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| Faith - Hope - Charity |
Today was Quinquagesima, (explanation of the origin of
the word later in the report), which is the Sunday next before
Lent. Sunrise temperature on Mount
Olympus was a cool 31°F with the bright clear skies found after a cold front
passage. By the time church
started, the temperature had climbed to 37°F, a nice change from Friday’s snow,
though there was still a fair amount of that left. The nice weather brought three people to church.
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.
When Jesus taught us how to pray,
He didn’t say, “If you elect to pray, do it this way…” and when He taught about
fasting, He didn’t say, “If you elect to fast, do it this way…”
He said, when you pray, don’t do it for show like the hypocrites do. It’s a
conversation between you and God. And He gave us the Lord’s Prayer as an
example of what we should pray about:
Address God
“Our Father, who
art…”
Submit to God’s will
“Thy Kingdom
come, thy will be done…”
Ask for your physical needs
“Give us this
day our daily bread…”
Ask for forgiveness
“Forgive us our
trespasses…”
To the degree that you yourself are willing
to forgive…
“As we forgive
our trespassers…”
Ask for help with temptations
“Lead us not
into temptation…”
And preservation from evil
“Deliver us from
evil…”
Recognizing whose world this really is
“For thine is
the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever and ever.”
Similarly, Jesus told us that when we fast (not if) 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.
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers:
special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought
prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in
the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of
Canterbury after the re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be
read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The
Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in
the New Testament. The Gospel is a
reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as
a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in
our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the
service in our church is read by an ordained minister.
The propers are the same each
year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook,
falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White
Season, where it is put off. Red
Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in
red, are special days. Most of the
Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development
of the church, others to special events.
Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be
used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.
The Propers for today are found
on Page 122-124, with the Collect first:
The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the
Sunday next before before Lent.
The
Collect.
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LORD who hast taught us that all our
doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into
our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all
virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this
for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
Dru Arnold read
the Epistle for today, which came from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians,
starting at the First Verse of the Thirteenth Chapter. Paul talks of charity[1],
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I
am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift
of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have
all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing.” Paul goes on to say that
no matter what you do, if in your heart you have not that love for others, it
is all to naught. Our
understanding here on earth is limited, we will never here see the fullness of
God’s plan, yet the part most clear is the love we must have one for another,
to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason other than we
know that is right so to do. Paul
uses the phraseology “through a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting
inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a variation to describe earth as compared to
heaven. He calls the earth The
Shadowlands and says in heaven all is clear and bright, not dark and muddled as
here on earth.
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HOUGH I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become
as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have
all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity
suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself,
is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in
the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth
all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall
fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see
through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then
shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity,
these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Hap Arnold read the Holy Gospel for today which came
from the Gospel of Saint Luke, starting at the Thirty-First Verse of the
Eighteenth Chapter. The Gospel
starts out telling of Jesus’ trying to prepare his disciples for what was to
come, and they could not grasp it: “Then Jesus took unto him the twelve, and
said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written
by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall
be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated,
and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third
day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this
saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.” The Gospel goes on to tell of Jesus’
healing of a blind man near Jericho, “And it came to pass, that as he was come
nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging: and hearing
the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of
Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace:
but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus
stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he
asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord,
that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy
faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him,
glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.”
If you take nothing else from today’s Gospel, take
this – Faith will save you. After
you are saved, you need to act on your faith. The order is clear.
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HEN Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we
go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning
the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the
Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they
shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken. And it came to pass, that as he
was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging: and
hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that
Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold
his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come
near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he
said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy
sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and
followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise
unto God.
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:
… that all our doings without
charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that
most excellent gift of charity …
In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have
not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy
Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity. Webster tells us that Charity is love;
universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love. Properly understood the Love of God,
that perfect love, to which man should aspire. Charity is not giving oodles of
money away to an organization, hoping to make yourself look better, like many
modern “philanthropists”, but it is to help people with the love in your heart
that Christ and God has given us, to enable us to act on His behalf here on
this Earth. We are to be agents of good change, not that of bad, and with
Charity, we will act with love towards one another. If we do not have love in our hearts towards one another,
how can we expect to be able to have any positive change on the world around
us?
Paul tells us no matter our gifts, talents and so
called accomplishments, without the Love of God, we are nothing and have done
nothing. It must be clear to
us that our understanding here on earth is limited, we will never here see the
fullness of God’s plan, yet the part most clear is the love we are to have one
for another, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason
other than we know that is right so to do. It does not matter to us that we will never see the fullness
of His plans, each of us are a small piece of a much bigger plan. We only need
to find our part in the plan,us, and act upon that, again with Charity in our
hearts. When Paul talks about God’s great plans, he uses the phraseology “through
a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a
variation to describe earth as compared to heaven. He calls the earth The Shadowlands and says in heaven all is
clear and bright, not dark and muddled as here on earth. So, here our understanding is limited,
it will not always be so. That will be fulfilled when we pass the Pearly Gates
into heaven, and in order to do that, we have to have faith, and have good
works acted upon with charity. If one of these ingredients are missing, we are
not acting according to what He wants for us. So, we have to believe with all
our heart in God and Christ, and act upon that belief with great Charity.
As they were coming in to Jericho, Jesus told the
disciples of what was to come, yet they could not grasp their leader would
submit to such treatment on their behalf.
He was the Conqueror; in a sense they were right, He was to conquer
death for us, but not the Roman Empire.
As they went along, they encountered the blind man. The blind man who wanted his sight and
knew Jesus had The Power. He cried
unto the Lord and was rebuffed by His People. Did he give up?
No, he cried the more. When
Jesus heard him, he turned and asked what the man wanted. MY SIGHT! No generalizations, no beating about. He asked of Him what he truly wanted. Ask and it shall be given unto
you. The blind man lacked sight,
but not vision. Nor, it might be
added did he lack faith. To some,
the faith he had might seem a blind faith, but it was one that he acted on and
gained what he lacked. Will we
have the faith to act?
True love is Faith, Hope, Charity[2].
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Bishop Ogles’
Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get
copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.
Today is one of those Sundays.
Today’s sermon starts off with the collect, and like always, it will
give you a lot to consider in your heart.
Sermon Notes
Quinquagesima,
or the Sunday next before Lent
10 February
2013, Anno Domini
The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the
Sunday next before before Lent.
The
Collect.
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LORD who hast taught us that all our
doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into
our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all
virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this
for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.
31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and
said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be
accomplished. 32 For he shall be
delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge
him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from
them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
35 And it came to pass, that as he was
come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging:
36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37 And
they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they which went before
rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou
Son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to
be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he
said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee.
43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying
God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. (Luke 18:31-43)
Perhaps, as a Christian, you have believed that you might escape the troubles
and trials of righteous Job and rest at ease in your faith of Christ. Has this
ever been true? No, it has not been true for, if you courageously stand upon
that Rock of your Salvation in both desert and garden, the world will hate and
trouble you. There is no escape unless you are blessed to live in a nation
whose God is, in fact, the Lord and not rhetorically so. Even then, there is
always a gravitational pull downward on the soul of man enticing him to sink to
the gutter of sensual living rather than to rise to the pinnacle of moral
living. If you are the "life of the party" wherever your feet take you,
and always well received by the world, you are not living a Christian life of
victory. The Christian shall see days of greater and greater rejection as the
whole world continues in its spiral into the abyss of darkness. It is not that
the world does not understand, but that the world does not DESIRE to
understand. Evil is multiplying at phenomenal levels in our day. Is it any
wonder that Christ asked the question: "……when
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke
18:8)
Christ KNEW of His coming suffering. He was going up to Jerusalem for His last
earthly visit. Yet He never tarried or demurred from going. Christ was intent
on a perfect obedience to His father, and He knew there could be no forgiveness
without sacrifice. He tells us that we, too, have a cross to bear. It is not a
silver, gold, or ivory cross, but rather a cross made of crude and splintered
timber. That cross has two axes – one vertical pointing from Heaven (God) to
earth (us); and the other horizontal pointing across the plane of all humanity.
In geometry we are told that an axis is a fixed reference in conjunction with
other points which define its direction. The cross has two fixed references: 1)
from a point (God) in Heaven to another point (man) on earth. It illustrates
that God, on the vertical beam, has offered a means whereby fallen man can be
redeemed from the just wrath that his sin entails by the coming down of God the
Son to sacrifice Himself in Love. The horizontal bean illustrates that
sacrificial love (as clearly described in the Epistle today from 1 Corinthians
13) that we who are redeemed must bear for one another in obedience to God. We
have a rude cross to bear and, if it does not weigh upon our shoulders, perhaps
it is because we have not taken it up. If
any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke
9:23)
God
sometimes brings things into our lives which we do not presently understand.
Our understanding may be deferred until such time that we can most profitably
grasp the meaning. 31. Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the
Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For
he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they
shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid
from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. You will
have to admit that this is reasonably clear language, yet His disciples did not
understand. They had witnessed the great power of God at the hands of the only
Begotten Son of God. They had seen the dead restored to life simply at the
sound of His Voice. They had seen sight restored to the blind, the crippled
made to walk, the adulteress forgiven, an issue of blood arrested at the touch
of His garment, the stormy sea made calm at His command, and the wretched
lepers touched by His wholesome hand and cured! How could the Jewish rulers and
Romans commit such a hateful crime on one so full of power? The answer, of
course, is that they COULD NOT! It was God who allowed His only
Begotten Son to be crucified as a willing sacrifice for our redemption. Perhaps
God has also told us things through His Word that we have understood amiss,
yet, in time, we come to a full and precise understanding of the meaning after
God has allowed His Holy Ghost to testify thereof to our hearts.
It
is often God's intention that a temporary curtain be dropped over our eyes as a
gossamer veil so that we only see vaguely until such time as the full picture
is exposed. It is doubtful that Mary, the mother of Jesus, well understood all
that her Son represented and taught. She seemed to be absent from most of His
teachings. She failed, perhaps through remorse, to come to the Garden Tomb with
the other Mary's. Perhaps she would have come had she believed she would see
her Risen Lord! But now, you and I know something that the disciples did not
know when Christ spoke the above words. How will we respond? Your cross is
waiting for you. If you take it up, you, too, will feel the lash of the Roman
(government) sanction against you. You, too, will be spat upon and rejected in
the public square. Do you still desire to bear the cross? Or do you prefer to
carry a pretty rosary (much lighter to bear and far more appealing) to
illustrate your piety?
Do
you remember a time when you were a beggar? Has your memory faded in
remembering that you one day grew into a realization that your baptism and
covenant made for you by your parents must be confirmed in a living faith? Did
you proudly receive that faith as something you deserved, or did you plead with
your Lord for forgiveness and reception? Were you not blind from the past days
of your life until you sat, as a beggar, beside the road awaiting the approach
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you hail to Him without shame – even in a public
place? Did you disregard the nay-sayers who flocked about Him and shout your
appeal for mercy – not vision? Well, my friend, it
is very likely that you, too, were a blind beggar by the dusty roadside of
Christ. You had heard of Him perhaps on your mother's knee. You believed it as
far as you were able, but it did not make complete sense to your youthful mind
that you were made whole through the death of a Messiah. Now you KNOW! Now you
have begun to feel a nagging emptiness in the very chambers of your
heart. How to fill the void? There is only one supply that can fill that
emptiness – the Lord Jesus Christ! And you heard of His approach. You waited
silently until His countenance could be clearly seen, then, you shouted from
the top of your voice, "Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on
me." Those of the modern church who were closest to Christ
attempted to silence you and prevent your coming. After all, you were only a
beggar and unworthy of the company of saints, right? And they which went
before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But your NEED
was far greater than their DOUBT and DISCOURAGEMENT!
The world would always prefer that you not come to Christ! But you could
not hold your peace! but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of
David, have mercy on me. Notice that the MERCY of God is all that we
need to lift the scales from our eyes. His Mercy always precedes His
grace.
Expectantly, you stand waiting, your eyes
closed to the Light of the World! Suddenly, there was a change in the air. The
discordant voices were silent as the Voice of Heaven spoke – what was spoken,
you may not have known, but you felt in your heart that a tremendous experience
was about to be had. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be
brought unto him Did you not know, my dear people, that your appeal for
mercy will bring Christ to a full stop before you. When a man stands still, it
usually means he has quit his journey, but when Christ stands still – whether
on a dusty road leading into Jericho or beneath a sycamore tree into which
Zacchaeus climbed – something miraculous is about to happen. Even the air is
made calm and full of electrifying expectation. If you have appealed to Christ
for mercy, He has stopped to hear your petition! Suddenly, you feel his
servants (perhaps His true ministers) pulling at your arms and bringing you
into a wide place. Though your vision is dark, there is nothing amiss with your
ears for you hear the most majestic and loving voice you have ever imagined
speak to YOU! What wilt thou that I shall do
unto thee? When we first appealed to Christ for mercy and begged
for healing, were we not somewhat taken aback by the power of His Voice?
Perhaps the beggar had hailed many passers-by for succor, and only a few had
ever responded. None had asked that the beggar be brought to them as did this
Man. When He spoke, perhaps His Voice overpowered you in love and power. You
didn't REALLY believe such an important personage would stop and listen to your
grievance, did you? Notice that Jesus did not say, "What wilt thou that I
do FOR you," but, What wilt thou that I
shall do unto thee? If Jesus merely heals our sight, He
has done something FOR us only; but if He makes us into new
creatures through His redeeming power, we have had a change made TO us.
You
eagerly search for a response to this most appealing voice. Finally, you know
that you have His full attention. He has granted mercy already, so you press
forward with a desire that has plagued you all the years that you have sat by
the roadside in the darkness of a bright day: Lord, that I may receive my
sight. Now, you anxiously wait. Have you imposed too much on the great
King to have your request granted? Do you not know that a great King is
complimented by a great request? The great request is recognition of His great
power to grant. And Jesus said unto him, Receive
thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. Notice Jesus granted the
beggars lesser request first – his sight. But the greater favor came as the
best wine came last at Cana of Galilee – SALVATION! Our greatest
miracle from the Lord will always be His forgiveness and reception of us into
His Kingdom!
Now,
good friends, what did you do when Christ healed YOU? Did your
heart immediately break out in praises and joy? Did you immediately follow Him
wheresoever He led? Did your exuberance at your salvation spill over into the
crowd (world) around you? If not, perhaps you still pine away in blindness, for
look at the response of the poor blind beggar: And immediately he
received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when
they saw it, gave praise unto God.
GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE!
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 Quinquagesima
Our world today has much in common with the world from which
Christianity grew. It was a time when only a tiny minority of men possessed
great wealth and power. It was a time of strife between nations, as well as
between nationalities. Prior to the birth of our Lord, there had been the death
of an order of governance— the Roman Republic— and the rise of another— the
Roman Imperium. And though the classical world was dominated by idolatry and
paganism; as the first century A.D. passed into history, it also witnessed the
coming of those heretical sects which divided the Christian faith, creating
confusion and distress within the body of Christ.
Concerning that very thing, St. Paul warned the Ephesian elders to,
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own
selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after
them (Acts 20:28-30).
It has ever been the duty of Christ's shepherds, to contend for the
faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept
in unawares... ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (St. Jude 3b-4). An
important aspect of that duty regards warning fellow Christians about any
person or heretical association that puts forth the name of Christ without
adhering to his teachings.
The Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website has a wealth of
material concerning various cults and New Age religions which are not really
new at all as they were based on Classical Gnosticism. According to Dr. Jesse
Hurlbut, the Gnostics of the first century A.D. "... believed that out of
the supreme God emanated a large number of inferior deities, some beneficent,
other malignant... that [Christ was] one of those `emanations'... and they
interpreted the Scriptures in an allegorical manner, making every statement
mean whatever the interpreter saw fit." In our modern world there are also
religious groups who possess similar beliefs, in particular are the
Universalists and their associated bodies. The editors of CARM have noted that
the Universalists deny the existence of the Trinity, the personage of the Holy
Ghost, the eternal punishment of the wicked, as well as the atoning work of our
Lord on the cross. They also employ Bible tenets without using their intended
meanings as found in Scripture. While claiming the name of Christ, their
principles are framed in the form of, "I want...etc.". In short, it
is the church of "ME". A "ME" church styles its precepts in
terms of the individual, and so they will postulate that, "It is the world
the way I want it; the church the way I want it; relationships the way I want
them; and of course, morality the way I want it."
Now, this sort of belief is older than most might imagine. In fact, it
is older than man himself because it originated with the Devil. In Isaiah
14:12-14, the prophet was given to write, How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations. For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God... I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. This last phrase, I
will be like the most High, was passed on to humanity at the fall in the Garden
of Eden. When Satan entered the serpent and seduced Eve to sin, he lured her in
with these words, Ye shall not die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil (Genesis 3:4b-5). Ever after, God expected mankind to do good because
he had the knowledge of both good and evil. But the desire to be as gods has
been and remains one of the principal motivators which has led men and women to
rebel against the will and wishes of the one true God.
Within the pages of Scriptures, God has set forth the dismal record of
profane man's efforts to create religious paths to suit himself. Consider the
following:
Cain offered God what he wanted God to have as a sacrifice and not what
God desired of Cain to bring before him (Genesis 4:1-7).
The children of Israel had Aaron fashion an idol to satisfy their
fleshly minds (Exodus 32:1-7).
On account of their specious reasoning, Korah and Dathan opposed the
leadership of Moses in spite of the fact that God had expressly called him to
lead the people (Numbers 16:1-3).
The wicked and willful nature of man is exemplified in the Judges 21:25
wherein it was written,... every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Unregenerate men, after having received gifts from God, will
nevertheless turn to their own reasoning in order to justify their ungodly
intentions rather than trusting in God's promises much as Jeroboam did (I Kings
12:26-33).
Foolish humanity has been deceived by the Devil into creating gods for
themselves as if those works of their own hands were somehow superior to the
workings of God (Isaiah 44:8-20).
The false choices of the unregenerate concerning faith and practice
will result in God's wrath being poured out upon them. If our worship does not
follow his commands then we are in danger of becoming castaway (Jeremiah
7:17-20; 9:12-14; 23:25-36; Ezekiel 8:1-18; Daniel 9:13).
Those who would substitute the commandments of men for those of our
righteous and holy God are vain in their imaginations, and will be despoiled
(St. Matthew 15:1-9; Romans 1:21; Colossians 2:8, 18-23).
The foolish nature of unrighteous man is that he has opened himself up
to spiritual deception by the dark forces of evil. In such a state he may use
the name of Christ while denying the true meaning of Christ as the Saviour and
Redeemer kinsman of mankind (I St. John 4:1-14; 5:1-13).
The error of the wicked will eventually become so complete that they
will not entertain the desire to repent when faced with the very wrath of God
(II Thessalonians 2:1-12; Revelation 9:20).
Some may ask, "Do those who are now in such a state possess the
opportunity to repent and turn unto God in the name of Jesus Christ?" Of
course they do. As long as they are in this life, repentance and acceptance are
open to all who have sinned against God's word and commandments. There will
however be a time in the future when their decision will be finalized. Such
will occur when the Antichrist comes with his mark. All who accept it will face
an eternity of torment (Revelation 14:9-11).
So what should all true and faithful Christians do to avoid the church
of "ME"? First of all, one should avoid participation in church
bodies that do not follow the truth of God's word. St. Paul has warned us that
we, Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath
righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with
darkness? (II Corinthians 6:14). The unequal yoke exists because the Devil
isn't interested in simple parity with God. He desires supremacy. And so, the
believer cannot find safety or comfort for his soul among those who reject the
very God who supplies such things. Those who find themselves in fellowship with
an unrighteous religious body ought to forthwith get themselves hence. As the
apostle Paul advised in II Corinthians 6:17, Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and
I will receive you. God is saying to you in very clear language: "GET OUT
NOW!" For each day you remain within that fold, you are likely to fall
prey to further deception and never leave to the detriment of your immortal
soul.
Secondly, beware of false prophets and false teachers who appear to be
righteous but are inwardly ravening wolves (St. Matthew 7:15b). False ministers
are also described as hirelings because they are insincere. When temptation and
trial come, they disappear (St. John 10:12). They have surrendered long ago to
our adversary and will not stand up for the truth of God because they know it
not. The false religions are shepherded by folks such as these who are Satan's
messengers seeking to trap as many unsuspecting souls as they can. As our Lord
called on us to be fishers of men (St. Matthew 4:19), so the evil one has
trained up his agents of deception to ensnare men.
Thirdly, avoid the sins of the flesh (I Corinthians 6:9–10; Ephesians
5:3-7). The apostle Paul noted in Romans 1:32 that those, who knowing the
judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not
only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. So, one does not have
to commit a particular sin to be guilty of it. One need only approve of those
who do commit the same. God will judge your agreement or tolerance of evil as
an acceptance of evil.
Fourthly, put on the whole armor of God and stand ready for battle
against the forces of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18). Whether you want to believe
it or not, we are involved in a great spiritual war, and we all have to choose
a side. If you choose to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will face
persecution and tribulation; but you will triumph with our Lord at his coming
and receive the gift of everlasting life in his kingdom. If you reject his free
gift of salvation, you will, by default, wind up in the camp of the Devil and
be lost to perdition forever. Donning the whole armor of God will protect you
in this fight. There is no surrender, no negotiation, no discussion, and no
pity on those who have chosen poorly. You cannot placate God, and you certainly
cannot placate the Devil except to purchase a momentary pleasure, which will
result in an eternity of heartache and misery (Revelation 20:11-15).
Finally, we must attempt to rescue those who have fallen into pit of
false religion by contending for the faith through our witness on behalf of our
Lord (St. Jude 3); by praying for and beseeching God to give them repentance
that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken
captive by him at his will (II St. Timothy 2:26). We ought, as God gives us
leave, to reach into the very fire and pull as many out as we are able (St.
Jude 22-23). We must ask God for the protection of the Holy Ghost in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for only by being filled with the Spirit of God can
we do those things which he would have us do in his harvest.
The day of Christ is at hand and we need to be instant in season, out
of season. We need to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine
(II St. Timothy 4:2). So be in prayer and read your bibles. Do not hesitate to
ask of God for assistance. We have friends and loved-ones who are in danger and
need to be warned. We cannot quit now regardless of how late the day is for
only the Father knows the day and the hour of our Lord's return. We should not
be about condemnation but about reclamation. Yes, we must warn the unregenerate
about the terror of the Lord, but the central message to them ought to be about
being made right with God and following his path to eternity. Therefore, be
Bereans (Acts 17:10-11); be watchful (St. Luke 21:36); be ready (St. Matthew
24:44); and be armored (Ephesians 6:10). If we will keep the commandments of
our Lord, we will be blessed in all our works, and we will stand a much better
chance of winning the lost back from the fire. May our blessed God preserve
each of you for ever.
Let us pray,
|
H
|
OLY Father, pour upon us thy most holy Spirit,
that being so filled we will fight the good fight of faith and help rescue those
who have been ensnared by the false religions which Satan has established to
cloud men's minds; for this we ask in the name of thine only begotten Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
[1]
Charity - Love;
universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love. Properly understood the Love of God,
that perfect love, to which man should aspire. [1913 Webster]
[2]
The three Gloster
Gladiator fighters Faith, Hope and Charity defended Malta against the Italian Air Force during the
early part of the siege of Malta in World War II. Legend has it that all three persisted and of the three, Charity never failed.
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