Verse of the Day

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Ascension Day and The Sunday after Ascension Day

 while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight
Ascension Day

On Ascension Day, we had three members present for the service. Ascension Day commemorates the return to heaven, the ascending of our Lord.  This is a day filled with joy, one where we get to recall fulfillment of promises.

The Ascension Day service always brings a lot of happiness and fun, being one of those days.[1] 


If you did not make it, resolve to come next year.  The parish will buy your dinner afterwards if it is your first time to the service[2].

The Ascension Day Propers[3]
The Collect
G
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

 ¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

For the Epistle. Acts i. 1.
T
HE former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv. 49.
J
ESUS said, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.

Ascensiontide Messsage from the Presiding Bishop
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.  (Acts 1:9-11)

When I was just a very young boy, I loved to go out in the sage fields near our mountain home on sunny autumn days and just lie there looking at the high, white, puffy clouds. The only sound was the chill-autumn wind and an occasional distant droning of an aircraft. Though I have always loved planes, my curious attention was more focused on those mysterious clouds – so very high, and constantly changing. I wondered what they were made of, and how they kept from falling. I imagined some figure in every cloud. In those days, I had an unbounded imagination. I saw generals on horseback, sabers drawn, fixed in time during the charge against the enemy.

Sometimes, I thought I saw angels, or castles, and every other object that occupies the imagination of youth. I was unaware, at that age, of the majesty and glory of one particular cloud that hovered over Mount Olivet outside the gates of Jerusalem, and overlooking the village of His friends – Bethany - some two thousand years ago. It was a very special cloud, unlike any others that had ever formed. It did not appear as different from any other cloud. The thing that made it special was that which the cloud was privileged to receive – our Lord Jesus Christ.  The same is true of the heart of man. We may not often tell by looks, but the difference is in whether that heart, like the cloud, has received the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord knows because He is One who looks upon the heart and not the outward appearance.

Jesus came into the world – into Time and Space – to work out His wonderful plan of redemption for us. He came from the Eternal Halls of Heaven into a world that had rejected Him and grown gross in sin and sparing of beauty. Upon the completion of His atoning sacrifice, He rose from the grave and, at the appointed time, ascended back into that Eternity into which no man can look from his platform on this sphere. I refer to that great Church Calendar event of Ascension Day. It occurs always on the 40th day past Easter Sunday (on Thursday).  The Ascension of Christ is one of the five major milestones recorded in the gospels of the Life of Christ and is re-confirmed in both the Nicene and the Apostles Creeds.

Just before He was taken up in bodily form, the Lord spoke to the eleven Apostles (and to you and me): “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”  (Luke 24:46-49) All who believe have been endued with that “Power from on High – the Holy Ghost!” The leading question that should grip your heart is this: Have we, each clergy and laity, preached the Gospel of Christ, and the repentance and remission of sins, to every remunerative audience? Is the Gospel that we preach the full Gospel and not diluted with the soiled hands of translators and critics? THAT is the question, friend.

As Christ ascended from Mount Olivet, He was received into that blessed cloud – out of the sight, for a time, of all beholders – but not out of mind or Spirit. That same cloud that received Christ shall be seen again at the return of Christ. We have God’s promise on that: “. . . behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” To the weathered seaman, clouds building in the East may not be welcomed, but to those who grow and produce crops, such clouds would be a welcome harbinger of plenty. To the Christian, we should remember that cloud that received Christ when we look into the heavens. We should remember, as well, that One (King of Kings and Lord of Lords) shall receive you into that same Cloud of Glory at His return.  Remember that cloud in which God appeared on Mt Sinai in the days of Moses (Ex 19:18); that Cloud (Pillar) of Fire by Night and Smoke by Day that followed Israel in the Wilderness (And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Ex 13:21-22); and remember that cloud that covered the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration to protect their frailty from the Bright Glory of God – “While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.” (Luke 9:34-35) Here, as in the last day, the disciples were WITH Christ in the Cloud. Any clouds in YOUR forecast, friend?
Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Worldwide Communion

The Sunday after Ascension Day

Today was the Sunday after Ascension Day.

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 –

Today or Forever?
“Foolish boy,” said the Witch. “Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to me now, you will miss some knowledge that would have made you happy all your life.”

 “Well, I don’t want to hear it, thanks,” said Digory. But he did.

 “I know what errand you have come on,” continued the Witch. “For it was I who was close beside you in the woods last night and heard all your counsels. You have plucked fruit in the garden yonder. You have it in your pocket now. And you are going to carry it back, untasted, to the Lion; for him to eat, for him to use. You simpleton! Do you know what that fruit is? I will tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life. I know, for I have tasted it; and I feel already such changes in myself that I know I shall never grow old or die. Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and be king and queen of this whole world—or of your world, if we decide to go back there.”

“No thanks,” said Digory, “I don’t know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is dead. I’d rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven.”

Jack Lewis
The Magician's Nephew
On Hope
Then Aslan turned to them and said: “You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.”

Lucy said, “We’re so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”

 “No fear of that,” said Aslan. “Have you not guessed?” Their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. “There was a real railway accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Jack Lewis
The Last Battle
The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Proverbs 21:25

O
 LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah 25:1
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
St. Matthew 5:17

Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
St. Luke 24:39

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
I St. Peter 5:8-10

There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough—a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice—which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.
JC Ryle
19th century Anglican bishop and author

If a person has to be coerced to attend church and hear the word of God, then such a one might as well stay at home. Those whose hearts desire not the life- giving word of God cannot be coaxed to worship with earthly rewards such as, meals, or with participation in some activity outside of worship. They will therefore come to get their fleshly desires sated; but their spirits will remain unfed. Only after a person sees the need for the word of God, do they find that need to attend worship because they came for God and for him alone and not the thing or things which lured them there.
Rev Bryan Dabney

The Roman Empire of the East was founded by Constantine the Great on Monday, 11 May 330; it came to an end on Tuesday, 29 May 1453... Byzantium may not have lived up to its highest ideals, but it certainly did not deserve the reputation which, thanks largely to Edward Gibbon, it acquired in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Byzantines were, on the contrary, a deeply religious society in which illiteracy— at least among the middle and upper classes— was virtually unknown, and in which one Emperor after another was renowned for his scholarship; a society which alone preserved much of the heritage of Greek and Latin antiquity, during these dark centuries in the West when the lights of learning were almost extinguished... Tuesday is still believed to be the unluckiest day of the week [in the Greek world]... the Turkish flag still depicts not a crescent but a waning moon, [reminds] us that the moon was in its last quarter when Constantinople finally fell; and... excepting only the Great Church of St Sophia itself, it is the Land Walls— broken and battered, but still marching from sea to sea— that stand as the city’s grandest and most tragic monument.
Sir John J. Norwich
20th and 21st century British historian
(A Short History of Byzantium, pp. 382-383)

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. 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 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 Feasts, 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 179-180, with the Collect first:

The Sunday after Ascension Day.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.


The Collect for Ascension Day, found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:

The Collect for The Ascension Day.
The Collect.

G
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.


This morning’s Epistle is written in the Fourth Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Seventh Verse.  Peter reminds us of the shortness of our lives, the eternity of the next world and implores us to live as if we were eternal now, not wait until we die. For the, eternity will be a bit late.

T
HE end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.  Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Today’s Holy Gospel came from the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Twenty-Sixth Verse.  The Gospel talks about the origin of the Holy Ghost and the reason for which He is being sent.  It also foretells the enmity that Christians will find from those of this world who do not share their understanding of God and His Will:

W
HEN the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.


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
The Sunday after Ascension Day
St Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church
1 June 2014, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

The Sunday after Ascension Day.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.


The Collect for Ascension Day, found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:

The Collect for The Ascension Day.
The Collect.

G
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

     Our Collect for Sunday after Ascension follows logically the observance of the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is perfectly timely and natural that we, having observed our Lord ascend, should now desire the promised comforter - I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you(John 14:18) This word ‘leave means, in the Greek, to divorce or to sever all legal connection. Christ will not disown His people even if He has departed to a High Station. Many of our friends may forget who we are if they advance to high political or social office, but not our Lord Jesus Christ. His very Ascension was for our benefit. We have been left with a close and intimate intercessor who will ALWAYS testify of Christ to us and point always to His benefits.

     The Collect refers to God the Father as the King of Glory and is based, for the most part, on the 24th Psalm. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalms 24:7-8) It is interesting to note that the preceding Psalm (23rd) describes Christ as the Lord our Shepherd, and here the Father is called the King of Glory.  The plea is rhetorical for Christ has promised with a surety that He will NOT leave us Comfortless. The Holy Ghost (or Comforter) will exalt us to a standing place in Christ. The Holy Ghost has not come to exalt Himself, but to exalt and point only to Christ. We see that many churches corrupt the purpose of the Holy Ghost in granting wealth, power, and benefits outside those promised in Christ.


W
HEN the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. (John 15:26-27)   They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. (John 16:1-4)

     Have you ever been so lonely that you longed for any company at all to speak to? I heard a prayer offered at the beginning of a local church service (televised) this morning in which the request constantly sought for the Holy Ghost to come down. Though I suppose that I know what the prayer was asking, do they not know that the Holy Ghost has already come down, having been sent by the Lord Jesus Christ as our Comforter in His physical absence? The Holy Ghost is given at baptism to believers. It was given exceptional in Old Testament times, but generally to all who believe in our time. If we are lonely, it is because we do not resort to that inner chamber of our hearts in which the Holy Ghost resides.  The Holy Ghost is not some unseen Power that we can call upon as if calling 911 for assistance. Certainly, we may call upon Him at any moment, but those moments best not be reserved only to time of urgent need, or some TV hour when “signs and wonders” presumable occur at the bid and call of some ten-horned evangelist. 

     Christ walked among us and taught us all things concerning Himself. He went about all of Judea and Galilee preaching, teaching, and healing. But Christ was confined to a body with limitations of time and space. He came to a few whom He called to Himself as Apostles so that a living testimony would remain after His Testament (death Will). This was a necessary component of God’s plan to expand the witness of the Gospel unto all nations by means of witnesses. Today, we are those witnesses who teach and preach the Gospel of Christ once delivered to the saints. This teaching has taken place from heart to heart.

     But it was necessary that Christ die on the cross else we would remain unredeemed and unsaved. This was His most critical intent. Secondly, it was necessary that Christ ascend to the father, not only to make intercession for us, but that the Comforter might come. The Comforter, or Holy Ghost, is a Spirit not subject to limitations of time or space. The Holy Ghost is capable of witnessing in a diversity of places and times because He is a Spirit. He can warm my heart in Alabama and point me to the truth of the Gospel while He is able, at the same time, to do the same for a Christian in Indonesia. He not only reveals truth to us as written in Holy Scripture, but He also administers comfort, succor, and encouragement to us when the world offends. He does not leave us alone for He ABIDES in our hearts if we belong to Christ. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. Do not be deceived by the modern apostates that the Holy Spirit will whisper secrets in your ear not revealed in God’s Word, or cause you to speak in a babble that no one else can understand (including yourself). The Holy Ghost is reasonable, Biblically true, and loving.

      27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. Jesus is speaking to His apostles here, but He also speaks to us. “From the beginning, for us, is the moment that we first believed. That is OUR beginning, for before we were born anew in Christ, we were dead in trespasses and sin. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Eph 2:1-6)

     We all find our ‘beginning’ in Christ Alone. Because we have known Him from the beginning, we must also bear witness of Him. If we have ever been WITH Him at all in faith and trust, we must still be so, for He loses none that the Father has placed in His able hands.

    1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. There is an old saying, “To be forewarned is to be fore-armed.”  When we have been warned of coming trouble, we are able to make provision for it and to prepare our hearts and minds. The Greek word for ‘offend’ is Skandalizo. It means to entice to sin, or to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey (to cause to fall away). If you have been told by the Field Commander to expect to encounter enemy elements ahead, you will be alert and at the ready for the encounter. If, on the other hand, you walk complacently and oblivious to the enemy, you will not be prepared for the engagement and may perish by the wayside or in ambush.

      2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. Do you realize that more martyrs have died in the last century than any previous one? Do you know that men and women are being hung by their necks, and beheaded, today in the name of a presumptive god called Allah? Those who bear the sword believe that they serve God by brutally killing all who do not accept their false god. Christ has told you already that they shall put you out of the synagogues (churches). If you have not yet been cast out, do not be surprised if you are so cast out when you insist on biblical truth and righteousness. You may be labeled a ‘contentious one” for opposing a lukewarm Gospel or outright heresy. You may be beheaded as an ‘infidel’ for adhering to the faith of Christ. “This is America – such things cannot happen here!” you may say. Really? Have you observed the great changes that have transpired in just your own lifetime in America? Have you noticed how those things that are good have been relabeled bad, and the bad relabeled good? Have you noticed the departure from solid truth in modern churches and the embrace of abject error?

     3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. How can those who profess Christ, or even allah, cast you out as a heretic? Because they are false professors of Christ. They have not known the Father because they do not recognize His Son. The churches are full of such people every Sunday who call, unbelievingly, upon the name of Christ. They call upon that unblemished name to gain wealth and political objectives. They stoke their own fires in Hell by so doing.

     4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. The predestinate will of God does not include sin. God never ordains sin, but He warns us that it shall come. God may use the sin of others to advance His will for us and to chastise us, or to try us, but He is never the Author of sin. Many are being told today that God will never allow them to undergo the great Tribulation. Suppose these know-alls are wrong. What happens when the tribulation fires are stirred for believers in China, India, Vietnam, North Korea, or Alabama? Will we cease to believe because we have not been warned and feel deserted by the friends of our nativity? Erroneous doctrine can do much harm. It is for this reason that Christ warns us, and why a right understanding of His Word is so critical for our time.

     What is it to you or me if Christ comes for us today, or in one hundred years? Regardless of when He comes for us, He is always ‘on the way’ and we must be ready for the sounding of the trumpet. He may come for you in the next ten minutes by means of an heart attack, or He may come for me on the highway this morning as I drive to church. His coming for us is at His own discretion and good time. Give no thought for when the Master of the House shall return – simply be prepared for Him always and there will be no worry or grave doubts. Are you ready?

     The day will come, my friend, when God’s Word ceases to go out through the medium of preaching and teaching. There is a famine coming upon the land – evidence of which may already be observed in the brazen sky and denuded land - Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12) Those who pick up man’s Bible instead of God’s is already evident in its prominence. The NIV, the ESV, and others posing as God’s Word are simply copyrighted words of men who have corrupted the Bible and adopted false manuscript evidence to satisfy their insatiable appetite to embrace sin while appearing as Christians.

     God’s Church is a Holy Army. It sends out missionaries and evangelists ahead of its main body just as an earthly army sends out skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes ahead of its own main line of deployment. When the enemy draws near for the decisive battle, these skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes are recalled to the main battle line. So shall it be in the days of the consummation of that Last Battle.

     It is interesting to note that the term ‘sorcerer’ can mean a marketer of mind-altering drugs in some parts of Scripture:  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:21) The word, sorceries above in the Greek is the same from which we get the word ‘pharmacist’ – Pharmakeia. Look also in the following verse taken from the last book of the Bible - Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (Rev 22:14-15) If you have in your hands a modern wonder of error such as the NIV, you may miss some of the point of this counsel in verse 14: "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. “ Rev 22:14 (NIV) This change is not consistent with every other truth of the Bible – it is the white and sinless Robe of Christ that covers our sins – not the effort we make in washing them ourselves. We are told in Philippians 3:2 to beware of those of the ‘concision.’ These are those who ‘mutilate’ the Word of God.

     In verse 15 above, those dogs and sorcerers are a very clear definition of the society in which we live today. To the best of my recollection, no recognized government has ever before sanctioned homosexual marriage as legitimate. Though it was one underlying cause of the fall of Rome (Gibbon), it was not enacted into the law of the Republic. The Bible refers to sodomites as dogs - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deut 23:18) The word used for dog is blk Keleb – whose gender is masculine and which means a male prostitute. The preceding verse is clear as well: There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. (Deut 23:17) We see that this has already happened even at the Episcopal level of TEC and other apostate churches.

    The Day of Battle draws ever nearer in our day. The Church of God will remain only as a remnant, but all of the forces of Satan shall be destroyed who assail it. All of the armies of Satan shall be gathered and will encircled that little enclave of God’s people. Then shall the power and might of God be demonstrated in destroying them. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev 20:9-10)

      There are those in our ranks who will resent my speaking so openly and forcefully of sin. The world would prefer a more gentle and polished dissertation of sinners; God never minces words, and neither should we in addressing the sins of the day. Are you in the right Army, or that which shall be destroyed by the Arm of God. Remember: And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S. (1 Sam 17:47)

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

Once again the propers for this week come together very well, their focus is narrow, thus powerful.

Consider these words from the Collect:

We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before

The Ascension having just happened, Jesus having ascended in to heaven, we are alone and separated from God who gives us strength.  Like Peter, the further we are from God, the weaker we are.  Thus, we are looking towards Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost.  We ask for God’s help that we might have the true belief, courage, knowledge and strength to follow Jesus to heaven for all eternity.

While the end of the earth and this world may come at any time, for 285,000 people each day, their time here is up.  Thus, in a very real sense as Saint Peter put it, “The end of all things is at hand…”  So, how should we act?  We are to do what we can with a smile on our face.  We should act as if it was our last day on earth. In other words, if this was our last day on this planet, how would we act? That is a question that I must ask myself more often and not only ask it, but answer it. Then once the Holy Spirit has given the answer, we must act upon that answer. To work hard, take care of those who cannot and be good stewards of the considerable grace God has given us.  This does not just refer to spending MONEY, but rather to giving of our time and effort to bring the Gifts of God to others. We must give ourselves entirely to help others, so that we may share the benefits of the Gift of God truly. Then we will know the grace of God’s love truly.  We are to share the LOVE in our hearts with those we encounter, for Love is of God.

But, without the Holy Ghost, the needed action on our part is impossible.  We need God’s help and He sent it in the form of the Holy Ghost. He sent it as the “Comforter”, that is to Comfort us and to Guide us on the journey on the narrow uphill path towards heaven. The Holy Ghost is that portion of God who can enter our hearts bringing understanding, hope and most of all the courage and determination to do what needs be done.  Those who will not have Him in their hearts can never understand God and His Will.  That is why they cannot understand or fathom the plan He has for us. They cannot understand why we follow God and Christ. They do not believe, therefore, they cannot have Him in their hearts, and therefore they will not understand. The end of time is nearer each day than the day before, of that we can be certain.  The current climate in the world and even in this country is less hospitable than in centuries to Christians.  There is a reason for this which only God understands and not us. God has a plan for all of this, in time, we will realize what the plan is. But for now, we are unaware of His plan in the greater scheme of things. But what it is doing is solidifying the faith of true believers around the globe, and forming the Army of Light together, ready to battle against the malicious forces of Satan. We cannot make this journey alone.  We must have the close and continuous presence of God.  That presence is the Holy Ghost.  That is why He is here.

Pray for His continual presence in your heart.

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 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:

Not Orphans
John 14:18
Sunday after Ascension
June 1, 2014

Rather than preaching from the Lessons for the Sunday after Ascension, I ask you to turn to John’s Gospel, the Fourteenth Chapter, the Eighteenth Verse:

John 14:18
King James Version (KJV)
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

My sermon will focus on this verse.

If you would like to do some real life-building reading I can recommend nothing more highly than the Gospel of John, especially chapters 14-17.  These chapters record Christ’s upper room discourse, and are some of the most revealing and inspiring words in all of the Bible.  In these chapters Christ has instituted the Lord’s Supper, Judas has left to betray Him, and the time with the disciples is very short.  He has spent three years teaching them and showing to them the Kingdom of Heaven.  They have heard His teachings, seen Him still the sea, heal the sick, and raise the dead.  Yet they still do not understand. Yet still their devotion to Him is weak and more about themselves than about Him.  Why is this?  Is it that they don’t understand His teaching?  Yes, in part.  But they do understand some.  Peter’s words at Caesarea Philippi show that he is beginning to understand Christ’s teachings. You remember that, in Matthew 16 Christ has taken the disciples aside for a time of private instruction, and has asked them who people say He is.  After their answers Christ asks them, who do you say that I am?  It is Peter who says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” So they did understand some of Christ’s teachings.  Their primary problem was not misunderstanding Christ’s teaching, it was their rejection of Christ’s teaching.  Peter’s words at Caesarea Philippi illustrate this also, for almost as soon as the words of faith came out of Peter’s mouth, he began to rebuke the Lord for His teaching about the cross.  Matthew 16:22 says, “Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Lord: this shall not be.”

Things have not changed much since that day.  We have the Bible.  We have the Church.  We have two-thousand years of Christian teaching.  We have the Holy Spirit.  Today the main teachings of the Bible are well known around the world.  But they are rejected by the vast majority of people.  Even those who call themselves Christians attack and reject His teaching.  Many clergy today say the traditional understanding of the nature and work of Christ is bankrupt: the miracles recorded in the Bible never happened; the Virgin birth of Christ is impossible; and, the Bible gives no revealed standard of morality or ethics.  In other words, the Bible is mostly myth, and is unreliable.  Rather then being “given by inspiration of God, and… profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” they say the Bible is the fallible writing of many fallible people and, while it may be profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, or instruction in righteousness, it is not authoritative for such things. Therefore, it can and must be revised to fit current beliefs and culture.  This is not limited to one denomination; all of the major denominations have adopted these ideas to some extent.  It should not surprise us, then, that many who call themselves Christians reject the Bible, and two-thousand years of Christian teaching, to follow their own inward voice.

But, frankly, such people have been with us since the day Adam and Eve rejected the commandment of God and followed their inner voices to eat the forbidden fruit.  The really disturbing thing, to me, is the way people who profess to love and believe the Bible, disregard and reject its clear teachings.  Many don’t even bother to find out what those teachings are.

In John 14-17 Jesus is trying to give these hard headed and rebellious disciples a refresher course on who Christ is and why He came into the world.  He is about to go to the cross.  Their inner voices are about to be crushed like an anthill under an army tank.  Yet they are as inattentive and rebellious as ever.  I say with sorrow that nothing has changed.  People will die this very day.  They will stand before the Eternal King and Judge, and their lives will be weighed in the balance and found wanting.  Yet, as in the days of Noah, they go on about life as though they have forever to make peace with God.  How foolish.  Most of you know that I think the Return of Christ is a thing of the far distant future.  It could be thousands of years, or even millions of years.  But, it could be today.  We really don’t know.  But, in a way, it doesn’t matter, because the really important event to us is the day Christ comes back for us individually.  The end of the world for you is the day you lay down your body, and your soul goes to stand before God.   And while human life is sacred, it is also fragile and can be taken away at any second.  Therefore, be ready.  “Therefore,” as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:7, “watch unto prayer.”

Our Lord’s words in the upper room are filled with references to the Holy Spirit, whom He will send to His Church after He ascends into Heaven.  This begins at the very beginning of this passage, when He says, “I will not leave you comfortless” (Jn. 14:18).  These words come in the context of the coming of the Holy Spirit, who is called the “Comforter.”  It is these, and similar verses that inspired the Collect for the Sunday after Ascension Day, which reads in part, “leave us not comfortless.”  If the English theologian, Evan Daniel is correct in his commentary on the Book of Common Prayer, the collect is from a very ancient antiphon sung on Ascension Day.  It was originally written in Latin, and says, “Ne derelinquas nos orphanos.”  It is also significant that John 14:18 in the Greek New Testament says, Ouk afhnw umas orfanous: “Not I will leave you orphans.”

This is very significant because these men, and all who are in Christ Jesus have become the children of God.  We have been rescued from an abusive father, known to us as the devil, Satan.  Those who are not in Christ have Satan as their father.  Those who are in Christ have God as their Father.  But now, Christ is leaving.  In John 17 He is going to the cross and the grave, but in a very short while He will be returning to Heaven.  What will His children do?  Are we left orphans?  It is interesting to note that in Greek and Latin, “orphan” means to be without a father to comfort and keep you.  It is to be without a home, without a defender, without a provider, without a teacher, without a comforter.  It is to be alone.  The disciples now have God as their Father, but He is telling them He is going away.  Will they be spiritual orphans?  No, the Comforter will come to them.  The word Comforter, means someone who comes to give aid and consolation.  He is also a mediator who acts on their behalf.  Thus, He is their helper, as a Father would be to His children.

We will never know how many times our human fathers stood between us and troubles or dangers.  They weren’t perfect, I know, but they kept a roof over our heads and food on our plates, and would have defended us from any and all dangers.  How many times have we, mothers and fathers, stood between our children and dangers?  And how often have we wished we could take their pains when they were sick, and their sorrows when they were emotionally hurt?  Every parent here would gladly defend his or her children at the cost of his own life.  Every parent here would gladly go to hell to save his children from it.  Every parent here has spent nights in tears and prayers for his or her children.  So we understand this illustration of the Spirit as the Comforter, the presence and work of our Heavenly Father in us and for us.  This world is no friend of faith.  Creation is cursed and against us.  All around us is death and decay and sorrow.  Christ spoke truly when He said latter in this same upper room discourse, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.”  But, He also said, “I will not leave you comfortless.”  “I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.”
--
+Dennis Campbell

Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia

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 Epiphany. 

Sunday after Ascension
1 June 2014
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:7-11  Gospel: John 15:26-16:4a

7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.

Let us look at the Gospel selection first. Jesus disciples were told to go wait in Jerusalem. They were to wait for the Comforter, (the Holy Spirit). Jesus taught these lesson several times during his earthly ministry. What we need to think about is God’s timing, not ours. So many times we want to schedule the work of the Lord by our “busy” timetable. If you want to be frustrated, try to push forward something on your time schedule and seek what happens.

If you look at the time and place of the first Advent of Christ we can see God’s timing is perfect. We’d want to push things along, try to get things done before everything was prepared.

When Christ came to earth as a little baby there were several historic concepts and events in place by then.

A mostly unified empire (Rome), a common language, koine Greek, a road system and fairly safe maritime trading system in place, trading systems including weights and measures, common coinage, all this would contribute to the fairly rapid distribution of the Christian faith.

In a hundred years after Christ’s ascension, Christianity is known and being practiced in all corners of the Roman Empire. That is pretty significant.

Now back to Jerusalem, in the days before the Comforter comes to testify of Jesus, the disciples are waiting. They are communing together, they are most likely discussing the next move that they should take. The older men were likely counseling patience, the younger disciples were probably wanting to do something.

They were told to wait. Great things are about to happen.

As we continue our contemplation of these two passages of scripture today try to think of a group of people preparing for a great journey. Now the disciples didn’t have a complete idea of what this journey would be, they didn’t realize the sacrifices, the hardships, the depredations they would suffer on this life-changing journey; but they went back to Jerusalem to wait and prepare.

In this spirit of preparation we can look at St. Peter’s first epistle for some advice.

In the first letter of St. Peter he reminds the believers to be charitable. Be prayerful, be watchful, be hospitable to each other.

The second concept Peter writes of is the use of gifts. As everyone has been given gifts, we are to use them to minister to each other. Why ? Because we are to be good stewards of grace that God has given us. We tend to focus on self, we don’t generally want to do good by others. It is a human condition. But because we are God’s own, he expects us to use these gifts to glorify him.

 ...that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen....’

You might look at this period of time between Christ’s Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit as the “calm before the storm”. We have the disciples staying in Jerusalem, the others who followed Jesus possibly taking stock as what to do next. And yet all were most likely waiting with anticipation, not knowing exactly what was to come.
Some Bible commentators and theologians liken this time as the pre-church age. That with the coming of the Holy Spirit in a few days, the church, that group of believers, would be certified as the ongoing instrument of mission that Jesus instituted during his earthly ministry.

Suffice it to say, there would be a great change in the nature, attitude and mission thrust of the disciples and those who they trained in the coming years. The events that Jesus foretold in our Gospel passage would come to be. Not only would the disciple be thrown out of the synagogue, they would be persecuted, many would face death at the hands of Jewish and Roman legal systems. There were great changes that would be manifest in the life of the early church.

Do you think you would be up to the task ? It is hard to say, in our relative comfort of the mostly calm United States. It isn’t so with our brethren overseas. Our AOC parishes in Pakistan, India, parts of Africa, the South Sea Isles and the Philippines all face daily challenges and even death. It is getting more intense for believers especially on the Sub-Continent, as more and more militant groups gain power, not only the Islamist elements, but even militant Hindu and Buddhist groups too. All seemingly hell-bent on attacking their common enemy: Christians and the Cross that is “foolishness to them that perish”.

Let us pray for our fellow believers and those of the worldwide communion of the Anglican Orthodox Church.

O
 God, merciful and compassionate, who art ever ready to hear the prayers of those who put their trust in thee; Graciously hearken to us who call upon thee, and grant us thy help in this our need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

O
 GOD, merciful Father, who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as are sorrowful; Mercifully assist our prayers which we make before thee in all our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us; and graciously hear us, that those evils which the craft and subtlety of the devil or man worketh against us, may, by thy good providence, be brought to nought; that we thy servants, being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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.


Sunday after Ascension


In today’s Gospel (St. John 15:26-16:4) we read the words of our Lord at the Last Supper: But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you. Our Lord warned the disciples that they would suffer persecution and rejection in their efforts to proclaim the gospel of truth. He advised them not to be offended. And in another place in St. John’s gospel, our Lord said, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (16:33). We ought to be of good cheer. Being a saved person ought to fill us with gratitude and joy for what our Saviour has done for us. But in order for us to have that joy and his attendant peace that comes from his free gift of his grace, we must heed his word and commandments. Good advice.

But a caveat is in order. No doubt you may well have received a lot of advice from family and friends over the years. Speaking personally, I know I have. Truth be told, much of it we may have disregarded for one reason or another. But the advice we get from the Scriptures should be of paramount interest to us who bear the name of Christ. As St. Paul instructed young Timothy, 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 perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (II Timothy 3:16-17).

Now human wisdom and understanding are the only things the unregenerate have to go on. Since humanity at every level is fouled and flawed due to original sin, we can be certain that human wisdom, and its companion human understanding, are also flawed. This is not to say that such wisdom is totally false and to be ignored. But should we as Christians base our lives and our judgments on it as we would the Scriptures?

I remember a hearing an anecdote about one of my relations and his pre-Great Depression investments. This man was a lawyer and made a modest living as such. After returning from the France at the end of the Great War, he would occasionally purchase stock from his favorite brokerage firm. For nearly ten years, following the war, the stock market had been on an upward slant aside from a brief downturn in 1920. But by the summer of 1929, my relative decided to liquidate his holdings. His friend and broker tried to keep him in the market; but my relative would have nothing of it. He got his cash, brought it back home and put it in his office safe and returned to his practice of the law.

Then in October of that year, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began. Almost overnight, vast fortunes, which had been tied up in stocks, banks and many insurance companies, were lost. The world economy slowed to a crawl. Those who were once the head became the tail or worse. It was then that my relative opened his safe and realized that he had made the right decision. He had taken the accumulated wisdom of the ages and utilized it to his advantage and that of his family. While economic times were hard in other households, he was able to take care of his family’s needs and a few of their wants and desires all because he had been discerning.

As Christians, we have a source of advice which is far better than the kind my relative had followed. God our Father has provided us with a sort of heads-up on his plan and purpose in the ages. You will find it set forth in the Holy Bible. For within its sacred pages, God has given us things to look for, signs and wonders to behold, all for the purpose of comforting us and keeping our focus on the coming his kingdom.

Consider now the word of God as found in the Book of Isaiah, Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them (42:9). In the Olivet Discourse, our Lord spoke of the end of days and his coming again in glory. He did this for the same reason that God informed the children of Israel through the prophets: so that they would know and would be able to point to those signs not as simply benchmarks in time, but events which would sustain and comfort them as they reveal God’s hand within mankind’s frame of reference. Our Lord said, And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh... Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth , ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand (St. Luke 21:28-31).

I have heard people say from time to time that the prophecies of Scripture are too vague. They say it is pointless to study prophecy because there are so few specifics that such is akin to “reading tea leaves” or worse yet, “a horoscope”. They complain that people are being misled by “end-time charlatans” who are out to make a buck through their latest book of the month which takes a few headlines which seem to fit the prophecies and then smile all the way to the bank with each new addition they publish.
While it is true that there are those who have used the end-times messages of Scripture for gain, we must remember to separate the message of God from our modern-day equivalents of Simon the Sorcerer— who sought personal profit from the beneficial aspects of the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:5-25). And God will judge those whose hearts were filled with greed for gain, as well as those who kept from their readers the whole counsel of God to the detriment of the gospel and the ruination of souls.

We know from the Scriptures that Christ will come again, and with that in mind we ought be witnessing to others regarding their salvation. As St. Paul observed in II Corinthians 6: 2, (... behold, now is the day of salvation.) Almost two thousand years ago, our Lord told us to, Watch, therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come (St. Matthew 24:42). He gave us that command because he desires all Christians to be like those wise virgins who took enough oil for their lamps so that they would be ready to serve and to celebrate the coming of the bridegroom (St. Matthew 25:1-13). God did not communicate his prophetic designs so that we would quit working. We are to watch for the signs which he has given us that we might warn the faltering that they not waver in their faith, and also encourage the unregenerate to have faith in Christ. Our Lord promised to go and prepare a place for us. He also promised that he will come again and bring us to it. O what comfort of joy there will be in that day of our gathering together in Christ (II Thessalonians 2:1)!

Needless to say, Lucifer is ready to confound and confuse the believer at every turn. I once heard a story about a demonic conference wherein the devil asked his minions how they might keep people away from the Gospel. One offered, “Tell them that the Bible has too many rules which impact mortal desires.” The devil thought about it for a moment and replied, “Sounds good, but that doesn’t work very well because there are many hopeful things in the Bible and mortals also like hopeful things.” Another suggested, “Tell them the Bible is full of errors so they won’t know what to believe.” The devil responded, “That too is good thinking, but unfortunately the Bible has more evidences of its authenticity than Caesar’s Gallic Wars so that won’t work either.” After a moment of silence, another offered this: “Tell them that the Godhead exists, and that the Bible is true, but that they have plenty of time to decide on salvation.” “Bingo!” replied the devil. “That’s it. When we tell them that, they will resist the Gospel thinking they are going to live a long time and that they can decide later. Just think of the numbers we can lead astray into hell! Let it be done.”

So then let us rejoice as we watch for our Lord’s coming and observe the signs of the times as he has commanded. We have God’s prophecies in the Old Testament and we have the promises of Christ in the New Testament. And we should be actively laboring in the harvest and standing fast in our spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness so that when our Lord comes for us, we will be in accord with his will when he said, Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find [him] so doing (St. Matthew 24: 46). May you likewise mark and remember.

Let us pray,

F
ather, grant to us the wisdom to follow those things that you have set forth within the pages of Scripture; that in so doing, our lives will be fruitful, so that at the last, we might be welcomed home as good stewards, faithful witnesses and stalwart soldiers in thy service; all these things we ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a blessed week, Bryan+
The Paratrooper's Prayer
(Found by a French general in the pocket of a soldier killed in action at Dien-Bien-Phu, Viet Nam)  Courtesy of Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson (AOC-UK), sent on Memorial Day.

Give me, O Lord my God,
what is left Thee, that which no one aks of Thee.

I do not ask Thee for rest or tranquility,
either of soul or body.

I do not ask Thee for riches,
for success, or for health.

So many ask Thee for these, my God,
that none must be left Thee.

Give me, Lord,
what is left Thee.

Give me what the others refuse.

I want risk and anguish;
I want fight and pain.

Give me these, my God,
once and for all.

Give me the certainty that these
will always be my portion, for I will not
always have the courage to ask them of Thee.

Give me, O Lord,
what is left Thee.

Give me what others do not want.

But also give me courage,
strength, and Faith.

Amen.

Sunday School Lesson
From time to time, one of the parishes will send us a Sunday School lesson for publication.  Today we have one from Saint Peter’s (the GHQ church in Statesville, courtesy of Cinder Carroll.  She took an item from Bishop Jerry’s daily publication and turned it into a lesson I am confident you will really appreciate:


“And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

Change starts with you and in the here and now.  If you don't, who will?

Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David and Svea Flood went with their two-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of Africa-to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another young Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, and the four of them sought God for direction. In those days of much tenderness and devotion and sacrifice, they felt led of the Lord to set out from the main mission station and take the gospel to a remote area.

This was a huge step of faith. At the village of N’dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to go half a mile up the slope and build their own mud huts’.

They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but there was none. The only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week. Svea Flood-a tiny woman only four feet, eight inches tall-decided that if this was the only African she could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And in fact, she succeeded. But there were no other encouragements. Meanwhile, malaria continued to strike one member of the little band after another. In time the Ericksons decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission station. David and Svea Flood remained near N’dolera to go on alone. Then, of all things, Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom they named Aina. The delivery, however, was exhausting, and Svea Flood was already weak from bouts of malaria. The birth process was a heavy blow to her stamina. She lasted only another seventeen days. Inside David Flood, something snapped in that moment. He dug a crude grave, buried his twenty-seven-year-old wife, and then took his children back down the mountain to the mission station. Giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons, he snarled, “I’m going back to Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God has ruined my life.” With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his calling, but God himself. Within eight months both the Ericksons were stricken with a mysterious malady and died within days of each other. The baby was then turned over to some American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to “Aggie” and eventually brought her back to the United States at age three.

This family loved the little girl and were afraid that if they tried to return to Africa, some legal obstacle might separate her from them. So they decided to stay in their home country and switch from missionary work to pastoral ministry. And that is how Aggie grew up in South Dakota. As a young woman, she attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis. There she met and married a young man named Dewey Hurst.

Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful Ministry. Aggie gave birth first to a daughter, then a son. In time her husband became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area, and Aggie was intrigued to find so much Scandinavian heritage there. One day a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and of course she couldn’t read the words. But as she turned the pages, all of a sudden a photo stopped her cold. There in a primitive setting was a grave with a white cross-and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD. Aggie jumped in her car and went straight for a college faculty member who, she knew, could translate the article. “What does this say?” she demanded. The instructor summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had come to N’dolera long ago … the birth of a white baby … the death of the young mother … the one little African boy who had been led to Christ … and how, after the whites had all left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build a school in the village. The article said that gradually he won all his students to Christ… the children led their parents to Christ… even the chief had become a Christian. Today there were six hundred Christian believers in that one village…. All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood. For the Hursts’ twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a vacation to Sweden.

There Aggie sought to find her real father. An old man now, David Flood had remarried, fathered four more children, and generally dissipated his life with alcohol. He had recently suffered a stroke. Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: “Never mention the name of God- because God took everything from me. After an emotional reunion with her half brothers and half sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father. The others hesitated. “You can talk to him,” they replied, “even though he’s very ill now. But you need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage. Aggie was not to be deterred. She walked into the squalid apartment, with liquor bottles everywhere, and approached the seventy-three-year-old man lying in a rumpled bed. “Papa~” she said tentatively. He turned and began to cry. “Aina,” he said. “I never meant to give you away.” “It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, taking him gently in her arms. “God took care of me.” The man instantly stiffened. The tears stopped. “God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him.” He turned his face back to the wall. Aggie stroked his face and then continued, undaunted. “Papa, I’ve got a little story to tell you, and it’s a true one. You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. The one seed you planted just kept growing and growing. Today there are six hundred African people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your life. … Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you.” The old man turned back to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed. He began to talk. And by the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so many decades. Over the next few days, father and daughter enjoyed warm moments together. Aggie and her husband soon had to return to America-and within a few weeks, David Flood had gone into eternity.

A few years later, the Hursts were attending a high-level evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo). The superintendent of the national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently of the gospel’s spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood. “Yes, madam,” the man replied in French, his words then being translated into English. “It was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother’s grave and her memory are honored by all of us.” He embraced her in a long, sobbing hug. Then he continued, “You must come to Africa to see, because your mother is the most famous person in our history.” In time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst and her husband did. They were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. She even met the man who had been hired by her father many years before to carry her back down the mountain in a hammock-cradle. The most dramatic moment, of course, was when the pastor escorted Aggie to see her mother’s white cross for herself. She knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks. Later that day, in the church, the pastor read from John 12:24:

 “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

He then followed with Psalm 126:5:

“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”



[1] One can imagine the apostles on the line, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 IGNITION, Houston, we have liftoff here at Cape Bethany.”
[2] Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.  On the other hand, what do you have to lose?  You have to eat and the parish might buy.  It certainly will, if you remind Hap!
[3] The propers are the Collect (prayer) for the day and the Bible readings appointed for the day.  They are selections based on the Christian Year and make a particular point.  Their selection is important.  The propers have been more or less the same since the beginning of the Church of England and a large portion precede the founding of the Church of England.

No comments: