Who are we?

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

Friday, September 9, 2016

Dew Point – 9 September 2016, Anno Domini

An easy to read, easy to print, READER Version is RIGHT HERE!

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD  (Deut 32:2-3)

 . . . . and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat. (Ex 16:13-15)

            The appearance of dew is a blessing of the dawn hour. When she was young, my mother used to go early intro her garden – often just at day-break. It was a beautiful time of day as the early rays of the sun began to brighten the horizon, and the air was still. The clouds, if there were any, were a gradually alternating collage of brilliant colors. But the simpler beauty was that of the dews on the flowers and blades of grass.

            What causes dew to form in nature? Warm air is capable of holding more moisture than colder air. Overnight, the ambient temperature of the air drops. When it reaches a certain temperature, commensurate with its moisture content, the moisture will begin to fall out of the air to form rain or dew. Scientist refer to that point as the Dew-Point. But in the case of dew, there are no droplets of water that fall from the air, rather the moisture distills on the flora of the earth. This generally happens in early morning when the air is at its coolest point, and the flora as well has cooled. The dew silently forms on the leaves of green plants or petals of roses and other flowers. No one can see its forming, it just gradually appears as a vapor forms above a morning pond.

Because of her love of gardening, my mother’s favorite hymn was, “I Come to the Garden Alone.” Truly, in most cases, the dew was still on the roses at that early hour of her rising. Dew is water taken from the air; and our Friend, Jesus Christ – the Fountain of Life - is present when all is still and our hearts serene.

Dew does not fall with the clash of thunder and lightning. In fact, dew does not fall at all – it rather forms silently and imperceptibly upon the foliage and flowers of the garden of the soul. God often covers His blessings and presence with the mystery of the natural dews, or of clouds, or of Temple Veils just as He did the Manna.

I have previously written devotions of the forming of the Dew, so I will try to cover ground less traveled in those previous devotions concerning Dew and the mystery of its forming. I refer to the formation of dew as a mystery, though we understand its scientific operations, because it forms without our notice.  It distills silently, invisibly and imperceptibly. The beauty of this mystery is best described in that great old classic hymn,

O Worship the King:
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

One of the heavenly qualities of dew is its time of forming – most often at the morning hour. It heralds a new beginning. My father used to say that each believer is given a clean, white sheet of paper each morning. Throughout the day, we make smudges and disfigurations on that paper; but, next morning, the paper is made clean by God and we proceed anew. That describes to me the beauty of the morning sunrise and the accompanying dews.

I have read a theory put forward by Creation scientists that in the days of Eden, there was no rain – only a mist that arose to water the earth.  5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.  (Gen 2:5-6) I believe this to be the only conclusion which can be drawn from this passage. That mist was the heavy primordial dews of Eden.

Let us examine some distinct ways in which DEW can be compared to God’s Word:

1   BOTH WORK BEYOND THE SIGHT OF MAN: The dew falls invisibly and so gradually that its coming cannot be discerned by the eye of man. Likewise, the Word of God works invisibly in the heart beyond the notice of other men, or even the owner of the heart in which it is working.

2   CONFIRMATION OF TRUTH: Gideon was given confirmation of God’s Counsel by the dews on, and off, the sheep skin. God gives us silent, but sure, confirmation of His Word by way of the Holy Ghost and His Counsel.

3   PRESENCE OF HOPE: There was not an abundance of rain in Israel and the surrounding region; but morning dew is evidence of a presence of moisture. That moisture is evidenced on the green foliage of the morning, and gives hope of blessing to come. If the air contains moisture enough for dew formation, it likely contains moisture enough for the condensation of moisture in the clouds of the upper atmosphere in due course. Job finally gained assurance that he would not perish in an untimely death, but rather in his own bed a natural death: 18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. 19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. (Job 29:18-19)

4   DEW REPRESENTS HEALTH AND LONG LIFE:  3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. (Psalm 110:3) Just as dew forms in the morning calm, so life is extended in a settled and calm living.

5   RECONCILIATION: Terrible famine and flood may come at the evocation of the wrath of God; but His graceful benediction follows as the dew upon the meadows: 12 The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass. (Prov 19:12)

6   DEW IS LIKE GODLY WISDOM: 19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. 20 By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.  (Prov 3:19-20)

7   PRESENCE OF DEW AT MORNING ILLUSTRATES THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION: 19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.  (Isaiah 26:19) Christ arose while the “Dew was still on the Roses” and so shall all of the elect of Christ! The illustration is extended to all of Israel, or all of the Household of God:  4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. 5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. 6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. 7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. (Hosea 14:4-7)

8   DEW ILLUSTRATES DIVINE GUIDANCE:  12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. (Zech 8:12)  Dew rarely forms in famine. Its presence is a sign of life-giving water; and Christ is the Water of Life.

9   SALT, LIGHT, AND DEW OF GOD’S REMNANT PEOPLE: Our Lord said His people are the “salt of the earth” and “the Light of the world.” Salt makes food taste palatable. But it must be used sparingly. It must also remain in circulation else it will clog up in the shaker. It preserves and heals. It makes thirsty for the Water of Life. Light disinfects and rids the society about us of sin and wickedness. And DEW is that soothing moisture that does not drown, but makes alive in its gentle formation just as the Presence of the Comforter (or Holy Ghost) sheds His love abroad in the hearts of God’s people. 7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.  (Micah 5:7)


Just as the DEW forms silently and imperceptibly, so do the effects of God’s Word build faith and hope in the heart of the awakening sinner. To scream and belabor the sinner with God’s Word is not like dew, but like a smothering flood. Gentle words, and a gentle life, will convict sooner than threats and harangues. Then, first comes, the dew of planting; and, secondly then, follows the nourishing and soaking rains of God’s grace upon a dry and thirsty ground.