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The center of the Traditional Anglican Communion; adhering to the Holy Bible (KJV) in all matters of Faith and Doctrine, a strict reliance on the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, The two Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, the Two Creeds, and the Homilies and formularies of the Reformation Church of England.

Verse of the Day

Sunday, March 17, 2024

AOC Sunday Report – Fifth Sunday in Lent



 
 

Happy Fourth Sunday in Lent.

 

The AOC Sunday report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE.

 

There is news from Pakistan and Bishop Jack’s write up on the Madrid trip; Bishop Jerry will have one in a week or two.

 

We have excellent sermons today from Bishops Jerry, Roy, Yves and Jack, as well as Rev Bryan.  Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/AcNrGm8DkHA

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we near the end of Lent, a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge without God’s great goodness and divine intervention, we cannot be preserved in either body or soul.  in order to get into heaven one must be perfect. But as we all know as Saint Paul says, all fall short. So how do we get in then?  In the Gospel, Jesus explained to the Pharisees before Abraham had even been conceived, He was.  Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

 

As always, we have a lot of people who desire your prayers. I know that seems to never change, that is because it doesn’t ever change. Today we ask you start with Alan Ridenour’s father who has just been released to him after two months on a ventilator in ICU with Covid then work your way through Candy, Shamu, Tricia, Laurie, and continue from there when you have time.

 

As we near the end of Lent, season of preparation for the coming of the Lord into Jerusalem amongst other things, we all need to see if we are really opening our heart to God’s guidance in the form of the Holy Ghost. If we’re not, and I doubt any of us really are as much as we could, we need to try harder and harder to do that. It is very difficult to follow God’s instructions if you don’t listen to them.

 

May you see the epic week ahead.

 

Godspeed,

 

Hap Arnold








Bishop Coadjutor

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Fifth Sunday in Lent - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

 



Bishop Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/AcNrGm8DkHA

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we near the end of Lent, a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge without God’s great goodness and divine intervention, we cannot be preserved in either body or soul.  in order to get into heaven one must be perfect. But as we all know as Saint Paul says, all fall short. So how do we get in then?  In the Gospel, Jesus explained to the Pharisees before Abraham had even been conceived, He was.  Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.


The Propers for today are found on Page 132-133, with the Collect first:

 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called

Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

W

E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:

 

The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.

 

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, starting at the Eleventh Verse of the Ninth Chapter.   Paul summarizes both the symbolism and the substance of the Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf.  Paul opens the secret of the One Perfect Sacrifice, One Time, for All Time and All Mankind.  Paul is clearly appealing to the sense of the Jews when he asks them if the blood of goats will set aside or atone for sin, how much more can be done by the Perfect Sacrifice made on our behalf?

 

C

HRIST being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

 

This morning’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of Saint John, starting at the Forty-Sixth Verse of the Eighth Chapter and tells the story of Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees in the temple.  Like much of John it is filled with deep explanation of Jesus and His purpose here. 

 

Knowing them looking to find the worst in Him, Jesus asked, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?”  In a point central to Christianity, he went on, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”  When we hear the term Jews here, we should hear the world in general, for He spoke to all who would not hear.  When they would not hear, He pointed out He sought not glory or praise from them, but only from the Father whom in reality they knew not.  Here He offers the singular benefit of Christianity, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”  This concept being foreign to them, they asked if He thought He was greater than Abraham.  That brought the crowning touch, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.”  Knowing He was only in his early 30s, they could not grasp how he could have seen Abraham.

 

In a demonstration of the non-linearity of God’s time, He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.[1]”  As might be expected, this offended the Keepers of The Law.

 

J

ESUS said, Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words:  ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

 



[1] This response was similar to God’s answer to Moses’ question, “Who do I tell them sent me?”


 

Jack Arnold

Bishop of the Diocese of the West  AOC USA

Education and Training

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Bp Jack brings the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/AcNrGm8DkHA

 

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. I got back from the trip to Madrid earlier this week.  I managed to get a fever and pretty bad cough, from which I am recovering.  So, if I cough during the sermon, please excuse me I advance.  Luckily it is not contagious on video.

 


In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we near the end of Lent, a season of preparation.  Let us start by reading today’s Collect:

 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called

Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

W

E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… thy people; … by thy great goodness … may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul …

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge without God’s great goodness and divine intervention, we cannot be preserved in either body or soul.  This is a constant truth through ought the Bible, the New Testament in particular.  Without God’s great goodness we simply cannot be preserved. What does asking for God’s great goodness mean for us? It means when we ask we might be governed and thus preserved by His great goodness, we are in effect asking for His Guidance for us, so we can be preserved in both body and soul. We acknowledge God is the ultimate good and is the source of all truth, and we need His Help if we are to succeed. This concept is constant throughout all the collects. It is constant because it is the truth. We can only follow the narrow uphill path towards heaven with His Goodness and His Guidance.  As always, if we are left to our own devices and desires, we are lost.  Guided means we need to ask, then listen to what He Tells us, then actually follow those instructions.  

 

For those who are not perfect[1], following instructions can be hard at times but it must be done nevertheless. And I have found this holds true in all aspects of live not just our spiritual aspect. However, in all areas without His Guidance we are truly doomed. We must look to Him for the guidance we need to get through the spiritual and physical turmoils of this life. We must trust in Him and not in our own fallible guidance. We on our own volition cannot drive the narrow up hill path towards heaven safely, we must rely on the Holy Ghost as the perfect infallible lead car that we follow for that guidance. The Holy Ghost will always give us perfect directions, however it is on us to act on and follow those directions.

 

Further to this thought, if we are looking to Him for guidance, we then need look to Him for safety.  Safety meaning only the safety of our soul, our eternal life. It does not mean safety from dangers to the body here on Earth. Our bodies are still able to be physically harmed, but our souls are safe from eternal damnation, that is what safety truly means. It also does not mean we are to put ourselves at risk recklessly, but it means we are to have confidence that if we die while doing actions for Him, we are ensured that our souls will be safe and headed towards heaven.

 

However in order to get into heaven one must be perfect. But as we all know as Saint Paul says, all fall short. So how do we get in then? This is quite the accounting dilemma. How do you account us, who are very imperfect creatures as purified and perfect creatures? There is an easy solution for this and that is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Our only means of being accounted as perfect when we come before God is to rely on the sacrifice and intermediary priesthood of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ to account us as perfect before God on that final day. Christ has replaced the intermediary priesthood of the Jews with himself, our one and only High Intermediary Priest.  Your AOC ministers, while officially titled as priests, are not intermediary priests! The day of the intermediary priests have come and gone for us with the Old Testament in the past. We need only Christ, there are no middle men between us and Jesus.  He is our Savior, our Leader, our Teacher, our Master, our Example! 

 

Christ came to succeed the Old Covenant marked by sacrifices of innocent animals; killing off animals in an effort to atone for our sins really did not do the job.  However as we have stated before, the Old Covenant was a needed step before the New Covenant could occur. It was a way to prepare people for Christ’s coming. They would not have understood His Message otherwise without it. Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection highlighted that His Ministry was all about action. If we truly are believers of Him, we will ACT upon His Word and not just say it. There is truth to the saying that action speak louder than words. 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus explained to the Pharisees before Abraham had even been conceived, He was. In fact, Jesus was the one who created this Earth, so He has been around since before the beginning of the planet. The Pharisees could or would not grasp in their heads Jesus was who He claimed to be, the Son of God. They chose to try to destroy His ministry rather than follow Him.  He was interfering with their comfortable way of living and deceiving the Jewish people. He was a threat to their system. They would not understand His Message, so they opted to try to destroy Him instead. Note the word try. Try as hard as they might, the Pharisees could not interfere with Jesus’s ultimate action for us, his Death and Resurrection upon the cross. Even with the truth of who He was laid bare in front of them, they still chose not to believe. Time and time again we see them confronted with the truth Jesus offers and they always choose to reject it rather than embrace the truth.

 

This is a very common pattern with God’s enemies. Their names and appearances my change, but their inner hearts and souls have not changed over the eons. Their hearts have been blinded by their love of their selves, pride and greed. They cannot see the simple truths we see as followers of God. They look down upon us and think we are the ignorant ones, when reality is the other way around. 

 

They cannot, or will not, see that the priceless gift Jesus came to offer us. Jesus came to save our souls and give us eternal life, eternal life starting right then.  Not just for the Jews and Israel, but the whole wide world, Jew, Gentile, Greek and all others.  Jesus brought salvation and life to the entire world.  That was not what the Pharisees were looking so hard for with their magnifying glasses as they examined Torah and The Law.  They were looking for what would be only a temporary power, power on this physical plane. This pales in comparison to safety and happiness forever, for all eternity.  Pharisees were not big picture people, and as Calvin told Hobbes, We big picture people rarely become historians or Pharisees, I might add.   The Pharisees were very obviously not big picture people; they misinterpreted the prophecies of the Messiah. Regardless, even though some people chose to misunderstand the prophecies, He came and He made that one sacrifice, at one time, for all mankind, for all time. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life[2].

 

Who is Jesus?  Our Savior?  Indeed.  But, more He has been since before the beginning of the world, for He is One with I Am.

 

Through His Actions, we are saved.

 

Do ye likewise:

 

ACT

 

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



[1] All of us, that is.

[2] If the text of this sentence seems familiar, it is John 3.16, probably the most widely quoted text of the Bible.

Fifth Sunday in Lent - Passion Sunday - The Cross - Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide - 17 March 2024, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)


 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent,

commonly called Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

W

E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:

 

The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


 

 This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.

 

Scripture to be discussed:

 

H

AVING therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water(Hebrews 10:19-22)

 

The Sermon 

            This Sunday bears out the Doctrine of Atonement – a term I heard another minister describe as ‘at-one-ment’with God. The cross reconciled us to God from the curse of Adam’s Fall and the subsequent Law which was our teacher to point out our infirmity and inability to be obedient to God in our own strength and merit.

 

            Christ is the realization of that true Tabernacle of which that the Church in the Wilderness *(see Acts 7:38) was a type and picture. Christ is our Tabernacle “not made with hands.” “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens(2 Corinthians 5:1)  The later Temple was an improved picture of that Wilderness Tabernacle.

 

            The Wilderness Tabernacle was lavishly furnished with silk and wool curtains, gold covered furniture, and other ornaments of gold. It was a thing of beauty INSIDE, but was rough and shabby appearance without being covered with goat’s hair. In that respect, it foreshadowed the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ:  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  (Isaiah 53:2-3)  But the Heart of our Lord was pure beauty of finest gems.

 

            Both the Tabernacle and the Temple of Solomon were oriented toward the east. This symbolizes the welcoming gate of the Son of God at His second coming. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be(Matthew 24:27) He is our Sun of Righteousness and His brightness is beyond comparison. (Malachi 4:2)

 

           The doctrines of salvation, atonement, redemption & justification are all fully consummated in the Doctrine of the Cross.  These are physically represented in both the Wilderness Tabernacle and the Temple. Inside the outer gate of the both stands the Altar of burnt offerings. No one enters without confronting this demand for a sacrifice as the covering of sin. On the Hebrew Day of Atonement, each family brought their lamb, or other acceptable animal. Without blemish to be sacrificed as an atonement of sin. The sacrifice of Christ is the Christians offering for sin – a continual offering which was sacrificed once-and-for-all. It is thereby an eternal sacrifice. 

 

            Christ is an High Priest after the Order of Melchizedek (King of Righteousness). He is the eternal High Priest and therefore the only High Priest for all time and eternity.

 

            At the moment of His death on the cross, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.  (Luke 23:46) At that very moment, the Passover Lambs were being sacrificed. Moreover, During the Day of Atonement, the High Priest of Israel entered into the Holy of Holies beyond the veil to sprinkle the blood sacrifice of the people. On entry to the Holy of Holies, the High Priest must pass between the seven candles on the north side of the Holy Place and the Shewbread Table on the south. The Candles represented Christ as the Light of the World as well; and the Shewbread represented Christ as the Bread of Heaven. The High Priest stopped at the Altar of Incense to offer up the prayers of the people – the rising smoke of the incense representing the prayers of the people being wafted up to Heaven.

 

            The High Priest could only go into the Holy of Holies once per year, but as our High Priest, Christ intercedes for our sins continually and forever. Behind the Veil was the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments, the rod of Aaron, and Manna. Above the Ark of the Covenant was the Mercy Seat symbolizing grace as trumping the Law. The Mercy Seat, to me, is a clear representation of Christ and His grace.

 

T

HEN said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by(John 8:52-59)

 

            Christ most often referred to His divine role as the Great I AM. He was the I Am of the Burning Bush before Moses, and He is our great I am having neither beginning nor end. 

 

F

OR he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 20 And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: 21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) 22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23 And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24 But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.  (Hebrews 7:17-27)

 

            By the means of the Law, we have realized our weakness and inability to be accounted righteous. But by the atoning sacrifice of Christ, we are made clean by His blood and are accounted righteous by the imputed righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have an Advocate with the Father who is our continual Intercessor. We need not other – neither saint, nor pope, nor priest. 

 

            In the Absolution pronounced by the minister in Anglican worship, the minister has no authority to forgive sins but, instead, pronounces the will of God to forgive every sin of which the penitent has confessed and repented of.

 

A

LMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who of his great mercy hath promised forgiveness of sins to all those who with hearty repentance and true faith turn unto him; Have mercy upon you[1]; pardon and deliver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness; and bring you to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer of Absolution, 1928 Book of Common Prayer. 

 

The minister simply pronounces the Lord’s will to grant based on the General Confession of sins that precede the Absolution.

 

            Christ is our Redeemer, Atonement, Savior, King and Lord of all. As the old minister described the Atonement, so I concur – Christ came to put us At-One-Ment with God. We are all One in Christ as He is One with the Father. He has reconciled His elect from Abraham to you and me by His cross.  If we have put on the Mind that was in Christ, we are One with Him and with the Father. And if we are One with Him, we will not suffer quarrels and dissension in the Church. Such divisions is evidence of a lack of grace in the church and her members.

 

            Let us all embrace that Oneness with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Father, and our Father.



[1] In most of our parishes, the you is changed to us and the your to our, inasmuch as the minister has just confessed to his sins also and we want to make it very clear it is God who is forgiving and not the minster who has not that power.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Collect for the Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called Passion Sunday

 


 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent,

commonly called Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

W

E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.


The Collect

The COLLECT for Passion Sunday relates to the just and orderly government of the people of God in His trust and preservation. This COLLECT, too, is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary.  The original (in the Latin) for thy people was familia. I prefer the older term for it means the Household, or family, of Godand that is what those who trust in God should be called. 

 

            The government of God is just and equitable, and all governments incorporate to some extent the Laws of God for governance, but those that corrupt aspects of these laws in contempt of the Maker are those tyrants and despots that are so common in our day around the world. I need not remind the Christian that ALL just laws derive from the Law of God and are subordinate thereto. The French economist and Parliamentarian, Frederick Bastiat recognized this principle and very well articulated it in his short commentary entitled, The Law of 1848. But even sooner than this, the Holy Bible also held forth the same principle lest any forget: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man(Psalm 118:8) We ought to obey God rather than men(Acts 5:29) I hope no minister of God ever doubts his allegiance to God over the traditions or deceits of man-made government. If the government forbids the admonition of sins such as homosexuality, abortion, or adultery, I hope every Christian and minister reading this devotion will be faithful to his Christian vows and follow God rather than man. If the laws and purposes of government become contrary to Scriptural truth, then they are not legally binding on the Christian. God did not give us a conscience to be squandered away at the bar of government.

 

Our Founding Fathers well knew the legitimate limits of governmental power and included a clear definition in the Declaration of Independence  an oft disregarded formulary of our freedoms: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,  That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Declaration of Independence, unanimously ratified by the Thirteen United States of America, 4th July 1776, Anno Domini. Governments that are righteous will also enforce laws that are righteous. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work  (Titus 3:1) Every good work is not possible under the tyranny of oppression and religious persecution. It is noteworthy that the Founding Fathers of the most flourishing Republic in history acknowledged the Source of legitimate governmental powers to descend from God.

 

We petition, in todays COLLECT, for Gods government and preservation of His own people. WE beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people. Our prayers have no effect on the government of the ungodly, but they indeed do have application to the national character and morals of the nation in which His people dwell. You will recall from 2 Chronicles 7:14, that well-worn petition and counsel for national healing: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land(2 Chron 7:14) Though modern-day America has become overpopulated by heathen and luke-warm Christians, only those who are called by HIS name, with serious intent, will suffice in prayer. All the false professor and legal idiots do not need to offer prayer at all for no one would hear them.

 

“………that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul. What result may we expect if we are a nation well-favored by God for our faith and obedience? The amazing testimony of America in her first 175 years has been characterized by faith and righteousness before the Lord. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine(Prov 3:7-10)  The blessings of God on a nation obedient to His laws are inexhaustible and extend not only the health of the soul, but the health and preservation of the body as well. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance(Psalm 33:12) What a tragic downfall that is destined for the favored-nation who has known well the blessings of God but, yet, has fallen for the filth and slop of the world  a nation that once honored God in all her public institutions and expressions, but has now abandoned every reference to God and embraced the sins of abortion and homosexuality along with every other abominable thing. 

 

            It has long been the yearning of my heart that I could write in truth and good conscience of my beloved nations turn back to the God that gave her standing from her ancient founding; but I cannot do so. I have prayed that God would place a hook in our hearts, if we awaken not to our peril, and draw is by force back to His favored ground. He may do so yet, but I fear we are approaching that impasse of which Jeremiah prophesied. He at first preached repentance for national salvation, yet, the apostasy became so great and tragic that he changed his prophesying to a preaching of going into bondage as a chastisement, and then a national salvation based on repentance from the land of bondage at Babylon. How earnestly I pray that such bondage will not overtake our beloved America, but if it cause a national repentance, I plead that the Lord will bring it on sooner rather than later. It will be a sad day when the American Song is sung in bondage to strangers as in Babylon: 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion(Psalm 137:1-3) Will it not be far more edifying to sing our national song by the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers than on the riverbanks of some strange and hateful enemy of our people? Unfortunately, the enemy is encamped among us today and will have a song in mirth of Christ and our God. 

 

Again, beware the fateful words of that ancient Roman proponent of Republican forms of government, Marcus Tullius Cicero:   Power and law are not synonymous. In truth they are frequently in opposition and irreconcilable. There is God's Law from which all Equitable laws of man emerge and by which men must live if they are not to die in oppression, chaos and despair. Divorced from God's eternal and immutable Law, established before the founding of the suns, man's power is evil no matter the noble words with which it is employed or the motives urged when enforcing it. Men of good will, mindful therefore of the Law laid down by God, will oppose governments whose rule is by men, and if they wish to survive as a nation they will destroy the government which attempts to adjudicate by the whim of venal judges. 42 BC.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Live not by lies – 15 March 2024, Anno Domini




 

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HE  heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. 11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.  (Jeremiah 17:9-11)

 

            It is common knowledge to the committed Christian the heart (even our own) is deceitful and easily led aside from the truth. But by faith and conviction, the Christian disregards the beguilement of satanic sirens of destruction to lead us from truth and into abject deception – such deception as arises to delusions of titanic proportions. Are we not approaching the realization of those delusions? 

 

            The Serpent of Eden has longed plotted to destroy the man that God had made from the beginning – through abortions, homosexuality, wars, famine, poisonous drugs, and ruthless attacks on the Holy Estate of Matrimony. According to the Worldometer, the population of the world has reached 8.1 billion in 2024. The degenerate, so-called elites, propose that the world population be reduced radically to merely one billion. Of course, that would not include the lunatics who propose such a reduction. But those who are left would be perceived as pawns of those elites pulling the puppet strings. What philosophical debauchery!

 

            Merely twenty years ago, who would have believed we would be scolded for denying a man can become pregnant, or that men could compete in women’s sports, or that the greatest enemy of the world’s environment was man himself. Yet these very denials of science are being foisted upon our youth from kindergarten to college . . . . and, unfortunately, the ruse is working.

 

            A great Christian and Russian patriot who stood up against the lies of the so-called ‘elite,’ by refusing to play the game of making belief in Marxist delusions, wrote the following statement upon being exiled from Russian following long imprisonment there:

Yes, at first it will not be fair. Someone will have to temporarily lose his job. For the young who seek to live by truth, this will at first severely complicate life, for their tests and quizzes, too, are stuffed with lies, and so choices will have to be made. But there is no loophole left for anyone who seeks to be honest: Not even for a day, not even in the safest technical occupations can he avoid even a single one of the listed choices—to be made in favor of either truth or lies, in favor of spiritual independence or spiritual servility. And as for him who lacks the courage to defend even his own soul: Let him not brag of his progressive views, boast of his status as an academician or a recognized artist, a distinguished citizen or general. Let him say to himself plainly: I am cattle, I am a coward, I seek only warmth and to eat my fill. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Live not by Lies, 1974

 

            There is One who knows the heart of man intimately and He has privileged His elect to invite Him into their hearts to sit as Sovereign and Lord of all. His Holy Word is the only assurance of truth and grace. 

 

            The very center verse of the Bible is found in Psalms 118:8 – It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is no accident this verse is at the heart of Scripture. The principle is loudly reinforced in the New Testament:  We ought to obey God rather than men.  (Acts 5:29)

 

            Our introductory text contains a curious illustration – As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool. There is a belief among the people of the Middle East the eggs of the partridge, which she lays on the ground, are often stolen by other predators. To compensate for the loss, the partridge steals the eggs of others and hatches them as her own; but, once hatched, the babies run to their natural mother leaving the surrogate alone and unloved. Truth lies trampled in the streets of the thorough fares of man, but when truth is discovered, it rises up to claim its own and leaves the impostor childless. 

 

            The Lord God has given us Divine and Immutable truths by which to conduct our lives. The truths, or partridge eggs, of other false ideologies and philosophies will never profit us, but will leave us loveless and without our Godly Parent. Those who deny the natural and moral law of God will likewise end in ruin: Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

 

            Is it not high time for us, as Christian and lovers of our land and family, rise up en masse and loudly proclaim the truth over the delusional voices being sounded from the very towers of governmental power?

 

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RY aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression

(Isaiah 58:1)

 

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Hymns of the Church - I heard the voice of Jesus say– 12 March 2024, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

 

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O forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  (1 Kings 19:11-12)

 

            This beautiful old hymn is the work of the beloved Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) who wrote this, and many other hymns, while serving as minister of the Church of Scotland, and later the Free Church of Scotland.  The tune I prefer is Sarah-Elizabeth by Amanda Husberg. Bonar has recorded the voice he heard of Jesus in many of his classic hymns. If you have yet to hear the voice of Jesus, you will doubtless miss the depth of this beautiful old hymn.

 

I heard the voice of Jesus say

 

            I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Come unto Me and rest;

lay down, thou weary one, lay down

thy head upon My breast.”

I came to Jesus as I was,

so weary, worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting place,

and He has made me glad.

 

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Behold, I freely give

the living water, thirsty one;

stoop down, and drink, and live.”

I came to Jesus, and I drank

of that life-giving stream;

my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,

and now I live in Him.

 

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“I am this dark world’s Light;

look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,

and all thy day be bright.”

I looked to Jesus, and I found

in Him my Star, my Sun;

and in that Light of life I’ll walk,

till trav'ling days are done.

 

 1 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest; lay down, thou weary one, lay down thy head upon My breast.” I came to Jesus as I was, so weary, worn, and sad; I found in Him a resting place,and He has made me glad. We hear the voice of our Lord in sundry places and under some surprising circumstances, but He speaks in soft and whispering tones to the heart and not the ears. He seldom speaks in the ballroom, the cocktail lounge, or the gambling halls; but even in those venues, He is able. The beloved Apostle of Love, John, was the young man who laid his head upon the breast of Christ at the Last Supper. He loved Jesus unconditionally for he understood, as a young man, that Christ first loved Him unconditionally. Many a heart-broken father or mother came destitute of hope to Christ on behalf of their darlings, and Christ always satisfied the compulsion of love in healing or raising from the dead. He still does! 

 

2 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one; stoop down, and drink, and live.” I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream; my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in HimThe downcast woman of ill-repute heard that voice of Jesus offer the Water of Life at Jacob’s Well outside the gates of Sychar. Her life was changed and made anew at the very utterance of His grace. She left her empty bucket at the well and went home rejoicing. She gained credibility as a woman of faith and all beleived her testimony. The Water of Life is not costly to the beneficiary (in fact, it is free), but of great cost to the Benefactor who purchased it with His own blood on the brow of Calvary. If one drinks of that Flood, it will become an over-flowing stream of grace in the lives of its possessors.

 

3 I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light; look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.” I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun; and in that Light of life I’ll walk, till trav'ling days are done. Jesus is truly the Light of the World and our Sun of Righteousness; but He is also our Bright and Morning Star to lead us through the long, dark nights of this world of trouble and hurt. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star(Revelation 22:16)

 

That Morning Star is the brightest in our night Heaven and becomes the Sun of righteousness that shall arise with healing in His wings.¶ But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall(Malachi 4:2)