Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide Communion
PO Box 128 Statesville, NC 28687
Blog Archive
Friday, May 1, 2026
DAILY BREAD
The contents of Holy Scripture are twofold: Law and Gospel. Both are necessary for us. The Law teaches what we are to do; the Gospel teaches what God has done, and still does, for our sal vation. The Law teaches knowledge of sin; the Gospel shows us our Savior. The Law condemns us for our sins, terrifies and hum bles us before the holy God, so that we learn to despair of being able to save ourselves; the Gospel promises, gives, and seals unto us, forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Law does not promise heaven to you; on the contrary, it tells you very plainly, that you will go to hell; it works wrath and kills; it tells you that you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself; and you must acknowledge and confess that such a perfect love is not in your heart. What, then, does the Law teach but the wrath of God because you have not fulfilled its precepts? But what does the Gospel do? It invites and draws us to Christ, kindles faith in our hearts, and thus works spiritual life in us. It teaches righteousness. It tells us that we are righteous in the sight of God by faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that for the sake of His dear Son, who bled and died for us on the cross, God will not lay a single sin to our charge.
These two doctrines, Law and Gospel, faith and works, must not be confused or blended together; if that is done, the way of salvation is obscured. Whoever says that man must do his part, whereupon God will also do His, or that man is justified and saved by faith and works, obliterates the proper distinction between Law and Gospel, faith and works, grace and merit. The distinction between Law and Gospel, therefore, is of paramount importance.
Prayer.
Lord God, this twofold doctrine of Thy holy Word, Law and Gospel, affects our principles, sentiments, motives, aims, and all our works and doings. Let us well understand and rightly divide them in every situation of our lives. We entreat Thee of Thy fatherly goodness, let the curse of the Law make us despair of our own ability to merit Thy favor and eternal life, so that we shall gratefully accept the Gospel, the message of Thy grace through Jesus Christ, Thy dear Son, and thereupon willingly lead a Christian life, prepare for a blessed departure, and, finally, fall asleep and rest in peace and joy, until Thou wilt call us forth again unto life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
In these Thy precious gifts arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
THE FAMILY ALTAR:
May 1.
"They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Ps. 126:5. 6
"How," says one, "shall God wipe away my tears in heaven if
I shed none on earth? And how shall I reap in joy if I sow
not in tears? I was born with tears and I shall die with tears;
and why, then, should I live without them in this vale of tears?"
But mark the words of the Psalmist. He does not say : They
that sow tears — as if the tears in themselves were precious seed.
It is a vain hope many entertain who think, because they suffered
so much here, God is in duty bound to reward them with ever-
lasting joy there. But no ! Not the tears, but the sowing is
what decides. He that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption, bitter tears and sorrow. "Tears are not always fruitful ;
their hot drops Sometimes but scorch the cheek and dim the eye;
Despairing murmurs over blackened hopes, Not the meek spirit's
calm and chastened cry !" To him, however, who engages in "God's
husbandry," who sows seeds for eternity, who earnestly strives to
save himself and others, to him a joyful harvest is promised. He
must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
He will sow tears of repentance over his own sins and the sins
of his fellow-men. He will sow in prayerful weeping, often seeking
God's face for help and comfort in his sorrows. He will sow in
tears of burning longing to be delivered from this present evil
world and to be at home with the Lord. As his sowing was in
tears, so his reaping shall be in joy. In heaven his eyes shall
see that his believing, and tearful praying, and laboring for Christ
were not in vain, but ripened into bountiful sheaves of eternal joy,
and peace, and bliss that knows no end. Then shall he be like
them that dream, and his mouth shall be filled with laughter,
and his tongue with everlasting praise.
Yonder in joy the sheaves we bring,
Whose seed was sown on earth in tears;
There in our Father's house we sing
The song too sweet for mortal ears.
Sorrow and sighing all are past,
And pain and death are fled at last;
There with the Lamb of God we dwell,
He leads us to the crystal river,
He wipes away all tears forever;
What there is ours no tongue can tell.
-
In these chapters of Exodus, much ado is made of numbers. God does, or says, nothing by happenstance. The numbers have s...
-
ADDRESS TO GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING OF THE ANGLICAN ORTHODOX COMMUNION WORLDWIDE - by Bishop Zephaniah Legumana of the AOC - Solomon Isla...
-
L ET not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O Go...