The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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ORD, we pray thee that thy grace may
always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good
works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today, which came
from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians beginning at the First Verse of
the Fourth Chapter. Once again, Paul
calls us to a new life, different from our old life. A life in which we act in a manner worthy of the better life
to which we have been called by Christ and for which He gave His life. Paul, of all people, knows the
importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did, so that as Paul he asks
us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last. He reminds us, “There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.” The key to a
successful life is to put the important things at the top of your To Do
List. And, notice it is a To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a
While List. What is more
important than God?
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therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
for-bearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all[1].
Hap Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which came from
the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, beginning at the First
Verse. The Gospel starts out
reminding us the Law was designed to be flexible. The goal is to do God’s will, not to “follow the letter of
the law” as the Pharisees were so keen on. They brought before Him a man in need of healing as they sat
to eat on the Sabbath Day. They
watched to see what He would do.
Putting the monkey on their back, He asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath Day?” Wishing to be in a position to criticize rather
than answer, “they held their peace.”
He healed the man, then asked them, “Which of you shall have an ass or
an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath
Day?” They would not respond; for
the answer was obvious.
Then “He put forth a parable to those” who had been
invited to dine with him, after He had seen them joust for the seats of
honor. “When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.” Do we put God first
and let others raise us up, or do we put ourselves first and let others put us
down?
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t came came to pass, as Jesus went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which
had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which
of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway
pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these
things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked
how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.
Sermon
– Time and Action
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold preached today’s sermon
which tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in
the forewords above.
Consider the words of the Collect, “… thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to
be given to all good works …”
The first thing to consider when you look at today’s
Collect is a word: prevent.
Prevent is a word that has many uses, and at least one has fallen out of
general usage as time has gone on.
This is one of the. In this
case the word prevent means to go before. Before you object to archaic words,
consider this is a current word, it just has a use you may not have been aware
of and now you are! What a bonus
for this week!
So, we ask God that His Grace, His Love, His Power,
His Help may go before and after us to protect us and guide us that we might
desire to do what He wants us to do.
Pretty much a re-wording of a lot of the Collects. Why would that be? Pretty simple, our biggest failing is
we are wont to do what we want! We are creatures that have free will and are
not wont to exercise it for God or good. That is a very dangerous combination,
as my father says often. That is
not the same as doing what will provide us with the best result. If we follow
our natural inclination, we will not like the end result,that is eternal
separation from God. We know, often very clearly, what we want. For example,
this morning I started to lead the Order of Morning Prayer. My first
inclination was to do it without looking at the rubrics. But after thinking a
moment, I realized that this was a mistake, as the rubrics are there to guide
the minister in leading the service. Like the rubrics, God knows, always very
clearly, what we need. He is
there, like the rubrics to guide us along our paths in our daily life. So, we need to ask God every day, every
time, for help to do our duty.
So, what does Paul tell us in his letter to us? Once
again, he calls us to a new life, different from our old life. We shed our old clothes, as it were, and
put on the brand new armor of light, new helmet, new boots and new everything.
A life in which we act in a manner worthy of the better life to which we have
been called by Christ and for which He gave His life. Paul, of all people, knows the importance of setting aside
your old life, as Saul did, so that as Paul he asks us to put God first in our
lives, to put ourselves last. He
even changed his name to reflect his state as a new man under Our Lord’s
leadership. He reminds us, “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are
called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” The key to a successful life is to put
the important things at the top of your To Do List. And, notice it is a
To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a While List. It is not a I’ll Get a Round To It List,
or What I Don’t Want to Do List.
What is more important than God?
When Luke relates the parable of the feast, it is
more than just a sitting diagram. I liken it to the tale of the publican and
the Pharisee. When Christ talks about the man who exalts himself and sits too
high at the wedding and thus must be abased. That would be the Pharisee. When
Christ then talks about the man who sits low, and is raised to the higher
station, I think of the publican, who smote his breast and would not even look
up his eyes to heaven. We have to be the publican in our dealings with God, rather
than our natural tendency of being the Pharisee. If we put God’s will before ours, the welfare of those we
encounter before ours, if we hold open the door as gentlepersons are wont to do
for others, we will find we are doing what God would have us do and enjoying
it.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God.
Bishop Ogles’
Sermon
Bishop Jerry is on travel today
for the AOC meeting in Statesville.
No sermon, sorry!
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 great sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday
after Trinity:
God Our Only Hope
Psalm 25, Ephesians
4:1-6, Luke 14:1-11
Seventeenth Sunday after
Trinity
"In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world." These words of Christ in John.
16:33 do not surprise those of us who have had some experience with the ways of
the world. We know we live in a fallen world, a world where people often
do bad things, a world in which we often suffer as the result of other peoples'
sins. We know this, not as theory, but as fact verified by our own hard
experience in life. We know this as fact verified by the teachings of
Scripture. Ephesians 4 reminds us of the tribulations of St. Paul.
Luke 14 records the opposition Jesus faced from the scribes and Pharisees who
exalted themselves above God. We remember the words of Christ in Matthew
10:24 and 25:
"The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his
lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the
servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?"
But we are fallen creatures, too, and we know that
much of our tribulation is self-inflicted as we reap what we have sown.
Psalm 25. Ad te, Domine, levavi.
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NTO thee,
O Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee: * O let me
not be con- founded, neither let mine enemies triumph over me.
2 For all they that hope
in thee shall not be ashamed; * but such as transgress without a cause shall be
put to confusion.
3 Show me thy ways, O
Lord,*and teach me thy paths.
4 Lead me forth in thy
truth, and learn me: * for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee hath been
my hope all the day long.
5 Call to remembrance, O
Lord, thy tender mercies, * and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of
old.
6 O remember not the sins
and offences of my youth; * but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O
LORD, for thy goodness.
7 Gracious and righteous
is the LORD; * therefore, will he teach sinners in the way.
8 Them that are meek shall
he guide in judgment; * and such as are gentle, them shall he learn his way.
9 All the paths of the
Lord are mercy and truth, * unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
10 For thy Name’s sake, O
Lord, * be merciful unto my sin; for it is great.
11 What man is he that
feareth the Lord? * him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
12 His soul shall dwell at
ease, * and his seed shall inherit the land.
13 The secret of the Lord
is among them that fear him; * and he will show them his covenant.
14 Mine eyes are ever
looking unto the Lord; * for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
15 Turn thee unto me, and
have mercy upon me; * for I am desolate, and in misery.
16 The sorrows of my heart
are enlarged: * O bring thou me out of my troubles.
17 Look upon my adversity
and misery, * and forgive me all my sin.
18 Consider mine enemies,
how many they are; * and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.
19 O keep my soul, and
deliver me: * let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in thee.
20 Let perfectness and
righteous dealing wait upon me;* for my hope hath been in thee.
21 Deliver Israel, O God,
* out of all his troubles.
Psalm 25 is the prayer of a person experiencing deep
tribulation partly because of the actions of others, and partly because he is
reaping the natural consequences of what he has sown through his own actions
and decisions. But the Psalm is not a complaint about the writer's
tribulation, it is a prayer of faith. It is an expression of trust in
God. David, in the midst of all his troubles writes, "Unto thee, O
Lord, will I lift up my soul; my God, I have put my trust in thee."
David trusts God to teach him the ways of God.
"Show me thy ways," he prays. "Teach me thy paths. Lead me forth
in thy truth." How can we possibly know God? How can we ever
hope to know what He wants from us, or wants to give to us? He must show
us. And He has shown us. He is revealed in nature, for "The
heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament showeth his handy
work" (Ps. 19:1). And there is something inside of us that knows
about God, an instinctive knowledge that we ought to live and be better than we
are, and that we will give an account of our sins one day. Thus Romans
2:15 tells us the law of God is written in our hearts. So, through nature
and through His law written on our hearts we are able to discern the invisible
attributes of God, "even his eternal power and Godhead," says Romans
1:20. But this revelation is incomplete. It does not tell us how to
worship God, or how the Church is to be ordered, or how to live for God at work
and at home, or how to build a Godly family or a Godly nation. But most of all,
it does not really tell us of God's mercy. It does not really tell us of
God's everlasting love. It does not tell us how to find forgiveness of
sin, or how to find peace with God.
This was accomplished by God sending prophets and teachers
to give and instruct us in the moral law of the Old Testament. God also
gave the ceremonial law through them, which points us to the Great Salvation He
would accomplish for us in Christ, of whom the Temple and sacrifices were
symbols and shadows. It is Christ who ultimately reveals God, for
"he hath declared him" (Jn. 1:18). Christ taught the revelation
of God to the disciples, and commissioned them to proclaim it to all people
(Mt. 28:19-20). He also commissioned them to teach and ordain others who
would, in turn, teach others (2 Tim.2:2). The Apostles recorded the ministry
and teachings of Christ for us in the Bible, and it is the standard by which
all other teachers and doctrines are measured.
David trusts God to forgive his sins. He trusts God
to "Remember not" his "sins and offenses" "Be
merciful unto my sin" he cries in verse 10, "for it is
great." It is Christ who accomplishes the forgiveness of our
sin. The rituals and ceremonies of the Old Testament ceremonial law were
symbols and shadows of Christ, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of
the world. We "have redemption through His blood, even the
forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:14). He died for our sins, and
"whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life"
(Jn. 3:16).
David trusts in God for many other things. In
verse 5 it is for continuing mercy. In verse 14 it is for defense from
enemies. I would like us to focus on verses 12, 16, and 21 as we come to
the close of the sermon. Verse 12 says of the man who fears God, that
means reverent love combined with respectful fear, "His soul shall dwell
at ease." God will give that person peace in his soul, and nothing
in this world or the next can take that peace away. It is the peace that
passes all understanding. It is the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ which
the world cannot give or even understand. It is the peace that comes from
the knowledge that "all things work together for good to them that love
God" and that nothing "shall be able to separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:28, 35-39).
This does not mean we will never see troubles.
It does mean God is with us, even when we face trials, and His grace is
sufficient for us at all times. David, in the beloved Twenty-third Psalm,
said he would fear no evil even in the valley of the shadow of death. He
said God prepares a table for him "in the presence of [his]
enemies." The enemies were still there. The wolves were still
lurking and prowling, often in open view of the sheep. Yet God had
brought him into green pastures and beside still waters, and God continually
"restoreth" David's soul. God had something for him even in the
presence of enemies and troubles. Now, today, God is with us. God
has peace and grace and blessings for us, today, in this life, in this world of
troubles and wolves and wolves in sheep's clothing. He is leading us into
us His will and guiding us into His ways, and He will not allow the trials of
this world to ultimately defeat us. We can be of "good cheer"
because He has "overcome the world."
Finally, David trusts God to "Deliver Israel, O
God, out of all his troubles" (vs. 21). This is one of the verses
upon which our "Prayer for all Conditions of Men" bases the request
to give us a "happy issue out of all [our] afflictions." We
have no delusions that the world is going to love us and welcome Christ into
its heart today. But we do believe a better world is coming, and in that
world all the cares and troubles of this world will be over because God will
finally, completely, and forever deliver Israel, that's us, out of all his
troubles.
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most loving Father, who willest us to give thanks for all things, to dread
nothing but the loss of thee, and to cast all our care on thee, who carest for
us; Preserve us from faithless fears and worldly anxieties, and grant that no
clouds of this mortal life may hide from us the light of that love which is
immortal, and which thou hast manifested in us in thy Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Brian’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.
The Sermon - Avoid Being Carried Away Captive.
In our Old Testament lesson (Jeremiah 13:15-27), we
heard the prophet Jeremiah admonishing the rulers and people of Jerusalem and
Judah to abandon their prideful natures and give glory to the LORD else they be
carried away captive. Throughout both Testaments, we are admonished to be
humble. We are also called upon to possess a heart for God and respect for his
wishes. We must not permit our religion to drift from a pure, unselfish and steadfast
faith into a stony and proud disposition that is devoid of caring and concern
for others. When St. Paul warned the Christians in Rome (12:3-5), not to think
of [themselves] more highly than [they] ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have
many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we being
many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another, he was
calling upon them to reflect on their particular calling and not to lord over
those of the same body who did not have the same calling. Thus the same
pridefulness which was the downfall of God’s people prior to the Babylonian
Captivity, has the same potential to lead to our own undoing at the hands of
our ever-present and ever-aggressive adversary.
Consider the warning of our Lord in the Parable of
the Pharisee and the Publican which has been ignored by very many of today’s
churches (St. Luke 18:10-14). Two men went up into the temple to pray; one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God I thank thee that I am not as other men are... or even as this
publican... and the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me
a sinner... I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than
the other; for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. As St. Paul admonished the Christians in
Rome (12:16), Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but
condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
The devil has invested much time and energy in his
ongoing campaign against the faith and the fellowship of Christians. The Rev.
E. M. Bounds once observed, “Satan... is always trying to make the good bad and
the bad worse. He filled the mind of Judas, and he inflamed and hurried him on
to his infamous purpose. He filled Peter with an arrogant pride that tried to
inject human views into the purpose of Christ...” You see, even the disciples
of our Lord were not immune to Satan’s attacks.
In our gospel lesson (St. Mark 10:35-45) St. James
and St. John asked our Lord to grant them a tremendous request which angered
the rest. For those making the request, there was an element of pridefulness,
as they sought positions of authority over the others; while the latter group
possessed a certain spirit of jealousy which was stirred up by that request.
Our Lord set them all straight concerning the matter. God has appointed those
to sit at Christ’s immediate right and left hand and even they must be servants
of all. We often here the term “public servant” with regard to those who are on
the public payroll. No doubt a chuckle or two can be heard from the citizenry
in many locales when that term is used because many so-called “public servants”
are merely serving themselves and their egos rather than the public. Compare
their behavior with the standard which our Lord set for all who will serve in
his kingdom, ...but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister,
and whosoever of you will be chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the
Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his
life a ransom for many. Very few of those in public service today would pass
such a test.
The prophet Jeremiah was deeply concerned that his
messages to the people were being ignored and rejected. He knew that God was
about to bring upon them the terrible judgment of diaspora: the casting away or
scattering of the people from the land of promise. He appealed to them to turn
back to the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but sadly, they
did not. As a result, they were carted off into captivity much to the pleasure
of our adversary, the Devil. And surely he is laughing still at the utter
arrogance of those who profess to be Christians while refusing to heed God’s
word written. Just as he worked to destroy the fidelity of God’s people Israel,
so too has he worked indefatigably to turn the church against its very Lord and
Saviour. He has developed converts in nearly every period of church history and
these have eagerly sowed doubt and confusion within the body of Christ. Now
these pawns are hardly aware of his presence, and are oblivious to his power of
insinuation through which he has introduced and managed the particulars of his
plan to alienate the church from the Godhead.
Let us now examine how Satan’s servants have labored
to degrade and turn the whole of Christendom away from the Godhead.
First of all, Satan’s minions have ordained
individuals contrary to God’s word and commandment, much as King Jeroboam had
done when he made priests of those persons who were outside the line of Levi (I
Kings 12:31). God has restricted the offices of church leadership (bishops,
priests, and deacons) solely to righteous men, and he has expressly forbidden
women to serve over men within the body of Christ (I St. Timothy 2:11-15;
3:1-16). The devil has blurred the biblical distinction between men and women
by filtering Scripture through the lens of Egalitarianism. As a result, now any
person regardless of sex, or sexual orientation, can serve in the offices of
ministry because it would be unfair and exclusive to do otherwise. What
arrogance. What pridefulness is found within those churches who resist the
stated will of God.
Secondly, as Satan’s minions have encouraged idolatry
through the arrogance of will-worship. The old saw of ‘I’m OK, you’re OK’ is
nothing more than the proverbial “way of Cain” (St. Jude 11) where everyone
does what is right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25). The paganism of the
Israelites— who offered their children to the false gods of Molech and Baal— is
hardly different from the modern Molechs and Baals of self-worship and
self-will at the expense of all else. The former bowed before idols of wood,
stone and metal, while the moderns worship themselves or the works of their
hands. Narcissism is nothing more than idolatry before a mirror. The moderns
have sacrificed their children by handing them over to Satan’s messengers
operating in both the church and in schools. Instead of learning about the one
true and living God, these youths have been taught an array of false doctrines
that contradict the word of God and make a mock of his only begotten Son. The
moderns have sacrificed their own souls on altars dedicated to worldly lusts
and desires. Without question, such arrogance in religion is devoid of any
sanctity or salvation. Unless those deluded souls repent and turn unto Christ,
they are destined to become just another batch of kindling for the fires of
Hell rather than saints destined for God’s glorious kingdom (Psalm 9:17;
Revelation 20:10-15).
Thirdly, as the Israelites had their share of lying
prophets sent by Satan to provide an alternative to those whom the LORD had
supplied; so too, the church has what our Lord described as wolves in sheep’s
clothing. These charlatans use the gospel to further their own ends, and in so
doing they do not speak the whole counsel of God to their congregations. They
do not tell them about Hell, or about the Devil as the personage of evil, nor
do they speak much about heaven; and such is sad indeed because Hell is real;
the Devil is not a myth; and heaven has been exclusively reserved for those are
in good standing with God. So, pray tell, what do they tell their
congregations? Well, they are taught to love one another— which is good—
because God does indeed want us to love others as ourselves. But they are also
taught that God’s love should include acceptance of those lifestyle choices
which are contrary to the scriptures. They tend to focus more on those things
that encompass the here and now with little or no regard for the hereafter. The
Bible teaches us to train ourselves in this life for our service in the next.
We have but a few years to live in this particular dispensation of time and
then we are in eternity. For those who are shepherded by false teachers and
wolves in sheep’s clothing, there will be no such godly preparations made. They
will pass from this life to a place of eternal separation from God where no
good thing will be found and all chance of repentance has been closed off for
ever.
Fourthly, our very admission into the kingdom of God
is dependent on our salvation which comes solely through our relationship to
God via his only begotten Son. Satan’s pawns teach that our Lord was “a way to
God,” not the only way. As I heard one wag put it, “Jesus is way,” and this was
after we had heard the very Scripture wherein our Lord said unequivocally that
he was the way the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me
(St. John 14:6b). The ministers of Satan have created a false religion which
contains a pantheon of personal choices that have been designed to lead as many
as will listen away from the strait gate and narrow way— from the very door to
the sheep’s fold which is Christ Jesus— and into Satan’s broad way and wide
gate. You cannot enter and be accepted into God’s kingdom unless you come by
means of a saving faith in Jesus Christ for there is no name under heaven by
which men must be saved (Acts 4:10- 12). What arrogance there is to think that
one can make your own way to heaven apart from God’s expressed will.
The Devil has transformed much of modern Christianity
into the image of the Laodicean church as found in the Book of Revelation. St.
John recorded our Lord’s description of that church in this way: ...because
thou art lukewarm... I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I
am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked (3:13-17).
Is it not apparent that our Lord is ashamed of that church? And where has our
Lord been relegated by the people of that church? Is he not outside knocking to
come in? Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me. To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne even as I
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches (3:20-22).
The current state of our world is not much different from
that of the apostate kingdoms
of Israel and Judah or that of pagan Rome; and so
Jeremiah’s message about the sinful nature of humanity is a sort of universal
truth. We, who are of the true faith in Christ, have been warned to avoid the
unequal yoke with the ungodly (II Corinthians 6:14) as well as to obey the
moral law of Moses (St. John 15:10- 14; Acts 15:5-29). We have been warned to
keep sin out of our lives, and to confess such should we slip back into our old
ways (I St. John 1:9-10; 2:1-5). We are encouraged to have a daily, yea, moment
by moment, fellowship with our Lord and God (Acts 2:42). We are to keep his
word and commandment (see St. John 15). We are to read his word daily and
prayerfully petition his throne of grace for our own needs and those of others
(I St. Timothy 2:1-8). We should seek to do good to all as the occasion arises,
and to advance the gospel message in this world (St. Matthew 28:18-20). We
should have ever-ready an answer for those who inquire of the faith within us
(I St. Peter 3:15); and we should always speak the truth in charitableness to
all (Ephesians 4:15, 25, 32).
Some will say that our “fundamentalist” Christianity
is harmful and hurtful to others who do not believe as we do. I would respond
by asking which is better: to say nothing which will dissuade a sinner from
falling into Hell— being forever separated from the love of God— or tell them
the truth so that they might avoid such an unhappy end? And shouldn’t we be
saddened over the apparent course of these pawns of the evil one? The prophet
was saddened over the coming captivity of his people by the Chaldeans. Likewise
shouldn’t it make us sad to see so many being prepared for their day of
captivity because they are not living in agreement with God’s word written? St.
Jude (v.23) said that we ought to be pulling them out of the fire; hating even
the garment spotted by the flesh. We can hate the sin and seek the well-being
of the sinner, but we are not to salve the sinner in his sin for to do so
would, in essence, make God into a liar for his word stands as sure and true as
the day he communicated the same to the prophets and apostles of old.
What it all boils down to is this: God defended his
word against the arrogance of children of Israel, and he will do so against
those who make a false profession of faith in his name while denying his
authority. As a church, we will either be like Philadelphia, or we will be like
Laodicea. If we are like the former, we will live in obedience to God’s word.
If one should choose to be the latter, they will be led away captive. Choose
you this day whom ye will serve (Joshua 24:15a).
Let us pray,
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ATHER,
make of us a people who are truly ready to do thy will and rejoice in the
strength of thy salvation; for this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
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