Flesh
6 April 2014
Epistle: Hebrews:
9:11-15 Gospel: John
8:46-59
11 But Christ
being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;
12 Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
13 For if the
blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more
shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living
God?
In this passage from the letter to the
Hebrews the author explains the fulfillment that Christ complete with his
perfection. He outlines that all the sacrifices from the time of inception in
the Levitical and Mosaic laws were only good enough for purifying the flesh.
The implication being, that as one bathes and yet gets dirty again, one is purified
by these sacrifices, but they get ‘dirty’ again. The big difference being that
the blood of Christ will purge your conscience or spirit of the dead works that
permeate each human soul.
The perfect sacrifice, foreshadowed in the
rites and sacrifices of the Old Testament, are now fulfilled in Christ. This
scripture is the validation of Christ’s work, the certification that he has
because of what he did. The last verse ties this all up.
15 And for
this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for
the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
******
******
*******
*******
46 Which of you
convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
47 He that is of
God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
48 Then answered
the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and
hast a devil?
49 Jesus
answered, I have not a devil; but I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me.
50 And I seek not
mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.
51 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
In this Gospel passage, Christ is winnowing
out the wheat from the tares. He is explaining to those who understand his
words, that they by their understanding, have accepted Christ for who he is.
Those who will not understand his words are not of Christ. When he spoke of not
seeing death, of course he was speaking of spiritual death. Those who were
questioning Christ were attacking Christ’s character, they were impugning him
by calling him a Samaritan or a devil.
Ironic, when the enemy has no ammunition,
they make reasons for not believing Christ. That is not a new tactic, we see it
used daily in political recourse. Attack the person, not their message.
52 Then said the
Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the
prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of
death.
53 Art thou
greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom
makest thou thyself?
Once again, the crowd does not understand what
Jesus is saying. They only see the surface, not the spiritual. They are fleshly
minded, not spiritually minded. What Jesus was doing was certifying himself by
expressing a number of prophetical concepts that these learned Jews should have
known. An example can be made looking back to Christ early days on earth. When
the Magi came to worship the king of the Jews, they used their secular sense to
find him. They went to the capital city, Jerusalem to inquire the whereabouts of
the newborn king. Herod, the Jewish king asked his scholars and scribes to read
the prophets and find out where this king would be born. The scribes found the
prophecy that indicated Bethlehem, just a few miles south of Jerusalem.
54 Jesus
answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoreth
me; of whom ye say, that he is your God:
55 Yet ye have
not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be
a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.
56 Your father
Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.
Again, Christ references the prophecies as
to his coming. Notice in verse 54 he even gives them a nudge about their claim
that they say God is who they worship. But then Jesus rebukes them in verse 55,
indicating that they really don’t know God. He also points to the fact that
their earthly father, Abraham, rejoiced to see this day. Now that really gets
their goat.
57 Then said the
Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
58 Jesus said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
59 Then took they
up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple,
going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
These last three verses are a capstone of
what is soon to be the coming passion and death of Christ. The Jews say that
Christ couldn’t possibly know Abraham, he, Christ was less than fifty years
old. Jesus then tells them the
truth, before Abraham was...I AM. Wow, not a static state, a state of being
always. Never created, always...I AM. We can’t wrap our minds around that
concept. He is the alpha and the omega..to us. The beginning and the end, but
he has always been. The great I
AM.
And thus the great struggle that continues
to this day. The fight between the Spirit and the Flesh. The Spirit which
transcends all time and history against that which will one day fall away. The
flesh that will one day cease to have life. The mortal that struggles against
the immortal.
This sums up the forty days of Lent. We see
this great war that took place. Christ, in the wilderness, at the beginning of
his ministry, is tempted by Satan. Christ who will in just a few years lay down
his life for our redemption, will be tempted by Satan to throw it all away. The
fleshly world of the devil fought against the Spiritual world of the Son of
God, the Spiritual world will win.
In the great sacrifice that Christ Jesus
does for us, Death will be defanged. Death will lose its sting, Death will be
defeated, not having the hold on Christ’s own. The believer knows that there is
resurrection, the believer knows that because of Jesus we will see that
glorious day; there will be final victory.
15 And for this cause he
is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the
redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
This coming promise, of eternal inheritance,
is the keystone to the whole work of Jesus Christ, which we will commemorate in
the next couple of weeks.
Let us rejoice in the coming Light. This
season of lengthening days,(Lent) gives us hope of that redemption of those
transgressions we inherited from our earthly father Adam will now be covered by
the Blood of Jesus death, burial and resurrection...to the promise of eternal
inheritance.
Alleluia
and Amen.
Let us pray:
|
O
|
God, who makest us glad with
the weekly remembrance of the glorious resurrection of thy Son our Lord;
Vouchsafe us this day such blessing through our worship of thee, that the days
to come may be spent in thy service; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
|
O
|
God of peace, who hast taught
us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence
shall be our strength; by the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy
presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen
✟
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop
Dennis is a brilliant speaker. He
is able to take biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even
to me. Oft he provides the text of
his sermons and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
Is
God Fair?[4]
Psalm 51, Isaiah 1:10-20, 1 Peter 4:12-19
Is God fair? In the Monday night video we heard a university
student tell the speaker religion is culturally conditioned, and, if there were
a God He would not send anyone the hell for not being a Christian. He was
basically saying four things:
First, all religions
are invented by people to express their cultural views and prejudices in order
to give themselves a sense of identity, unity, and divine approval.
Second, since all
religions are human inventions they are not true.
Third, since they are
invented by a culture they are culturally acquired much like taste in
hairstyles and clothing fashions.
Fourth, if
Christianity is true, and God does send people to hell only because they had
the accidental misfortune to be born into a culture whose religion is not
Christianity, then God is an arbitrary, cruel demon, rather than the loving God
Christians talk about so much.
The speaker did a good job of refuting the student. He said if
religion is culturally conditioned and acquired, then atheism is too, and a
person becomes an atheist by being in a culture of atheism. And if
atheism, or agnosticism, is culturally conditioned and acquired, it, too, is
just an expression of the subjective values and beliefs of its culture, and has
no more claim to be a true expression of reality than Christianity.
Furthermore, a person cannot claim to know Christianity, or any other religion
or belief, is culturally acquired unless he is given superior knowledge that is
above the claim of all cultures and religions. But if all beliefs are
culturally acquired, including atheism/agnosticismm the atheist/agnostic can’t
even say all beliefs are culturally acquired because he would be speaking his
own culturally acquired beliefs, and culturally acquired beliefs only express
the cultural beliefs and prejudices of that culture. So that argument against
Christianity is just absolutely devastating to atheism, agnosticism, and any
view of morality, values, or the meaning of life, unless God exists, and gives
knowledge that is above all human cultures and prejudices and views.
So the speaker did a good job of refuting culturally acquired
religion. But the student who asked the question, also said it would be
unfair of God to send someone to hell for being born into a culture that does
not have Christianity as its religion. He was saying, “It’s not my fault
if I was born into a culture of atheism, and accept what that culture
teaches. That is just an accident of birth. Therefore, it would be
unfair of God to send me to hell for not being a Christian.”
This brings me to the point of today’s sermon; God doesn’t send people
to hell for not being Christians. God sends people to hell for doing what
they know is wrong. In other words, people don’t go to hell because they
don’t have the full light of the Gospel of Christ. They go to hell
because they aren’t faithful to the light they do have. According to the
Bible, they have quite a lot of light. Acts 14:16 and 17 tell us God
suffers (allows) people to walk in their own ways. He allows them to make
up their own religions and values and laws, and live by them. “Nevertheless He
left not Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave us rain from
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
The Bible is talking here about what theologians call Natural Revelation.
It is saying God lets us do what we want, but He has also left a witness to
Himself. We can deny His existence, but we all know about Him because He
has been good to us. The implication, then, is, since God has been good
to us, we should honour and love Him. But Natural Revelation goes
further, saying we know God exists because nature reveals Him. “The heavens
declare the glory of God,” says Psalm 19:1. Romans 1:19 and 20 tell us “that
which may be known of God is manifest,” revealed to all, “For the invisible
things of Him… are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead.” According to the Bible, the problem
of all people in all places is not the shortage of revelation, it is the
rejection of the revelation they have. When they knew God” through His
revelation in creation, “they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful,
but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.” Romans 1:18 explains this, saying, they “hold” meaning to hold
in suppression “the truth in unrighteousness.” The Gospel of John
expresses this well, saying, “men loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil” (Jn. 3:19). The light is there, but people
love darkness.
Let’s talk about those evil deeds for a moment. People have an
innate sense of right and wrong. We may disagree on the details, but
almost all of us would agree that some things are good and others are
bad. And we expect others to recognize this. We talk about fairness
and justice as self evident truth that is above all human inventions,
philosophies, and ideals. We appeal to these truths in every day
life. If a strong man pushes a sick man out of line at the grocery store,
even an absolute moral relativist will say, “That’s not fair. Go pick on
someone your own size.” He will appeal to sense of moral oughtness.
We all have a sense that all people everywhere ought to live in accordance with
a self-evident code of conduct. Again, we may differ over the details,
but the general code is agreed upon. This is what the Bible refers to in
Romans 2:14 and 15 as having the law of God written in our hearts. We
often call this conscience. Yes, we can quench our consciences. But
we are born with them and they must be quenched before they will allow us to do
evil without remorse. This is the point, all have consciences. All
have the law of God written in their hearts. No one goes to hell for
breaking a commandment of God he doesn’t know about or not believing in a
Christ he hasn’t heard about. He goes to hell for leaving undone the good
he knows he ought to have done, and for doing the evil he knows he ought not to
have done.
So, is God unfair to punish a person for an accident of birth?
According to the Bible it is not just an accident of birth, it is a deliberate
choice and way of life that intentionally excludes God and breaks His
commandments. For God to exclude such a person is not unfair, it is
justice.
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
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.
Fifth Sunday in Lent
In our gospel for today, our Lord said, If God were your Father, ye would
love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my
word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me
not. Which of you convinceth me of sin. And if I say the truth, why do ye not
believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not,
because ye are not of God (8:42-47). In a previous
chapter, our Lord said, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life (St. John 5:24) Do you
see the distinction being drawn? There were two groups: the unregenerate masses
who belong to our adversary, and a believing remnant who are God’s.
The unregenerate are the children of disobedience (Ephesians 5:6). They do not understand the words of Christ
because they cannot hear them. As the apostle Paul explained, But if our gospel
be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is image of God, should shine unto them (II Corinthians 4:3-4).
The remnant, on the other hand, have heard the words of Christ and have
accepted them. Throughout the ages, they have sought to honor God through their
obedience to his word. As the apostle John noted in his first epistle, And he
that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in [Christ] and [Christ] in him. And
hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us (3:24).
Now God did not give us his word as a draft for our approval, so either
one accepts God’s word written, or one will, by default, be in rejection of it.
There are no exceptions. St. Paul wrote extensively on the Christian ethos. He
knew what it meant to join “the dark side”. He had once been an ignorant tool
of the devil prior to his conversion via his persecution of the body of Christ
(Acts 9:1-20). But after his conversion, the apostle proved to be a passionate
and successful minister of the gospel.
But O how things have changed. Sadly, there are many within the
mainline denominations who have sought to diminish St. Paul’s credibility as a
spokesman for our God. Those who would deny him his rightful place ought to “stand
and deliver” on their position by answering the following queries: 1) Who, pray
tell, appeared to Saul of Tarsus on that dusty road to Damascus?, and 2) With
whom did the apostle commune in the wilderness of Arabia for some three years?,
and 3) If the apostle was truly called of our Lord on that dusty road so long
ago, then how on earth can any so-called Christian church or minister disparage
him without being labeled a false church, with those who teach such being
rightly called antichrist?
And think about the totality of the apostle’s works on behalf of our
Lord. His epistles contain the rubrics for church order and worship. He was
called to supply form to the substance— to flesh out the specifics of what it
means to have a church. He was called to preach and be heard of the remnant
that they might be saved by the effectual working of the Holy Ghost. Thus to
deny the credentials of the last apostle is to in effect close one’s ears to
the gospel of truth that he preached, and which was recorded for our
edification.
So what have those churches and pastors which have rejected St. Paul’s
teachings gained for all their efforts? They have, in essence, exchanged the
true gospel of our risen Lord for another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), and on that
account they have received a curse. Through their false teaching, they have
slain the concept of inerrancy regarding God’s word written in the hearts and
minds of their congregations. They have also become cultists who gather around
a figment of Christ, but not the only begotten Son of the Father. This is that
other Christ or the spirit of antichrist which has been sown by Satan
throughout the world since our Lord’s first advent. And on account of this evil
spiritual presence within an ever increasing number of churches, our Lord has
been forced to stand outside their doors knocking to come in (Revelation 3:20).
Sadly, this is in agreement with our gospel lesson, as the modern church has
become like the unregenerate of the Jews, for only a remnant will hear and
receive the truth.
J. C. Ryle once wrote concerning these last days, “...that the world
will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency,
before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches,
schools and missions, the wheat and the tares will grow together until the
harvest; and when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state
that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah (St. Matthew 13:24-30;
24:37-39)... [and] that the widespread unbelief, indifference, formalism and
wickedness, which are to be seen throughout Christendom, are only what we are
taught to expect in God’s Word. Troublous times, departures from the faith,
evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold, are things distinctly
predicted.”
Our Lord said of Noah’s time that, ... as the days of Noe were, so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before
the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until
the day that Noe entered the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took
them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be (St. Matthew
24:37-39). . Let us now look at the spiritual condition of humanity as
described in Genesis 6: And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually (v.5). And St. Paul noted in his second epistle to St. Timothy
that, ...in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of
their own selves... unthankful, unholy... lovers of pleasure more than lovers
of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof... (vv.2-5).
The apostle also forewarned that the church would experience apostasy
prior to the return of our Lord. Consider his words in II Thessalonians 2: We
beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither
by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is
at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be reveal, the son
of perdition (vv.1-3). It will be that man of sin who will use a great
deception to cloud the minds of the unregenerated so that they will not turn
unto Christ and be saved (II Thessalonians 2:7-12).
The prophet Isaiah was given a message which God had told him ahead of
time would not be received and believed (6:9-13). It was a message meant for
those who would hear even though they were few. God is interested in
proclaiming the truth to all, but he knows that only a small segment of those
who will hear will believe and turn unto him. They are the remnant. To quote
Bishop Ryle once more: “I believe the grand purpose of the present dispensation
is to gather out of the world an elect people, and not convert all mankind. It
does not surprise me at all to hear that the heathen are not all converted when
missionaries preach, and that believers are but a little flock in any
congregation in my own land... The gospel is to be preached as a witness, and
then the end shall come. This is the dispensation of election, and not of
universal conversion.”
And so it has been the solemn duty of every faithful Christian to be
salt and light in this sinful world regardless of whether or not the masses
accept our witness. As St. Paul wrote, knowing therefore the terror of the
Lord, we persuade men (II Corinthians 5:11). In that vein, we should pray for
God’s gift of faith to be spread abroad, and that God would bring a spirit of
revival into the world in these last days. The power of praying Christians is
infinite, for the Lord we serve is a mighty and sovereign God who cares for us
and hears us. St. James tells us in his epistle that the effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much (5:16).
St. Paul reminded young Timothy in his second epistle: And the servant
of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him
at his will (2:25-26). Though many will perish, still we ought to pray for the
unregenerate around us. Our duty is to give them the gospel of truth, to give
it to them straight, and to keep giving it to them as God gives us the occasion
so to do.
We closed our worship of Evening Prayer with A Prayer of St. Chrysostom
which states in part, “Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions of thy
servants, as may be most expedient for them...” We may not always understand
why God acts, or does not act in a particular matter for which we have
petitioned. But we can rest assured that in his love for us, he will hear us.
To that end, let us close with an excerpt from St. John 10:14, I am the good
shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine. For the Remnant, those are
most comfortable words indeed, so let us work to expand that Remnant as God
gives us the leave to do in his service.
Let us pray,
|
O
|
good and gracious God, whose everlasting purpose has been to redeem thine
elect saints from thy wrath to come, and to bring us into thy rest; assist us
we pray that by means of thy most holy Spirit, we would be made a people fit
not only for our work here, but in thy coming kingdom as well; for this we ask
in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
[1]
In this case the word
catholic catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the Greek adjective (katholikos),
means "universal") comes from the Greek phrase (kath'holou), meaning
"on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in
general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about"
and meaning "whole". The
word in English means "including a wide variety of things;
all-embracing" in particular as "relating to the historic doctrine
and practice of the Western Church." It was first used to describe the Christian Church in
the early 2nd century to emphasize its universal scope. In the context of
Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. The term has been incorporated into the
name of the Roman Catholic Church, arguably not actually a Christian church,
though with many Christian members, under the Bishop of Rome. Other Christians use the term
"catholic" (normally with a lower-case letter "c") to refer
not to the Roman Catholic Church but the Christian Church and all believers in
Jesus Christ across the world and across the ages, regardless of denominational
affiliation.
[2]
This response was
similar to God’s answer to Moses’ question, “Who do I tell them sent me?”
[3]
If the text of this
sentence seems familiar, it is John 3.16, probably the most widely quoted text
of the Bible.
[4]
The word FAIRNESS is
not in the Bible. The word FAIR is, but only in the sense of nice to look
at. Interesting, is it not?
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