The Epiphany,
or the Manifestation of Christ to the
Gentiles
What a long title for a simple
thought. The Epiphany is the title
of the feast recalling the arrival of the Magi to pay homage to the Lord
Jesus. Epiphany means revealing or
becoming aware. Our Lord was
revealed first to the Hebrews through the shepherds. The first gentiles (non-Hebrews) to whom He was first
revealed were the Magi or Wise Men who came from afar to pay Him honor.
Epiphany is a fixed day, it is always the Sixth of
January, twelve or thirteen days after Christmas Day, depending on how you
count.
Propers
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, with the Collect
for the actual Sunday read also.
Some days are particularly special, such as the Epiphany, and the
Collect is read for eight days (the legendary Octave) The Propers for the Epiphany are found on Page
107-109 with the Collect first:
The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ
to the Gentiles.
[January 6.]
The Collect.
GOD, who by the leading of a star
didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we,
who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy
glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave
The Epistle for the evening came
from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, the Third Chapter beginning at
the First Verse:
OR this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you
Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is
given me to you-ward: how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;
(as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my
knowledge in the mystery of Christ) which in other ages was not made known unto
the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by
the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and
partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel: whereof I was made a
minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the
effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all
saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the
unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship
of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the
manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord: in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by
the faith of him.
The Gospel for the evening came
from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Second Chapter beginning at the First
Verse:
HEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa, in the days of Herod the
king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is
he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and
are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was
troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief
priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ
should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judæa: for thus it is
written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the
least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that
shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise
men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them
to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when
ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw
in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young
child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And
when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his
mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their
treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they
departed into their own country another way.
Thought
for the Day
At least in Descanso, the
Epiphany service was not much different than that first Epiphany. Except this time there was one wise
woman and two wise guys! Most
important, Jesus was there! We had
a great time worshipping. Join your
local service some time, it is a lot of fun. It seems as if there is always plenty of room in the inn
when there is church service going on.
Cold outside, though!
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Through the leading of the star,
the wise men from Persia (modern day Iran) were led to seek the Christ Child.
This was the “revealing” of Christ to the Gentiles, and the first such event.
Though he mainly ministered to the Jews of Israel, it is important that he
ministered to the Roman governor and the Faithful Centurion (from which our
parish gets its name) whom were Gentiles.
Though the Apostles in the early
church did not think that ministering to the Gentiles was worthy, through the
actions of St. Paul, The Word began spreading to the Gentiles. Paul says in his
Epistle that the time has come that we should start spreading to the Gentiles,
and bring our gifts (talents) to His Service (as our talents are on loan from
God, as Rush Limbaugh says) and use them accordingly to further His purpose on
this planet.
Paul also said that he was
charged by God to bring The Word to all, not just the Jews. The time was now
ripe to expand past the original target market (the Jews), and to spread it to
all. He said that he wished to explain the mysteries (The Word) of God to all,
including the Gentiles, that they might see and hear The Word.
In the Gospel, Herod tries to
entice the wise-men to find the Christ child and report His whereabouts to him
that, he claims “that I will come and will worship him.” But like most modern leaders of the
world today, his words were duplicitous in nature. “I will come and worship
him” translated to that he would come and murder Christ, as he did the Holy
Innocents, while Christ was in Egypt.
The wise—men however, fortunately, were warned in a
dream, after visiting the Christ child, by God, of Herod’s true intentions, and
went home a different way, that they would avoid a confrontation with
Herod. They brought him
frankincense, incense and myrrh. In a way, they did what Paul talked about and
brought Him “gifts” for His Service. Now we do not know if these gifts were
ever used in Christ’s life. But, like present time gift giving, it is not
necessarily the gifts that are important. It is the thought and the meaning
behind the giving of gifts that could the most.
Now in this troubled time, we
must be ready to bring our talents to Him, to use for His Glory and to Spread
His Word. In this time, we must spread The Word and without ceasing praise Him
and His Majesty. In order to institute a turn around of the moral decay, we
must first act. If we do not act, then how can we expect to stem the tide of
the moral decay. We must act with steadfast purpose.
This may require some courage on
our behalf, as we will get mocked and perhaps in this troubled time, may come a
day, where we like the apostles are thrown in jail. However scary this time may
be for spreading His Word, no matter how hostile it is, we must do it anyway.
We must be like the men who brought freedom to this land, who defended our
country when its freedom was threatened in all its wars from the War of
Independence, through to the present, having been reading recently a lot on
World War II, I think of the fear that must have gone through the hearts of
those who participated in the amphibious assaults of D-Day, Tarawa, Peleleiu,
Guam, Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Yet, they did what was to be done.
Proper action under very fearful circumstances, doing what must be done.
The important thing to remember
about these men is they showed steadfast purpose and courage. It was a nerve
racking thing as one approached a foreign beach of an island/land, not knowing
what hell the enemy planned. But, the important lesson is that they stepped
their boots forward into danger, knowing that they would most likely pay for
this advance with their lives.
As they stepped forward into
danger, we must step forward into this hostile world, and charge forward
against the fire of the hostile media and people, whose hearts have been turned
to stone. We must charge against them, using The Word as our defense and our
offense against Satan. The greatest defense is the best offense. And we truly have
both in The Word of God. We must remember that God wants everybody to follow
Him, not just certain ethnic groups (like the Jews), and that we must
concentrate on spreading His Word, through bringing our Gifts and Talents to
His Service.
He comes!
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
Today was the first Sunday after the Epiphany and Second Sunday of the
New Year 2015.
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 a few great ones to share. On to the On Point quotes –
Let us not look back in anger,
nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.
James Thurber
American writer
Few skills are so well rewarded
as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims.
Thomas Sowell
Creative Evolution
One reason why many people find
Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional
comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When
you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the
whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to
think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and
carrying you on its crest. If, on the other hand, you want to do something
rather shabby, the Life-Force, being only a blind force, with no morals and no
mind, will never interfere with you like that troublesome God we learned about
when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it
on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion and
none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful
thinking the world has yet seen?
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity
He's wild, you know. Not like a
tame lion.
Mr. Beaver
Chronicles of Narnia
Let us with caution indulge the
supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be
conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure,
reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle.
President George Washington
Farewell Address, 1796
Treat everyone with politeness,
even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you
are.
Author Unknown
I've seen men die because they
were sure that what should not happen, would not.
Robert Jordan
What at first was plunder assumed
the softer name of revenue.
Thomas Paine
The World
If you do not take the
distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that
anything you find in this world is a part of God. But, of course, if you think
some things really bad, and God really good, then you cannot talk like that.
You must believe that God is separate from the world and that some of the
things we see in it are contrary to His will. Confronted with a cancer or a
slum the Pantheist can say, ‘If you could only see it from the divine point of
view, you would realise that this also is God.’ The Christian replies, ‘Don’t
talk damned nonsense.’ For Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God
made the world—that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and
tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God ‘made up out of
His head’ as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things
have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists
very loudly, on our putting them right again.
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity
The Bible
Unless the religious claims of
the Bible are again acknowledged, its literary claims will, I think, be given
only “mouth honour” and that decreasingly. . . . It is, if you like to put it
that way, not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously
sacred that it does not invite, it excludes or repels, the merely aesthetic approach.
You can read it as literature only by a tour de force. You are cutting the wood
against the grain, using the tool for a purpose it was not intended to serve.
It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to
give literary delight very long except to those who go to it for something
quite different.
Jack Lewis
Selected Literary
Essays
We have all heard people
foolishly joke that when they die and go to Hell, they will hold a great party
because all of their friends will be there as well. These careless jokes
reflect the almost total absence of belief in the reality and the horror of an
eternity in Hell.
Dr. Grant Jeffrey
20th and 21st
century Canadian Christian author
(Journey Into Eternity,
p. 221)
Effort
I firmly believe that any man's
finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment
when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the
field of battle - victorious.
Vince Lombardi
The wicked, through pride of his
countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
Psalm 10:4
He that walketh in his
uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth
him.
Proverbs 13:20
Woe unto them that call evil
good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that
put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Isaiah 5:20
Whosoever shall confess me before
men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.
St. Luke 12:8
Did not Moses give you the law,
and yet none of you keepeth the law?
St. John 7:19
A church in which the Bible is
not the standard of faith and practice... in which repentance, faith, and
holiness are not prominently put forward as essential to salvation...in which
forms, and ceremonies, and ordinances not commanded in the Bible are the chief
things urged upon the attention of the members— such a church is in a very
diseased and unsatisfactory condition. It may not formally deny any article of
the Christian faith. It may have been founded originally by the apostles. It
may boast that it is catholic. But if the apostles were to rise from the dead
and visit such a church, I believe they would command it to repent, and have no
communion with it till it did.
JC Ryle
19th century
Anglican bishop and author
Knots Untied, p.
235
There can be no greater crisis
for a nation than a spiritual or religious crisis, because it has to do with
the identity and character of the nation. It touches the spirit, the will and
the morale of a people, and it must be evident that these things are of primary
importance. The spirit takes priority over everything else. If a nation has
vision and the will to strive for its realization, these spiritual qualities
will ensure its survival... But whatever natural or material resources a nation
may have, if it lacks these qualities of the spirit it will fail.
David N. Samuel
20th and 21st
century former Presiding Bishop of the Church of England (Continuing)
The Church In Crisis,
p. 126
Satan seizes and directs all the
mighty forces of this world! War is seized... and is no longer the patriot’s
struggle for freedom or the defense of home and native land. Instead, it
becomes the tool of despotism; it crushes liberty and enslaves freedom. War
carries on a campaign of lust, rape, cruelty, desolation, and death... Money...
is diverted by Satan for selfish and unholy purposes... Men become illustrious
and esteemed... when they are money-getters and money- keepers. Education...
becomes a source of pride and ungodly power... Under the guise of Christian
learning, education becomes the most powerful ally to Satan by unsettling faith
in God’s Word and opening a wide door of skepticism in the temple of God.
EM Bounds
19th and 20th
century theologian and author
Guide to Spiritual
Warfare, pp. 72-73
Those that bind up their
happiness in the favor of men make themselves an easy prey to the temptations
of Satan.
Matthew Henry
17th and 18th
century English pastor and author
Yet, partisans on the ‘winning’
side of this faux [election] campaign will celebrate their ‘freedom,’ if for no
other reason that they got to choose their dictator. Americans, except the
elite, will be the losers again. They will remain debt slaves, tax donkeys and
work mules for the owners. They will watch their dollars become more worthless
than they already are, become poorer and more dependent, and soothe their pain
with the bread and circuses provided by those in control – alcohol and sport.
They will cheer on their gladiators, their teenage sons dying in foreign lands,
and not even notice they are being strip-searched daily and their phone calls,
email and Facebook feeds monitored. While the spokesman for the owners will
change, the owners will not...because most voters on both sides are too lazy,
ignorant or disinterested to go further than campaign rhetoric.
Jim Karger
21st century
American lawyer and author
When We Wake Up
November 7th... Nothing Will Have Changed, 8-29-12
Liberty ... is a political
situation denoting the lawful capability of the citizen to defend himself and
his near and dear without interference from the state.
Colonel Jeff Cooper
20th and 21st
century American patriot and firearms expert
. . . The slaughter
perpetrated... by people who are legally armed by their state doesn't really
interest anybody. What shocks the enlightened world... is not the millions
slaughtered by states, but rather, those exceptions to the rule in which
individuals— not regimes— perpetrate the slaughter. The authors of the American
constitution wrote a document about as close to perfection as is humanly
possible. They understood well that the first stop on the path to slavery is to
rescind the citizen's right to defend himself, leaving him alone, helpless and
vulnerable to the 'kindness' of the regime. Wherever a regime has become
totalitarian, its first step is to disarm its citizens. We automatically assume
that the state is a responsible power acting, first and foremost, for the
benefit of its citizens. We feel good thinking that there is a big brother out
there with whom we can deposit the responsibility for our fate. When a shocking
shooting spree... takes place, nobody seriously checks what violent films
children are watching. Nobody talks about training armed citizens to prevent
more of these insane shootings. The easy solution – the solution that does not
require taking responsibility – is to deposit arms and responsibility in the
hands of the state... It is easy to slide down the slippery slope of
totalitarianism. The loss of the ability to protect oneself is the loss of
liberty.
Moshe Feiglin
20th and 21st
century Israeli statesman and author
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 or our Deacon Striker.
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 are found on Page 109-111 with the Collect
first:
The
First Sunday after The Epiphany.
The
Collect.
LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to
receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may
both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace
and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ
to the Gentiles.
[January 6.]
The Collect.
GOD, who by the leading of a star
didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we,
who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy
glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave
The Epistle for
today came from the Twelfth Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans beginning at
the First Verse. Paul asks not only those long gone Romans, but us, as well, to
“present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.”
He tells us our home is in heaven.
Life here is not the end, rather the stepping off point, either to
heaven or hell. Thus were are “not
conformed to this world: but to be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that we ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Some of us may be better than others, but all fall short of the minimum
standard. Through Christ we attain
eternal life. In the meantime,
each of us should not “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.” Each of us has a place in
the church, a reason to be and job to do.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the
same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members
one of another.”
BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to
this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 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. For as we have many
members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
The Gospel for today came from the Second Chapter of
the Gospel of St. Luke beginning at
the Forty-First Verse. It tells
the story of when Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem after the Passover Feast in
his twelfth year. When they were
done, the family group, for they likely traveled with their extended family for
safety, left together. After the
first day’s travel they stopped for the night and could not find Jesus. So, fearing the worst, they headed back
at night for Jerusalem. Braving
robbers and worse, they made their way back. After looking for three days, they went to the temple,
where lo, they found him. He was
among the learned men “both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all
that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” His parents were amazed and
confounded. He asked them why they
worried and why they did not understand that he was about his Father’s
business. It is noteworthy that
Jesus at twelve was able to “hold his own” with the learned scholars of
Judah. He was able to out reason
those who lived to dissect the Law.
“A little child shall lead them,” (Isaiah 11:1-10)
OW his
parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he
was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they,
supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they
sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not,
they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that
after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the
doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him
were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they
were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with
us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them,
How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he
went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his
mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favour with God and man.
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
First Sunday after The Epiphany
11 January 2015, Anno Domini (in the Year of Our Lord)
The
First Sunday after The Epiphany.
The
Collect.
LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to
receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may
both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace
and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ
to the Gentiles.
[January 6.]
The Collect.
GOD, who by the leading of a star
didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we,
who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy
glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave
t the same time came the disciples unto Jesus,
saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto Him,
and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily
I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall
not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child
in My name receiveth Me. 6 But whoso shall
offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the
depth of the sea. 7 Woe unto the world because of offences for
it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence
cometh! 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them
off, and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or
maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be east into everlasting
fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it
from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take heed that
ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven
their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of
Man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye!
if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not
leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which
is gone astray! 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say
unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which
went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father
which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
(Matthew
18:1-14)
Who, indeed, is the greatest in the Kingdom of
Heaven? What motivates the question? Is it a covetous and proud spirit?
Man wants to always have the prominent
position. Little children could care less about position – they simply
desire the company of someone who loves them and whom they love. Three points:
One
Jesus shows the conditions for entrance of the
Kingdom by example:
Jesus here sets an excellent example for us: He does
not use the old approach of parents – "Because I said so!" He sets an
example of a little child. Let a little child teach them…..Isaiah 11:6
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the
fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. Jesus called a little
child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them,
Notice that the little child does not recoil from the
arms of Jesus. The child, though not having known Christ for more than a short
few minutes, trust this heart of His implicitly.
Children are generally excellent judges of character.
This is the manner and state of the Kingdom of Heaven
– it is like the innocent heart of a little child and, yet, there are those in
it who wish to be first in the Kingdom.
Those who wish to be first will always persecute
those of less stature. They will forbid, as much as possible, others from
coming near to Christ. This is demonstrated also in Mark:
10:13
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them:
and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much
displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of
God. 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter
therein. 10:16
And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed
them.
He shows the conditions of entrance into and eminence
in His kingdom by a living example.
There were always children at hand round Him, when He
wanted them.
Their quick instinct for pure and loving souls drew them
to Him; and this little one was not afraid to be taken by the hand, and to be
afterwards caught up in His arms, and pressed to His heart.
The discussion of the disciples made a certain
presumption which was not entirely correct. They presumed that each present
would be in the Kingdom of Heaven. We know this was not true for at least one
among them – namely, Judas Iscariot.
Greatest in the kingdom? Make sure that you go in at
all, first; which you will never do, so long as you keep your present ambitious
minds.'
What a child is naturally, and without effort or
merit, by reason of age and position, we must become, if we are to pass the
narrow portal which admits into the Kingdom of Heaven. "For broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction,
and many there be they go in thereat.”
Before becoming the star of the team, be certain that
you first make the team!
The child is, by its very position, lowly and modest,
and makes no claims, and lives by instinctive confidence, and does not care
about honours, and has these qualities which in us are virtues, and is not
puffed up by possessing them.
That is the ideal which is realized more generally in
the child than analogous ideals are in mature manhood. Such simplicity,
modesty, humility, must be ours.
We must be made small ere we can enter that door.
And as is the requirement for entrance, so is it for
eminence. The child does not humble himself, but is humble by nature; but we
must humble ourselves if we would be great.
Two
After answering the question of preeminence in
the Kingdom, Christ goes on to express our duties and responsibilities for
little ones in vv 5 & 6.
5 And whoso shall receive one such
little child in My name receiveth Me. 6
But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which
believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
The subject, then, of these verses is the blessedness
of recognizing and welcoming Christ-like lowly believers, and the fatal
effect of the opposite conduct.
To 'receive one such little child in My name' is just
to have a sympathetic appreciation of, and to be ready to welcome to heart and
home, those who are lowly in their own and in the world's estimate, but princes
of Christ's court and kingdom.
"In my Name"
'In My name' is equivalent to 'for the sake of My
revealed character,' and refers both to the receiver and to the received.
The blessedness of such reception, so far as the receiver is concerned, is not
merely that he thereby comes into happy relations with Christ's foremost
servants, but that he gets Christ Himself into his heart
When a person is an agent for a company, he acts in
the name of the company and in the best interests and purposes of the company. When
we act in the Name of Christ, we act in every way as much as if it were our
Lord Himself giving the directions.
Three
Christ summarizes the honor and dignity of His
'little ones.'
14
Even so it is not the will of your Father
which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.'
If God wills a thing, it will surely come to pass.
Even the smallest and weakest among us, devoted to Christ, will not perish, but
have ever-lasting life.
Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon ties together
the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Consider
these words from the Collect:
…grant that they may both
perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and
power faithfully to fulfil the same…
As imperfect creatures
with free will, we will never figure out what we should be doing, let alone do
it, on our own. That was the part
of the reason God sent the Holy Ghost; that we might listen to Him and understand.
He will give us the knowledge to figure out and know what and how we are to do
the things we need to do here on Earth for Him. Not just understand The Word
that had been spoken to us through Jesus and the Scriptures, but to understand
what we should do, hence the prayer to figure out what we need to do, then give
us the power or strength to do what we are supposed to do. We might have some difficulties, some
nervousness, some stumbling, but in the end as long as we do our best to follow
His will, and not worry, things shall be ok. Because then we will be on the
path to eternal life and happiness, as he wants us to be happy. To be on that
path and not just think or talk about being on it. We need to actively follow
Our Lord and not be passive about it, but actually physically do it. We need to
act, using the Scriptures as our Holy Handbook for our actions within our
lives. He did not mean for us to simply read it only, but to digest it and use
what we learned in the real world.
After all isn’t that
what the school system was supposedly put in place for? University, the words
comprise it are “Una Veritas”, meaning “One Truth”, as it was supposed to be a
place of Godly learning, where one would learn the “One Truth”. The school
system was intended that we might have Godly children growing up in the faith,
therefore strengthening them as men/women of great moral character. If we put
back the Scriptures in our schools and held the kids to the standards of those
Scriptures, then we would find ourselves on a moral higher ground. The
Scriptures are the only true truth, as they are based on the Word of God, who
is truth in every sense of the word. It it something should use to help develop
ourselves in life, to use a term from the Japanese, kai-zen, or continuous self
improvement.
The first thing tsunami
watchers would tell people, is at the first sign of a tsunami approaching, go
to higher ground. Therefore, I would like apply that same principle to our
lives. At the first sign of any sort of evil, temptation or sin, that we headed
to the higher ground that God lives on and seek him out, rather than wait for
the wave of evil to envelop us. We also have to recognize the signs that we are
in trouble and immediately consult Him and His Word and figure out an action
plan according to the principles in Scripture.
We are asking God to
help us know what we should do and then help us to do it right. Seems pretty simple. That is the root of almost all our
problems. It is harder to do what is right than what seems easy to us. First, even if we ask God what He wants
us to do, “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.” Then, if we hear what He wants us to
do, and hear it correctly, we often find it “too hard.” Do you recall this quote from GK
Chesterton:
·
“Christianity has not been tried and found
wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
So once we find out what God
wants, we often rationalize our way around it. Think about the 613 Mosaic laws and the Pharisees who made a
good living telling people how to comply with them to the letter and still do
just what they wanted to do. So,
then even if we find out what God wants and decide to actually do it instead of
avoid it, we are faced with the often huge problem of where do we get the
strength to accomplish this task.
The answer is circular, from God.
He never asks us to do anything we cannot do good enough for Him if we
rely on Him. Never. End of that discussion.
Now, once you have managed to
get this far, you gain the power needed to become one of Paul’s New Men, a
person who has accepted God’s Grace, turning to God and relying on Him for
guidance, strength, courage and perseverance. To do that, we need to turn
outward. Not think of ourselves,
but of God and our fellow Christians.
Speaking of that, one of the tools God gives us to get things done is a
Team, that Team is fellow Christians.
So, we need to work together as a Team. Think not of your glory, but that of God. President Reagan had a sign on his desk
which read:
“There is no limit
to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”
Paul tells us not to
concentrate on our status, position or grandeur, but to see what we can do to
help. Just like our body would not
function if all parts were brains, neither will Christ’s Team function if
everyone is concerned about their position.
When we look at the Gospel
today, aside from the historical function telling us that Jesus was in the
temple bringing the light of the gospel to the rabbis, I am reminded there are
other lessons. It is not that we
want to micromanage your life, but keep your friends and family informed of
what you are doing and where you are going. Jesus’ earthly parents risked life and limb going back
up the road to Jerusalem at night.
But, that was their duty as parents. A duty which must have been done, no matter the cost. The
lesson here is to keep your family and friends well informed of what you are
doing, rather than going off on your own, figuring you can handle it. Except
most of the times, we cannot, as we are not like Jesus, we are not the Son of
God, but rather mortals adopted into God’s Family. There are sometthings we
cannot do on our own without His Help and without the help of our family and
friends.
Duty means to do what you are
supposed to do, then count the cost.
There is no sense of duty if you are merely doing what is easiest for
you at the time. While doing your
duty will in the end be the right thing, thus the easiest thing, it may not be
at the time. Doing one’s duty can
result in one’s temporal death, the end of their time here on earth. Not an easy way. But, recall that easy downhill path
leads to the pit, it does not lead to the summit. Our country is where it is today because of those who
preceded us, those who did their duty.
It will not keep going up if, as a country we stroll down that wide
smooth downhill boulevard. We must
struggle to stay on the narrow path which leads to the summit.
Look back at those who stepped
forward when the country called, Concord, Veracruz, Gettysburg, San Juan Hill,
Chateau Thierry, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Peleliu, Bastogne, Iwo Jima, Okinawa,
Chosin Reservoir, Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh, Hanoi, Laos, Cambodia and
countless unfamiliar names in Southwest Asia. In them, you find a unifying theme of Duty, doing what you
have to do, no matter what it takes, then count the cost. Those who fought for our country did it
out of duty to their country and God and to protect their family. We must
emulate their purpose and serve God dutifully. Christ is the ultimate example
of this, the only begotten Son of God, yet doing His duty to die for us, which
is what God wanted Him to do, to save us from eternal hellfire. So it was His Duty and He did it with
honor. Through duty, we too might have a noble death and welcoming in the
afterlife.
Duty –
God • Honor • Country • Family
But, back to the Gospel and the parents arrival at
the temple, where lo, they found him.
He was among the learned men “both hearing them, and asking them
questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and
answers.” His parents were amazed
and confounded. He asked them why
they worried and why they did not understand that he was about his Father’s
business. It is noteworthy to see
Jesus at twelve was able to “hold his own” with the learned scholars of
Judah. He was able to out reason
those who lived to dissect the Law.
“A little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:1-10
He comes!
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
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:
First Sunday after Epiphany
Genesis 18:1-3, 9-14
• Matthew 7:24-28 • Psalm 58
January 11, 2015
God is speaking. This is not an unusual event. God speaks to us every time we read the
Bible. The Bible is the Word of God,
and in its pages God tells us what He wants us to believe, and what He wants us
to do. Do not expect God to speak
to you in dreams or visions or feelings.
Expect Him to speak through the Bible. That’s why He gave it.
But in Genesis 18, God is
speaking to Abraham, and Abraham doesn’t have a Bible. There is no Bible at
that point in history. So God
speaks to Abraham in various ways, as He does to many people before the Bible
is completed. We sometimes envy
the people God spoke to audibly, or in dreams and visions, but we are actually
the ones to be envied. They had
only bits and pieces of God’s revelation.
We have the full revelation of God. We have far more “light” than they had. I think every one of
them have would gladly traded his visions for a Bible.
In Genesis 18 God appears to
Abraham as Three Men. Obviously
this is a revelation of the Holy Trinity, the Triune God. Abraham probably doesn’t understand it,
but he knows this is God, standing before him, sitting by his campfire, sharing
a meal with him. And God has a
message for Abraham, and for Sarah.
He says:
“I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life: and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.”
This is a restatement and
re-verification of God’s earlier promise to Abraham, to make him a great
nation, with descendants like the stars in the sky, and all people of earth
will be blessed in him. Sarah is
in the tent during this time. I
don’t know whether she is there out of decorum, or out of a sense of holy fear
at the presence of God, but I admire her for it. Decorum in the presence of God is a good thing. Holy fear in the presence of God is a
good thing. Today people saunter
into the presence of God as casually as they walk into a shopping mall. But Abraham bows to God and treats God
as someone high and holy and special.
Sarah remains in the tent.
Many people could learn from their example.
But Sarah also laughs. Not a happy laugh, a derisive laugh
that expresses scorn and disappointment.
Why? Because it has “ceased
to be with Sarah after the manner of women” (18:11). Sarah’s monthly issue of blood has ended. As long as it continued, she probably
believed God would give her a son.
But when it ended, her hope, and probably much of her faith ended too.
The words, “according to the time
of life,” are very significant
Sarah is in the time of life when women no longer bear children. Conception seems completely
impossible to her. But not to God. God designed, created, and sovereignly
controls every cell in every human body.
He can open a womb, or close it.
He can make it conceive, or He can prevent it from conceiving. He can even make a virgin’s womb
conceive. God has intentionally
waited until this time of life to give Sarah a son so she, and all the world
will know this child is a miracle child, not an accident.
When God does something, He does
in His own time and in His own way and for His own purposes. Our job is to trust Him, and to have
faith. Our job is to live quiet
and holy lives. Our job is to obey
His commandments, and leave the rest to Him. As Robert E. Lee is believed to have said, “Duty is ours:
consequences are God’s.” As an old
Gospel song says, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in
Jesus, but to trust and obey.”
That’s what Sarah needs to do.
Don’t we all?
Psalm 58 begins in sadness. It is the cry of people suffering under
crushing oppression. Evil people
are in control. Their minds are
not set on righteousness. They
imagine mischief on the earth, and their hands deal with wickedness. The ancient Hebrews were constantly invaded by Canaanite tribes,
who wanted the Jews annihilated. I
can imagine the Jews crying out, “Break their teeth, O God.” “Let them fall away like water that runneth
apace.” I can imagine our own
ancestors, down through history, sometimes gathered around hearth and home,
sometimes gathered around the fires of army camps, reading this Psalm,
wondering when God will rise up and finally conquer evil. During Christmas we often sing an old
song that says, “Then in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I
said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will toward
men.” That song captures something
of the despair this Psalm expresses.
But, as surely as God gave Sarah
a son, so will He also deliver His people from the hand of evil. Psalm 58 closes with a picture of God
coming to earth to crush evil and punish evil doers. It also pictures the great relief of those who suffer and
wait for God’s justice. “Verily
there is a reward for the righteous.”
“There is a God that judgeth the earth.”
There is another point in today’s
readings. It is made in Matthew 7,
the close of the famous Sermon on the Mount. Build your house on the rock of the word of God. The life, the family, the nation, the
culture that is built upon the shifting sands of human folly, cannot stand the
storms of life. We are seeing this
truth graphically illustrated in our own country. A few generations ago, I would have said America is drifting
away from the faith that gave its identity and power. Now I would say we are not drifting away, we are
intentionally sailing away under full power. We are angrily chopping away at the very roots of our
culture. If we continue as we are,
one day the beautiful tree supported by these roots, will crash to the ground
and die.
Likewise, the life, or culture
that does not stand on the solid rock cannot stand in the day of God’s
wrath. His wrath will come like a
hurricane to a straw hut on a sandy beach, and it will wash away every trace of
it.
This is not a cause for fear for
the Christian. The life that is
built upon the rock will stand the storms of life, and the day of God’s
wrath. It is evil that will fall. Like the Flood, God’s wrath will wash
away evil. By His grace, His
people will be saved.
Here is the point. God, who keeps His promise to Abraham
and Sarah, who miraculously gives a child to Sarah, whose word is a rock and a
hiding place for His people, now and forever, will rise up and bring evil to a
swift and terrifying end.
Therefore, trust in Him.
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church - Powhatan,
Virginia
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
First Sunday after Epiphany
The Old Testament lesson for today (I Samuel 1:21-28) presents a mother who vowed to the LORD if he would give her a son she
would give him over to his service all the days of his life. How often do
people make vows to God and fail to keep them? We are admonished in Scripture
to fulfil our promises to the LORD. Hannah did as she had vowed, and because of
her faith in the LORD, she received five other children that she had not asked
for (I Samuel 2:18-21). God supplies more than we ask or could conceive in our
mind’s eye, we need only trust in him and keep his word and commandment.
So then, how did the LORD make use of this child who had been lent to
his service? Samuel was trained by Eli the chief priest of the tabernacle to
minister before God. It was in that capacity that God came and spoke to Samuel.
He informed him about the nature of the chief priest’s sons as well as Eli’s
failure to deal with them (I Samuel 3:8-18).
Eventually the LORD permitted the ark of the covenant— over which Eli and his sons were
charged with the care of— to be captured in battle by the Philistines which
also included the deaths of Eli’s sons (I Samuel 4:11). Eli himself died after hearing the news that the ark had been
captured and his sons slain (I Samuel 4:18). It wasn’t long after they had
captured it that the Philistines returned the ark to the land of Israel. The
LORD put upon them a terrible plague and he humiliated their god, Dagon, whose
image was found dismembered and face down before the ark in their temple at
Ashdod (I
Samuel 5:1-12).
The return of the ark to the Israelites, though initially a joyous
occasion, turned to tragedy when some of the men looked into the ark which
resulted in the LORD’s judgment upon that whole region of Beth-shemesh (I Samuel 6:14-21). Afterwards, the ark was carried to
Kirjath-jearim and the house of Eleazar who kept it safe for twenty years (I Samuel 7:1-2). It was at the end of this period of
safe-keeping that Samuel again is mentioned, but this time not only as a priest
but as a judge also (I Samuel 7:3-17). He
encouraged the people to come back to the LORD their God. He called on them to
put away the false gods of their rebellious past and accept the one true and
living God who had delivered them on so many previous occasions. And this they
did in response to Samuel’s preaching (vv.3-4).
The Philistines sought to take advantage of the Israelites at that
time, but God stood up for them and discomfited the Philistines so that the
Israelites were able to chase them off and, as the Bible tells us, the
Philistines came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was
against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The Israelites even got back
territories which the Philistines had seized in time past when they were in
rebellion against God (vv. 10-14). Even Israel’s arch-enemy the Amorites were
at peace with them during the administration of Samuel. That last point is
affirmed by Proverbs 16:7 which states that, When a man’s ways please the LORD,
he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Samuel served as a judge over Israel until near the end of his life
when the representatives of the people came to him with their request for a
king. They told him that he was old and that his sons were unjust so they
wanted a king to rule over them (I Samuel 8:1-5). Samuel was unhappy with their request but he nevertheless took it to
the LORD (v.6). The message which he received of God made plain that the people
were not rejecting Samuel so much as they were rejecting the LORD himself.
Consider God’s reply to Samuel: Hearken unto the voice of the people in all
that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected me, that I should not reign over them (v.7).
The LORD then instructed Samuel to tell them in no uncertain terms just
what having a king would mean. Often people are deluded into believing that
government is a great house of good and that one need only have the right
doorkeeper and then all of its benefits will flow out and down to them. What
such persons do not understand is that the great house of government is a store
or hold for them that administer it, and with the right amount of power they
can fill it and keep it full even to the detriment of the people under them.
God’s omniscience foresaw this, and through Samuel he tried to warn the people
of their folly. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people before and since
have rejected God’s counsel. From an historical perspective, governments tend
to be rapacious, grasping and dictatorial and such is made plain within the
pages of Scripture. God laid out in very clear language just what a king would
do TO the people (vv. 9-17). He then closed his warning with these words, And
ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen
you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day (v.18).In spite of his warning,
the people called out for a king over them which the LORD then approved (vv.
19-22).
Samuel then went on to anoint the LORD’s first choice for a king: Saul
of Benjamin (I
Samuel 10:1). Later, he appeared
before all Israel gathered at Gilgal and sacrificed on their behalf (I Samuel 11:15) and afterwards presented to them their king
with a very telling sermon (I Samuel 12:1-25). He
reminded them that he had done what their elders had asked of him in seeking of
the LORD for a king to rule over them, and that he had done them no harm, and
that he and the king were witnesses of their agreement of such (vv. 1-5). He
then proceeded to recount for the people the mighty acts of God on their behalf
from the time of Moses and Aaron and the several judges which had served Israel
so well even unto that very day (vv. 6-11).
He also presented the reality behind their request for a king. And, as
we all should know, the reality of a request can turn out to be a bit more than
we might have imagined. As Charles Stanley once said, “God knows both sides of
our requests.” That is why John Chrysostom’s prayer with which we close Morning
and Evening Prayer is apropos: “Fulfil now, O Lord, the desires and petitions
of thy servants, as may be most expedient for them...” When we pray that
prayer, we are putting our requests in God’s hands to grant, or not to grant to
us those things as he sees fit. This did not happen in the case of the
Israelites regarding their desire for a king as they were rejecting him who was
their true king, even the LORD their God (v.12). To confirm these things,
Samuel prayed to the LORD and he sent thunder and rain upon the land at an
uncommon time for such as it was the harvest season (vv. 16-18).
Samuel then closed his message to the people with words of
encouragement that if they would serve the LORD and turn from their wicked ways
that he would not forsake them and would be pleased with them (vv. 20-22). He
said that he would continue to pray for them and teach them the right way to go
to which he added one final caveat: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth
with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you. But if
ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king
(vv.23-25). Samuel’s closing message holds true even today. God will judge a
people for not only their personal misdeeds and sins, but corporately for those
of their rulers. From Genesis on, there are accounts where the LORD brought his
righteous judgments upon wickedness of every sort. The cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, Nineveh, Babylon, and Jerusalem on two occasions (along with many
others for which little may be noted in history but who were well known to God)
are perfect examples of God’s judgment falling on those who would continue in
sin and think that he does not see nor care. Samuel’s witness is one that every
living soul ought to read and heed before thinking that human government,
administered by imperfect souls such as themselves, will solve their problems
apart from divine Providence. Needless to say, the books of Kings and
Chronicles illustrates that last point plain enough.
Consider the words of II Chronicles 36:15-16 wherein it was written,
And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes,
and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling
place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and
misused his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people,
till there was no remedy. No remedy? None! Those who survived Nebuchadnezzar’s
assault and conquest of Jerusalem were carted away in captivity with only the
poorest of souls left to tend the fields and farms about the land. If God would
do that to those he called his people will he do any less to those who are
openly and aggressively acting against his will and purpose? Samuel has already
supplied us the answer if you will hear it— No, God will not!
Samuel was used of God to take the throne away from Saul for his
disobedience and willfulness (I Samuel 15:1-35).
Samuel was called of God to anoint David the son of Jesse to be king over
Israel (I
Samuel 16:11-14). Some years
later, on account of Saul’s final act of disobedience at Endor, Samuel was
permitted to rise from his rest in Paradise to communicate God’s judgment on
Saul which resulted in not only his death and the deaths of his sons at the
Battle of Mount Gilboa, but the defeat of the Israelite army by the Philistines
(I Samuel
28:1-19; 31:1-7).
So when we consider the life of Samuel, we learned that he was a
priest, a prophet and a judge over Israel. He was a godly child whose mother
had prayed for a son whom she promised to lend to the LORD all the days of his
life. He sought to do God’s will even in difficult times. He had heard the
voice of God as a youth and ever after as an adult. Even in death, the prophet
was permitted to do something not recorded before or since in the Bible— to
return from the lower world— and his place of rest— to the land of the living
as a spirit and speak directly with those of the living. Samuel’s testimony to
us is one that we as Christians should read and heed. Every word of Scripture
is inspired and acceptable for our use and instruction (II St. Timothy 4:16-17), so then let us live as people inspired of
God to seek his will for as the young prophet said to God when he called to
him, Speak; for thy servant heareth (I Samuel 3:10).
Let us pray,
ather, we pray for wisdom: that we might be wise
to evils of this world and avoid them; we also pray for knowledge: that we
might come to know thee better and what you would have us to do in thy service;
and we pray for understanding: that whereas the scriptures are a sealed book to
those who are in unbelief, that we who are of the faith may come to know the
truth contained within thy word and so conform our lives to that knowledge for
our eternal good and thy greater glory; all of which we pray in the name of
thine only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
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