 |
| The entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
Third
Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
O
|
LORD, we
beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given
an hearty desire to pray, may, by thy mighty aid, be defended and comforted in
all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For Our Country. BCP 36
A
|
LMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage;
We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of
thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound
learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from
pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our
liberties, and fashion
into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and
tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust
the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and
that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the
nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with
thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail;
all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pledge of Allegiance – All stand and
recite! - I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and
to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.
The Perfect Law of
Liberty – Every Day is Independence Day to the true Christian
The Declaration of
Independence - “We hold these truths to be self-evident (like
the truth of the law of gravity)…that all men are created equal (made
equal in the eyes of God at birth, but not condemned to remain equal in labor
or business), endowed by creator with certain unalienable rights – that
among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…..that
to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed…”
Some quotes at the
Signing –
When Samuel Adams
signed the Declaration, he said:
"We have this
day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in
heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom
come."
John Adams said:
"I am apt to
believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great
anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance,
by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."
John Adams continued:
"I am well aware
of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this
Declaration...Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light
and glory...Posterity will triumph in that day's transaction, even though we
should rue it, which I trust in God, we shall not."
Declare Liberty – the
Liberty Bell:
After our founding
fathers approved the Declaration of Independence, there was a call to have it
read publicly, to fire cannons and to ring the bells in celebration! The first
bell they rang was in the hall where they approved the Declaration to summon
the people to hear the first public reading of America’s founding document.
They
rang the Liberty
Bell. Where did it get its name? From the Scripture imprinted years earlier on
its rim, Leviticus 25:10, which says, ‘‘Proclaim liberty throughout the land
unto all the inhabitants thereof!’’ Proclaim liberty throughout the land. Let
freedom ring!
It certainly does not
seem realistic our Framers of the US Constitution intended the restraint of the
Christian religion as modern so-called Justices seem to believe, does it?
The Flag & Colors –
Charles W. Stewart, superintendent of naval records and library of the
United States Navy Department, made the following observations in the
Geographic, concerning the origin of the colours used in the national flag of
America:
"The flag may trace its ancestry back to Mount Sinai, whence the Lord
gave to Moses the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Law, which testify of
God's will and man's duty; and were deposited in the Ark of the Covenant within
the Tabernacle, whose curtains were blue, purple, scarlet, and fine-twined
linen."
"Before the ark stood the table of shewbread, with its cloth of blue,
scarlet and white. These colours of the Hebrew Tabernacle were taken over by
the early Western Church for its own and given to all the nations of western
Europe for their flags. When the United States chose their flag it was of the
colours of old, but new in arrangement and design, and they called it "The
Stars and Stripes."
"Our flag is of the colours red, white and blue. Red is for courage,
zeal, and fervency; white is for purity, cleanness of life and rectitude of conduct;
blue is for loyalty, devotion, friendship, justice and truth. The star
represents a heavenly ownership…the stars of heaven, the Bright and morning
Star – Dominion. (See Exodus 25:4; 26:1,
36; and Numbers 4:7.)
James 1:25 But
whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he
being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed
in his deed.
The Perfect Law. Let
me remind you how, in every revelation of Divine truth contained in the Gospel,
there is a direct moral and practical bearing. No word of the New Testament is
given us in order that we may simply know truth, but all in
order that we may do it.
This truth is
illustrated below. Having liberty as a blessing to ourselves, we owe that truth
our hearts and lives -
Psalm 119:45 And
I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
We have, as
Christians, the responsibility to walk at liberty, not being shackled by the
former chains of sin.
We cannot be free
apart from Christ. Christ came for the purpose of making us free and
proclaiming Liberty!
Isaiah 61:1 The
Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me
to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound;
We have a heavenly
responsibility to proclaim the Liberty whereby we were set free, both as
individuals and as a nation:
Jer 34:17 Therefore
thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty,
every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a
liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the
famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the
acceptable year of the Lord.
What has made us
free?
Romans
8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death.
2 Corinthians
3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is liberty.
Galatians
5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath
made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
So, do not abuse our
privilege under liberty. Do not return to the falling walls of Babylon and the
flesh of the heart.
13 For,
brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for
an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
We are to comport
ourselves as a free people and not as those living under despots such as in
China, fearfully looking about to know if we are being watched.
James 2:12 So
speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
2 Peter 2:10 But
chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise
government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to
speak evil of dignities. 11 Whereas angels, which are
greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before
the Lord. 12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to
be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and
shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13 And shall
receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure
to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting
themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14 Having
eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable
souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed
children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are
gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved
the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his
iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the
prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are
carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for
ever. 18 For when they speak great
swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the
flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from
them who live in error. 19 While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is
overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if
after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For
it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than,
after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. 22 But it is happened unto them according to the
true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
So speak ye, and so
do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. (James
2:12)
On Independence Day,
Americans should give thanks to the Author of liberty that we have been
privileged to live in this "sweet land of liberty," where we can
worship God freely, in accord with His Word. Liberty is not license, however,
and the essence of the American system is liberty under law. Fundamentally,
that law is "the law of nature and of nature's God"--the natural laws
of God's world and the revealed laws of God's Word. Within that framework we do
have liberty--but not liberty to defy either the physical law of gravity or the
spiritual "law of liberty." The latter is formulated in Scripture and
has been applied over the centuries, in the English common law and later in our
system of constitutional law, both of which are based on Scripture.
Some today, seeking
license rather than liberty, might recoil at the very idea of "the law of
liberty," calling it an "oxymoron," or contradiction in terms.
But Jesus said that only "the truth shall make you free!" (John
8:32).
"Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), and "sin,
when it is finished, bringeth forth death" (James
1:15),
not freedom!
No one can be saved
by the law, but those who are saved--by grace through faith in Christ--will
love God's law, for it is "holy, and just, and good" (Romans
7:12).
We should say with the psalmist: "So shall I keep thy law continually
for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts"
(Psalm 119:44-45).
There is, indeed, a
law of liberty, and whoever will walk in real liberty will find it only in
God's law of life, through His revealed Word. For "whoso looketh into
the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed"
(James 1:25).
Hierarchy of Laws – We are to
obey the laws of the land…unless those laws contradict the law of God. We obey
the law of righteousness and not the law of fleshly desire.
Whose law do you
keep? Your eternal destiny depends upon that question.
