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Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s
sermon was on the basic concept of the Triune God, that is the Father, Son and
Holy Ghost and how they were introduced to us through time and the Bible in
particular. Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and
is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider
these words from the Collect:
… acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of
the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity …
In the
Collect, we acknowledge there is a Triune God, that is to say there are three
aspects of God; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. A Triune God, that means Three in One, not
three separate Gods or godlets, but a single being with three aspects. How does this work?
The honest
answer is – WE DON’T KNOW. We have not
been told of how this Being operates. We just have been told that there are
three and They are ONE. We have some
knowledge and scriptural guidance on how parts of the thing work, but not
all. Saint Paul told the people of
Corinth, 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face:
now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)
One of the basic principles of classified information is that it is only to be
revealed to those who have an actual NEED TO KNOW, not just the curious. Like many secrets, we don’t really have a
need to know, so we have not been told.
We know:
·
God is I AM;
·
God the Father sent The Son to be our Savior, He
was there at the beginning of this world;
·
The Holy Ghost breathed life into the world, and
brings understanding, comfort, strength, perseverance, courage, inspiration,
patience;
·
They all have always been and always will be.
That is
what we know; it leaves a lot we don’t know, but we can certainly be kept busy
with what we do know. That must be
enough for the here and now. It is enough for us to operate on His Word with
our simple and limited understanding of the Trinity. We must be content with
what we read in Scripture, all the other stuff we wonder about Him is just
extraneous details, like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? So much theological discussion is captured in
that term. So, how many angels can dance
on the head of a pin? Whatever the
number, the answer from our standpoint is so very simple, As many as God
determines the circumstances require.
Note, as God requires! Not you,
not me. God. Trying to think about those detailed details
that we do not know or understand only serves as a distraction from following
God and doing what He asks. He does not want us to speculate on how the Three
in One concept works, but rather just understand it is and go forth and follow
Him to the best of our abilities.
We must put
aside the thoughts of who and what God is, and just understand He is I AM,
there is God, there is the Son, there is the Holy Ghost and they all work
together in their own way to be the one God of our faith. There is a reason for
this even though we don’t know it, but it works out, so we do not have to
wonder how it works, we just continue believing and acting!
But, what
of later? If we have eternal life, we
have it now and later. What comes
later? Heaven. What is heaven? John attempts to tell us. He attempts to show us the majesty and glory
of heaven using words. The picture he
paints is intended to be awe inspiring and seems to meet that goal
handily. The main thing we can be
certain of is that we will not be disappointed.
We speculate as to will this or that be in heaven? When we get there, the answer will manifest
itself and you will have no regrets.
John’s description is to tell us heaven will easily surpass all of our
expectations. He is trying to convey Heaven is a destination truly worth our
earthly toils. In heaven, there is no disappointment. Heaven is the real world, where things are
bright, not dull and dark as though looking through a glass. Rest assured, we will see for ourselves what
it is like one day, all we need to know is that it is a really wonderful place
we should be aiming to go to when we die, through our belief and actions here
on earth working together!
So, how do
we get to the real world from these Shadowlands? There is but one way, Jesus Christ the
righteous; and he is the Propitiation for our sins.[1]
Do not be
fooled by “fair”, there is only one way into heaven. That door is at the end of a long and narrow
trail, steeply inclined upward with many seemingly easy, smooth, beautiful and
interesting branches leading downward into the pit. Doing good is good, so to speak; doing good
without God is not good enough. Only
being accounted perfect will get you up the path and in the door.
We need
help! Lots of help. The first thing we need in our hearts is a
new heart, a new and contrite heart.
This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus in the Gospel. He was
explaining how we need a new heart in order to continue to serve God. The Pharisees could not or would not see that
their hearts were not good enough on their own to serve Him, as ours are not if
they are not regenerated. That is really hard, in fact, it is so hard it cannot
be done by ourselves. We need something. A new start.
We must be
born of the spirit! What spirit?
The Holy
Ghost. We must accept we in and of
ourselves will never be perfect. Our
hearts as they are will not lead us towards God, but away from God unless we
have the help of the Holy Ghost! No one gets in to heaven unless they are
accounted as perfect. We will never be
perfect in and of ourselves. Should we
quit trying? No! We are commanded to follow our Christ. Will we fail?
Without question. What is the
solution? To believe and follow the
Christ. To open our hearts to the Holy
Ghost that we might believe in full and accept the help from the Christ that
our imperfection needs to be His followers.
To follow
God, we need Christ as our leader and the Holy Ghost as our compass. In short,
we need all members of the Trinity’s influence in our lives if we are to arrive
in the real world, that of Heaven.
There is
but one way to heaven.
That easy
to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where
eternal life in the real world awaits.
Open your heart to the Holy Ghost; use His Power to follow our Lord to
God who awaits in heaven.
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?
It is by
our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
