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Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Once again
the propers for this week come together very well, their focus is narrow, thus
powerful.
Consider
these words from the Collect:
… leave us
not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us
unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before …
The
Ascension having just happened, Jesus having ascended in to heaven, we are
alone and separated from God who gives us strength. Like Peter, the further we are from God, the
weaker we are. Thus, we are looking
towards Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost. We ask for God’s help that we might have the
true belief, courage, knowledge and strength to follow Jesus to heaven for all
eternity.
While the
end of the earth and this world may come at any time, for 313,000 people each
day, their time here is up. Thus, in a
very real sense as Saint Peter put it, “The end of all things is at hand…” So, how should we act? We are to do what we can with a smile on our
face. We should act as if it was our
last day on earth. We need to be mindful of the fact that at any time, the
world could end for each of us. In other words, if this was our last day on
this planet, how would we act? That is a question I must ask myself more often
and not only ask it, but answer it. The answer comes with the help of the Holy
Ghost, who could only come once Jesus left. That is one of the reasons why
Jesus ascended into heaven. He left so the Holy Ghost could come down and live
amongst us and provide us with the guidance we need to follow God.
We have to
wait and hear what the Holy Ghost has to say before we act. Then once the Holy
Spirit has given the answer, we must act upon that answer. This is a continuous
cycle and we must always prioritize our work to be for God, our Country and
Family in that order and things will fall in line. Along these lines, we should
strive to work hard, take care of those who cannot and be good stewards of the
considerable grace God has given us.
This does not just refer to spending MONEY, but rather to giving of our
time and effort to bring the Gifts of God to others. We must give ourselves
entirely to help others, so that we may share the benefits of the Gift of God
truly. Only then we will know the grace of God’s love truly. We are to share the LOVE in our hearts with
those we encounter, for Love is of God. And the Holy Ghost will help us spread
that love to others in our lives. We are called not to hoard that love, but to
spread it through ought our travels. For as love is of God, then it follows
there is a large supply of love. In fact, love multiplies with use, so there is
an even more infinite amount of love out there.
For as
Saint Peter says in his Epistle this morning, charity (love) truly does cover a
multitude of sins. So, when we do things for others, the driving force behind
our actions should be that of charity, or love, for our fellow human beings and
not any self-seeking motivation. Charity will cover for our multitude of sins,
but we need to be thinking of how we can use charity in our hearts to help
others. It is one of the greatest gifts God and the Holy Spirit gives to us; it
is a gift we find ourselves needing to use more often. The Holy Spirit is key
in giving us the desirable thoughts and attributes that we need to carry out
His Plan on Earth. He also helps us deal with our less desirable thoughts and
attributes and helps us deal with very difficult people and situations. I have
found that to be the case in plenty of those difficult situations. Turning to
the Holy Spirit in those very stressful times will reduce the burden on your
heart and shift it from you to God, giving you the clarity you need to act for
Him, to be able to act in an effective and Christ like manner.
But,
without the Holy Ghost, the needed action on our part is impossible. We need God’s help and He sent it in the form
of the Holy Ghost. He sent it as the “Comforter”, that is to Comfort us and to
Guide us on the journey on the narrow uphill path towards heaven. The Holy
Ghost is that portion of God who can enter our hearts bringing understanding,
hope and most of all the courage and determination to do what needs be
done. Those who will not have Him in
their hearts can never understand God and His Will. That is why they cannot understand or fathom
the plan He has for us. They cannot understand why we follow God and Christ.
They do not believe; therefore, they cannot have Him in their hearts, and
therefore they will not understand. The end of time is nearer each day than the
day before, of that we can be certain.
But there is a certainty we have in this uncertainly world, the
unfailing love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus and the presence of the Holy Ghost
in our lives, if we let Him in, and the inerrant Holy Scriptures to guide us
throughout the rest of our lives. With this knowledge of an unchanging
standard, we can stand fast by this standard and be content knowing we are
following the One True Triune God, and though we may suffer a while, it is
nothing to enjoying eternity with God. We just have to DO and ACT our best for
Him here; though it may be hard, it will be worth it in the end. The current
climate in the world and even in this country is less hospitable than in
centuries to Christians. There is a
reason for this which only God understands and not us. God has a plan for all
of this. In time, we will realize what
the plan is. But for now, we are unaware of His plan in the greater scheme of
things. But what it is doing is solidifying the faith of true believers around
the globe, forming the Army of Light together, ready to battle against the
malicious forces of Satan. We cannot make this journey alone. We must have the close and continuous
presence of God. That presence is the
Holy Ghost. That is why He is here.
Pray for
His continual presence in your heart.
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
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