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| …while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight |
Ascension Day
On
Ascension Day, we had three members present for the service. Ascension Day
commemorates the return to heaven, the ascending of our Lord. This is a day filled with joy, one
where we get to recall fulfillment of promises.
The
Ascension Day service always brings a lot of happiness and fun, being one of
those days.[1]
If
you did not make it, resolve to come next year. The parish will buy your dinner afterwards if it is your
first time to the service[2].
The Collect
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RANT,
we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son
our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in
heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and
reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect
is to be said daily throughout the Octave.
For the Epistle. Acts
i. 1.
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HE
former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do
and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the
Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom
also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being
seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom
of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they
should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but
ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they
therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at
this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not
for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own
power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in
Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven.
The Gospel. St. Luke
xxiv. 49.
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ESUS
said, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them
out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it
came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up
into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy:
and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.
Ascensiontide
Messsage from the Presiding Bishop
9 And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly
toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which
also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts
1:9-11)
When I was just a very young boy, I loved to go out in
the sage fields near our mountain home on sunny autumn days and just lie there
looking at the high, white, puffy clouds. The only sound was the chill-autumn
wind and an occasional distant droning of an aircraft. Though I have always
loved planes, my curious attention was more focused on those mysterious clouds
– so very high, and constantly changing. I wondered what they were made of, and
how they kept from falling. I imagined some figure in every cloud. In those
days, I had an unbounded imagination. I saw generals on horseback, sabers
drawn, fixed in time during the charge against the enemy.
Sometimes, I thought I saw angels, or castles, and
every other object that occupies the imagination of youth. I was unaware, at
that age, of the majesty and glory of one particular cloud that hovered over
Mount Olivet outside the gates of Jerusalem, and overlooking the village of His
friends – Bethany - some two thousand years ago. It was a very special cloud,
unlike any others that had ever formed. It did not appear as different from any
other cloud. The thing that made it special was that which the cloud was
privileged to receive – our Lord Jesus Christ. The same is true of the
heart of man. We may not often tell by looks, but the difference is in whether
that heart, like the cloud, has received the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord knows
because He is One who looks upon the heart and not the outward appearance.
Jesus came into the world – into Time and Space – to
work out His wonderful plan of redemption for us. He came from the Eternal
Halls of Heaven into a world that had rejected Him and grown gross in sin and
sparing of beauty. Upon the completion of His atoning sacrifice, He rose from
the grave and, at the appointed time, ascended back into that Eternity into
which no man can look from his platform on this sphere. I refer to that great
Church Calendar event of Ascension Day. It occurs always on the 40th
day past Easter Sunday (on Thursday). The Ascension of Christ is one of
the five major milestones recorded in the gospels of the Life of Christ and is
re-confirmed in both the Nicene and the Apostles Creeds.
Just before He was taken up in bodily form, the Lord
spoke to the eleven Apostles (and to you and me): “Thus
it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead
the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in
his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of
these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry
ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”
(Luke 24:46-49) All who believe have been endued with that “Power from on
High – the Holy Ghost!” The leading question that should grip your heart is
this: Have we, each clergy and laity, preached the Gospel of Christ, and the
repentance and remission of sins, to every remunerative audience? Is the Gospel
that we preach the full Gospel and not diluted with the soiled hands of translators
and critics? THAT is the question, friend.
As Christ ascended from Mount Olivet, He was received
into that blessed cloud – out of the sight, for a time, of all beholders – but
not out of mind or Spirit. That same cloud that received Christ shall be seen
again at the return of Christ. We have God’s promise on that: “. . . behold,
two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”
To the weathered seaman, clouds building in the East may not be welcomed, but
to those who grow and produce crops, such clouds would be a welcome harbinger
of plenty. To the Christian, we should remember that cloud that received Christ
when we look into the heavens. We should remember, as well, that One (King of
Kings and Lord of Lords) shall receive you into that same Cloud of Glory at His
return. Remember that cloud in which God appeared on Mt Sinai in the days
of Moses (Ex 19:18);
that Cloud (Pillar) of Fire by Night and Smoke by Day that followed Israel in
the Wilderness (And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a
cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them
light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day,
nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. Ex 13:21-22); and remember that cloud that
covered the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration to protect their frailty
from the Bright Glory of God – “While he thus spake, there came a cloud,
and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. And
there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.”
(Luke 9:34-35) Here, as in the last day,
the disciples were WITH Christ in the Cloud. Any clouds in YOUR forecast,
friend?
Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Worldwide Communion
The Sunday after Ascension Day
Today
was the Sunday after Ascension Day.
On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson,
but overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has some great ones to share.
On to the On Point quotes –
Today or Forever?
“Foolish boy,” said the Witch.
“Why do you run from me? I mean you no harm. If you do not stop and listen to
me now, you will miss some knowledge that would have made you happy all your
life.”
“Well, I don’t want to hear it, thanks,” said Digory. But he
did.
“I know what errand you have come on,” continued the Witch.
“For it was I who was close beside you in the woods last night and heard all
your counsels. You have plucked fruit in the garden yonder. You have it in your
pocket now. And you are going to carry it back, untasted, to the Lion; for him
to eat, for him to use. You simpleton! Do you know what that fruit is? I will
tell you. It is the apple of youth, the apple of life. I know, for I have
tasted it; and I feel already such changes in myself that I know I shall never
grow old or die. Eat it, Boy, eat it; and you and I will both live forever and
be king and queen of this whole world—or of your world, if we decide to go back
there.”
“No thanks,” said Digory, “I
don’t know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is
dead. I’d rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven.”
Jack Lewis
The Magician's
Nephew
On Hope
Then Aslan turned to them and
said: “You do not yet look so happy as I mean you to be.”
Lucy said, “We’re so afraid of
being sent away, Aslan. And you have sent us back into our own world so often.”
“No fear of that,” said Aslan. “Have you not guessed?” Their
hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them. “There was a real railway
accident,” said Aslan softly. “Your father and mother and all of you are—as you
used to call it in the Shadowlands—dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun.
The dream is ended: this is the morning.”
And as He spoke He no longer
looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were
so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of
all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever
after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life
in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and
the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story
which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter
is better than the one before.
Jack Lewis
The Last Battle
The desire of the slothful
killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.
Proverbs 21:25
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LORD, thou art my God;
I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things;
thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.
Isaiah 25:1
Think not
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil.
St. Matthew 5:17
Behold my
hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath
not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
St. Luke 24:39
Be sober, be vigilant; because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all
grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye
have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
I St. Peter 5:8-10
There is a common, worldly kind
of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough—a
cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice—which costs
nothing, and is worth nothing.
JC Ryle
19th century
Anglican bishop and author
If a person has to be coerced to
attend church and hear the word of God, then such a one might as well stay at
home. Those whose hearts desire not the life- giving word of God cannot be
coaxed to worship with earthly rewards such as, meals, or with participation in
some activity outside of worship. They will therefore come to get their fleshly
desires sated; but their spirits will remain unfed. Only after a person sees
the need for the word of God, do they find that need to attend worship because
they came for God and for him alone and not the thing or things which lured
them there.
Rev Bryan Dabney
The Roman Empire of the East was
founded by Constantine the Great on Monday, 11 May 330; it came to an end on
Tuesday, 29 May 1453... Byzantium may not have lived up to its highest ideals,
but it certainly did not deserve the reputation which, thanks largely to Edward
Gibbon, it acquired in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Byzantines
were, on the contrary, a deeply religious society in which illiteracy— at least
among the middle and upper classes— was virtually unknown, and in which one
Emperor after another was renowned for his scholarship; a society which alone
preserved much of the heritage of Greek and Latin antiquity, during these dark
centuries in the West when the lights of learning were almost extinguished...
Tuesday is still believed to be the unluckiest day of the week [in the Greek
world]... the Turkish flag still depicts not a crescent but a waning moon,
[reminds] us that the moon was in its last quarter when Constantinople finally
fell; and... excepting only the Great Church of St Sophia itself, it is the
Land Walls— broken and battered, but still marching from sea to sea— that stand
as the city’s grandest and most tragic monument.
Sir John J. Norwich
20th and 21st
century British historian
(A Short History of
Byzantium, pp. 382-383)
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special
prayers and readings from the Bible.
There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most
written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or
written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the
re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be
read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The
Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in
the New Testament. The Gospel is a
reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as
a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in
our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the
service in our church is read by an ordained minister.
The propers are the same each
year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook,
falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White
Season, where it is put off. Red
Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in
red, are special days. Most of the
Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development
of the church, others to special events.
Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be
used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.
The Propers for today are found
on Page 179-180, with the Collect first:
The
Sunday after Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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GOD, the King of
glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy
kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our
Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Collect for Ascension Day,
found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:
The
Collect for The Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty
God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to
have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither
ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said
daily throughout the Octave.
This morning’s Epistle is written in the Fourth
Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Seventh Verse. Peter reminds us of the shortness of
our lives, the eternity of the next world and implores us to live as if we were
eternal now, not wait until we die. For the, eternity will be a bit late.
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HE end of
all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above
all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the
multitude of sins. Use hospitality
one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so
minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of
God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man
minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all
things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.
Today’s Holy
Gospel came from the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint
John beginning at the Twenty-Sixth Verse.
The Gospel talks about the origin of the Holy Ghost and the reason for
which He is being sent. It also
foretells the enmity that Christians will find from those of this world who do
not share their understanding of God and His Will:
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HEN the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me
from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be
offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things
will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But
these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that
I told you of them.
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
The Sunday
after Ascension Day
St Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church
1 June 2014,
Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)
The
Sunday after Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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GOD, the King of
glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy
kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our
Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Collect for Ascension Day,
found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:
The
Collect for The Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty
God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to
have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither
ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said
daily throughout the Octave.
Our
Collect for Sunday after Ascension follows logically the observance of the
Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is perfectly timely and natural that we,
having observed our Lord ascend, should now desire the promised comforter - I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
(John 14:18) This
word ‘leave means, in the Greek, to divorce or to sever all legal connection.
Christ will not disown His people even if He has departed to a High Station.
Many of our friends may forget who we are if they advance to high political or
social office, but not our Lord Jesus Christ. His very Ascension was for our
benefit. We have been left with a close and intimate intercessor who will
ALWAYS testify of Christ to us and point always to His benefits.
The
Collect refers to God the Father as the King of Glory and is based, for the
most part, on the 24th Psalm. Lift up your heads, O ye
gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall
come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty
in battle. (Psalms 24:7-8) It is interesting to note that the preceding
Psalm (23rd) describes Christ as the Lord our Shepherd,
and here the Father is called the King of Glory. The plea
is rhetorical for Christ has promised with a surety that He will NOT leave us
Comfortless. The Holy Ghost (or Comforter) will exalt us to a standing place in
Christ. The Holy Ghost has not come to exalt Himself, but to exalt and point only
to Christ. We see that many churches corrupt the purpose of the Holy Ghost in
granting wealth, power, and benefits outside those promised in Christ.
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HEN the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit
of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also
shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. These
things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. (John 15:26-27) They shall put you out
of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think
that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they
have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when
the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. (John 16:1-4)
Have you ever been so lonely that you
longed for any company at all to speak to? I heard a prayer offered at the
beginning of a local church service (televised) this morning in which the
request constantly sought for the Holy Ghost to come down. Though I suppose
that I know what the prayer was asking, do they not know that the Holy Ghost
has already come down, having been sent by the Lord Jesus Christ as our
Comforter in His physical absence? The Holy Ghost is given at baptism to
believers. It was given exceptional in Old Testament times, but generally to
all who believe in our time. If we are lonely, it is because we do not resort
to that inner chamber of our hearts in which the Holy Ghost resides. The Holy Ghost is not some unseen Power
that we can call upon as if calling 911 for assistance. Certainly, we may call
upon Him at any moment, but those moments best not be reserved only to time of
urgent need, or some TV hour when “signs and wonders” presumable occur at the
bid and call of some ten-horned evangelist.
Christ
walked among us and taught us all things concerning Himself. He went about all
of Judea and Galilee preaching, teaching, and healing. But Christ was confined
to a body with limitations of time and space. He came to a few whom He called
to Himself as Apostles so that a living testimony would remain after His
Testament (death Will). This was a necessary component of God’s plan to expand
the witness of the Gospel unto all nations by means of witnesses. Today, we are
those witnesses who teach and preach the Gospel of Christ once delivered to the
saints. This teaching has taken place from heart to heart.
But it
was necessary that Christ die on the cross else we would remain unredeemed and unsaved.
This was His most critical intent. Secondly, it was necessary that Christ
ascend to the father, not only to make intercession for us, but that the
Comforter might come. The Comforter, or Holy Ghost, is a Spirit not subject to
limitations of time or space. The Holy Ghost is capable of witnessing in a
diversity of places and times because He is a Spirit. He can warm my heart in
Alabama and point me to the truth of the Gospel while He is able, at the same
time, to do the same for a Christian in Indonesia. He not only reveals truth to
us as written in Holy Scripture, but He also administers comfort, succor, and
encouragement to us when the world offends. He does not leave us alone for He
ABIDES in our hearts if we belong to Christ. But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the
Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.
Do not be deceived by the modern apostates that the Holy Spirit will whisper
secrets in your ear not revealed in God’s Word, or cause you to speak in a
babble that no one else can understand (including yourself). The Holy Ghost is
reasonable, Biblically true, and loving.
27 And
ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. Jesus is speaking to His apostles here, but He also
speaks to us. “From the beginning, for us, is the moment that we first
believed. That is OUR beginning, for before we were born anew in Christ, we
were dead in trespasses and sin. And you hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we
all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love
wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Eph 2:1-6)
We all
find our ‘beginning’ in Christ Alone. Because we have known Him from the beginning,
we must also bear witness of Him. If we have ever been WITH Him at all in faith
and trust, we must still be so, for He loses none that the Father has placed in
His able hands.
1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be
offended. There is an old saying, “To be forewarned is to be
fore-armed.” When we have been warned of coming trouble, we are able
to make provision for it and to prepare our hearts and minds. The Greek word
for ‘offend’ is Skandalizo. It means to entice to sin, or to
cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and
obey (to cause to fall away). If you have been told by the Field Commander to
expect to encounter enemy elements ahead, you will be alert and at the ready
for the encounter. If, on the other hand, you walk complacently and oblivious
to the enemy, you will not be prepared for the engagement and may perish by the
wayside or in ambush.
2 They
shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth
you will think that he doeth God service. Do you realize that more martyrs have died in the last century
than any previous one? Do you know that men and women are being hung by their
necks, and beheaded, today in the name of a presumptive god called Allah? Those
who bear the sword believe that they serve God by brutally killing all who do
not accept their false god. Christ has told you already that they shall put you
out of the synagogues (churches). If you have not yet been cast out, do not be
surprised if you are so cast out when you insist on biblical truth and
righteousness. You may be labeled a ‘contentious one” for opposing a lukewarm
Gospel or outright heresy. You may be beheaded as an ‘infidel’ for adhering to
the faith of Christ. “This is America – such things cannot happen here!” you
may say. Really? Have you observed the great changes that have transpired in
just your own lifetime in America? Have you noticed how those things that are
good have been relabeled bad, and the bad relabeled good? Have you noticed the
departure from solid truth in modern churches and the embrace of abject error?
3 And these things will they do unto you, because they
have not known the Father, nor me. How can those who profess
Christ, or even allah, cast you out as a heretic? Because they are false
professors of Christ. They have not known the Father because they do not
recognize His Son. The churches are full of such people every Sunday who call,
unbelievingly, upon the name of Christ. They call upon that unblemished name to
gain wealth and political objectives. They stoke their own fires in Hell by so
doing.
4 But these things have I told you, that when the time
shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. The predestinate will of God does not include sin.
God never ordains sin, but He warns us that it shall come. God may use the sin
of others to advance His will for us and to chastise us, or to try us, but He
is never the Author of sin. Many are being told today that God will never allow
them to undergo the great Tribulation. Suppose these know-alls are wrong. What
happens when the tribulation fires are stirred for believers in China, India,
Vietnam, North Korea, or Alabama? Will we cease to believe because we have not
been warned and feel deserted by the friends of our nativity? Erroneous
doctrine can do much harm. It is for this reason that Christ warns us, and why
a right understanding of His Word is so critical for our time.
What
is it to you or me if Christ comes for us today, or in one hundred years?
Regardless of when He comes for us, He is always ‘on the way’ and we must be
ready for the sounding of the trumpet. He may come for you in the next ten
minutes by means of an heart attack, or He may come for me on the highway this
morning as I drive to church. His coming for us is at His own discretion and
good time. Give no thought for when the Master of the House shall return –
simply be prepared for Him always and there will be no worry or grave doubts.
Are you ready?
The
day will come, my friend, when God’s Word ceases to go out through the medium
of preaching and teaching. There is a famine coming upon the land – evidence of
which may already be observed in the brazen sky and denuded land - Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a
famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to
the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not
find it. (Amos 8:11-12) Those
who pick up man’s Bible instead of God’s is already evident in its prominence.
The NIV, the ESV, and others posing as God’s Word are simply copyrighted words
of men who have corrupted the Bible and adopted false manuscript evidence to
satisfy their insatiable appetite to embrace sin while appearing as Christians.
God’s
Church is a Holy Army. It sends out missionaries and evangelists ahead of its
main body just as an earthly army sends out skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes
ahead of its own main line of deployment. When the enemy draws near for the
decisive battle, these skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes are recalled to the
main battle line. So shall it be in the days of the consummation of that Last
Battle.
It is
interesting to note that the term ‘sorcerer’ can mean a marketer of
mind-altering drugs in some parts of Scripture: Neither repented they
of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev
9:21) The word, sorceries above in the Greek is the same from which we get
the word ‘pharmacist’ – Pharmakeia. Look also in the following
verse taken from the last book of the Bible - Blessed are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a
lie. (Rev 22:14-15) If you
have in your hands a modern wonder of error such as the NIV, you may miss some
of the point of this counsel in verse 14: "Blessed are those who wash
their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go
through the gates into the city. “ Rev
22:14 (NIV) This change is not
consistent with every other truth of the Bible – it is the white and sinless
Robe of Christ that covers our sins – not the effort we make in washing them
ourselves. We are told in Philippians 3:2 to beware of those of the
‘concision.’ These are those who ‘mutilate’ the Word of God.
In
verse 15 above, those dogs and sorcerers are a very clear definition of the
society in which we live today. To the best of my recollection, no recognized
government has ever before sanctioned homosexual marriage as legitimate. Though
it was one underlying cause of the fall of Rome (Gibbon), it was not enacted
into the law of the Republic. The Bible refers to sodomites as dogs - Thou
shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of
the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD
thy God. (Deut 23:18) The
word used for dog is blk Keleb – whose gender is masculine and which
means a male prostitute. The preceding verse is clear as well: There shall
be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel.
(Deut 23:17) We see
that this has already happened even at the Episcopal level of TEC and other
apostate churches.
The Day of
Battle draws ever nearer in our day. The Church of God will remain only as a
remnant, but all of the forces of Satan shall be destroyed who assail it. All
of the armies of Satan shall be gathered and will encircled that little enclave
of God’s people. Then shall the power and might of God be demonstrated in
destroying them. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God
out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that
deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and
the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
(Rev 20:9-10)
There are those in our ranks who will resent my speaking so openly and
forcefully of sin. The world would prefer a more gentle and polished dissertation
of sinners; God never minces words, and neither should we in addressing the
sins of the day. Are you in the right Army, or that which shall be destroyed by
the Arm of God. Remember: And all this assembly shall know that the LORD
saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S. (1 Sam 17:47)
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Once again the propers for this
week come together very well, their focus is narrow, thus powerful.
Consider these words from the
Collect:
… We beseech
thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us,
and exalt us un-to 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 285,000 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. In other words, if this was our last day on this planet, how would we
act? That is a question that I must ask myself more often and not only ask it,
but answer it. Then once the Holy Spirit has given the answer, we must act upon
that answer. 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. 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.
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. 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, and 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
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:
Not
Orphans
John 14:18
Sunday after Ascension
June 1, 2014
Rather than preaching from the Lessons for the Sunday after Ascension,
I ask you to turn to John’s Gospel, the Fourteenth Chapter, the Eighteenth
Verse:
John 14:18
King James
Version (KJV)
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will
come to you.
My sermon will focus on this verse.
If you would like to do some real life-building reading I can
recommend nothing more highly than the Gospel of John, especially chapters
14-17. These chapters record Christ’s upper room discourse, and are some
of the most revealing and inspiring words in all of the Bible. In these
chapters Christ has instituted the Lord’s Supper, Judas has left to betray Him,
and the time with the disciples is very short. He has spent three years
teaching them and showing to them the Kingdom of Heaven. They have heard
His teachings, seen Him still the sea, heal the sick, and raise the dead.
Yet they still do not understand. Yet still their devotion to Him is weak and
more about themselves than about Him. Why is this? Is it that they
don’t understand His teaching? Yes, in part. But they do understand
some. Peter’s words at Caesarea Philippi show that he is beginning to
understand Christ’s teachings. You remember that, in Matthew 16 Christ has
taken the disciples aside for a time of private instruction, and has asked them
who people say He is. After their answers Christ asks them, who do you
say that I am? It is Peter who says, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
Living God.” So they did understand some of Christ’s teachings. Their
primary problem was not misunderstanding Christ’s teaching, it was their
rejection of Christ’s teaching. Peter’s words at Caesarea Philippi
illustrate this also, for almost as soon as the words of faith came out of Peter’s
mouth, he began to rebuke the Lord for His teaching about the cross.
Matthew 16:22 says, “Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Lord: this
shall not be.”
Things have not changed much since that day. We have the
Bible. We have the Church. We have two-thousand years of Christian
teaching. We have the Holy Spirit. Today the main teachings of the
Bible are well known around the world. But they are rejected by the vast
majority of people. Even those who call themselves Christians attack and
reject His teaching. Many clergy today say the traditional understanding
of the nature and work of Christ is bankrupt: the miracles recorded in the
Bible never happened; the Virgin birth of Christ is impossible; and, the Bible
gives no revealed standard of morality or ethics. In other words, the
Bible is mostly myth, and is unreliable. Rather then being “given by
inspiration of God, and… profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness,” they say the Bible is the fallible writing
of many fallible people and, while it may be profitable for doctrine,
reproof, correction, or instruction in righteousness, it is not authoritative
for such things. Therefore, it can and must be revised to fit current beliefs
and culture. This is not limited to one denomination; all of the major
denominations have adopted these ideas to some extent. It should not
surprise us, then, that many who call themselves Christians reject the Bible,
and two-thousand years of Christian teaching, to follow their own inward voice.
But, frankly, such people have been with us since the day Adam and Eve
rejected the commandment of God and followed their inner voices to eat the
forbidden fruit. The really disturbing thing, to me, is the way people
who profess to love and believe the Bible, disregard and reject its clear
teachings. Many don’t even bother to find out what those teachings are.
In John 14-17 Jesus is trying to give these hard headed and rebellious
disciples a refresher course on who Christ is and why He came into the
world. He is about to go to the cross. Their inner voices are about
to be crushed like an anthill under an army tank. Yet they are as
inattentive and rebellious as ever. I say with sorrow that nothing has
changed. People will die this very day. They will stand before the
Eternal King and Judge, and their lives will be weighed in the balance and
found wanting. Yet, as in the days of Noah, they go on about life as
though they have forever to make peace with God. How foolish. Most
of you know that I think the Return of Christ is a thing of the far distant
future. It could be thousands of years, or even millions of years.
But, it could be today. We really don’t know. But, in a way, it
doesn’t matter, because the really important event to us is the day Christ
comes back for us individually. The end of the world for you is the day
you lay down your body, and your soul goes to stand before God. And
while human life is sacred, it is also fragile and can be taken away at any
second. Therefore, be ready. “Therefore,” as Peter wrote in 1 Peter
4:7, “watch unto prayer.”
Our Lord’s words in the upper room are filled with references to the
Holy Spirit, whom He will send to His Church after He ascends into
Heaven. This begins at the very beginning of this passage, when He says,
“I will not leave you comfortless” (Jn. 14:18). These words come in the
context of the coming of the Holy Spirit, who is called the “Comforter.”
It is these, and similar verses that inspired the Collect for the Sunday after
Ascension Day, which reads in part, “leave us not comfortless.” If the
English theologian, Evan Daniel is correct in his commentary on the Book of
Common Prayer, the collect is from a very ancient antiphon sung on Ascension
Day. It was originally written in Latin, and says, “Ne derelinquas nos
orphanos.” It is also significant that John 14:18 in the Greek New
Testament says, Ouk afhnw umas orfanous: “Not I will leave you orphans.”
This is very significant because these men, and all who are in Christ
Jesus have become the children of God. We have been rescued from an
abusive father, known to us as the devil, Satan. Those who are not in
Christ have Satan as their father. Those who are in Christ have God as
their Father. But now, Christ is leaving. In John 17 He is going to
the cross and the grave, but in a very short while He will be returning to
Heaven. What will His children do? Are we left orphans? It is
interesting to note that in Greek and Latin, “orphan” means to be without a
father to comfort and keep you. It is to be without a home, without a
defender, without a provider, without a teacher, without a comforter. It
is to be alone. The disciples now have God as their Father, but He is
telling them He is going away. Will they be spiritual orphans? No,
the Comforter will come to them. The word Comforter, means someone who
comes to give aid and consolation. He is also a mediator who acts on
their behalf. Thus, He is their helper, as a Father would be to His
children.
We will never know how many times our human fathers stood between us
and troubles or dangers. They weren’t perfect, I know, but they kept a
roof over our heads and food on our plates, and would have defended us from any
and all dangers. How many times have we, mothers and fathers, stood
between our children and dangers? And how often have we wished we could
take their pains when they were sick, and their sorrows when they were
emotionally hurt? Every parent here would gladly defend his or her children
at the cost of his own life. Every parent here would gladly go to hell to
save his children from it. Every parent here has spent nights in tears
and prayers for his or her children. So we understand this illustration
of the Spirit as the Comforter, the presence and work of our Heavenly Father in
us and for us. This world is no friend of faith. Creation is cursed
and against us. All around us is death and decay and sorrow. Christ
spoke truly when He said latter in this same upper room discourse, “In the
world ye shall have tribulation.” But, He also said, “I will not leave
you comfortless.” “I will pray to the Father, and He shall give you
another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever.”
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Roy Morales-Kuhn,
Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC
parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the
Epiphany.
Sunday after Ascension
1 June 2014
Epistle: 1 Peter 4:7-11 Gospel: John 15:26-16:4a
7 But the end of all
things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things
have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of
sins.
9 Use hospitality one
to another without grudging.
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one
to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man
minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all
things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall
testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from
the beginning.
1 These things have I
spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you
out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God service.
3 And these things will
they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.
4 But these things have
I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of
them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with
you.
Let us
look at the Gospel selection first. Jesus disciples were told to go wait in
Jerusalem. They were to wait for the Comforter, (the Holy Spirit). Jesus taught
these lesson several times during his earthly ministry. What we need to think
about is God’s timing, not ours. So many times we want to schedule the work of
the Lord by our “busy” timetable. If you want to be frustrated, try to push
forward something on your time schedule and seek what happens.
If you
look at the time and place of the first Advent of Christ we can see God’s
timing is perfect. We’d want to push things along, try to get things done
before everything was prepared.
When
Christ came to earth as a little baby there were several historic concepts and
events in place by then.
A
mostly unified empire (Rome), a common language, koine Greek, a road system and
fairly safe maritime trading system in place, trading systems including weights
and measures, common coinage, all this would contribute to the fairly rapid
distribution of the Christian faith.
In a
hundred years after Christ’s ascension, Christianity is known and being practiced
in all corners of the Roman Empire. That is pretty significant.
Now
back to Jerusalem, in the days before the Comforter comes to testify of Jesus,
the disciples are waiting. They are communing together, they are most likely
discussing the next move that they should take. The older men were likely
counseling patience, the younger disciples were probably wanting to do
something.
They
were told to wait. Great things are about to happen.
As we
continue our contemplation of these two passages of scripture today try to
think of a group of people preparing for a great journey. Now the disciples
didn’t have a complete idea of what this journey would be, they didn’t realize
the sacrifices, the hardships, the depredations they would suffer on this
life-changing journey; but they went back to Jerusalem to wait and prepare.
In this
spirit of preparation we can look at St. Peter’s first epistle for some advice.
In the
first letter of St. Peter he reminds the believers to be charitable. Be
prayerful, be watchful, be hospitable to each other.
The
second concept Peter writes of is the use of gifts. As everyone has been given
gifts, we are to use them to minister to each other. Why ? Because we are to be
good stewards of grace that God has given us. We tend to focus on self, we
don’t generally want to do good by others. It is a human condition. But because
we are God’s own, he expects us to use these gifts to glorify him.
‘...that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus
Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen....’
You
might look at this period of time between Christ’s Ascension and the coming of
the Holy Spirit as the “calm before the storm”. We have the disciples staying
in Jerusalem, the others who followed Jesus possibly taking stock as what to do
next. And yet all were most likely waiting with anticipation, not knowing
exactly what was to come.
Some
Bible commentators and theologians liken this time as the pre-church age. That
with the coming of the Holy Spirit in a few days, the church, that group of
believers, would be certified as the ongoing instrument of mission that Jesus
instituted during his earthly ministry.
Suffice
it to say, there would be a great change in the nature, attitude and mission
thrust of the disciples and those who they trained in the coming years. The
events that Jesus foretold in our Gospel passage would come to be. Not only
would the disciple be thrown out of the synagogue, they would be persecuted,
many would face death at the hands of Jewish and Roman legal systems. There
were great changes that would be manifest in the life of the early church.
Do you
think you would be up to the task ? It is hard to say, in our relative comfort
of the mostly calm United States. It isn’t so with our brethren overseas. Our
AOC parishes in Pakistan, India, parts of Africa, the South Sea Isles and the
Philippines all face daily challenges and even death. It is getting more
intense for believers especially on the Sub-Continent, as more and more
militant groups gain power, not only the Islamist elements, but even militant
Hindu and Buddhist groups too. All seemingly hell-bent on attacking their
common enemy: Christians and the Cross that is “foolishness to them that
perish”.
Let us
pray for our fellow believers and those of the worldwide communion of the
Anglican Orthodox Church.
|
O
|
God,
merciful and compassionate, who art ever ready to hear the prayers of those who
put their trust in thee; Graciously hearken to us who call upon thee, and grant
us thy help in this our need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
|
O
|
GOD, merciful Father,
who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as
are sorrowful; Mercifully assist our prayers which we make before thee in all
our troubles and adversities, whensoever they oppress us; and graciously hear
us, that those evils which the craft and subtlety of the devil or man worketh
against us, may, by thy good providence, be brought to nought; that we thy
servants, being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto thee in
thy holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
✟
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Sunday after Ascension
In today’s Gospel (St. John 15:26-16:4) we
read the words of our Lord at the Last Supper: But
these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember
that I told you. Our Lord warned the disciples that they would suffer
persecution and rejection in their efforts to proclaim the gospel of truth. He
advised them not to be offended. And in another place in St. John’s gospel, our
Lord said, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world (16:33). We ought to be of good cheer. Being a saved
person ought to fill us with gratitude and joy for what our Saviour has done
for us. But in order for us to have that joy and his attendant peace that comes
from his free gift of his grace, we must heed his word and commandments. Good
advice.
But a caveat is in order. No doubt you may well have received a lot of
advice from family and friends over the years. Speaking personally, I know I
have. Truth be told, much of it we may have disregarded for one reason or
another. But the advice we get from the Scriptures should be of paramount
interest to us who bear the name of Christ. As St. Paul instructed young
Timothy, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that
the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works (II Timothy 3:16-17).
Now human wisdom and understanding are the only things the unregenerate
have to go on. Since humanity at every level is fouled and flawed due to
original sin, we can be certain that human wisdom, and its companion human
understanding, are also flawed. This is not to say that such wisdom is totally
false and to be ignored. But should we as Christians base our lives and our
judgments on it as we would the Scriptures?
I remember a hearing an anecdote about one of my relations and his pre-Great
Depression investments. This man was a lawyer and made a modest living as such.
After returning from the France at the end of the Great War, he would
occasionally purchase stock from his favorite brokerage firm. For nearly ten
years, following the war, the stock market had been on an upward slant aside
from a brief downturn in 1920. But by the summer of 1929, my relative decided
to liquidate his holdings. His friend and broker tried to keep him in the
market; but my relative would have nothing of it. He got his cash, brought it
back home and put it in his office safe and returned to his practice of the
law.
Then in October of that year, the stock market crashed and the Great
Depression began. Almost overnight, vast fortunes, which had been tied up in
stocks, banks and many insurance companies, were lost. The world economy slowed
to a crawl. Those who were once the head became the tail or worse. It was then
that my relative opened his safe and realized that he had made the right
decision. He had taken the accumulated wisdom of the ages and utilized it to
his advantage and that of his family. While economic times were hard in other
households, he was able to take care of his family’s needs and a few of their
wants and desires all because he had been discerning.
As Christians, we have a source of advice which is far better than the
kind my relative had followed. God our Father has provided us with a sort of
heads-up on his plan and purpose in the ages. You will find it set forth in the
Holy Bible. For within its sacred pages, God has given us things to look for,
signs and wonders to behold, all for the purpose of comforting us and keeping
our focus on the coming his kingdom.
Consider now the word of God as found in the Book of Isaiah, Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they
spring forth I tell you of them (42:9).
In the Olivet Discourse, our Lord spoke of the end of days and his coming again
in glory. He did this for the same reason that God informed the children of
Israel through the prophets: so that they would know and would be able to point
to those signs not as simply benchmarks in time, but events which would sustain
and comfort them as they reveal God’s hand within mankind’s frame of reference.
Our Lord said, And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and
lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh... Behold the fig tree,
and all the trees; when they now shoot forth , ye see and know of your own
selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand (St. Luke 21:28-31).
I have heard people say from time to time that the prophecies of Scripture
are too vague. They say it is pointless to study prophecy because there are so
few specifics that such is akin to “reading tea leaves” or worse yet, “a
horoscope”. They complain that people are being misled by “end-time charlatans”
who are out to make a buck through their latest book of the month which takes a
few headlines which seem to fit the prophecies and then smile all the way to
the bank with each new addition they publish.
While it is true that there are those who have used the end-times messages
of Scripture for gain, we must remember to separate the message of God from our
modern-day equivalents of Simon the Sorcerer— who sought personal profit from
the beneficial aspects of the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:5-25). And God will judge those whose hearts were filled with greed for
gain, as well as those who kept from their readers the whole counsel of God to
the detriment of the gospel and the ruination of souls.
We know from the Scriptures that Christ will come again, and with that
in mind we ought be witnessing to others regarding their salvation. As St. Paul
observed in II Corinthians 6: 2, (... behold, now is the day of salvation.)
Almost two thousand years ago, our Lord told us to, Watch, therefore: for ye
know not what hour your Lord doth come (St. Matthew 24:42). He gave us that command because he desires all Christians to be like
those wise virgins who took enough oil for their lamps so that they would be
ready to serve and to celebrate the coming of the bridegroom (St. Matthew 25:1-13). God did not communicate his prophetic
designs so that we would quit working. We are to watch for the signs which he
has given us that we might warn the faltering that they not waver in their
faith, and also encourage the unregenerate to have faith in Christ. Our Lord
promised to go and prepare a place for us. He also promised that he will come
again and bring us to it. O what comfort of joy there will be in that day of
our gathering together in Christ (II Thessalonians 2:1)!
Needless to say, Lucifer is ready to confound and confuse the believer
at every turn. I once heard a story about a demonic conference wherein the
devil asked his minions how they might keep people away from the Gospel. One
offered, “Tell them that the Bible has too many rules which impact mortal
desires.” The devil thought about it for a moment and replied, “Sounds good,
but that doesn’t work very well because there are many hopeful things in the
Bible and mortals also like hopeful things.” Another suggested, “Tell them the
Bible is full of errors so they won’t know what to believe.” The devil
responded, “That too is good thinking, but unfortunately the Bible has more
evidences of its authenticity than Caesar’s Gallic Wars so that won’t work
either.” After a moment of silence, another offered this: “Tell them that the
Godhead exists, and that the Bible is true, but that they have plenty of time
to decide on salvation.” “Bingo!” replied the devil. “That’s it. When we tell
them that, they will resist the Gospel thinking they are going to live a long
time and that they can decide later. Just think of the numbers we can lead
astray into hell! Let it be done.”
So then let us rejoice as we watch for our Lord’s coming and observe
the signs of the times as he has commanded. We have God’s prophecies in the Old
Testament and we have the promises of Christ in the New Testament. And we
should be actively laboring in the harvest and standing fast in our spiritual
warfare against the forces of darkness so that when our Lord comes for us, we
will be in accord with his will when he said, Blessed is that servant, whom his
lord when he cometh shall find [him] so doing (St. Matthew 24: 46). May you likewise mark and remember.
Let us pray,
|
F
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ather, grant to us the wisdom to follow those
things that you have set forth within the pages of Scripture; that in so doing,
our lives will be fruitful, so that at the last, we might be welcomed home as
good stewards, faithful witnesses and stalwart soldiers in thy service; all
these things we ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
The
Paratrooper's Prayer
(Found by a French general in
the pocket of a soldier killed in action at Dien-Bien-Phu, Viet Nam) Courtesy of Rev Geordie
Menzies-Grierson (AOC-UK), sent on Memorial Day.
Give me, O Lord my God,
what is left Thee, that which
no one aks of Thee.
I do not ask Thee for rest or
tranquility,
either of soul or body.
I do not ask Thee for riches,
for success, or for health.
So many ask Thee for these,
my God,
that none must be left Thee.
Give me, Lord,
what is left Thee.
Give me what the others
refuse.
I want risk and anguish;
I want fight and pain.
Give me these, my God,
once and for all.
Give me the certainty that
these
will always be my portion,
for I will not
always have the courage to
ask them of Thee.
Give me, O Lord,
what is left Thee.
Give me what others do not
want.
But also give me courage,
strength, and Faith.
Amen.
Sunday
School Lesson
From time to time, one of the
parishes will send us a Sunday School lesson for publication. Today we have one from Saint Peter’s
(the GHQ church in Statesville, courtesy of Cinder Carroll. She took an item from Bishop Jerry’s
daily publication and turned it into a lesson I am confident you will really
appreciate:
“And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Change starts with you and in the here and now. If you
don't, who will?
Back in 1921, a missionary couple named David
and Svea Flood went with their two-year-old son from Sweden to the heart of
Africa-to what was then called the Belgian Congo. They met up with another
young Scandinavian couple, the Ericksons, and the four of them sought God for
direction. In those days of much tenderness and devotion and sacrifice, they
felt led of the Lord to set out from the main mission station and take the
gospel to a remote area.
This was a huge step of faith. At the village
of N’dolera they were rebuffed by the chief, who would not let them enter his
town for fear of alienating the local gods. The two couples opted to go half a
mile up the slope and build their own mud huts’.
They prayed for a spiritual breakthrough, but
there was none. The only contact with the villagers was a young boy, who was
allowed to sell them chickens and eggs twice a week. Svea Flood-a tiny woman
only four feet, eight inches tall-decided that if this was the only African she
could talk to, she would try to lead the boy to Jesus. And in fact, she
succeeded. But there were no other encouragements. Meanwhile, malaria continued
to strike one member of the little band after another. In time the Ericksons
decided they had had enough suffering and left to return to the central mission
station. David and Svea Flood remained near N’dolera to go on alone. Then, of
all things, Svea found herself pregnant in the middle of the primitive
wilderness. When the time came for her to give birth, the village chief
softened enough to allow a midwife to help her. A little girl was born, whom
they named Aina. The delivery, however, was exhausting, and Svea Flood was
already weak from bouts of malaria. The birth process was a heavy blow to her
stamina. She lasted only another seventeen days. Inside David Flood, something
snapped in that moment. He dug a crude grave, buried his twenty-seven-year-old
wife, and then took his children back down the mountain to the mission station.
Giving his newborn daughter to the Ericksons, he snarled, “I’m going back to
Sweden. I’ve lost my wife, and I obviously can’t take care of this baby. God
has ruined my life.” With that, he headed for the port, rejecting not only his
calling, but God himself. Within eight months both the Ericksons were stricken
with a mysterious malady and died within days of each other. The baby was then
turned over to some American missionaries, who adjusted her Swedish name to
“Aggie” and eventually brought her back to the United States at age three.
This family loved the little girl and were
afraid that if they tried to return to Africa, some legal obstacle might
separate her from them. So they decided to stay in their home country and
switch from missionary work to pastoral ministry. And that is how Aggie grew up
in South Dakota. As a young woman, she attended North Central Bible College in
Minneapolis. There she met and married a young man named Dewey Hurst.
Years passed. The Hursts enjoyed a fruitful
Ministry. Aggie gave birth first to a daughter, then a son. In time her husband
became president of a Christian college in the Seattle area, and Aggie was
intrigued to find so much Scandinavian heritage there. One day a Swedish
religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it,
and of course she couldn’t read the words. But as she turned the pages, all of
a sudden a photo stopped her cold. There in a primitive setting was a grave
with a white cross-and on the cross were the words SVEA FLOOD. Aggie jumped in
her car and went straight for a college faculty member who, she knew, could
translate the article. “What does this say?” she demanded. The instructor
summarized the story: It was about missionaries who had come to N’dolera long
ago … the birth of a white baby … the death of the young mother … the one little
African boy who had been led to Christ … and how, after the whites had all
left, the boy had grown up and finally persuaded the chief to let him build a
school in the village. The article said that gradually he won all his students
to Christ… the children led their parents to Christ… even the chief had become
a Christian. Today there were six hundred Christian believers in that one
village…. All because of the sacrifice of David and Svea Flood. For the Hursts’
twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, the college presented them with the gift of a
vacation to Sweden.
There Aggie sought to find her real father. An
old man now, David Flood had remarried, fathered four more children, and
generally dissipated his life with alcohol. He had recently suffered a stroke.
Still bitter, he had one rule in his family: “Never mention the name of God-
because God took everything from me. After an emotional reunion with her half
brothers and half sister, Aggie brought up the subject of seeing her father.
The others hesitated. “You can talk to him,” they replied, “even though he’s
very ill now. But you need to know that whenever he hears the name of God, he
flies into a rage. Aggie was not to be deterred. She walked into the squalid
apartment, with liquor bottles everywhere, and approached the
seventy-three-year-old man lying in a rumpled bed. “Papa~” she said
tentatively. He turned and began to cry. “Aina,” he said. “I never meant to
give you away.” “It’s all right, Papa,” she replied, taking him gently in her
arms. “God took care of me.” The man instantly stiffened. The tears stopped.
“God forgot all of us. Our lives have been like this because of Him.” He turned
his face back to the wall. Aggie stroked his face and then continued,
undaunted. “Papa, I’ve got a little story to tell you, and it’s a true one. You
didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to
the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. The one seed you
planted just kept growing and growing. Today there are six hundred African
people serving the Lord because you were faithful to the call of God in your
life. … Papa, Jesus loves you. He has never hated you.” The old man turned back
to look into his daughter’s eyes. His body relaxed. He began to talk. And by
the end of the afternoon, he had come back to the God he had resented for so
many decades. Over the next few days, father and daughter enjoyed warm moments
together. Aggie and her husband soon had to return to America-and within a few
weeks, David Flood had gone into eternity.
A few years later, the Hursts were attending a
high-level evangelism conference in London, England, when a report was given
from the nation of Zaire (the former Belgian Congo). The superintendent of the
national church, representing some 110,000 baptized believers, spoke eloquently
of the gospel’s spread in his nation. Aggie could not help going to ask him
afterward if he had ever heard of David and Svea Flood. “Yes, madam,” the man
replied in French, his words then being translated into English. “It was Svea
Flood who led me to Jesus Christ. I was the boy who brought food to your
parents before you were born. In fact, to this day your mother’s grave and her
memory are honored by all of us.” He embraced her in a long, sobbing hug. Then
he continued, “You must come to Africa to see, because your mother is the most
famous person in our history.” In time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst and her
husband did. They were welcomed by cheering throngs of villagers. She even met
the man who had been hired by her father many years before to carry her back
down the mountain in a hammock-cradle. The most dramatic moment, of course, was
when the pastor escorted Aggie to see her mother’s white cross for herself. She
knelt in the soil to pray and give thanks. Later that day, in the church, the
pastor read from John 12:24:
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of
wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it
dies, it produces many seeds.”
He then followed with Psalm 126:5:
“Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.”
[1]
One can imagine the
apostles on the line, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 IGNITION, Houston, we have liftoff here at
Cape Bethany.”
[2]
Maybe it will, maybe
it won’t. On the other hand, what
do you have to lose? You have to
eat and the parish might buy. It
certainly will, if you remind Hap!
[3]
The propers are the Collect (prayer) for the
day and the Bible readings appointed for the day. They are selections based on the Christian Year and make a
particular point. Their selection
is important. The propers have
been more or less the same since the beginning of the Church of England and a large
portion precede the founding of the Church of England.
