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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

Sunday, April 30, 2017

AOC Sunday Report - Second Sunday after Easter

The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE!

Happy Second Sunday after Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday.  You can read the propers to see why!

You can download the AOC Sunday Report RIGHT HERE!

There are really great sermons from Bishops Jerry and Roy, as well as Revs Jack and Bryan!  You will enjoy each of them.

There are a lot of people who need your prayers, today particularly Kurt, Jimmy, Mary, Bob and Michael; please don't forget Shamu.

Looks to be an epic week ahead, if you will accept God's help.  In the mean time:



Godspeed,

Hap
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California

Sermon Notes - Summary of the Gospel - (Lectionary Gospel Text for Morning Prayer) - Second Sunday after Easter - St Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church - 30 April 2017, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!
The Second Sunday after Easter.
The Collect.

A
LMIGHTY God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.
  

 1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. 7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:1-11)

          Though today’s lectionary Gospel text ends with the 10th verse, I could not bring myself to end there without adding the 11th which fully reveals this gracious Personage described as the Good Shepherd.

          The Universe is a closed system as every student of astronomy will admit as scientific fact. Heaven, too, is separate and distinct from the physical universe and is also, itself, a closed system (much like a simple Sheep Fold) and the abode of God. Just as the Universe is a place prepared of God for our temporal existence, so Heaven is a place prepared for the spiritual existence of those who cling to Him as lambs and children. There is an old saying that “nothing happens by accident” and I believe that saying is true as regards the Universe and the heavens. 

           Far greater faith is required to believe that the intricacies of the Universe, of the great organization of galaxies and star systems, of the perfect balance existing upon earth for the support of life, for the amazing structure and continually working intellect that is evident in the human body. To believe that the tiny cell, much less the complex organization of millions of cells of the human body, could happen by accident of nature requires a faith that can only be identified as ridiculous. Of course, there is, as even Einstein admitted, a great Intellect behind the perfect balance and structure of the universe – and of life itself. – and that Intellect is God!

          In today’s text, Christ makes reference to that closed system of Heaven – the Sheep Fold. The Mind that conceived the organization of interstellar space also is the same Mind that created the natural world as we know it. He created every rose of crimson beauty, and every lily of purest white splendor, the tiny creatures that are unseen to man, the lambs and bears, lions and elephants, and you and me. His Mind is Macro in its enormity to consider the whole Universe and Micro in its meticulous awareness of the tender baby sucking at its mother’s breast. The Divine Creator has endowed man with a special glory and privilege and made him the crowning achievement of His Creative genius. We are compelled to say, along with the psalmist: When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:3-9)

          Our God is a God, not only of this one-time life on earth, but the God of the Resurrection. Life is continually being resurrected, even in this world of woe, from death. Every stalk of wheat derives its being from that first grain of wheat that fell into the earth at Eden and sprang into newness of life. Every cell of our bodies can trace its primitive DNA back to that of the first man – Adam. So, God, even in the temporal, has place seeds of the eternal. There is, however, a known end to the ways of the world and its supporting planetary accoutrements. This system of death and life is not that which God approves for those He loves. He has sent His only Begotten into the world to redeem us out of that sin of Adam (and our own) which has interrupted His creative plan for eternal life in all things.

          As a great and all-knowing scientist speaking to children of the Manse, He leaves off the references that cannot possibly be conceived by a child, and uses vocabulary that is simple, pictorial and imaginative in revealing the great mysteries of the closed system of His Heaven. He speaks of sheep and shepherds, of porters and strangers, of doors and thieves.  These mental pictures we can grasp and know. Being the greatest teacher ever to open His mouth, Christ employs the fundamental principle of teaching, known today, as teaching from the KNOWN to the UNKNOWN. Teaching cannot be accomplished in any other way. Unfortunately, the technique used in many of today’s university classrooms is that of teaching from the UNKNOWN to the IMPOSSIBLE!

          1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber Christ begins with the negative – those who attempt to enter “some other way” – precisely because this is the manner in which most will attempt to gain heaven. The loose theologies of man-made truth has crept into churches and corrupted the simplicity and truth of the Gospel. The leaven of the Pharisees is far more prevalent than the pure unleavened Bread of Heaven  served in most churches today. How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade themnot beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. (Matt 16:11-12) The theology of today is more of the WALMART variety than that of Treasures of Heaven.

          2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Christ is our Door to Heaven. He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” and “no one cometh unto the Father but by Him.” We may come up with every self-enriching scheme and call it exalted faith; we may labor our fingers to the bone in doing good; we may sacrifice every of our livestock on the altar of benevolence; but still stands in the foreground and brilliance of Light the single means by which we may enter Heave n – the Lord Jesus Christ. It is He who keeps getting in the way of the builders of a human paradise. If the secular humanists, the Communists, the totalitarians of every stripe could only vanquish this shining figure in the midst, they could then complete their human utopia (which, in reality, is Hell). But “the Stone that the builders rejected has become the chief Corner-Stone of the building thereof.” When they have near-completed their structure, they then may note the troublesome stone at the base around which they had to labor in building their building. It kept getting in the way and causing them to stumble. Now they recognize, after all, that it is the Chief Corner Stone – but too late. As they try to lift it to the crown of their hand-made building, it tumbles back upon them and crushes them to dust. We often build our lives on false premises, too, and discover too late that the foundation is unstable.

           3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. The porter is very like the true ministers of God who open the Door into Christ to his hearers. While living in Iran, the sheep were led out during the warmer part of day from the stone enclosures called sheepfolds in the mountain heights. These were usually semi-caves in the mountainside with a large stone fence erected in an arch around the front. There was an opening that was always guarded by the Shepherd to keep the sheep from escaping into the dangers of winter and the predator-infested mountain slopes. There were often different shepherds whose sheep were sheltered in the fold. The Shepherd would make a unique sound with his voice and his sheep would immediately respond by following him out of the fold. The others would not respond. I found this remarkable and in complete accord with the Words of our Lord. Christ calls out today and many do not heed His Voice because they are not of His Fold.

          4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. If we know the Shepherd’s Voice, we will follow Him everywhere, for everywhere He leads will be a place of security – green pastures and still waters. If danger lies ahead, the Shepherd is first to address the danger and will even lay down His life for the sheep. He has laid down His life for YOU.

          5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. We have many who profess Christ today who are following strangers. If they truly knew Christ, they would not recognize and follow a stranger’s voice.  I recently drew several hundred dollars from a bank in which I have a savings account and went to deposit that money in another bank where my personal checking account is maintained. The teller took the bills and ran them through a machine. They all passed muster. She then marked each with a special pen to verify their authenticity. They all passed this test. She then took one of the bills and held it up to the light for quite a while. She then told me that this particular one hundred dollar bill was actually a five dollar bill. Well, I thought this ridiculous for it was clearly a one hundred dollar bill. She told me to hold the bill up to the light and see whose visage was inscribed in the watermark on the right side. It was Lincoln when it should have been Franklin! She told me that a skilled counterfeiter had bleached out a five, and over-stamped with the one hundred. This is why the bank device could not recognize the fake – the paper was Federal stock. Neither would the pen. But the skilled eye of the teller could catch the phony because she was so very familiar with the true money. We may appear to be genuine Christians, and our lifestyles may be moral and above reproach, but what of the watermark that is INSIDE our hearts. Will that expose us as imposters to the knowing eye of the Lord? 6 This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. He often speaks to us in such simple words that we, too, do not understand. We expect words of greater sophistication and profundity perhaps.

          7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. When we simply do not ‘get it’, Jesus will speak to us in more direct ways. Many local Christians of the Baptist persuasion wonder why I commit idolatry by displaying the cross and candles above the Lord’s Table. I explain, usually in vain, that the cross is a reminder of who Christ is to us and what He did. I explain that Christ used metaphors to point to Himself. The Cross is one such example of who Christ is and what He did. The candles, I explain, represent both the Light of the Gospels and that of the Epistles which go out to the World in giving Light. I explain that Christ tells us in the second chapter of Revelations (2:5) to the church at Ephesus that if that church forgets from whence they have fallen, Christ will remove their candlestick. I then remind them that the Anglican Church still has its candlestick. This usually ends the dialogue….(*___~) Christ is our DOOR. He meets every specification for a DOOR. He is the only entrance available.

          8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. Those false prophets who deceived and misled the people are the thieves and robbers. Their kin still dominate the world of theology today. They change biblical meanings and words for profit. They build up the esteem of man, and minimize the truth of God. But those who truly belong to the Shepherd will recognize the phonies, just as the bank teller mentioned.

         9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. We have a perfect liberty IN Christ. Outside of Christ, there is only bondage and whimpering servitude. The same is true of nations that honor Christ. Those whose constitutions and morality adhere to Christian faith are free and her people live without bondage.

          10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. The thief never announces his intentions ahead. His success is due to his cunning and secrecy. Modern false teachers are never going to pronounce that they have no faith at all in God the Father, or His Son Jesus. They begin, as the Serpent in the Garden, with a half-truth and proceed, step-by-step, with a full denunciation of Truth. Lies led to death at Eden, and lies lead to death in the church. But in Christ, we have Life, and that life we have, even on earth, is full, abundant and heavenly.

           11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.  What other shepherd, bent on profitable gain, will lay down his life for the sheep? But there is One Shepherd, who is the Owner of the Sheep, who does not view them out of a prospect for profit, but loves them fundamentally with a heart love of warmth and kindly beneficence. He loves them as His own family (which they are) and will lay down His very life for the sheep so that THEY may have life.

Do you know this Shepherd, and do you hear His Voice today?



Second Sunday after Easter


If you enjoy this, the entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!

Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California


Todays sermon ties the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.  


We are in the Easter Season which consists of Easter and the following four Sundays, until we get to Rogation Sunday.  This is a time we should work on centering our lives on the central figure in our religion, Jesus Christ.  
 
Consider these words from the Collect:

… who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; Give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that his inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life 

It is critical to understand Jesus is the only begotten Son (John 3:16) of God.  He is also referred to in places as The Word, the means by which God is given to the world.  But, more than that, 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made(John 1:1-3) Though the corrupted versions of the Bible (NIV, NKJV, RSV, etc) have attempted to erase His Divine Status and the role He plays in our salvation, that does not change the reality of who He Is. He is in simplest terms, the great I Am.  He was the one who brought light into this World. He has been there since before the beginning of what we understand to be the Universe.  He created this world, it is by rights His, not the rightful belonging of the Prince of this World.  He whom is begotten of the Father is who was sent to give His earthly life that we might be accounted as perfect at our own final accounting.  In addition, as we have a dire need of direction, our internal sense of right and wrong so oft lacking, He came to earth to provide us with a perfect example of what to do, while we, ourselves, so oft serve only as bad examples.  The way He acted and conducted Himself on this Earth was left as an example for all of us Christians to follow. He is the ultimate role model for us, who we should strive to be more and more like every day.  As the Collect makes very clear, we need the Holy Ghost in our hearts to more closely follow that perfect example in our daily actions.

This brings us to Peter’s point in the Epistle, Christ serves as a perfect example for the conduct of our lives.  If we are wrong and suffer for it, there is little honor; for we were wrong.  But, if we do right, that is follow God’s Will, and suffer for it, there is in fact glory, laud and honor there.  Jesus went to His earthly death on the Cross for our failures that we might be accounted as perfect.  He who is, was and always will be perfect suffered great pain that we might live life eternal.  If He did that for us, should we not follow His example and follow His Direction, counting the cost only after the work is done? He himself had to go through suffering so the miracle of His Resurrection would occur; if we have to suffer, we can be at least rest assured that He suffered too and He underwent far more pain and misery than we ever will in our lifetime.

We are after all much like sheep, following the lead of those around us; somewhat like lemmings, it seems.  We have great need of a shepherd to lead us back from the edge of The Pit and to life, back to those verdant pastures and still waters.

As Peter referred to Jesus as a shepherd, so does John.  There is a reason for this constant reference to Jesus as the Good Shepherd; He is.  He leads us to green pastures and to beside the still waters. He restores and comforts our souls, and drives the enemy from out of our souls and minds, if we let Him. He is the ultimate protector and guide. He will lead us towards the path to Heaven, we just have to make the conscious decision to follow His Directions and etch them into our hearts.

In order to follow His Directions, we have to let go of our pride, vanity and arrogance and accept His Guidance and teachings of humbleness and humility into our hearts. We have to realize that We cannot be saved without God’s influence in our lives. And the best way to let Him in is to accept His Teachings and act upon them. Continually reading the Scriptures and not only reading, but learning and digesting is the best way to grow as a Christian. To digest means to absorb. 

If we absorb His Teachings, we will be more prone to act upon them. Acting is the key word here, not just talking about it, but acting. It isn’t good enough just to read the Scriptures and go on our merry way and act like we did before we read the Scriptures. We have to apply the key principles of the scriptures here in our lives and shine the light of Christ to those around us.

The Gospel notes the difference of ownership.  Our true owner will, and I might add, has, given His Life so we might be protected from the ravening wolves of this world, the Prince of this World.  We are cautioned to 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)  But, sobriety only gets you so far; sheep do poorly against wolves and lions.  Make no mistake, we need the help of that Good Shepherd.  That Good Shepherd calls to each of us, we need the Holy Ghost in our hearts to hear that call.  Regardless of what you have been told by those of this world, there is only One God, One Lord, One Savior.  Thus, there is only One Flock; there are many ways to follow Scripture, but they must all have the same general plan.  That is the reason for the creeds, the reason we tell all to compare what is preached against what is in Scripture.  We need to daily work towards doing a better job of following God’s Will.

We need help, He provides it, we need to accept it.

The key is action, in this case our action.  We need to actually accept the offered help; like the life ring thrown to a drowning person, we must grab God’s proffered help, else we profit nothing.

For there is much profit,  joy and satisfaction to be found in proper action.

When the time comes, how will you ACT?

It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

Friday, April 28, 2017

Jacob’s Well – 28 April 2017, Anno Domini

If you prefer, there is an easy to read and print READER version RIGHT HERE!
18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it Elelohe-Israel. (Gen 33:18-20)

            Water is that which sustains life. There are two, perhaps three, kinds of water. There is physical water of pure property that sustains our physical bodies; and there is spiritual water (Water of Life) that sustains our spirits; and then there is the poisoned water of Satan that rots away life and soul.

            Jacob purchased a parcel of ground outside the gates of Sychar (anciently called Sheckhem) and he dug a well thereon. Nearby the well, he also erected an altar to the Lord for the Lord is the source of Life and the Water of Life. It was many hundreds of years later that the true Water of Life came to that Well of Jacob. According to the computations of Bishop Ussher, it was more than 1,700 years later that Christ came to that same Well.

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water (John 4:5-7) 

It is characteristic of wells that those who come, come out of thirst and need. Each of us is born into the world with a thirst. Sometimes those thirsts are for the wrong things – alcohol, illicit sex, inordinate wealth, etc. But the thirst which is most essential to satisfy is that which emerges from the dry deserts and plains of a broken and contrite heart.

            It was water of Jacob’s Well for which the woman came, and it was the Water of Life with which she left that Well. 

            Situated approximately thirty miles north of Jerusalem in the hill country of Ephraim is the ruins of the ancient walled city of Shechem of the Old Testament, Sychar in the New Testament, and today known as Nablus. It is the burial site of Joseph. Beneath the foundations of Shechem there runs an Underground River which carries its nourishing waters to the distant pasturelands, and it is this water course from which the water for Jacob’s Well is supplied. The waters of the river run totally unnoticed beneath the busy commercial streets and shops of flourishing Shechem during its active workday of barter and trade. But once the oxcarts and trampling feet of merchants and patrons have been stilled by the curtain of night, one can very plainly hear the gurgling ripples of the stream deep below the foundation of the city as it hurries along to its indefinite destination. But its waters come from deep beneath the surface, and are of the earth. Though pure and wholesome for the body, that water can offer no benefit to the soul.

            But how like the still and silent draw of the deep waters of the Holy Ghost are the waters of this Underground River, and it was these waters from above of the Holy Ghost that quenched the great thirst and convicted the woman of Samaria as she spoke with the Fountainhead of those Waters of Life. 

            The woman came thirsting for the water of the earth that would not finally satisfy, but discovered the Water of Heaven that satisfies completely and forever. Quite often in our busy lives of social, commercial and professional activity, we are unable to hear the soft, sweet voice of God calling to us over the tumult of life. It is at those busy times that we need Him most - and are sadly unable to hear. Our ignorance often separates us from recognizing His Presence just as the men on the Road to Emmaus were ignorant of to whom they conversed until He broke the Bread and gave to them. 

            The wells of earth are dug by the strenuous labors of men; but the Well of the Waters of Life are purchased at the cost of the Blood of the Lamb of God.

What must we do to enter again into the sanctuary of the Almighty? Simple!  Be still, and know that I am God.  (Psalm 46:10).  Sometimes we simply need to close our minds, hearts and ears to the rush of daily life, stop what we are doing in reading or converse, and commune with the Majesty from on high. He never shouts, screams or intrudes without our invitation; because He is a perfect Gentleman (Jesus es el Senor - Jesus is a Gentleman). as our good Spanish brothers love to aver). Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God  (Job 37:14).

            Remember the call of God to young Samuel? He called three times in the night. Samuel heard clearly each call, but aging and restless Eli did not hear. (I Sam 3:4-15). And poor dejected Elijah, having given up all hope, God commanded to go and stand upon the mount before the Lord.   Elijah witnessed a great and strong wind which rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire, a STILL SMALL VOICE.

            God does not speak to us in the heated shouts and elevated voices of everyday life. He speaks not through the twisted and tortured notes of heavy metal (Christian?) music. Not in the peals of drum and discordant voice. He comes softly! He resorts (as he always has) not to the sin-filled and busy main street, but to the GARDEN. And as Moses did, we must remove our spiritual shoes when we stand on Holy Ground.

            The Holy Spirit is forever that silent, bountiful stream of Living Water that courses ever near us, but which we often neglect to hear or heed. It is a Well whose base is fixed in Heaven – not at the bottom of a hole in the ground.

            Our present generation wants ACTION! Entertainment - even in worship! But they are a sad lot who seek God in vaunted words, music and deeds of modern society which, it seems, many of our churches attempt to emulate. Worship in many of America's churches is centered on man and his word - not the Word of God or praise to Him. What does God think of such churches? He looks at the fruit of the tree itself. Have our youth abandoned the Old Paths wherein our fathers walked? Surely, they have. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt 12:39-40) Please do not simply allow these words to go in one ear and out the other. What did Christ mean? He meant that His death, burial, and resurrection are sufficient for us to know that He is our risen Lord, Redeemer, and King. We do not require signs and wonders performed at the hands of unholy men to convince us – so stop running here and yon to see so-called wonders to convince you. 

            If you want to hear the voice of God, be near to Him who first loved you; follow close on as a lamb whose vision is short-sighted; seek Him in the quiet sanctuary of His Garden. Seek Him in your closet of prayer, not in the boisterous 'noise' of some modern worship services. The sound of His voice is like the Underground River of Living Water of ancient Shechem. To hear Him, OUR feet must stop, OUR voices must be stilled, if we are to hear HIS. Thoughts of the market place, the bazaar, the social gatherings, must be put aside. We empty our hearts of worldly lusts and turn them to the Source of all Mercy and Grace.

            Our Lord Jesus Christ is a Mighty River of Life. That River is present in the Paradise of God according to God’s Holy Word. But Christ is not only that River in its course, but the very Fountainhead thereof. 13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters(Jer 17:13) His Water of Life gushes forth from the Fountainhead (which He is) and waters the Tree of Life in the Garden of God (which He also is). 1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Rev 22:1-5)


            If this life is all there is for you, you are destined to be the dust that leads to the Gates of Hell; but if you seek that Water of Life which our Lord Jesus offers, you shall become the watered fruits of Heaven. Dry dust bears no life, but watered fruit is the currency of Heaven.