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Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful
Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon
tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for
action, not simply diction.
Consider these words from the
Collect:
… Grant … thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed
from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind …
We ask God to pardon our sins that we might serve Him with peace of
mind. That we might do His Work without
having to worry about our fate. It is
good to have a clear mind when you go into battle, to be free of worry that you
might do your best. You do not want to have a foggy mind when you are doing an
action that requires your best concentration, so that is what we are asking
from Him. To give us clarity of mind that we might do what is right.
We need His pardon and peace to cleanse us from our sins, to enable us
to have a mind that is quiet and focused on doing His will. It is a difficult
thing to quiet our minds at times, but it must be done, so that we can focus on
doing our best from Him. His pardon and peace will help us clear our minds from
worrying thoughts and distressed thoughts, if we will but let Him in. The
pardon and peace He gives is a perfect pardon and peace, He only asks that we
go forth in the world and spread His Word, which will give the perfect pardon
and peace to all that accept it.
When we mention peace, many people connect with the 1960s, peace,
drugs, rock and roll. That is not at all
what the Peace of God means at all. Not
even remotely. The peace that God gives
us is the calmness in our soul when the world is crumbling around or even on
us. When things are going wrong at work, school or home, peace is the feeling
that God is with us and that we have nothing to fear from whatever it is that
is troubling us. For whatever is troubling us be it work trouble, school
trouble or home trouble, cannot be greater than Him who created us and all of
creation and all the planets and all of the stars. It is the sureness that we
service Him who created all things and sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for us,
that we might have eternal life. It is also knowing that through His Son we
have that eternal life and that we do not have to fear death unlike those who
do not believe.
It is that peace of mind and
soul that comes from knowing we are currently transients or travelers in a
world to which we do not belong. The
peace that comes from being a non-resident alien in a pretty strange
place. This peace will take the place of
worry. You can then concentrate on what
you can do and not be concerned with what you cannot do; for if you cannot really
do it, it is pointless to concern yourself.
That is the whole point of peace, having it will give you calmness and
rational thinking to do what you need to do for Him. The peace gives you the
confidence to perform actions, even in difficult and very trying circumstances.
Once again, action, not diction, is paramount.
Not everyone will accept it though, even though all should accept the
offered gift, it does not mean they will. We have to realize this, and some may
not accept it at first, but it does not mean that we should give up on them,
but rather let the Holy Spirit plant the seed, as He plants a seed in our
hearts. As our fallen nature attests, we are not instantly transformed into a
different person overnight, but rather thorough many days, weeks and years of
practicing Christian beliefs, through reading Scripture and being around other
believers. The transformation happens in a gradual process, that continues all
of our lives. And so it will be to with some of the non-believers we encounter
in our lives, that seed we plant may germinate in time to bring them to Christ.
Paul gives his clearest definition of the spiritual
war between the forces of Satan and those who would follow God. It not only
assures us that there is a spiritual war, but it warns us that apart from
utilizing the weapons which God has provided for us, we are hopelessly
underpowered. This passage tells us what our divine weapons are. Beyond this,
these weapons imply the nature of the struggle which we are in. The weapons
which God has provided for us are those weapons which best repel the attacks of
Satan, and thus we can learn a great deal about the nature of Satan’s
opposition from simply considering each of the weapons at our disposal:
Clothing Truth; this our cloak, as well as our cover;
Breastplate or Armored Vest Righteousness;
being at one with the One True and Triune God;
Boots The Gospel; the Word of God will get you there;
Shield Faith; able to not only ward off blows of evil,
but quench the fiery darts hurled at us;
Helmet Salvation; we are saved already, thus we cannot
be harmed by any of the forces of this world, the armored helmet of the gift of
salvation given to us by our Lord will protect us in the end, the only time
that counts;
Weapon Up to now, the equipment has been defensive or
at least supporting; but to win a war, you need to be on the offense, our
offensive weapon is the sword of the Holy Ghost, the Word of God!
Now, what to do?
Clearly we are commanded to take the offensive, to “ride towards the
sound of gunfire.” Where the fight is,
that is where we must go. With the help
of the Holy Ghost, we should open our “mouth boldly[1],
to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds:
that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” You don’t play the
defensive in this spiritual battle, as in tactical warfare, nobody ever won a
battle by being stuck on the defensive. You must go out and preach boldly and
speak the truth and not worry about the consequences of doing so. The problem
with the church today is that they are afraid of offending people and just
think the best way to reach the lost people is to get along with them. This
will not work, this concept is basically aiding and abetting the enemy, also
known as treason. We must not commit this dreadful act!
We must not be afraid to preach the truth of the
Gospel through ought the world and not worry ourselves with what the world will
think. For what the world will think is not as important as what God thinks.
And by the word bold, we are not to put a holier than thou air and talk down,
nor are we to cruelly shout down the opposition, but with confidence in our
voice, we will not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the enemy. We will do
our actions and say the truth with clarity and confidence. That is what it
means to preach the Word boldly.
The Word spreads “by word of mouth” and by
action. Your mouth, your actions!
Speaking of actions, Winston Churchill said, “Never
give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty,
never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to
force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”[2]
Churchill was not the first. God wants us to persist. Consider the case of the nobleman of Capernaum.
The man asked Jesus for help for his son. Jesus did not immediately grant the request
as He needed the man to persist to make a point for those around him. He responded as he often did to Jews, “Except
ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”
The man persisted and because Jesus saw faith in him, he said, focusing
his attention on faith in God, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” or "Be
on your way. Your son is alive." In other words: "Do not worry. My
Word can heal your son at a distance." The boy was healed in the very
instant when Jesus spoke the Word. The father believed this Word. So did his
household, wife, children and servants. More than one person was healed on that
occasion.
This miracle shares
characteristics with the previous healing of the Centurion’s son:
- Jesus has just come back to Galilee.
- Someone comes to him with a request.
- Indirectly Jesus seems to refuse at first.
- The person persists.
- Jesus grants the request.
- This leads another group of people (his disciples, the nobleman’s
household) to believe in him.
·
Note the necessity of trusting in Jesus as the giver
of life. Of the text, Luther wrote: "Although the Lord performed
miracles and signs to make Himself known and to lead people to faith in Him,
the underlying purpose was to focus their attention on the Word rather than on
the signs which served merely to attest the truth of His testimony. Faith must
rest on the Word of God." Another
Lutheran theologian wrote: "In affliction faith is practiced and
chastened. If a person can see, taste and experience the help and grace of the
Lord, then that person learns to trust the Word and nothing but the Word. That
is the true faith, trusting the Lord for its own sake. Such faith comes not
from flesh and blood. It's the Lord to which faith clings. That almighty Word
works faith."
Jesus led this nobleman from a
"miracle" faith to a true faith in His Word. He does this to us also.
"Be on your way. Your son
lives." This Word of Jesus was not only a prophecy. It had the power to
heal the sick boy. And this Word took the nobleman's worries away. As it will
take ours away if we will let it.
As we see in the Gospel,
persistence is a very important part of the Christian life, it helps build our
character in bad times, and also in good as well. No matter what we are going
through, the persistence in faith is what builds us up as Christians, to keep going in times that are less than pleasant, as we
continue to progress as pilgrims to Our Father above. In distressing times or
late at night it is often easy to forget this, but we must remember that we
need to keep going, no matter how hard it seems. It is a comforting fact that
He is with us in these most distressing times.
We are asked to let God forgive us our sins and go to battle in this
world with His armor. With Him all
things are possible; when we depend on our own pitiful resources, the outcome
is in doubt and the result unlikely to be favorable in the end. When you believe in our Lord and act on that
belief, victory is certain in the end.
Understand, the result here on earth may not be the one you want, but it
is the one God wants for you. God
expects you to accept His help and act with His help to gain victory over the
prince of this world.
Consider also that God, through our Lord, offers forgiveness. Forgiveness lets you restart your life,
regain your foothold, strengthen your soul.
If you accept the forgiveness and go forward you can do great
things. If you will not, and likewise
you will not forgive, you will be bound by the prince of this world and doomed
to failure. You will never attain the
greatness of which you are capable with God’s grace and help.
Do what is right, I would say no matter if there is no one looking; but
He is always looking. It is not that
hard. Believe, take His help, act on the
belief you profess, never ever give up.
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?
The time to act is NOW. Will you act?
For whom will you act? Will you
count the cost before you act?
Action, not diction, is what counts. It is by your actions you are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
