Today we celebrated the Seventh
Sunday after Trinity Sunday.
On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson,
but overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has some great ones to share.
On to the On Point quotes –
On
marriage
Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I’m
afraid even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years
later, when they were grown up they were so used to quarrelling and making it
up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently.
Jack
Lewis
The Horse and His Boy
For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear
not; I will help thee.
Isaiah
41:13
The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly,
even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness
and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick
darkness.
Zephaniah
1:14-15
And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive.
St.
Matthew 21:22
...Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
St.
Mark 14:61-62
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among
you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think
soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Romans
12:3
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians
5:15-16
Our time is a talent given us by God for some good end, and it is
misspent and lost when it is not employed according to his design.
Matthew
Henry
17th and 18th century
English pastor and author
True religion is heart-work. We may wash the outside of the cup and the
platter as long as we please, but if the inward parts be filthy, we are filthy
altogether in the sight of God...
Charles
H. Spurgeon
19th century English Baptist
pastor and author
(Morning and Evening, p. 373)
Tell me not that you have been baptized, and taught the Catechism of
the Church of England, and therefore must be a child of God. I tell you that the
parish register is not the book of life.
JC
Ryle
19th Anglican bishop and author
(Are You Ready For The End Of Time, p.
173)
Governments produce nothing, so governments must live off of the
producers. It is the nature of governments to grow bigger and bigger and
consume more and more of the national wealth. Do you see this happening? At
some point, government... finally consumes more than the people can produce. So
then, modern bankruptcy of national governments is... the over-consumption of
the national wealth.
Bob
Livingston
20th and 21st century
American conservative commentator
(Can The U.S. Go Bankrupt?, Personal
Liberty Digest, 7-28-14)
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and
bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in
government.
Thomas
Jefferson
American patriot and president
If there is any risk or threat during or after a serious catastrophe or
collapse from some faceless Them, it comes from where you’d expect it to: those
prepared, organized and operating under the color of authority, but using that
last for their own selfish ends... [T]he minute The Man decides that the
correct course of action is to take an interest in what you and your
community... are up to, and what resources you possess, rather than working to
coordinate the success of communities everywhere while leaving them largely
alone to sort out local problems, rest assured that your primary target has
probably just pulled into view. Any enforced socialism, at that point, shall be
a hanging offense.
The Raconteur Report
(Mutant Zombie Bikers
“Aesop”
on www.raconteurreport.blogspot.com , 7-23-14)
A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot
survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he
is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those
within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the galleys,
heard in the very hall of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor—he
speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and wears their face and their
garment, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all
men. He rots the soul of a nation—he works secretly and unknown in the night to
undermine the pillars of a city—he infects the body politic so that it can no
longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared.
Marcus
Tullius Cicero
1st century BC Roman statesman
Ultimately, the money system is based entirely on magic because it is
not real and people around the world are just beginning to figure this out. But
by the time they do the Illuminati banking and financial institutions plan to
confiscate the wealth of the middle class through a... “manufactured crisis.”
Saul Alinsky, who dedicated his book Rules for Radicals to Lucifer,
coined the phrase “never let a good crisis go to waste.” This is the reason that America and the
world is in a continual state of crisis. Every institution is in crisis because
every institution is being radically transformed to bring about this Utopian
vision of a totally controlled society represented by the pyramid structure
which is based on the Egyptian Pharaoh god-king model.
Paul
McGuire
20th nd 21st century
American commentator, film producer and author
(Illuminati Music Videos: Satanism,
Crowley and Neurological Warfare, 10-29-13)
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 198-199, with the Collect first:
The
Seventh Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things;
Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish
us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
The
Epistle came from the Sixth Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans
beginning at the Nineteenth Verse. Paul reminds us when we strive above all
else for the things of this world, we gain nothing we can take with us to the
next. “For, when ye were the
servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” Conversely, if we will be servants of God (righteousness) we
can be free from the devil sin).
“… the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. If
we will follow God, we will live, not only forever in the next world, but
better in this world. We must put
aside what we did and do what He would have us do. Actions are the key to everything. Talk is nice.
Action is what counts.
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SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of
your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free
from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from
sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Today Holy Gospel was written in
the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Mark beginning at the First
Verse. Jesus had been in the wilderness teaching a multitude, some four
thousand in number. In those
pre-restaurant on every corner days, the people had been without food and were
hungry. Jesus was concerned and
inventoried their supplies, seven loaves and a few small fishes. He gave thanks to God, and commanded the
food to be set out before the people.
When they had eaten their fill, the scraps gathered up from the seven
loaves filled seven baskets.
Many speculated over the years as
to just how He did it. The answer
is simple, He did it. He did not
talk about feeding the multitude and sit down to His own meal. He acted and they were fed. Does this story recall the words from
the Last Supper used in Holy Communion at the Consecration? “he took Bread; and
when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying,
Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of
me.” Those few words produced The
Word, which has satisfied so many over millenniums.
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N those days the multitude being very great, and
having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto
them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me
three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their
own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And
his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread
here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they
said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took
the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set
before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small
fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did
eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven
baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them
away.
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 Law –Then and Now
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
Saint Andrew’s
Anglican Orthodox Church
3 August 2014, Anno Domini
The
Seventh Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things;
Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish
us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Collect for today
rightly acknowledges that the Lord is the “Author and Giver of all good things”
– including LOVE. The prayer appeals for a grafting into our hearts a love for
of “Thy Name” as well as a natural practice of “true religion” – not that false
and apostate religion that passes for Christianity in most mainline churches.
The term ‘Graft’ is used because love of God and true religion do not naturally
exist in our hearts, but must be imparted by Grace, through faith, by Him who
is an Author of Love and the Finisher of our faith. Whatever good is imparted
to our hearts must be constantly nourished by His Word and Love.
The Gospel
for Holy Communion for this Sunday:
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N those days the multitude being very great, and
having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto
them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they
have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them
away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of
them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a
man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he
commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves,
and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and
they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he
blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were
filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And
they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away. (Mark 8:1-9)
The text from mark today follows in every important detail the same event
described in the Gospel of St. Matthew, Chap 15, verses 29-39. Each Gospel
sheds a variant of beauty to the occasion. The setting is both serene and
majestic – a mountain overlooking the pristine waters of Galilee. The crowds
have flocked to hear Jesus, far more hungry for the Word of God than for the
physical bread required to nourish their own bodies. The miracle of Jesus in
feeding so many souls from meager crumbs is preview for that Last supper which
He served the night of His betrayal. It is to be observed that these thousands
of soul-hungry souls represent our own souls if we have thirsted for that
matchless grace and love of Christ. This is the second such miraculous feeding
of the multitudes. In this act are represented two perspectives: 1) that of the
crowd (you and me); and 2) the perspective of our Lord in dealing with the
multitudes.
Though I have preached from this text many times, the Word of God lends itself
to variant colors of brilliant light when held up to the sun, as a diamond with
many facets, and turned about to view those complementary colors of stark gold,
blue, green, and blue – each represented a single component of that white light
of the Sun of Righteousness.
Let us
first observe the nature of the MULTITUDES that followed Christ:
1. The hunger was great in those days to hear the Word: “In those
days the multitude being very great.” Why is it not so in our own day?
Those attending churches that adhere to the Word of God have dwindled
significantly due to the self-righteous nature of modern man. They come in
dozens to worship in true reverence today rather than by the thousands in those
days in which travel was difficult.
2.
These thousands did not come to
satisfy the physical, but spiritual, senses: “they
have now been with me three days.” It is a great accomplishment
in our day to hear a minister preach longer than 20 or 25 minutes, but an even
greater accomplishment to witness worshippers willing to sit through a sermon
that is as long as the Holy Ghost would have it to be. These multitudes came to
hear the Word until it was finished being spoken. They did not mind their
physical needs during the preaching of the Word.
3.
Their sustenance was not
physical, but spiritual: “have nothing to eat.”
There is no record of any glances often at their watches, or running to and fro
for water or other nourishment. They were fixed on the Lord, and nothing else
mattered in their hearts.
4.
Though they were actually
famished for bread, they had not murmured or complained of it: “. . if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they
will faint by the way.” The soul is always satisfied when coming
into the Presence of the Lord, but faints in His absence. In our partaking of
the Supper of the Lord, do our hearts not burn in our breast when the meaning
of the elements of Bread and Wine are contemplated?
5.
Many of the multitudes did not
take a casual stroll to hear Jesus. Most had traveled from far villages and
lands to hear the Words of Jesus. How far, friend, did you travel to hear this
Word, and how far are you willing to travel if necessary? “. . for divers of them came from far.” How far will we go in questioning the power
of God? “From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the
wilderness?” A mere man cannot satisfy, but a man who is the Son
of God can, indeed, feed all who are hungry.
6.
The multitudes came not only to
hear the Word, but to obey it as well: “. . he commanded the people to
sit down on the ground.” They obeyed not even knowing what to expect
later. Is our own obedience so prompt and unquestioning? After standing to hear
the Gospel for three days, why would they now sit upon the ground? They didn’t
know the reason, but they obeyed any way.
7.
The multitudes were filled both
spiritually and, now, physically, at the hearing of the Word. “So they
did eat, and were filled.” We are always filled when it is the Lord
that feeds us: “I am the bread of life: he
that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never
thirst.” (John 6:35) I will add
that the Bread which came down from Heaven is also the Word (from beginning to
end). (John
1:1) Do we hunger and thirst for
that Bread (Word) daily, or do we presume ourselves well-fed upon the bread of
our own unworthiness?
,
Today we live in abject luxury and opulence compared to the people of
Jesus’ day, yet we have no time to drive a few minutes to Church on the Lord’s
Day, or to take 15 minutes only from our leisure to read into the depths of the
Sea of God’s Word. Shameful! We need not traverse desert and mountain to hear
Christ – His Word is conveniently at our finger tips. We cannot even sit
patiently in worship until the Holy Spirit has spoken His Word to us. We are a
people in a hurry to go nowhere. We dare not deprive our souls of any desire compared
to our duties to God. We ask for short, simple sermons, fast food style worship
services, and a prompt release to go about our worldly pursuits. We are not
like those people who hungered for the Word of god, traveled great distances by
foot to hear it, lingered for three days without food, and left filled with
both the Bread of Heaven and the bread of sustenance. Those who came at
personal effort went away filled, and so will we if we approach worship in the
right disposition of mind, body, and soul.
We will now examine the manner in which our Lord viewed the multitudes:
1. Jesus recognized the need of the multitudes. He not only resolves to
satisfy their needs, but also allows his disciples (you and I) to assist in
satisfying His works of Mercy and compassion: “In those days the
multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his
disciples unto him.” Jesus takes note of our personal needs, and points
out to us the needs of others.
2.
Jesus has COMPASSION on those
who have grave needs. Compassion is not sympathy only, but the kind of sympathy
that evokes ACTION to satisfy. Compassion means to feel the pain of the
sufferer as that one one’s own pain, and to take action to remedy the need or
pain. Jesus ALWAYS had compassion on the sick, the crippled, the blind and
deaf. And He demonstrated His greatest compassion for the sinner in His last
act of mercy at Calvary in dying in our stead. “. . . because they have now been with me three days, and have
nothing to eat: And if I send them away
fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them
came from far.”
3.
Jesus asks us to serve Him with
whatever resources we have, and those resources will always be enough. “And
he asked them, How many loaves have ye?”
Truly, there were scarce resources, in the eyes of man, to suffice; but God
needs only our small resources combined with a mighty faith in Him. “…And
they said, Seven.”
4.
“6 And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he
took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to
set before them; and they did set them before the people.” Jesus asks us to rest in Him when He works because it is only by His
works, and not our own, that we are benefitted. Moreover, though He was God in
the flesh, He still gave thanks to His Father for every blessing. He also
allows His people to participate in serving others the Bread of Heaven and of
life. He allows His ministers to serve as servants to the people. Jesus not
only used the small supply of bread, but added variety to the feast by multiply
the few small fish that were there. “7 And
they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also
before them.”
5.
Jesus ALWAYS provides a full
meal. “8 So they did eat, and were filled:” All of the thousands present were filled
and satisfied. Numbers matter not to the Lord, it is abiding faith that He
expects of us.
6.
Jesus does not desire that we
waste aught of any blessings He showers upon us. “and they took up of the
broken meat that was left seven baskets.” They did not leave the scraps
in the field, but took up all that remained and, interestingly, that which
remained was many times the amount with which they began. God takes the meager
mites of the widow woman and multiplies those thousands and millions of times.
7.
It would be such a joy to fest
with the Lord always, but there is also a component of service that must be
satisfied by the disciple. Not only are we fed, we must seek others to be fed
as well. “9 And they that had eaten were about
four thousand: and he sent them away.” We must leave the mountain of our daily feats and go into the
valleys and meadows to spread the good news of the mercy and grace of the Lord.
Were we not
present in that mountainside multitude to be fed by the Lord? Have not the
multitudes of Christians since that time fed of the same Bread and drank of the
same Cup? Have we become more like that Bread of Heaven by consuming it through
God’s Word….so much so that we, too, have compassion on the multitudes and are
moved to take action? These are questions no other man can answer for us. It is
directed to the heart of every Christian.
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:
That Form of Doctrine
Romans 6:17
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
August 3, 2014
But God
be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart
that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (Romans 6:17)
That “form of doctrine.” We tend to think of doctrine as the
intellectual study of the Bible by which we reduce it to dry, and, often,
meaningless statements that are completely irrelevant to real faith or
Christian life. Ministers are especially susceptible to doctrine. We talk
about the doctrine of the Church or the doctrine of salvation. We usually
give them Greek or Latin names, like ecclesiology and soteriology, because that
makes us sound very scholarly and erudite. I am teasing ministers a
little, but I also agree that the systematic study of Scripture is absolutely
necessary to rightly understand the Bible. And we are deeply indebted to those
who have given their lives to this work. Bishop J. C. Ryle was one of
these people, and I heartily commend his books, Knots Untied, Old Paths, and
Practical Religion. These three volumes are a set, a systematic
study of Biblical teaching, and they will help anyone understand the Bible
better. Knots Untied, for example, discusses the doctrines of salvation,
baptism, regeneration, and the Lord’s Supper, to name only a few. Old
Paths looks at the inspiration of the Bible, the soul, and the
atonement. These are great elucidations on great Biblical themes, but, in
my opinion, Practical Religion is the magnum opus of the three
books, and that is because it is about how the doctrines explained in the first
two books apply to daily Christian living. Other writers usually make a
distinction between what the Bible teaches about Christian belief and what the Bible
teaches about how Christians live. They call the teaching about belief,
Doctrinal Theology, and teaching about Christian living Practical
Theology. But Bishop Ryle includes both in this three-volume set. Here,
alongside chapters on the atonement, we find chapters devoted to things like
prayer, reading the Bible, charity, why and how to receive Holy
Communion, and the family of God. These things belong in theology books,
too.
This brings me back to the word, “doctrine.” The Greek word for it is didach, didache, from which we get our English word, “didactic.”
Didache refers to the entire body of Apostolic teaching. It includes
things like the being and nature of God, the Trinity, and the Atonement, which
we normally call Doctrinal Theology. It also includes the things we call
Practical Theology, like the way we worship, the way we dress, and the way we
treat one another. Another word to describe the Apostolic body of belief
and practice is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, which says, “Therefore brethren,
stand fast, hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or
our epistle.” Tradition. The entire body of Apostolic
teaching. That is what Romans 6:17 means when it uses the word,
“doctrine.”
Romans 6:17 also talks about the “form of doctrine.” The Greek word is tuptos, which isn’t a very pleasing sound to my ears. In fact, I
think it sounds kind of ugly. But its meaning is very noble and very
beautiful, and it tells us what the Apostolic doctrine does for us. The
word carries the meaning of an example, a pattern, a model. When Acts
7:44 says God had Moses make the tabernacle in the wilderness “according to the
fashion that he had seen,” that word translated fashion is tuptos. When
Hebrews 8:5 saying God told Moses to “make all things according to the pattern
shewed to thee on the mount,” the word translated, “pattern” is tuptos.
So the Apostles’ doctrine is a pattern for our thoughts and lives. It is
an example given to us to copy, to emulate, to aspire to.
Tuptos can also refer to a mold. When the Apostle Paul wrote the book of
Romans around 58 A.D. Rome dominated the Western Hemisphere and much of the
Eastern Hemisphere. The Romans were great builders, and they were masters
of making concrete. We all know concrete has to be poured into a mold to
make anything useful, and we call these molds, “forms.” I imagine
Paul had this in mind when he wrote to the Romans about the “form” of
doctrine. I think the Romans reading his words, would naturally think of
mixing the ingredients to make concrete, and pouring the new substance into
forms, and making buildings and walls and patios and walkways. I think
this is also a good illustration of what Paul is saying the Apostolic doctrine
does in the life of a Christian. It is by means of this doctrine, the
teachings found in the Bible, that God mixes spiritual ingredients into our
souls and pours us into a form. The doctrine shapes us. That’s the
point. Pour yourself into the Bible. Let it form faith and hope and wholeness
in your soul.
Romans 6:17 goes on to say, “ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you.” Obedience, as used here is not the
forced obedience of slavery. It is the commitment of a person who is
becoming a follower of a way of thinking and living. It is embracing a
way of life. It is devoting your life to something, and allowing it to
form you into its image. We can easily see how this relates to the
Apostolic doctrine. We become followers of it. We devote ourselves to
it. We embrace it as the core and meaning and purpose of our lives.
The Apostles themselves are wonderful examples of this. When Jesus said
to Simon and Andrew, “Follow Me,” the Bible says they “left their nets and
followed Him.” When Christ called James and John, they left the ship and
their father, and followed Him.” The beautiful words of Ruth to Naomi express
this commitment well. She said:
Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I
die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought
but death part thee and me.”
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained
in the forewords above.
Consider the words from the Collect, … author
and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name,
increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great
mercy keep us in the same (that is to say keep us in goodness)…
To get anywhere, we must acknowledge in our hearts
that all good is of and comes from God.
Once we acknowledge that, we are in a position to ask God to put in to
our hearts love of Him and all that is His. This will help us to appreciate and act in goodness. Without His love our efforts will
ultimately be of no avail. We cannot do anything with out His help, and with
it, it will be easier. There will be times where we fail, but if we turn back
to Him, then we shall succeed. I
find personally when I turn to Him nowadays for help with stuff, that I do far
better than if I do not. When I
pray for something that I truly need, I find that He answers. I just have to
listen to what He says.
So,
pretty clearly we need to be of God.
Thus, when Paul wrote to the people of Rome, he was writing to all of
us; for there truly is nothing new in the world. Before we are of God, we are of this world. Our life is here, our end is here. Once we are of God, then we are merely
sojourners here; our life is not really here and certainly does not end
here. The only way to be of God is
through God, that is His Son, our Lord. “I am the way, the truth, the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me” (John 14:6, KJV.) Jesus himself clearly says the
only way to be of God is through Him. Nobody comes unto God but by Christ. What
does that mean for those of other faiths? Nobody knows but Christ, what
provision – if any – He has made for those who chose not to follow Him here on
earth for whatever reason. We do
know He always means what He says and no one comes unto the Father (gets into
heaven) except through Him. That
is clear, beyond any misconstruing.
He is the only way, so why not follow the proven way to God and
salvation?
If we will follow God, we will
live, not only forever in the next world, but better in this world, starting
right now, not just after we our earthly time is gone. We must put aside what we did and do
what He would have us do. Actions are
the key to everything. Talk is
nice. Action is what counts. We
have to act upon our beliefs, which can be very hard sometimes but must be
done. I struggle with this myself, but I find that returning to God helps with
this, and He cleans the slate, so I can try again anew. This is always a very comforting
thought, that God will always accept you, if you repent and do your best not to
make that same error again.
Saint Mark tells us of action. Jesus
had been in the wilderness teaching a multitude, some four thousand in
number. In those pre-restaurant on
every corner days, the people had been without food and were hungry. Jesus was concerned and inventoried
their supplies, seven loaves and a few small fishes. He gave thanks to God, and commanded the food to be set out
before the people. When they had
eaten their fill, the scraps gathered up from the seven loaves filled seven
baskets.
Many speculated over the years as
to just how He did it. The answer
is simple; He did it. He did not
talk about feeding the multitude and then sit down to His own meal. He acted and they were fed. The clear
moral of this story is that He acted, not just talked, but he actually acted
and fed the people. That is a model we should follow, not just talk but act as
well. Does this story recall the
words from the Last Supper used in Holy Communion at the Consecration? “he took
Bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples,
saying, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in
remembrance of me.” Those few
words produced The Word, which has satisfied so many over millenniums. It does not take a lot of words to
satisfy us, but they have to be the right ones, which come from Our Lord.
Heaven is at the end of an
uphill trail. The easy downhill
trail does not lead to the summit.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Roy Morales-Kuhn,
Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC
parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the
Epiphany.
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
3 August 2014
Epistle-Romans: 6: 19 – 23 Gospel: Mark 8: 1-9
The
Collect.
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ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things;
Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish
us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.
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SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of
your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free
from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from
sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans: 6: 19 – 23)
When St. Paul wrote this letter
to the Romans he was reaching an audience that was mostly under civil law; the
law of Rome. If you take the time
to read some of the collected laws that would eventually be codified under the
Emperor Justinian, you will see many familiar concepts we still use today as
our civic law or common law.
Paul was reaching into spiritual area of the law as codified by God
handed down to Moses. The
concept of what happens to all who sin and who fall short of the glory of God
would be the spiritual thrust of Paul’s message to the Romans. It is interesting that in the
verses that proceed our reading today deal with the idea of being a slave. He was showing the Romans or all others
outside of Judaic law that they were slaves, if not to righteousness then to
sin. V. 16. “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness?”
St. Paul writes this in no
uncertain terms. You are either
for or against sin. You can not
have it both ways. Being human we
give ourselves over to sin, it is our nature, we were born into sin. Paul exhorts us to leave that
state and be free. He writes
that when you follow God’s Word that leads to salvation, through his Son
Jesus, ...v.18 “Being then made free from sin, ye became the
servants of righteousness.”
Again, St. Paul gives us the
contrast of the two human states.
In verses 20 & 21 we
read; “ For when ye were the
servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? for the end of those things is death.”
So in ‘no hard to understand
terms’ Paul writes out the results of our past life, a life without hope, a
life in sin, a life ending in spiritual death. Now he doesn’t leave us hanging, he always
gives us hope, the same hope he found on the road to Damascus.
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have
your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. (V. 22)
What a wonderful alternative to
death.
Then, just in case we didn’t get
the idea the first time around, Paul reiterates the concept in the last verse
of this chapter, a well known one from our Sunday School days; ....For the wages of sin is death; but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
In this short reading from the
letter to the Romans, we get the whole story in short. You will be a slave to something,
either a slave to sin or a slave to God. We must understand that even though we abhor the
concept of slavery, the realization that spiritual slavery does exist we need
to make that choice as to which master we will serve. You might like to think of it as spiritual servant-hood, a
concept that we must serve ONE master.
As Joshua once told the Children
of Israel, they could serve whom every they wanted if they felt serving the
Lord was undesirable. He
wrote...
“But as for me and my household, we will
serve the Lord.”
We also must make that choice
today, to whom will we serve, to whom will we be a slave?
Let us pray.
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ORD of all power and might, Who art the author and giver of all
good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, Increase in us true
religion, Nourish us with all goodness, And of thy great mercy keep us in the
same; Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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ALMIGHTY God, Who
alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; Grant unto thy
people, That they may love the thing which thou commandest, And desire that
which thou dost promise; That so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the
world, Our hearts may surely there be fixed, Where true joys are to be found;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us bring our gifts before the
Lord:
Jesus said unto them, The harvest
truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. (St. Luke 10: 2).
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ALMIGHTY Lord, and
everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern,
both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy
commandments; that, through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we
may be pre served in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
✟
Rev Rick Reid of
Saint Peter’s Sunday Sermon
We are happy to have a
sermon from Reverend Rick Reid, minister of Saint Peter’s, whose congregation
is right at the Worldwide Headquarters of the Anglican Orthodox Church. Rev Rick has all the resources and
challenges right at hand. I think
you will enjoy it very much.
Life is Full of Choices Romans
6: 16-23
I SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your
flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to
iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free
from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from
sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Every day of our lives we make choices:
· What to wear;
· What to eat;
· With whom we associate;
· What classes to take;
· What college to attend;
· Etc. etc. etc, as the King of Siam would say.
There is one
choice unlike all those other choices we make in life; there is one choice that
is a life or death decision.
In his
letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul tells us we all have a master. We must
choose whom we will serve. While
we were under the Law, sin was our master and we all remember that The wages of Sin is Death! (Romans 6.23)
Or, we can
choose to serve Jesus Christ, whose gift to us is everlasting life. But, to attain everlasting life, we must
become new men and pattern ourselves and our lives after our master. The law could not justify us or help us
overcome sin. So, God sent His Son
so that through Him, we might be saved. Remember; For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be
saved. (John 3.17)
What we must
understand is without Jesus there is no choice, we are condemned to be slaves
to our sin.
If we choose
not to follow Him there is guilt, suffering, separation from God, and
eventually death. But thanks to Jesus, and what He did on the Cross, along with
God’s Grace, we have a choice; we can choose Him as our Master.
Jesus told
us: 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love
the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. (Matthew
6.24)
There is no neutral
position, we all need to make this very important life or death decision to
choose a master: God or sin.
Choosing Jesus does not mean
we will never sin, but when we choose Jesus as our Master, Paul says: 18 Being then made free
from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6.18)
Following Him, we move from
darkness into the light. St. Paul
then says: 22"But now being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting
life." This means by choosing to serve the
Lord you now belong to Him and are on the narrow road to receive His
righteousness before the Father, and the gift of eternal life.
This gift is not something to be earned or paid for; gift is paid for
by the recipient. The best way to receive any gift is with gratitude and
thanksgiving. Our salvation is a gift of God, and not something of our own
doing. We are saved because of God’s mercy and Grace, and not because of our
kind hearts or good works. If that were true there would have been no need to
send his only Son to die on the cross in our place.
23 For the wages of sin is death;
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Those who
are slaves to sin will ultimately receive the wages of sin, which is death.
Serving God is not a
burden, but a high privilege to "become servants or slaves to God."
Paul called himself, though an apostle, a "slave of Jesus Christ" as
did James, Peter, Jude, and John.
It’s comforting
to know we are in such great company, and we are certainly no better than they,
to say the least. We also need to recognize if we are genuine Christians, we
are slaves of Christ.
Since "ye are bought with a price; be not ye
the servants of men" as Paul told the Corinthians, much less
"slaves of sin," but of Christ. 1st Corinthians 7:23
We belong to
Him, having been "bought with a price"; we owe Him full obedience.
We would all
do well to remember Joshua’s words: And if it seem evil unto
you to serve the Lord, choose you this day
whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on
the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye
dwell: but as for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
The choice
is yours. Amen
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Seventh Sunday after Trinity
As Christians, we know from our study of the scriptures that God has
called on all men to receive his free gift of grace (see St. John 3:16). We also know that those who choose to reject
his gift of grace are, ...condemned already because [they] hath not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God (St. John 3:18). And further, while we know that God is love beyond our understanding
of that word (I
St. John 4:8); he is also holy,
just and righteous. And because he is these things, he expects humanity to be
likewise. When God told Abraham, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be
thou perfect
(Genesis 17:1), he was setting
forth the standard by which all would be judged of him.
Yet being perfect is not something that mankind has the capacity to do
under the best of conditions unaided by the Holy Ghost. So we should not be
surprised that there is absolutely no hope of pleasing God without a new
nature— without being born again. There is but one way to receive God’s free
gift of salvation, and that is to believe on the name of Jesus Christ as your
Saviour and live in accordance with his word and commandment. If we are living
in disobedience then we will suffer the wrath of God. The apostle Paul warned
of God’s wrath in several of his letters.
In our epistle for today St. Paul warned that, the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is
manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them (Romans 1:18-19).
To the church at Ephesus he wrote: For this ye know, that no
whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with
vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience. Be not ye partakers with them (5:5-7).
St. Paul also admonished the Colossians to, Mortify therefore your
members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate
affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: for which
things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience (3:5-6).
And in his first letter to the Thessalonians, the apostle penned the
following words of comfort: For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ (5:9).
The first three passages tell us in no uncertain terms of God’s coming
judgment as he has promised to punish the wicked, not for their ignorance of
him, but on account of their knowledge of him; while in the last one, God will
preserve and save all who are his in Jesus Christ from his wrath to come.
Consider the following hypothetical situation.
Imagine, if you will, that there is a raging fire approaching your
town; and while it is some distance away, you can see a smoke cloud rising over
its location. So being a good citizen, you pick up the phone and call the local
fire department. After looking at the smoke cloud, the fire chief says, “Well,
that could be anything from a farmer burning off a field to another citizen
burning some trash. We’ll just wait and see.”
Hours later, you see the cloud drawing closer and you notice that it
has expanded, so you take a few pictures of it to show the chief and the town
council. They look over the images you took and, without going to see for
themselves, they simply take the fire chief’s advice, “Old so-in-so here is
just a wee bit excited and overly anxious. It is not a threat. It won’t come
this way.” None of them seem interested in taking the time to go and look, nor
do they see the danger as reflected in the images you supplied.
Of course, the fire is drawing nearer by the minute. You press them to
take action, but they treat you as an alarmist. Needless to say, the fire will
continue to spread, eventually reaching the town. To rephrase the noted Spanish
philosopher, George Santayana, “People never believe in wildfires until the
flames actually overtake them.” The public officials knew there was a fire.
They knew because anyone can look at a smoke cloud and reason that, “where
there is smoke, there is flame”. They could see from the pictures that there
was a fire and that it was pretty large in size. Though they were not ignorant
of the fire, they were, however, influenced by a powerful figure to ignore its
potential harm.
Our hypothetical illustrates a fatal flaw in man’s character regarding
his “so- to-speak” ignorance of sin as well as his seeming inability to
recognize its principal agent. That is where Satan and his messengers come in.
They have sought over the millennia to deceive as many souls as they can by
fostering within them a state of denial concerning the truth of God’s word written.
In the Old Testament, the Devil convinced the majority of people in Israel to
reject the word of the prophets; while in the New Testament, he managed to turn
many of the Jews against the words and works of our Lord at his first advent,
as well as the ministry of the word since his ascension.
But no man can truly plead ignorance of God’s presence much as the town
council in our hypothetical situation could not plead such with regard to the
approaching wildfire. Again, the apostle Paul reminds us, For the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they
are without excuse (Romans1:20). God says
that by virtue of his creation, humanity can see his handiwork which has been
affirmed by the variety and complexity of the things that are before them. As
the noted British scientist, Lord Kelvin once opined, “Mathematics and dynamics
fail us when we contemplate the earth, fitted for life but lifeless, and try to
imagine the commencement of life upon it. This certainly did not take place by
any action of chemistry, or electricity, or crystalline grouping of molecules
under the influence of force, or by any possible kind of fortuitous concourse of
atoms. We must pause, face to face with the mystery and miracle of creation of
living creatures.”
And yet, in the face of all that God has done in nature, the
unregenerate block such from their thoughts, and why? Sir Arthur Keith
explained: “Evolution is unproved and unprovable. We believe it because the
only alternative is special creation which is unthinkable.” And Julian Huxley
once said: “I suppose the reason we leaped at The Origin of Species was because
the idea of God interfered with our sexual mores.” Notice the key words in each
quotation regarding rejection of godly understanding: that it was,
“unthinkable,” and that it, “interfered.”
Every sinner would rather not think about the existence of God
especially when he or she is living in disobedience to his expressed word and
commandment. Does the adulterer contemplate God’s wrath while in the act of
adultery? Does the murderer remember the commandment of God, Thou shalt not kill?
Does the burglar, the robber, the thief as well as the greedy in politics,
gaming, and business dwell on, Thou shalt not steal? But to a person, they know
that what they are doing is wrong. Every sinful and inordinate desire is
condemned, and if persisted in will result in a separation of that person from
God eternally.
We should not be surprised at the lengths to which the wicked will go
in their denial of the one true and living God. They will embrace every false
notion of God, and bow before every image or idol that comes along. And on
account of those behaviors, God will darken their hearts in agreement with
their choice to reject him as the God of all creation and the Saviour of their
souls (Romans
1:21- 23). They will then be
open to worship and serve the creature more than the Creator (Romans 1:25). That creature— that created being— is the
Devil. And Satan desires worship from mankind. Over the ages, he has sought to
redirect to himself all the worship and glory which mankind was supposed to
render to the Godhead. And that, dear friends, has been and remains the basis
for all idolatry.
St. Luke’s gospel account of the temptation of our Lord in the
wilderness supplies us with Satan’s testimony: All this power [speaking of the
kingdoms of the world] will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is
delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore, wilt
worship me, all shall be thine (4:6). And the apostle
Paul also confirmed the same when identified the forces behind idolatry: What
say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice
to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice,
they sacrifice to devils, and not to God... (I Corinthians 10:19-20). All of which is in line with the First and
Second Commandments of the Law state, I am the LORD thy God... Thou shalt have
no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image... Thou
shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them... (Exodus 20:2-6).
We ought to disabuse ourselves of the false notion that humanity has
somehow changed from the time of the apostles— or from the time of the
expulsion from the Garden. Mass man— or the bulk of unregenerated humanity—
worships all sorts of things. You name it, and it can become an idol. But when
human beings fall into idolatry, God takes away his hand and the evil one comes
and infuses his wicked nature into those who have fallen under his spell. And
wickedness knows no limits.
Long ago, God established boundaries regarding the relations between
men and women (see
portions of Leviticus 18-21).
So, when people choose to act in ways that are beyond God’s laws for life—
idolatry, whoremongering, inordinate desires of the flesh, etc.— they are, in
essence, replacing the will of God with their own. At that moment they have
become as gods (Genesis
3:5), and in so doing they will
suffer God’s wrath.
Yet in spite of that inflated view of himself, mortal man has no power
to set aside his sins. And so for the unregenerate to assume that they have
such power via their ability to create their own rules for life is not only
arrogant, it is absurd. What gives the unregenerate any reason to believe that
their laws are bidding upon the Universe, and by extension, upon the very words
of God himself? They have willfully forgotten that original sin has rendered
every human being incapable of being forgiven and redeemed apart from a
heart-felt confession of those sins to God the Father in the name of his only
begotten Son.
It is vitally important that Christ’s ministers teach the whole counsel
of God to their congregations, as the apostle Paul proclaimed, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth: to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The
just shall live by faith (Romans 1:16-17). Unfortunately, a growing number of
preachers will not mention the judgmental aspects of God’s word for fear of
scaring off some of their church members. In that cause, they are content to
preach the false gospel of universal acceptance. This message appeals to the
unregenerate who salve their souls with such. They have convinced themselves
that a veneer of godliness is sufficient to warrant God to grant them salvation.
They also believe that they are somehow different from those who have no veneer
at all. But all that their veneer of Christ does is mask their true spiritual
nature. They have been so deceived by the evil one, and so hardened against
God’s word written, that they have stopped their ears concerning his warnings
regarding their particular lifestyle choices. Just as the town council from our
hypothetical did not want to face the fact that there was a massive wildfire
approaching; likewise, those who are so fondly attached to their sins do not
want to hear about that fiery eternity which awaits them if they do not repent
and turn unto to Christ.
Friends, I ask you to recall that moment when you came to accept the
Lord Jesus as your Saviour. You came to see your old life as God saw it:
filthy, rotten, and depraved. You had to admit that you had been slaves to the
evil one. You had to face the fact that you were dead to God. But when you came
to know the Lord as the Saviour of your souls, everything changed. You were
transformed. You were made whole in the eyes of God. You were born again of the
Holy Ghost. You became citizens of God’s coming kingdom and your names were
inscribed in his Book of Life (Revelation 21:27).
St. Paul tells us as much in his first epistle to the Corinthian
church: Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived... And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit
of our God (6:9-11). And in his epistle to the Romans we are
comforted with the following, There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (8:1).
We Christians have been called to proclaim the “good news” of Jesus
Christ to all, that they might come out from among the wicked and be made clean
by the blood of Christ. We also have been called to remind those of our
fellowship that a new life in Christ excludes a continued participation in
wickedness. God has called us to make a new beginning— a fresh start— so if we
have been born again, we will abstain from all appearances of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22). Only then can we avoid the wrath which is
to come: that all-consuming fire of our righteous and holy God.
Let us pray,
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ather, we thank you for your free grace; and so
comfort and fill us with the Holy Ghost, that we might daily communicate the
good news of salvation to others, that they too might also escape thy wrath to
come; and this we beg in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
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