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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, July 23, 2017

Sermon Notes - Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Saint Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church - 23 July 2017, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

O
 GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.


A
nd Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.  6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.  8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 

     9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.  13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.  16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (Genesis 4:1-16)

This is an account which hails back to the dawn of time and the beginning of the generations of the human race. It is taken from a Book of the Bible called ‘Genesis’, and appropriately so for genesis is a word meaning origin or beginning.  

When the name of Cain is uttered, and seldom is it uttered, what thoughts are evoked by its mention?

            No thoughts of virtue or loveliness, but thoughts of murderous treachery. Cain was a treacherous murderer of the worst kind. He murdered his own brother and he did so over jealous outrage of a religious nature. Some of our most destructive wars have had false religion as their cause.

            When a young high school scholar, one of my favorite poems was one by Alfred Lord Tennyson entitled “Charge of the Light Brigade”. The poem was based on a true account of a meaningless but courageous charge of Britain’s best Brigade during the Crimean War. 

The order to charge was recklessly given by Lord Cardigan without full knowledge of battlefield intelligence. But the Light Brigade responded to the order without question – a trait that would become us as Christians in obedience to God. 

Here are the first three verses from that poem:

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

" Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Cardigan was no man of divine perfection. He was a manmade lord and not the Lord of Heaven and earth. Yet, the Light Brigade responded precisely as they should have. It is not the soldier’s duty to question why, in the heat of battle, but rather to obey immediately. It is a sad sequel to history that only 56 of these brave six hundred survived the charge.

The War in which this event occurred was the Crimean War – one of the most bloody of contest since the battles of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane. The war occurred between the western European Powers and Russia from 1853 to 1856. The results, after needless loss of many lives, was a token victory for the Western Powers ceding the Holy Land to the Roman Church for oversight. 

What was the spark that ignited the fervor of war?

Hostilities had been building in the Holy Land over the oversight of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. At the time, the Eastern Orthodox Church had oversight of the building and grounds. 

A leak developed in the roof of the structure and water was threatening to damage the interior of the structure. The Roman Catholic church made known their intentions to make repairs to the roof which would require a thin sheet of copper about the size of a common page of notebook paper. The Orthodox Church refused to allow it since they feared the process would allow Rome to lay claim to the Holy Sepulchre. Rance intereceded on behalf of Rome. Russian dispatched an Army Division to the Danube to prevent France and Rome from gaining the right to repair the roof.

Great Britain was allied with France. Hostilities broke out resulting in many useless deaths. The only good that came of the war was the services of the angelic Florence Nightingale in treating the wounded of both sides on the battlefield.

Why would I relate such historical facts of war in a sermon?

            I tell you this story so you can better understand the full impact of Cain’s evil intentions and motives. Nothing has changed in the heart of fallen man since the beginning. Selfishness and jealousy are at the heart of personal, as well as national, warfare.

When Eve conceived her first son, Cain (possession), she considered this to be the man who would redeem the sins of his parents as promised in Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; He shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel."

The seed of Satan, whose head would be crushed by her seed seemed to be fulfilled to Eve in her firstborn. “I have gotten a man from the LORD

When Abel was born a few minutes later, there was no particular or gratified response from Eve other than to call him Abel (or breath). Just a breath, whereas Cain was a POSSESSION! But Abel had received the ‘breath of life’ and Cain was of a different nature. 

Abel was a Godly son and a prophet of the Lord. Christ makes reference to this fact in Matthew 23: 34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar

2…And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 
    3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Why would Cain’s offering not be accepted. He did offer it with a good heart….didn’t he? No! He did not! He knew that a Lamb had to die to make a covering of his parents’ nakedness – Gen 3: 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. 

A sacrifice represents an offering to cover our sins and weaknesses, but Cain’s was totally unacceptable and he knew it.

We read in Hebrews, Chapter 9: 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Furthermore, the source of Cain’s offering was a cursed source: Gen 3:  17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: CURSED IS THE GROUND for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So, please, do not mimic modern preachers and excuse Cain for his goodwill. He had none. His self-righteousness was evidenced by his not feeling a need to make a worthy sacrifice for sin. He is much like most modern Christians of today.

So out of jealousy, Cain murdered his brother – his only brother.

I witnessed a few years ago a famous evangelist and false prophet, saying that he would kill all those who objected to his brand of false preaching by mowing them down with a machine gun. See how false religion and false motives can incite us to evil? After being called on the subject, he claimed that he meant a Holy Ghost machine gun; but biblical evidence does not suggest that there is any such weapon of the Holy Ghost!

The blood of Abel cried to the Lord from the ground. When our bodies die, we still exist…the part that makes us who we are … our souls, our spirits. This part is indestructible for it is the essence of US. And this part of us will live forever, either in the bliss of Heaven, or in the eternal fires of Hell. “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Eccl 12:7 (KJV)

What makes you different from Cain?

Do you offer to God a proper sacrifice of mere possessions? Or do you claim the blood of His Son, Jesus, as HIS redeeming offering. The blood of goats or lambs will not avail. They were mere foreshadows of the guiltless sacrifice to come.

Heb 9:11  But Christ, having come a High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands (that is to say, not of this building), 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if sprinkling the unclean with the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who 14through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Our pitiful claims to live for God are revealed as wretched rags and odorous garments by the evidence of the fruit of our works. If we love God and His Creation, we will obey Him and listen to His Voice. And when we fail and sin, we must confess and repent. We must claim the blood of the innocent Lamb shed from before the foundations of the world as our sacrifice, not the mere works of our hands. Regardless the good we do for others, without the Love of Christ, it is a perishable and stinking ointment. Only His righteousness will avail in the dark and cloudy day. Here is hope from the words of the prophet: “For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”  Ezekiel 34:11-12

If you know not the voice of the Shepherd when He calls, how will He find you? Will he, too, recognize your prayer of bleating?


Study to make your salvation sure. Amen!