The Eighteenth Sunday
after Trinity.
The Collect.
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L
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ORD, we beseech
thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the
flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only
God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
1.Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
Christ is not only the Ambassador of Heaven, but the Sovereign Himself! As
Ambassador, He comes from distant shores to represent the interest of His
Heavenly Kingdom. He has all of the authority to act on His own behalf, and
that of His Father, for they are of One Mind in all things. The
Ambassador of Heaven, and of nations of the world, does not travel to His post
seeking permanent abode, but comes in a temporary capacity to arrange a closer
liaison with those to whom He comes. Christ came for the duration of thirty
three years and delivered all of the intent and pleasure of His Father, the
great King. He came to arrange a covenant alliance between those whom He would
choose, His Father, and His Kingdom. He is, as Malachi avers, the Messenger of
the Covenant.
Nations do not send vulgar representatives of the realm as ambassadors. They
send honorable men of high regard. God could send no greater than His only
Begotten Son in the station of Ambassador. God the Father sent that Man
who is in direct line to claim the Crown of Heaven: Which in his times he
shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord
of lords (1
Timothy 6:15)
A
national ambassador must be a man of great ability, well-trained and informed
for the task ahead. The Lord Jesus Christ meets all requirements for the
mission for which He was chosen by the Father. In fact, Jesus Christ is the
ONLY ONE qualified for the role. He must also be a person of great wisdom, and
the greatest loyalty to His ordering authority. Christ is all-wise,
all-knowing, and bears total loyalty to His Father.
An
ambassador cannot be posted to a foreign field unless he is ready and willing
to go there. Christ was ready and willing to come to us from before the
foundations of the earth were formed. Not only was He willing, but the
sending authority was willing as well.
It
is never the purpose of an ambassador to negotiate the terms of war. He always
comes to resolve differences and, hopefully, to make peace with powers that may
presently be belligerent. Though Christ comes to wage peace, His sword of war
is at the ready for those who will not agree to peace with Heaven.
An
ambassador has the LEGAL power to conclude treaties and agreements on behalf of
his government. So does Christ have that innate power to conclude treaties and
agreements between Heaven and those who accept His Ambassadorship. He acts on
behalf of His Father: He that rejecteth me,
and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have
spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken of
myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should
say, and what I should speak. (John 12:48-49)
Once
commissioned by the Sovereign power, the ambassador must leave the comforts and
familiar faces of his homeland and venture to a far country in order to
reconcile affairs that are not well between his country and that far country to
which he is posted. Christ left the delights and joys of Heaven, and the face
of His Father, to come into a strange and hostile world for us. But when
the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made
under the law (Galatians 4:4) He came with clear orders as well: To
redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of
sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)
When
posted to a distant station, an ambassador of the world has strict instructions
and guidelines that will satisfy the issuing authority. Christ, too, came
bearing the exact and inalterable commandments of His Father. The terms of
reconciliation with the belligerent (which we were) cannot be abrogated. All
things must be sealed in truth and sacrifice! My
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. (John 7:16)
Ambassadors are often sent to end war and resolve a peaceful settlement.
The old Treaty of the Covenant had been violated and the world was in a state
of war with God. Christ came to provide a better covenant, not of Commandments
written on Tables of Stone, but in love on the tender sinews of the heart. God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation
(2 Corinthians 5:19)
An
Ambassador of tender heart will suffer grief when the weaker parties to which
he is posted reject offers of peace, for He knows that the mighty Power which
He represents shall crush all rebellion to orderly peace and rule. And
when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For
the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about
thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall
lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation. (Luke 19:41-44)
An
ambassador has a great staff, loyal to His government, who labors on His
behalf. Christ has ministers and servants who are His choice agents to execute
His will.
Ambassadors of this world, though of respectable and honorable class, are not
equal in power to the Authority that posts them to their station. But Christ,
being God, is equal in authority to the Power that He represents. Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians
2:6-11 (KJV)
Ambassadors of the world are received with much ceremony and celebration;
however, the Lord Jesus Christ came as a baby, born among animals and laid in a
manger. The sleepy little town of Bethlehem paid little heed to His Coming.
The
terms and treaties effected by ambassadors of the world are not lasting. The
sands of time and dust of centuries cover their labors and the nations return
to a state of war or unrest. But the peace and salvation of Christ is, by no
means, temporary, but eternal. He has sealed the terms – not with the blood of
His enemies – but with His own precious blood.
What
great reverence and trust do we owe this Ambassador, Savior, Lord and King! If
you are in enmity with that great King, perhaps it is time to `stack arms and
sue for peace! Have you done so, Reader?
