Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday services were held
in the evening on schedule. We did
the Penitential Office and quite enjoyed the peaceful experience. As expected we had three in attendance.
In addition, to the Penitential
Office, we read the propers which are found on pages 124 and 125 in the Book of
Common Prayer:
LENTEN SEASON
The first day of Lent, commonly
called
Ash Wednesday.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost
forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and
contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
For the Epistle. Joel ii. 12.
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URN ye even to me, saith the LORD, with all your
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your
heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent- eth
him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing
behind him; even a meat-offering and a drink-offering unto the Lord your God?
Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children,
and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber,
and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD,
weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O
Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule
over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
The Gospel. St. Matthew vi. 16.
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HEN fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad
countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to
fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou
fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to
fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in
secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon
earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and
steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
¶ The same
Collect, Epistle, and Gospel shall serve for every day after, unto the next
Sunday, except upon the Feast of St. Matthias.
Bishop
Jerry Ogles on Ash Wednesday
JC Ryle, one of the greatest and most
biblically centered bishops of the Church of England, seems to have properly
identified a growing influence of spiritual-dumbing down of the church
beginning well before even the Oxford Movement culprits entered the stage. He
wrote in Holiness:
I cannot withhold my conviction that the
professing Church of the nineteenth century is as much damaged by laxity and
indistinctness about matters of doctrine within, as it is by skeptics and
unbelievers without. Myriads of professing Christians nowadays seem utterly
unable to distinguish things that differ. Like people afflicted with
colour-blindness, they are incapable of discerning what is true and what is
false, what is sound and what is unsound. If a preacher of religion is only
clever and eloquent and earnest, they appear to think he is all right, however
strange and heterogeneous his sermons may be. They are destitute of spiritual
sense, apparently, and cannot detect error. Popery or Protestantism, an
atonement or no atonement, a personal Holy Ghost or no Holy Ghost, future
punishment or no future punishment, High Church or Low Church or Broad Church,
Trinitarianism, Arianism, or Unitarianism, nothing comes amiss to them: they
can swallow it all, if they cannot digest it! Carried away by a fancied
liberality and charity, they seem to think everybody is right and nobody is
wrong, every clergyman is sound and none are unsound, everybody is going to be
saved and nobody going to be lost. Their religion is made up of negatives; and
the only positive thing about them is that they dislike distinctness and think
all extreme and decided and positive views are very naughty and very wrong!
Everything that Bishop Ryle wrote, he
backed up with biblical principles.
When I hear of the justification for
application of ashes, for example, today, I hear only well-conceived and
intellectual opinions of the church tradition. True biblical tradition cannot
stand alone, but must be supported by God's Word. Why do we not hear those who
defend Ashes applied to the little spot on the forehead as being justified by
Christ? If I saw such references, it would cause me to consider that I may have
misinterpreted the very Words of Jesus; however, no one who supports ashes on
the forehead as a sign of Lenten Fast have addressed the very cogent and clear
admonition of Christ in Matthew, Chapter 6! 16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as
the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they
may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash
thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy
Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward
thee openly. (Matt 6:16-18
(KJV) What does Christ mean by "they disfigure their faces?" What
does He mean when He says that people who do so desire that men know that they
fast? What does our Lord mean when He says that the proper way to fast would be
to anoint our heads as if going on a pleasant visit; and what does He mean when
He says that we should wash our faces before fasting? Is He appealing for the
use of water-proof ashes? Ridiculous in the extreme! Oh, and by the way, how
can we keep our fast secret when we go out in society at large wearing a smudge
of ashes on our faces? What am I missing here, pray tell? Do we have eyes to
see, and see not; ears to hear and hear not?
Bishop Charles Pettit McIlvaine, first
Chaplain to the US Military Academy, third Chaplain of the US Senate, and first
Bishop of the great State of Ohio wrote in His "Oxford Movement
Compared" - written contemporaneous with the Oxford Movement and
Tractarians:
The doctrine of Justification by Faith was
the master-principle of the Reformation. " Therefore by a contrary way
(said the chief Theologians of the Council) he that will establish the body of
the Catholic doctrine (in other words, he that would re-instate Indulgences,
Penances, Purgatory, the opus operatum of the Sacraments, the authority of the
Priest's absolutions, the Sacrifice of the Mass, &c.) must
overthrow the
heresy of Justification by faith only."* In all this, there was the
soundest view of the relation of cause and effect. And therefore have we no
question, that now, while Oxford Divinity is fast developing its real
character, indivers ramifications of overt Romanism, and exhibiting the
strongest tendencies to do so, more and more; the only explanation needed is to
be found in its entire defection from the Scriptural doctrine of how a sinner
can be "just with God;" and the only antidote required is the clear
understanding,
the faithful teaching, the full carrying out of that same great
doctrine, so mighty in the war of the Reformation, so feared and hated and
libelled in the Councils of the Church of Rome, Justification, by the Imputed
Righteousness of Christ, through the alone agency of a living faith.
He goes on to add:
They compass sea and land to make one
proselyte. They creep in everywhere, like the Egyptian frogs, and leave no
stone unturned, in the palace or the workhouse, to promote their cause, (b) It
has been furthered immensely by the proceedings of the Ritualistic party in the
Church of England. That energetic and active body has been vilifying the
Reformation and sneering at Protestantism for many years, with only too much
success. It has corrupted, leavened, blinded, and poisoned the minds of many
Churchmen by incessant misrepresentation. It has gradually familiarized people
with every distinctive doctrine and practice of Romanism-the real presence-the
mass-auricular confession and priestly absolution-the sacerdotal character of
the ministry-the monastic system-and a histrionic, sensuous, showy style of
public worship-and the natural result is, that many simple people see no mighty
harm in downright genuine Popery! Last, but not least, the spurious liberality
of the ay we live in helps on the Romeward tendency. It is fashionable now to
say that all sects should be equal-that the State should have nothing to do
with religion-that all creeds should be regarded with equal favour and respect-and
that there is a substratum of common truth at the bottom of all kinds of
religion, whether Buddhism, Mohammedanism, or Christianity! The consequence is
that myriads of ignorant folk begin to think there is nothing peculiarly
dangerous in the tenets of Papists any more than in the tenets of Methodists,
Independents, Presbyterians, or Baptists-and that we ought to let Romanism
alone and never expose its unscriptural and Christ-dishonouring character.
Are simply to give up on Scripture and
follow the traditions of man? As for me, as long as I stand, I will stand on
God's Holy Word.
An
Ashless Ash Wednesday for Anglicans
http://theheritageanglicannetwork.blogspot.com/
In the sixteenth century the
English Reformers abolished the imposition of ashes on the heads of
parishioners on Ash Wednesday due to the superstitious beliefs that had become
associated with the practice. The practice was too closely tied the Medieval
doctrines of attrition, auricular confession, contrition, priestly absolution,
and penance.
The imposition of ashes was not
reintroduced into the Church of England and her daughter churches until the
nineteenth century and then by the Ritualists. It was one of the errors in
doctrine, practice, and ritual the Romeward Movement revived to make the
Anglican Church more like the Roman Catholic Church in the hopes they would
help to affect a reunion between the Church of England and the Church of Rome.
The 1979 Book of Common Prayer
popularized the practice in the Episcopal Church in the closing decades of the
twentieth century.
The following articles on Ashes,
Ash Wednesday, Fasting, and Lent are taken from A Protestant Dictionary, which
was published under the auspices of the Protestant Reformation Society in 1904,
and was compiled for Evangelicals in the Church of England and the Church of
Ireland.
Ashes Used for sprinkling
persons by the Romish Church. Before use, the ashes are dedicated previously by
a special prayer offered by a bishop. In that prayer, invocation is made to God
"that whosoever shall sprinkle themselves with these ashes for the
redemption of their sins may obtain health of body and protection of
soul."
Ash-Wednesday A mediaeval
title given to the first day of Lent. It had formerly two names: (1)
"Caput jejunii," the "head of the fast," and (2) "Dies
cinerum." The forty days of Lent, being appointed in memory of our Lord’s
fast in the wilderness as a season of abstinence, date from the Wednesday of
the first week, because it was never the custom to fast on Sundays, and in this
way the full number of forty is made up. The name of "Ash Wednesday"
was given in reference to an ancient discipline, described by Gratian,
according to which penitents had to appear before the Bishop and Clergy clothed
in sack cloth. The seven penitential Psalms were then sung, after which ashes
were thrown upon them, and they covered their heads with sackcloth. The Church
of England, however, has in no way retained or sanctioned those superstitions.
By the Scriptures appointed to be read and the prayers to be used, she has
rather exhibited the true ideal of a fast. The old title of Ash-Wednesday is
only employed as an alternative for the " first day of Lent," because
before the Reformation it was "commonly so called." The revival of
such practices is therefore entirely foreign to her prescribed ritual and is
illegal.
Fasting There is no command to fast in the New
Testament. In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord, speaking to Jews who were then
accustomed to fast, says : "When thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash
thy face ; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is
in secret ; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly
(Matt. vi. 17, 18). Under the Old Testament there was but one fast distinctly
enjoined namely, "the fast" on the great day of atonement (Lev. xvi.
29-31), which is referred to in Acts xxvii. 9. Other fasts were, however,
enjoined on special occasions by the direction of the civil or religious
authorities (e.g. Jer, xxxvi. 9). After the destruction of the Jewish State
fasts became more numerous (Zech. vii. 5). But when the Lord was inquired of
concerning those fasts, the answer given by the prophet Zechariah showed that
those fasts were neither enjoined nor forbidden, and that persons were at liberty
to make use of such days or not, according as they found fasting beneficial or
otherwise to themselves; such acts not being regarded as in themselves
meritorious in the sight of God (Zech. vii. 5/.). The Lord, by the mouth of
Isaiah (ch. Iviii. 5-7), asks, " Is it such a fast that I have chosen ? a
day for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? wilt thou call this a fast, and
an acceptable day to the Lord ? Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? to
loose the bands of wickedness ; to undo the heavy burdens? . . . Is it not to
deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house ? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that thou hide
not thyself from thine own flesh ? "
Our Lord' s teaching concerning
the times most suitable for fasting is set forth in the following passage:
" Can the children of the bride-chamber mourn, as long as the bride groom
is with them ? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from
them, and then shall they fast" (Matt. ix. 15), which passage has been
explained by the Church of England in her Homily of Fasting, Part II., as
follows: "Ye shall note, that so long as God revealeth His mercy unto us,
and giveth us of His benefits, either spiritual or corporal, we are said to be
with the Bridegroom at the marriage. . . . But the marriage is said then to be
ended, and the Bridegroom to be gone, when Almighty God smiteth us with
affliction, and seenieth to leave us in the midst of a number of adversities.
So God sometimes striketh private men privately with sundry adversities, as
trouble of mind, loss of friends, loss of goods, long and dangerous sicknesses,
& c. Then it is a fit time for that man to humble himself to Almighty God
by fasting, and to mourn and bewail his sins with a sorrowful heart. . . .
Again, when God shall afflict a whole region or country with wars, with famine,
with pestilence . . . and such other calamities, then is it time for all states
and sorts of people . . . to humble themselves by fasting, and bewail their
sinful living before God."
The principle here laid down can
be exemplified from Scripture histories. David fasted when his child was sick
(2 Sam. xii. 16) ; Esther, with her maidens, fasted ere she went in to
Ahasuerus (Esth. iv. 16) ; Ezra fasted at the river of Ahava (Ezra viii. 21);
Daniel set himself to seek the Lord by prayer and fasting (Dan. ix. 3). Christ
said of certain demons, "This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer
and fasting" (Mark ix. 29), but the oldest MSS. omit the words "and
fasting." (See R.V. and marginal note on Matt. xvii. 21.) And prior to the
solemn ordination of elders, Paul and Barnabas "prayed with fasting"
(Acts xiv. 23).
Our Lord Himself fasted forty
days and forty nights, but during that time He did not experience the pangs of
hunger. The Gospels which record the Temptation, all call attention to that
fact. St. Matthew says, " He was afterward an hungered " (Matt. iv. 2).
St. Mark does not mention the fasting (Mark i. 12, 13). St. Luke says of those
days, "And when they were ended, He afterward hungered." The forty
days appear, therefore, to have been spent in rapt ecstasy and contemplation.
The actual temptation occurred at the close of that period.
Fasting, therefore, appears to be
of value only when employed for the purpose of giving oneself up to continuous
prayer, while abstinence from special kinds of food is nowhere enjoined or
recommended in Scripture, although Daniel, in his penitential sorrow of three
weeks, abstained from all pleasant food (Dan. x. 2, 3). St. Paul alludes to the
"commanding to abstain from meats" as a mark of the apostasy (1 Tim.
iv. 3), and a sign of weak faith in persons who attached importance to such
trifling matters. " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but
righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost " (Rom. xiv. 17, and
the whole of that chapter). In fine, when fasting is employed in order to be
able to spend the time in prayer, it may be recommended ; but abstinence from
food as a means of punishing the body and laying up " merit " is to
be strongly condemned. An abstinence from certain food may be useful for
"bodily exercise" or discipline "bodily exercise profiteth a
little," or "for a little while " (1 Tim. iv. 8) such exercise
has occasionally been useful, but is not to be regarded as really a spiritual
work.
The prohibition to eat meat on
fast days, prescribed by the statute 2 & 3 Edward VI., c. 19, which may be
alluded to in " the Tables and Rules " attached to the Book of Common
Prayer which mentions " the Fasts, and Days of Abstinence to be observed
in the year," is further dwelt on in the Homily on Fasting, Part II.,
which states that the statute of Edward VI. referred to, was framed for
political reasons. It was " in consideration of the maintaining of
fisher-towns bordering upon the seas, and for the increase of fishermen, of
whom do spring mariners to go upon the sea, to the furnishing of the navy of
the realm. . . . Such laws of princes and other magistrates are not made to put
holiness in one kind of meat and drink more than another, to make one day more
holy than another, but are grounded merely upon policy," namely, as
afterwards explained, for the increase and support of the English navy, and
"for the sooner reducing of victuals to a more moderate price, to the
better sustenance of the poor." [C. H. H. W.]
Lent The word is derived either
from the A.S. lencten (spring), or from the Dutch lenten (to make mild), the
severity of winter being then relaxed. Lent is a period of forty days in the
spring, immediately before Easter, prescribed as a time of fasting. The Greek
and Latin names for Lent simply indicate the number of its days. Lent is
asserted to have been of early, and even of Apostolic origin, but, had the
latter been the case, some allusion would have been made to it in the New
Testament. But in the New Testament there is no fast prescribed, nor even a
positive exhortation to fasting (see FASTING). Our Lord s declaration in the
A.V. concerning the boy possessed with an unclean spirit, is often quoted that
"this kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting"
(Matt. xvii. 21; Mark ix. 29). All the best MSS., however, omit the entire
verse in the account in St. Matthew, and the word " fasting " in that
of St. Mark (see R.Y.). The same omission is made by the R.V. on MS. authority
with regard to the word "fasting" in two other verses, viz., Acts x.
30 ; 1 Cor. vii. 5. That the oldest MSS. should agree in omitting all reference
to fasting in four passages in the New Testament, where fasting was supposed to
be mentioned, is highly suggestive of interpolations made in the sacred text to
suit the ideas of a non-Apostolic Age.
The forty days of Lent are often
said to have been instituted as a fast in memory of our Lord's "fast"
of a similar period in the wilderness. But the Lord passed that period in a
state of exalted spiritual meditation or ecstasy, for St. Matthew distinctly
states that Christ’s hunger was subsequent to the forty days, "When he had
fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred" (Matt.
iv. 2). Lent had originally no real connection with the forty days fast in the
desert. Lent seems to have been first established by a Pope, about AD 130, to
be a tithe of the year (thirty-six days only), and was for centuries confined
to that period. When the additional four days were added is not certain,
probably not till the time of Pope Gregory II., who died in 731.
Our Lord, in Matt. ix. 15,
indicated that the providential circumstances of life were the true guide as to
seasons of fasting. Cassian, a disciple of Chrysostom in the fifth century,
contrasting the Primitive Church with that of his own day, said, " It
ought to be known that the observance of the forty days had no existence so
long as the perfection of that Primitive Church remained inviolate." Lent
helped in later times to increase the power of the priests. For in the Roman
and Eastern Churches dispensations which permit the eating of meat on fast days
may be obtained for a money payment, and fines are levied on those who break
the Church law by eating meat on such days without a dispensation.
Lent
Lent is coming up, it starts this
coming Wednesday, called Ash Wednesday.
So, what does the word Lent mean? It has an obscure origin, and is
probably a corruption of Lencten, or a similar term in ancient Anglo, Saxon,
and Germanic languages, all of which referred to spring, new life, and hope. Although it is generally considered to
be a time of mourning and repentance, it is more than that, it is like death, a
time of new life and hope because by means of the death of Christ, we receive
new life.
Many avoid Lent and Holy Week
because they think it isn’t a happy and uplifting time—but to be honest,
neither is most of life. Sometimes we come to church all scrubbed up, dressed
nicely, with smiles on our faces, and when people ask how we are, we reply that
everything is fine and we even boast how wonderful things are—but is it? Life is not always uplifting, or
wonderful, or pleasant, or joyous.
To claim it is, is to miss the whole point of the incarnation! God
became flesh in Jesus Christ. Jesus faced temptation, He suffered hunger and
thirst, He suffered the agony of crucifixion. Jesus our God did not face these
things so that we would be exempt from them, He faced these things so that we
would have dignity in them, He faced these things that in Him we might have
triumph.
The forty days commemorate the
significant "forty" periods in Scripture (although forty is not
always significant), including the forty years the Jews wandered in the desert
after they had been rescued by God from Egypt, and which did not end until they
repented. Jonah preached to Nineveh that God's judgment would come on them in
forty days. During that time the people repented and thus were spared God's
judgment. Jesus was tested by the Devil in the desert for forty days before He
began His public ministry, announcing salvation to the repentant and judgment to
those who continued to rebel against God. Jesus prophesied that God's judgment
would come against Israel for rejecting Him as Messiah within the time of His
own generation (Matt.
24; Luke 21; Mark 13). Within forty years of His death, burial, and
resurrection, Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was so ravaged that
"not one stone [was] left here upon another" (Matt. 24:2). The Jewish Christians,
however, escaped this judgment of God by fleeing to Pella before the final
Roman siege, just as Jesus had warned them to do (Matt. 24:16-21).
Lent is a time for Christians to
contemplate their sinfulness, repent, ask God's forgiveness, and realize the
infinite sacrifice God made on their behalf. It is to be a time of quiet
contemplation, but not a time of despair, since it culminates in the
commemoration of the resurrection. Traditionally, those who are joining the
church spend this period in special instruction regarding Christian doctrine,
practice, and responsibility. Historically, prospective members ("catechumens")
did not participate in the Lord's Supper portion of the Sunday services until
they were received into full membership on the Sunday of the Resurrection of
Our Lord. For them, this first experience of Ash Wednesday and Lent has special
significance as God's eternal plan of salvation is applied to them personally.
Jesus told us that if we fast we
are not to make a show of it, like hypocrites do. A fast is different from a
hunger strike: a fast is a personal act of devotion to God, while a hunger
strike is a public act most often used to shine a spotlight on injustice. A
fast is also different from anorexia nervosa: it is disciplined diet, not total abstention from food. During a
religious fast, you still eat, you just abstain from certain foodstuffs. Traditionally,
people have fasted by eliminating luxury items from their diets, such as meats.
A fast can consist of eating whatever you want, but drinking only water.
More positively, you can fast in
other areas beyond food, you can commit to a something that can benefit the
church, such cutting back in an entertainment area, using that time for Bible
study and donating the savings to the church.
On Palm Sunday, there were crowds
who cheered Jesus as the King, but where were all those fair-weather friends
when Jesus prayed in agony on Gethsemane, and where were they when He hung upon
the cross? Let us be bold to join Him, fasting in the wilderness for forty days
during Lent; let us be bold to pray with Him in the garden on Maundy Thursday,
let us fearlessly stand at the foot of His cross on Good Friday, so that we may
witness His Resurrection and His Ascension, and join in His triumphant reign.
Mite
Boxes
If you read this report at all,
you know the Anglican Orthodox Church (AOC), and this parish in particular, is
not about money. Not that money is
not useful, but the parish has plenty.
Any extra we get, we send it to the AOC to use for their mission work. The AOC works on a very slim budget,
they aren’t about money either.
The AOC is about the Great Commission; to go forth and spread The Word
of the Lord:
18And Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, ‘…19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mt. 28:19-20)
You may not realize it, but the
AOC has national church affiliates in 22 countries around the world, that does
take a little money. Not great
quantities of money, but some and as a church, we would be dirt poor, if we had
dirt.
So, that is where the Mite Boxes
come in. Ash Wednesday is 22
February 2012; Easter Sunday is 8 April 2012. That period is Lent.
Often thought of as a time for fasting, it is more importantly a time to
channel your attention towards God.
A time to let your heart open to the Holy Ghost that you might come
closer to God and perhaps do His Work more effectively.
So, to exercise this concept, we
are asking you to cut back. We
know the economy is not really great and you are probably cutting back
already. So, cut back a bit more. Take part of your savings every
day and put it in the Mite Box. If
you did not cut back on a given day, dig into your wallet or purse and cut out
a bit of cash for the Mite Box anyway.
Every day, except Sundays.
Sundays are the Lord’s Day and a day of celebration. They are not part of Lent. By Easter Sunday, you will have a full
Mite Box. Bring it to church, this
church, another church, that is best.
If you cannot find a church to actually go to on Easter, you probably
aren’t looking hard enough, but pull the money out and send us a check, payable
to the Anglican Orthodox Church and we will send it on.
One box for each member of the
family. A little bit, just a mite,
every day. Every day, miss
none. Every day, every body in the
family can do just a little bit.
When you drop your daily contribution in, think, “Did I do what I could
today for the Lord? Did I fall
short or meet the standard? Can I
do better tomorrow? Will I?” It should be a time of reflection. It will be if you do it.
By the way, what is a Mite
Box? Named after the smallest of
Roman coins, a normal wage of the time being 10 mites per hour, of which two
were donated by the widow, in Mark 12:41-44 and Luke 21:1-4, it is normally a
small cardboard box, say 3 inches each dimension, a cube piggy bank so to
speak. If you don’t have one,
call, email or write. We have a
pile of them.
Don’t miss this opportunity to
contribute to the Lord’s Work and make your life better at the same time.
First Sunday in Lent
Sunday
Report
Today was the First Sunday in
Lent. Sunrise temperature on Mount
Olympus was a lovely 42°F under bright blue skies. By the time church started, the temperature had climbed to 54°F. The nice weather brought the usual
three people to church.
Propers
The Propers for today are found
on Page 125-127, with the Collect first:
The First Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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LORD who for our sake didst fast
forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our
flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in
righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and
reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is
followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
Dru Arnold read
the Epistle for today, which came from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians,
starting at the First Verse of the Sixth Chapter. In what at first appears to be an incomprehensible single
sentence, Paul asks us to be worthy of the grace that God has given us. He tells the people when they needed
him, he was there. They need to be
there for those around them. They
must not frustrate God’s work by showing up late, or not at all. Those around us are watching our
actions in the time of testing. We
have been given eternal salvation by Jesus’ sacrifice, the understanding of the
Gospel by the Holy Ghost. We are
at this time dying here on earth, yet progressing towards eternal life in the
next world, in Jesus’ world with His help. While we may never be wealthy here
on earth, our actions can make our fellow Christians wealthy in spirit beyond
measure.
If you claim to be a Christian,
you know what is right. If you are
a Christian, you do what is right, you don’t take a vote to see what the right
course of action might be. Right
does not change with public opinion and we must do the right thing. It is our actions that count, in good
times or bad. We are Christ’s
ambassadors to this world, unfortunately we do not have diplomatic immunity.
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E then, as
workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of
God in vain; (for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the
day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation;) giving no offence in any thing, that the
ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers
of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost,
by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of
righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by
evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet
well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as
sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing,
and yet possessing all things.
Hap Arnold read this morning’s Holy Gospel which comes from the
Gospel of Saint Matthew, starting at the First Verse of the Fourth Chapter.
This portion of the Gospel tells the story of the temptation of Christ. In many
respects, it shows how little the devil understands of Christ, and through Him,
of us. If you understand how little the devil really offers you and how much
Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less. The devil is often referred to as the deceiver or
dissimulator. His forte is
deception, he seems one thing, is another. Offers what he has no intention or ability to deliver. Ignores the inevitable result of
accepting his proffered help or inside track.
He clearly knows Jesus is the Son of God. There is no doubt in his mind. So, having understood that, consider
what he offers Jesus in temptation.
Remember, Jesus has fasted 40 days OF HIS OWN CHOICE; he who has
no real power asks Jesus to turn stone into bread to show His Power. This to the Son of He who delivered
manna daily to the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years.
Cast thyself down and let angels
catch thee; this to He who walked on water.
Up to the mountain lookout – Here
is it all yours if you worship me.
This to He who as it says in Psalm 95:
In his hand are all
the corners of the earth; * and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and
he made it; * and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us
worship and fall down, * and kneel before
the Lord our Maker.
For he is the Lord
our God; * and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
The devil promised Jesus nothing
that was his to give, nothing that would help Jesus in the real world beyond
the Shadowlands. He never
does. The devil is all about
shortcuts. Remember, if the
shortcut was the best way, it would not be a shortcut
Like the temptation of Jesus, the
devil never delivers what we need, only what we may want short term. Remember as little as the devil understands of Christ, so he
understands little of us. He will
never offer you real help.
Remember that and the temptation is ever so much less.
This morning’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of Saint
Matthew, starting at the First Verse of the Fourth Chapter. This portion of the
Gospel tells the story of the temptation of Christ. In many respects, it shows how little the devil understands
of Christ, and through Him, of us.
If you understand how little the devil really offers you and how much
Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less.
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HEN was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he
was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be
the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and
said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy
city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou
be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his
angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest
at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is
written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh
him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give
thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came
and ministered unto him.
Sermon – Reverend Deacon Jack Arnold - Time
and Action
Today’s sermon brought the
Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords
above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… Give us grace to use such
abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy
godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory …
In the Collect, we ask God to help us to subdue our
natural evil tendencies so that we can live life here His way and honour His
wishes so we can be truly happy.
Without His help, we end up with what we want, not what we need. We are
asking him to help us fight our human nature and follow His divine nature, we
are attempting to replace our nature with that of God’s. It will be a long and
difficult road that we must travel, doing this, but we are going to be much
happier in the long run if we at least try. Do or do not, there is no try, Yoda
is quoted as saying, and I have found it applicable here and in my own life.
Want and Need; two words, used interchangeably in
both our speech and thought that do not mean the same thing. Think about that!
Following the thought of the
Collect, Paul asks us to be worthy of the grace God has given us. He tells the people when they needed him,
he was there. They need to be
there for those around them. They
must not frustrate God’s work by showing up late, or not at all. We are outnumbered fiercely in this
world, by the enemies of God. We
are like the men in the Battle of Ia Drang (also related to being Paul’s
message, the sacrifice of Kenneth Ogles and his fellow men in the Vietnam
theatre, as well as those in WWI, WWII and before, and now.), fiercely
outnumbered by the enemy, they did not just sit on their hands and wait for the
enemy to come. They did something about it, they took action, otherwise they
were going to be overrun by the North Vietnamese. Like them, we cannot just sit
and wait, else we will be overrun by the Forces of Satan.
Those around us are watching
our actions in the time of testing.
We have been given eternal salvation by Jesus’ sacrifice, the
understanding of the Gospel by the Holy Ghost. We are at this time dying here on earth, yet progressing
towards eternal life in the next world, in Jesus’ world with His help. While we
may never be wealthy here on earth, our actions can make our fellow Christians
wealthy in spirit beyond measure.
If you claim to be a Christian,
you know what is right. If you are
a Christian, you do what is right, you don’t take a vote to see what the right
course of action might be. Right
does not change with public opinion and we must do the right thing. The truth
does not change, as it is the constant that never changes. God is the Truth,
The Word and the Life of this universe. It is our actions that count, in good
times or bad. We are Christ’s
ambassadors to this world; unfortunately we do not have diplomatic immunity.
When the devil attempted to
tempt Christ, he shows how little he knows of Him. If we emulate our Lord, it shows how little the devil will
be able to tempt us with his deceit.
Consider how little the devil really offers you and how
much Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less. The devil is often referred to as the
deceiver or dissimulator. His
forte is deception, he seems one thing, is another. He offers what he has no intention or ability to
deliver. He ignores the inevitable
result of accepting his proffered help or inside track.
He clearly knows Jesus is the Son of God. There is no doubt in his mind. So, having understood that, consider
what he offers Jesus in temptation.
Remember, Jesus has fasted 40 days OF HIS OWN CHOICE; now comes
the devil daring Him to show His Power by turning the stone into bread. This to the Son of He who delivered
manna daily to the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years.
Cast thyself down and let angels
catch thee; this to He who walked on water.
Up to the mountain lookout – Here
is it all yours if you worship me.
This to He who as it says in Psalm 95:
In his hand are all
the corners of the earth; * and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and
he made it; * and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us
worship and fall down, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is the Lord
our God; * and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
The devil promised Jesus nothing
that was his to give, nothing that would help Jesus in the real world beyond
the Shadowlands. He never
does. The devil is all about
shortcuts. Remember, if the
shortcut was the best way, it would not be a shortcut
The temptation of Jesus is no
different than his attempt to tempt us!
The devil never delivers what we need, only what we, in our imperfect
want. Remember as little as the devil
understands of Christ, the same way, as we are in God, so he understands little
of us. He will never offer you
real help. Remember that and the
temptation is ever so much less.
Or, as my grandfather said, “Keep your eye on the
donut, not on the hole”
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Sermon
- Rev Ken Howes - Ken is a Lutheran who should be in the
AOC! This sermon was posted on the
AOC Message Board and has been recommended by many of our member, including,
but not limited to, Bishop Jerry.
So, because this is his first guest sermon, Ken gets to go first!
This Sunday is one of the great penitential Sundays of the
church year. The Gospel text is the story of Christ's temptation at the hands
of the devil. The devil offered him first physical necessities, then a chance
for Jesus to show off His power and divinity, then rule over the world. For us
as preachers and teachers of the Church, this is a particular day of
reflection.
The whole point of Christ's going into the desert was to be
tempted by the devil, and to withstand it. You and I are very bad at
withstanding temptations. Even as Christians we succumb to the devil's
temptations with horrifying frequency. Any time we take the easy, comfortable
way that evades the uncomfortable demands of our Lord, we turn the stones to
bread, as He would not.
The dreadful temptation for Christians is that of pride in
our supposed goodness, manifested in various forms of boastfulness that amount
to throwing ourselves off the Temple roof to be caught by angels. It can
manifest itself in gaudy showmanship, either of the Roman sort or of the Church
Growth sort. Traditional Protestants, be they Lutherans, Anglicans or Reformed,
don't usually fall into that one. We stick to those things that the Church has
always done since ancient times, so far as they have Scriptural warrant,
rejecting errors both ancient and modern.
But we have our own pitfalls. We can become so proud of our
scholarship, the way we have studied the Bible so much and mastered the
doctrines of our traditions, that we stop really hearing God speaking in His
Word. We can go beyond a condemnation of false doctrine or sinful
conduct--which God commands us to do--to a condemnation of persons, which God
has commanded us not to do.
We can become so proud of the purity of our church services,
whether those in the Lutheran service books, those in the Book of Common
Prayer, or those prescribed by the various Reformed churches, that we, instead
of earnest reproval of the errors of Church Growth services or Roman masses for
the benefit of our brothers in those churches, engage in an ungodly mockery of
what goes on in such churches. I have rather unkindly mimicked the preaching
style of Arminian evangelical preachers on numerous occasions. I will not do
that any more, because it is wrong. It is right to correct their theological
errors; it is not right to make fun of things that they have said in
well-meaning but erroneous sermons.
When we don a purple stole, the penitence that inheres in
this season of Lent, and notably on this Invocavit Sunday has to begin with us.
If the pastor will not repent of his sins, how will his flock repent of theirs?
The last of the temptations in the wilderness was the offer
of the kingdoms of the world. How many people, including Christians--including
Christian churchmen--have turned away from a right practice in order to enjoy
power, admiration, and glory? How has "purple fever" hurt not only
the "official" Anglican churches but the traditional ones as well?
How many Lutheran pastors have diluted their doctrine in order to be well-liked
and become district or even synodical presidents?
What sacrifices of doctrinal purity and even of simple
ethics have Catholic priests and bishops made in order to become archbishops,
cardinals and popes? The popes just before the beginning of the Reformation
were regularly gaining that office by bribery at the conclaves. Many, once in
those various offices, used the offerings of pious Catholics not for the
preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments but for their
own power and luxury?
What heresies have evangelical preachers gone into as they
elevated themselves to pulpits for which they were not prepared, in order to
keep the offerings coming? Prosperity gospel; social gospel (both the liberal
kind and the conservative kind--neither is better than the other, as either
involves distortion of God's Word to serve one's political beliefs); denials of
the Trinity; teachings of immediate grace; claims to be "anointed"
(are they really saying they are the Mashiach, the Christos?); claims to be
prophets.
We will not likely engage in those heresies--but how easy it
is for otherwise orthodox churchmen to fall into heresies! Andreas Osiander was
a leading reformer. His brother was and remained another prominent reformer,
and his nephew and grandnephew were orthodox theologians in the following
generations. His brother-in-law was none other than ++Cranmer. But when he went
to bring the Reformation to East Prussia, where the Teutonic Knights ruled, he
tempered his theology to what would be favorably received by the Knights and
especially by their Grand Master. That theology became full of errors,
bordering on heresy. A great education and a great family did not keep him safe
from the temptation of the favor of the Grand Master, which he indeed gained.
It was another generation until the Reformation in East Prussia recovered from
his errors.
No, we Christian churchmen have not done nearly as well in
the wilderness, confronted with the devil's temptations, as our Lord did. In
this season, we do well to remember the admonition of the prophet Joel:
And
rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Let us turn to our Lord in true repentance of our own sins,
as we prepare to teach others of repentance, and hear His Word speak, that we
may speak it truly in our pulpits and classrooms. We cannot feed His sheep with
His Word, till we ourselves are fed with it. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. That means us.
May God bless us with His Holy Spirit in our preaching and
teaching in this Lenten season.
Ken Howes
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.
The First Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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LORD who for our sake didst fast
forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our
flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in
righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and
reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty
nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. 4 But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh
him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And
saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written,
He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall
bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus
said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not
tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up
into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world,
and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will
I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith
Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and
ministered unto him. (Matt
4:1-11 )
The
Collect for today aptly points out the cardinal principle of Lent – a time to
abstain from the material blessings to which we have become so accustomed in
order to focus on that Passover sacrifice which Christ made of us on Good
Friday. A staff officer to General Robert E. Lee once asked, "General, how
oft ought a man to fast from eating?" to which General Lee responded,
"If a man will but fast from his sins, he may eat what he pleases."
Simple enough, but who is able to keep that fast from sins? The Collect reveals
not only that we should fast from time to time, but also it informs that our
fast is personal and not public. Holiness is a personal quality and not one of
which we should boast. Once we begin to boast to others of what we forego
during fast, we have lost whatever blessing God would grant and have opted for
the reward of a good opinion from our fellows. I urge each of us to read the
Gospel for Morning Prayer today from Matthew 6:1-16 for a deeper understanding
of Christ's counsel on fasting and the means by which we are to keep our fast
secret as we do our personal prayers. In this way, we will avoid the sin of the
Pharisee in boasting of his better worth than the publican at the Temple.
So
now is the time to enter upon the Lenten Season with earnest. Is it a time of
sorrow and remorse? Yes, it is such a time. But it is also a time of deep love
and joy that you are so much loved that a Personage so great as the only
Begotten Son of God loves you so much as to die such a horrible and humiliating
death for you. As the Epistle for today reads: "….behold, now is the
accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation;) giving no offence in any
thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves
as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in
distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings,
in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the
Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by
the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and
dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as
unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as
chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet
making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things"
(2 Cor 6:2b-10) Do we even imagine what riches are made available to us
through the privileges merited for us by Christ?
Being covenanted as infants into the Kingdom of Heaven through Baptism, many of
us may not recall that work of grace performed on our behalf; however, did we
not seal those promises and that grace at the time of our Confirmation? In the
years of our lives before Confirmation (or even adult baptism) did we not grow
in, as did Jesus from twelve years of age, wisdom and favor with God? And
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
(Luke 2:52)
Today's Gospel from St Matthew IV: 1-11 contains some cardinal truths that
should aid us in keeping a Christian witness as well as in overcoming
temptation.
1)
We must remember that Christ was
forever sinless though subject to temptation just as you or I. Could Jesus have
sinned? Of course, Jesus COULD have sinned, had He succumbed to temptation,
else there could have been NO temptation to sin. But Jesus did not sin, though
tempted in every way as you and I are tempted. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. (Heb 4:15) So how
did Christ OVERCOME temptation? This we shall learn from today's text. If you
have read it thoughtfully, you will already have discovered the Approach Christ
took to temptation.
2)
We should note, secondly, that,
though Christ was forever without sin, His ministry did not begin until the
moment of His Baptism in Jordan Waters. Following John's Baptism of
Christ, confirmed and attested by the Voice of God and the Holy Ghost, there
was a great CHANGE in the direction of His life. This was the point in time
that the ministry of Christ began in earnest. The Holy Trinity, it will be
acknowledge, was present at the Baptism of Christ just as with your own.
Baptism and confirmation in the Gospel of Christ should result in a change of
our behaviors. Has it done in your life?
3)
We must, thirdly, observe that
the same Holy Spirit that witnessed the Baptism and glorious recognition of God
of Christ was the same which drove Christ into the wilderness (a place of
private fasting). Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted of the devil The day that we agreed, with
our eyes open, to follow Christ was a wonderful day in our lives and one which
was worthy of celebration, was it not? At that hour, did not the Holy Spirit
attest to us in our heart of the greatness of our calling in Christ? But, that
same Spirit will, at times, drive us into the Wilderness of our Christian walk.
Like Job, we shall undergo want and testing. If we falter not, we shall
overcome to the joy of the angels in Heaven.
4)
Can we agree that the Wilderness
of life can be a place of great want. When our souls and our flesh are in great
want, we are made our weakest. When is it that Satan considers the moment most
opportune to tempt us? At our moments of weakness. So he tempted Christ when He
was in want of bread and water. You will note that Satan did not approach
Christ at the beginning, or at the middle of His forty days and nights, but at
the end of that period when Christ would have been most susceptible to
temptation. So Satan deals with us. 2 And when he had fasted
forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And
when the tempter came to him….." Satan knows you. He watches
day and night. He knows your moments of weakness, and he strikes at those
moments whether it be moments of great loneliness, sickness, financial loss, or
even success and opulence. He cannot read your heart as does God, but he has
witnessed your actions. He will always come to you in the Wilderness as well as
on the high mountain.
5)
Fifthly, we must note that Satan
loves to initiate his temptation with a question. "Yea, hath God
said…" (Gen 3:1) Absolute truths have never been Satan's
strongholds, but if he can only create doubt and question, then he knows he is
on fertile ground to turn our hearts from righteousness. As Satan approaches
Christ, he opens his deleterious argument with a cunning question: "If
thou be the Son of God." There was no question in Satan's mind
as to whom he was speaking, but the "if" is uttered to tempt the
pride of Jesus. "IF" you are the Son of God, PROVE IT! Pride is the
devil's axe handle. So Satan loves to create doubt and question. When you have
served God faithfully, and the storms of life descend, and thunder booms down
from Heaven in response to your prayers, do you not wonder, "Does God
really care for me? If so, why do I suffer, as did Job, these terrors?"
When you ask the question, you are simply falling for Satan's trap.
6)
Please observe with me how
Christ handles the temptation of Satan: If thou be the Son of God,
command that these stones be made bread. Christ is literally
famished for hunger. Bread would be such a delight at this moment, but not at
the terrible cost Satan would exact. So Christ is tempted three times during
this confrontation. What is the common thread that runs through all three
responses of Christ? IT IS WRITTEN! When this nine-tailed fox confronts you with a
question, where can you find the answer for his question? In God's Word – IT IS WRITTEN! This was the response of Christ
in all three temptations of the Adversary. When men and society tempt us to
compromise on lifestyles and values, where do we find the answer for our
retort? The Bible! It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God. No we do not
live by bread alone, but the Bread of Heaven! We cannot pick and choose which
counsel of God to obey. We must obey ALL of God's counsel! We live "…by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Any questions Mr. High Churchman? Any questions, Higher Critics? Any questions,
revisers of God's Word (NIV, NASB, ESV, TEB, etc)? But couldn't we accommodate
those two men who wish to be in a "meaningful relationship?" What
saith God's Holy Word throughout both Old and New Testament – it is abomination
before the Lord! So what of abortion for the sake of saving a young unwed
mother a lot of grief? What of God's counsel against adultery, or murder? Shall
we obey God or man?
7)
It must be known by the people
of God that Satan not only twists Scripture, but also quotes it accurately at
times with a twisted meaning. 5 Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself
down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and
in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy
foot against a stone. Please note the correct quote of Psalms
91:11-12. How many devils have we in the pulpit today doing the devil's
service by misapplication of Scripture via the name-it-and-claim-it so-called
gospel? In this particular instance, Satan is tempting, not only Christ, but
God the Father as well. Have you ever tempted God" "O, Lord, if
you are truly there, please give me this one desire of my heart." Does
this prayer not tempt God to prove Himself. If we pray in such a manner, it is
likely that God will, indeed, prove Himself; but in a way that we would rather
He not do. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy
God.
Even the Son of God did not tempt the Father, and neither should we!
8)
In the next passages, in the
final temptation, we learn that Satan will promise ANYTHING – even that which
he is unable to deliver – to cause us to sin. 8 Again,
the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all
the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And
saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and
worship me. If we lose our souls to the devil, does it even matter
if we inherit the kingdoms of this world, and even if Satan cannot deliver
them? For what is a man profited, if he shall
gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in
exchange for his soul? (Matt 16:26 (KJV) There is no quicker, or
surer, way to lose your soul than to bend the knee to Satan. With the loss of
soul goes all other possessions (including kingdoms). 10 Then
saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:
for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou
serve
9)
What did we learn from this last
temptation of Christ is the Wilderness Fast? Even good friends, such as the
disciple Peter, may act and speak the devil's part. Then Peter took him,
and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be
unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get
thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men. (Matthew 16:23) Our very best friends are
capable of tempting us as Satan does. Whether spoken by friend or foe, we must
rebuke the devil's temptations with the Word of God. We learn also from this
last temptation that the Christian is sanctified, by and by, by the Word of
God. He grows stronger in the face of temptation. The devil values his time
highly for he is anxious to find other souls to lead astray. If we
constantly rebuke him with the Word of God, he will finally give up this moment
of temptation and come to us less often to tempt us. . 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold,
angels came and ministered unto him. The devil will leave off
tempting those who stand staunchly by the Word of God. Then what? God will
comfort us in the joy of our faith.
So we have learned from Christ today that
there is a time given over for private (wilderness) fasting. The Wilderness is
just as much of God as is the Green Pastures. We learn further that the devil
will always come to us in our times of stress and need. We learned that he
loves to cause doubt and question in our hearts. We learned that we are
defenseless before Satan unless we resort to that mighty Sword of the Lord –
His Word. And finally we learned that every time we resist temptation, we grow
stronger – so much so that each succeeding temptation becomes less of
temptation to us, and the devil will tempt us less as a result. How about you,
friends, are you very often tempted, or have you discovered that temptations
come less often when you rebuke the devil to his face with God's Word?
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:
True Holiness
Psalm 50, Isaiah 58, Matthew
6:1-18
First Sunday in Lent
February 17, 2013
One of the wonderful things about having a lectionary
is that it takes us through the Bible every year, and it does so in a way that
combines our daily readings with the readings, prayers and sermons on
Sundays. And this cycle of prayer and worship is purposeful and assures
that we will be led into the great doctrines of the faith, and the great
principles of the Christian life in an orderly and understandable fashion every
year. I promise that if you pray the prayers and read the daily Bible
passages, and attend the worship and the sermons on Sunday, you will grow in
the knowledge of the content, meaning, and application of the Bible. I
also promise that the more years you do this, the deeper your understanding
will grow, and the greater your faith will grow, for faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
There is, of course, a caveat. It must be done
with the intention of seeking and obeying God. It must be done in
faith. In the time of the prophet Isaiah, about 740 B.C., the Jews, who
only enjoyed peace and prosperity because God had delivered their ancestors
from slavery in Egypt, brought them safely into the Promised Land, and
preserved their peace and freedom, had drifted into a casual and mechanical
observance of the Old Testament means of grace. I say their observance
was "casual," because very few of them were serious about knowing or
loving God. They went to "prayers," they read the
Scriptures, they offered the sacrifices, they kept the feast days, and they
even fasted, but their hearts were not in these things. They had become
merely the rituals that identified and unified them as a nation. I say
their observance was "mechanical" because they believed that
observing them guaranteed God would bless them with continued peace and
prosperity. If you put the gear lever of a running automobile in
"Drive" and push the gas pedal, it will move forward. That is
the mechanical view the Jews had of prayer, and worship.
So when their enemies suddenly became powerful enough
to threaten them, they faced a spiritual crisis, as well as a national security
crisis. In their minds, they were the good people. They kept the
ceremonial worship laws of the Old Testament, therefore, God owed them peace
and prosperity. But here were these heathen nations, who never even heard
of the worship laws, rising up against them and threatening to overpower them.
How could God allow that? Hadn't they done everything God expected
of them?
In a word, no. The Psalm for this morning says
God had stopped accepting their sacrifices (Ps. 50:9). Why? Because
they were not offered with the right understanding. They thought they
were feeding God and giving gifts to Him. But God says He already owns
the animals: he does not need to have them sacrificed to Him by the Jews.
If we look at Psalm, 51:17 we see God telling Israel the real sacrifices He
desires are a humble spirit and contrite heart. I am reminded here of
Samuel's words to Saul, "to obey is better than sacrifice." In
other words, God wants our hearts to enthrone Him above all things. Our
hearts, our loving obedience, are the real sacrifices He wants. Devotion
to Him in such a way that we become what Romans 12:1 calls, "living
sacrifices" is the sacrifice that is acceptable unto God. The other
sacrifices are expressions of our living sacrifice, not replacements for it.
In Isaiah 58 God addresses the insincerity of worship
and life that prevailed in the days of Isaiah. He recognises their daily
devotions and national religiousness. "They seek Me daily," He
says, "and delight to know My ways as a nation" (Is. 58:2). But
look what He says in verse 4. "Behold, ye fast for strife and
debate, and to smite with the fist." He is saying they are using their
religion as an offensive weapon. They fast in an effort to get God to
enable them to cheat in business, and to harm people they don't like.
They have attempted to use prayer as a magic spell to cause God to do their
will. Listen, please, this is important. It is a good thing to pray
for the downfall of evil. It is good to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." It is good to ask God to
"beat down Satan under our feet." To do so is a prayer of love,
asking God to deliver all people from oppression, violence and
strife. Let us pray for this every day. But that is not what Israel
was doing here. Israel was praying that God would do evil things to
people for them. Rather than combat evil, they wanted Him to join it,
just on their side.
I doubt anyone hearing or reading this sermon prays
for personal revenge or success in wickedness. I do think there is
another application to this passage of Scripture that could apply to us.
I refer to the practice of doing Christian things, like praying and
reading the Bible, yet not applying ourselves to Christian living. I
refer to hiding from our responsibilities in life by pretending to apply
ourselves to holiness. You have heard the saying that someone is so Heavenly
minded he is no earthly good. I think it is possible to be that way, and
to be so intentionally. There is a story line that has many variations in
details, but always the same point. It tells of a minister who works
diligently on his sermons, studies his Greek and Hebrew, memorises Bible
passages, ensures that he understands every point of doctrine correctly, and
spends hours each day in the Bible. Yet, while doing these good things,
he neglects his church and home, so his congregation and family fall apart.
In other words, his faith has become disconnected from his life. Like the
gurus of some of the other religions, he is trying to retire from life.
Instead of going to a mountain in Tibet, he retires to his study, but the same
principle motivates him and the monk. He fails to love and support his
wife. He fails to guide and teach his children. So they grow
emotionally distant from him, and even angry at him. One day, the
children grow up and leave physically as they left emotionally years
earlier. One day he notices that his wife is just a person who lives in
the same building, as though they were strangers in the same motel. The
spiritual climate of the church declines, because the people are not taught
that doctrine and life are as vitally connected in the Church as oxygen and
blood in the body. And the minister, call him The Reverend Good N.
Tentions, begins to realise he should have spent more time in the family room
and less time in the study, and more time showing the Christian life to his congregation
by example and less time writing scholarly papers about it. In other
words, he should have put more of his faith to use in life.
This story is very flexible. We can take
Reverend Good N. Tentions out and replace him with Mr. I. M. Bossy, a hard
driving supervisor at work who neglects church and family to make more money.
Or Mrs. Sue Per Christian, who is always bragging her prayer life or
arguing about doctrine. Whatever name gets placed in the story, I pray it
will not be yours, or mine.
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy
Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Sermon for First Sunday in Lent
In the Gospel for today we find our Lord being tempted by our adversary
in the wilderness. The Synoptic Gospels have this account in some form with St.
Mark’s account (1:12-13) having the fewest details, while St. Luke’s (4:1-13)
contains the most. St. Matthew’s account falls in between (4:1-11) the others
and is closer in content to St. Luke than to St. Mark. It should be understood
at the outset that each gospel writer was given of the Holy Ghost to record
only those items which they were to inscribe and this accounts for their
variations.
But that has not deterred the various critics of Scripture from pitting
the gospel writers against each other in hopes of convincing as many souls as
they can that God’s word is nothing more than a vague and contradictory
religious text. For if they can win the “conversation” on the origins of
Scripture— that they are nothing but the specious impressions of a group of
closed-minded individuals from long ago— then they can offer other more
“rational” or “appealing” interpretations of the Bible to suit their particular
lifestyle choices and beliefs. Of course, our adversary, the devil, is behind
these so-to-speak “learned scholars” because he is in the business of casting
doubt on God’s word. One need only consider his subtle question to Eve: Yea,
hath God said... (Genesis 3:1).
The Rev. E. M. Bounds offers us a telling description of the devil’s
efforts to tempt different people in different times: “The devil’s assault on
Christ is in striking contrast to his temptation [of] Eve [or that of Job].
Satan cast no suspicion on God’s goodness...He caused no terrific consuming
sorrow as he did [for Job]. Instead, everything was friendly, sympathetic and
inviting.” If the devil is anything, he is slick. He knew that he was dealing
with the only begotten Son of the Father. He likely wanted to see just what the
Son would do now that he was clothed in a mortal body. At what he thought would
be the weakest moment, Satan sought to blemish the Lamb of God and thus prevent
him from serving as that holy and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the
world.
The three temptations of Christ in the wilderness proved to Satan that
he would not be an easy mark. Now let us examine each temptation in turn. Once
again, we will turn to the Rev. E. M. Bounds for his observations on this
subject. Bounds said that the conflict in the wilderness revolved around three
points:
1.
Fleshly
2.
Presumptuous
3.
Worldly.
In the first, Bounds noted that the devil approached our Lord, “with an
air of concern. How innocent is [his] suggestion that Jesus use his power to
relieve his hunger! What could be more permissible than to use his spiritual
power for physical purposes? Whenever faith is used to serve the natural, the
source is always evil...The devil’s main business— to materialize religion, to
get man to live for bread alone, to make earth bigger than heaven, to make time
more intriguing than eternity... It is a struggle between God’s religion and
the devil’s religion.” And our Lord’s response was straight out of the
Scriptures , It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).
In the second temptation, Satan sought a display of godly power. He was
expressing the mean view of unregenerated men who might have said, “I mean, if
you are the Christ why not show me something of your abilities like tempting
God to help you if you cast yourself from a building?” Bounds noted that,
“Satan used all the methods of sensational and abnormal religious practices. He
tempted Jesus to take the shortcut by which the principles of genuine faith are
set aside and superficial substitutes are brought in to make faith more
attractive and popular. Presumption seeks to take man-devised methods, which
are easy, sentimental and material instead of God’s lowly way of godly sorrow,
strict self-denial and prayerful surrender.” God did not intend for Satan to
chalk up an easy victory in the wilderness over his Christ. And God the Son did
not succumb in his mortal flesh for note his reply again from Deuteronomy
(6:16), It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
The third temptation of Christ is the one which every unregenerate
person desiring power would blindly accept. Satan is the god of this world (II
Corinthians 4:4) and he offers its power and pleasures to whom he wills with
one important proviso. Examine St. Luke 4:5-7, And the devil taking him up into
an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of
time. And...said unto him, all this power will I give thee, and the glory of
them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou
wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Bounds said of this temptation, “the world
with its kingdoms and its glory... are the rewards for devotion to Satan and
worship of the devil... How [he had] massed all of his forces! Religion invoked.
The world and the flesh conspired under Satan’s power, to tempt the Son of
God.” But our Lord did not fail. His response was plain, simple and scriptural
(Deuteronomy 6:13), Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. At that moment, Satan
left him and angels came and ministered unto him.
Thankfully, our Lord Jesus Christ overcame the world, the flesh and the
devil, and so this event was set forth within the scriptures for not only our
eternal good, but to give glory to the Godhead because he cannot be triumphed
over by the evil one. The devil sought to impugn the word of God in his
encounters with Eve, and Job. Still, winning against mortals is one thing; but
there has not been, nor ever will there be, a victory by Satan over the
Godhead.
So what should we take away from our gospel lesson today? Since our
Lord is a conqueror, we are as well through faith in his blood. St. Paul
reminds us concerning the temptations we face in this life that, There hath no
temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (I
Corinthians 10:13). The temptations of our Lord highlight the current spiritual
war we are involved in every moment of every hour of every day; and until our
Lord returns for us, his church, we will have to face many trials and
temptations perpetrated by our adversary. What we can count on, as Christians,
is the strong arm of the LORD to sustain us and help us through those times for
as our Lord Jesus said to close the Gospel of St. Matthew, and lo, I am with
you alway, even unto the end of the world(St. Matthew 28:20).
Let us pray,
|
F
|
ATHER God, assist us in this our spiritual
warfare; that we being so guided and governed by the Holy Ghost, will avoid the
temptation and snare of sin and claim that victory which thy Son claimed not
only in the wilderness but at the cross; for this we ask in his name, even
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
[1]
Ash Wednesday - The
first day of Lent;
[2]
Lent - A fast of forty
days, beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing till Easter, observed by some
Christian churches as commemorative of the fast of our Savior. [1913 Webster] a
period of 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday [syn: {Lententide}]
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