 |
| If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
The
Collect for The Fifth Sunday after Easter,
commonly
called Rogation Sunday.
The
Collect.
O
|
LORD, from whom all good things do
come; Grant to us thy humble servants, that by thy holy inspiration we may
think those things that are good, and by thy merciful guiding may perform the
same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
T
|
hen will
I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your
filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also
will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put
my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep
my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save
you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will
increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the
tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of
famine among the heathen. 31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings
that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your
iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the
Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O
house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have
cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the
cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled,
whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall
say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the
waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen
that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places,
and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus saith the
Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it
for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy flock,
as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be
filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD. (Ezek 36:25-38)
Water baptism is one of the two Sacraments of the Reformation Church. Here in
Ezekiel, we have a fore-shadowing of this initiatory Sacrament of the
covenantal relationship between a man or woman and their Lord. Though water
baptism itself is no regenerative to the extent that the physical process
itself washes and cleanses of sin, the inward and spiritual grace that is
imparted either to the person, or to the child through the parent’s promise,
secures the blessing of covenant for the child until he is able to publicly
confirm that covenant by means of Confirmation. 25 Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your
idols, will I cleanse you. The evidence of a valid baptism with water is
the new heart that follows the baptism (but it does not precede it). There are
two profoundly important dates in this world to describe a person’s life – the
date of birth, and the date of death; but in the Kingdom of God, there is only
one of any account – the date of the new birth. There is no date of death
associated with the new birth since it continues for Eternity.
I have seen men who were absolute scoundrels – alcoholics, adulterers, cowards
before the enemy, etc – but once they have come to know Christ as Lord and
Savior; the former characters are buried in the baptism of a new life. One
would no longer recognize that the new man was the same fellow as the old; and,
of course, they are not the same. The man is the very same, but it is the heart
that is new. The heart of the Christian rules over the mind and body in the new
man whereas in the old, the flesh of the body ruled over the heart and mind. 26 A new heart also
will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. A
stone has no life in it just as the sinner, being dead in trespasses and sin,
has no life in his stone-dead heart. It is the heart that provides life, not
the brain. The life blood is supplied by the heart: For the life of the
flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an
atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the
soul. (Lev 17:11)
Yes, God has given unto us on the altar the only blood that can truly give life
– that of His only Begotten Son. The new heart that God grants to us when we
receive His Son, Jesus, is bought and paid for at the greatest expense Heaven
could ever pay. It is a clean heart and a full heart – not full of the old
sinful nature of man, but filled with love and the spiritual nature of its
Maker.
The new heart changes not only the desires of our hearts, but our manner of
outward contact as well. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. It is not
possible to obey God without the seal of His nature in our hearts, and that
seal is love.
How I long to live in a land of my fathers that is righteous and lovelier than
all other lands. The old days have gone glimmering when I hung on every word my
father taught me of the Holy Bible and its application – not only to the
spiritual aspects of life – but the mundane as well. My father was not perfect,
but he was a perfect as any man I have ever known. He lived life according to the
dictates of a conscience that was fixed on God’s Word. 28 And ye shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I
will be your God. How I would cherish a return to the days when common
decency and moral conduct prevailed in the land of my nativity; but that land
is no longer the one of my memories, but the once and future Israel of God.
That perfect land, and that perfect Way, lies just beyond the veil of our
purest imaginations. We may not know wholly what grandeur would best describe
Heaven’s Land, but we can be sure that it exceeds every expectation of those
imaginations. 29 I
will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn,
and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will
multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall
receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. We often fail to
grasp the hidden meaning of our travails on earth; and equally, we too often
forget from whence come the showers of blessing in fruitful plenty and increase
of crops. The travail of famine is the consequence of our own doing, but the
showers of blessing flow from the open hand of God.
When the hand of plenty is opened to our gratification, suddenly we will awaken
to our unworthiness of the blessing. The dark days of our sins loom large
before us, and we are forced, not by our wills, but by that of God, to repent
in sackcloth and ashes. 31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings
that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your
iniquities and for your abominations. Have you ever loathed yourself? I hope you have, for until
you arrive at the point of loathing the sinner and old man that you were, you
can never come to the Table of the Lord. In speaking to the old Jewish Church
that has greatly apostacized, God makes His will known to save them despite
themselves. We too were saved despite ourselves, being dead as the corpse of
four days. We were totally unworthy, and if we think we are worthy, we most
certainly are the most unworthy of all. 32 Not for your sakes do I
this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for
your own ways, O house of Israel.
We are saved for a cause and for a purpose. We are not saved because we are
such fine specimens of humanity, but just the opposite. It is for the glory of
God that he can take rotting corpse and turn it into a kind and loving worker
of righteousness. We are saved by grace, indeed, but that is unto good works,
and as an example to the lost who God intends to gather into one fold. 33 Thus saith the Lord GOD;
In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also
cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate
land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed
by. 35 And they shall
say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the
waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Like the Old Testament Church of Israel, we often believe we can reserve God to
ourselves as was the hope of Jonah in defying God to go to Nineveh. 36 Then
the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the
ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and
I will do it. 37 Thus saith the
Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it
for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy
flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste
cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
But the works of God in the hearts of His Elect is intended to broaden, not
confine, His great love to all of His Creation whom He has chosen among the
children of men. . . . . the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
(Romans 5:5)
It should be our prayer the love of God is shed abroad to enlarge the
boundaries of the Holy Tent rather than to slam the door to the Kingdom behind
us.
Are you the shining light
to the world that God intends you to be?
