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 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
We live in an age of sensationalism and fantasy which
often passes, among the naïve and spiritually gullible, for reality. On today’s
charts there are books and DVDs claiming their authors to have made visits to
either Heaven or Hell, and then returned to tell us of the fabulous experience
they enjoyed there. Unlike the writings of CS Lewis such as The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe, which derive from higher Gospel truth, these fables
have no authority in biblical truth and openly violate that truth.
The modern apostate
churches have ventured into like error and open defiance of Gospel truth. Is
there nothing sacred to the spiritual scoundrels of our day – not even Heaven
itself? Reflecting on that great Creed of the Church, whose every claim is
profoundly biblical, we aver Sunday after Sunday that Christ is the Son of the
Father who came down to us by assuming a carnal body through the agency of the
Holy Spirit and the Virgin, lived a sinless life marked by miracles and holiness,
died a substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose
the third day according to the scriptures. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth
on the right hand of God the Father. Do we believe this? Do we believe that
Christ is uniquely the Son of the Father. Do we believe that his descent and
ascension distinguish Him from all us mortals? Or was Christ wrong in His
description of Himself as the Bread that came down from Heaven? If we believe
Christ (and our mortal souls depend on that belief), He is the only Man who
descended from Heaven and ascended again. If we believe, then all the popular
claims of the sensationalists are egregious lies from the pits of Hell.
Christ is distinct and
different in His Office as Son of God and, even Himself, very God. He descended
for us mortals, and ascended on High where He intercedes for us with the
Father. And He will come again in like manner of his ascent to receive His
Bride, the Church. Where will we own our estate if we have not believed in the
immutable Word of God for He it is who bought and paid for us.
At this Ascensiontide, let
us reaffirm that biblical faith once delivered to the saints and reject the
fables and myths of ungodly men.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Most Rev. Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox
Church
The Sunday after Ascension
Day
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.
Dru Arnold read this morning’s Epistle, which is written
in the Fourth Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the
Seventh Verse:
|
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.
Deacon
Striker Jack Arnold read 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.
Sermon – Time
and Action
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. Thus,
we are looking towards Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost. We ask for God’s help that we might
follow Jesus to heaven for all eternity.
For, 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. 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 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. The portion of God which 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.
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.
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. It will give you a lot to consider in your heart.
Sermon
Notes
Sunday
after Ascension
20 May
2012 Anno Domini
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.
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.
THE TEXT
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.
(John 15:26-27) 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. (John
16:1-4)
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 luke-warm 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 godd 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 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 ECUSA 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, but God never minces words, 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)
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sunday Sermon
As
is oft the case, we are honored to present Bishop Dennis’ Sunday sermon
presented to his parish. Dennis
has a special sermon for the Sunday after Ascension Day:
God Exalted
Psalm 21, 1 Peter 4:7, John15:26
Sunday after Ascension
May 20, 2012
"Grant, O Lord, that
by thy holy Word read and preached in this place, and by thy Holy Spirit
grafting it inwardly in the heart, the hearers thereof may both perceive and
know what things they ought to do, and may have power and strength to fulfill the
same." In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.
The Sunday after Ascension has two major themes.
First is the exaltation of Christ. He came to earth in deep humility in which
He was "touched by our infirmities." He knew hunger, thirst,
weariness, and what it means to live with the constant knowledge of the
inevitability of death. He even knew death; not just death, but the horrible
death by torture of crucifixion. He knew all of this by experiencing it
Himself, yet He lived in complete righteousness without sin. His
resurrection is His victory over His enemies. Men and devils did their
very worst to Him, yet He rose from the grave as easily as we rise from our
beds at morn. But the Ascension is His exaltation. The Ascension is
His return to His place in Glory, His ascent to His Throne. The Bible
talks about Him as being seated at the right hand of the Father. This is
the place of highest honour and glory. There is no award or prize or
honour anywhere to compare with this, for it means He is recognised and
received by God as God. He will remain on the throne of glory until His
enemies are subdued forever and the whole creation honours Him as Lord and
God. He came to earth as a Servant. He returned to Heaven as God.
Thus, the exaltation of Christ is the first theme of today's message, and it is
the reason we remember the Ascension of Christ.
Expectation is the second theme of the Sunday after
Ascension. We, who belong to Christ live in the expectation of His
return. The words of the Apostles' Creed are no mere words to us; they
are the expression of a conviction that is at the core of our faith; "The
third day He rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on
the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge
the quick and the dead." The Nicene Creed gives His Return more
emphasis, saying, "He shall come again with glory, to judge both the quick
and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end." 1 Peter states that
"The end of all things is at hand." His words refer to the Return of
Christ, when He will end the physical universe of material, space, and time as
we know and understand it. All will be changed, rolled up as a scroll,
consumed by fire, and replaced by a new cosmos and a new earth in which we
shall walk with Christ by sight rather than by faith. For He will be with
us, and we will be with Him in Paradise. This is a major part of our
expectation today. We expect these things to happen just as we expect the
earth to make a complete revolution every twenty-four hours.
In the mean time we live in another
expectation. We live in the expectation of the fullness of the Holy
Spirit. When Christ spoke the words recorded in John 16 and 17 the Holy
Spirit had not been given in the same sense that He came on Pentecost. So
the men who were soon to become Apostles were being told to expect the arrival
of the Spirit. The Spirit would be their teacher, leading them in the
truth and enabling them to understand those things Christ had taught them
during His three year ministry and during the forty days after His
resurrection. It is incredibly important for us to realise that our Lord
did not just leave earth after His resurrection. He stayed with the
disciples for an intense time of instruction in the doctrines and practices He
intended them to teach and establish in His Church. One of the most
important aspects of the work of Christ on earth was the formation of the
Church, which the Bible calls both His Body and His Kingdom. He gave
instructions about the organisation, structure, doctrines, practices, and
sacraments of the Church, and He commissioned the disciples to become the
Apostles, to found the Church and to establish it firmly upon the teachings and
directives He gave. And we clearly see in the New Testament and in the
Post Apostolic era that the Church worshiped liturgically and was led by
bishops, presbyters, and deacons.
The Holy Spirit is given to the Church. I do
not mean to imply that individual Christians are not baptized in the Holy
Spirit. That would be like saying a house is built of clay bricks but the
individual bricks have no clay in them. But the Spirit is given to the
Church and lives in the Church. This is an important point because many
people have separated themselves from the Church while claiming to have the
Spirit, or, even to be led by the Spirit to leave the Church. It is sadly
true that most of the organisations that call themselves "church" are
very far from the teaching and practice of Christ, and all true Christians must
"come out from among them." Likewise, all true Christians must
align themselves with the true Church whenever possible, even if they have to
be the only member of the parish in their area and communicate with the rest of
the Church by mail or internet. But all true Christians endeavour to be
active members of the true Church.
But these points are asides. The real point I
want to express today is this; all who are in the true Church by faith in
Christ, have the Holy Spirit. There is no need to speak in tongues, or
work miracles as "proof" that you have been "baptized in the
Spirit." Growing faith, diligent use of the means of grace, and holy
living are the proofs that you are in Christ's Spirit, and Christ's Spirit is
in you. Therefore, we expect the Holy Spirit to lead us into the things of God
through the means of grace. You can expect the Holy Spirit to lead you
into the Bible, lead you into private prayer and public worship, lead you into
the Church, lead you into the sacraments, and lead you into God. This is
part of our expectation today.
There is yet another, and very important expectation
we remember today; the return of Christ for us. I do not refer here to
the Second Coming. I refer to the moment when we pass out of this
material world into the world where spiritual things are more real to us than
material things are now. I refer to that event we call death, when our
souls go into the immediate presence of God and we see with our own eyes the glory
and love and power and grace of the Almighty as He welcomes us into His
presence forever. This is our expectation as we gather before Him in
worship on this Sunday after Ascension.
|
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.
--
+Dennis Campbell
Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
www.lifeinthescriptures.blogspot.com
[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:
Post a Comment