Today we celebrated the Twenty-First
Sunday after Trinity. No sermon
from Bishop Jerry, he is now in Macedonia, sadly he missed Alexander by a few
millennia, but Paul only by a couple.
Things have been going very well there. There is now an Anglican Orthodox Church of Serbia complete
with ministers, deacons and congregations and probably by the time you read
this an Anglican Orthodox Church of Macedonia. All is going exceptionally well. He has many exceptional Christians and will be providing a
complete after action report on his return. In the mean time, please, each of you pray for his doing his
very best for our Lord, a good result and his safe return. A pleasant trip would be nice, also!
On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson,
but overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has some great ones to share.
On to the On Point quotes –
Vote
Let each
citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a
present or a compliment to please an individual -- or at least that he ought
not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human
society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
Samuel Adams
Boston
Gazette, 1781
An elective
despotism was not the government we fought for; but one in which the powers of
government should be so divided and balanced among the several bodies of
magistracy as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being
effectually checked and restrained by the others.
James Madison (1788)
Nothing is
more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons
employed in places of power and trust must be men of unexceptionable
characters.
Samuel Adams
Letter
to James Warren, 1775
The principle of the Constitution
is that of a separation of legislative, Executive and Judiciary functions,
except in cases specified. If this principle be not expressed in direct terms,
it is clearly the spirit of the Constitution, and it ought to be so commented
and acted on by every friend of free government.
Thomas Jefferson
letter to James
Madison, 1797
On Feeling
I think the thrill of the Pagan
stories and of romance may be due to the fact that they are mere beginnings—the
first, faint whisper of the wind from beyond the world—while Christianity is
the thing itself: and no thing, when you have really started on it, can have
for you then and there just the same thrill as the first hint. For example, the
experience of being married and bringing up a family cannot have the old
bittersweet of first falling in love. But it is futile (and, I think, wicked)
to go on trying to get the old thrill again: you must go forward and not
backward. Any real advance will in its turn be ushered in by a new thrill,
different from the old: doomed in its turn to disappear and to become in its
turn a temptation to retrogression. Delight is a bell that rings as you set
your foot on the first step of a new flight of stairs leading upwards. Once you
have started climbing you will notice only the hard work: it is when you have
reached the landing and catch sight of the new stair that you may expect the
bell again. This is only an idea, and may be all rot: but it seems to fit in
pretty well with the general law (thrills also must die to live) of autumn
& spring, sleep and waking, death and resurrection, and “Whosoever loseth
his life, shall save it.”
Jack Lewis
The Collected
Letters of CS Lewis, Volume II
The man who measures things by
the circumstances of the hour is filled with fear; the man who sees Jehovah
enthroned and governing has no panic.
G. Campbell Morgan
All God's giants have been weak
men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.
J. Hudson Taylor
Woe unto them that are wise in
their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isaiah 5:21
... Be
not afraid, only believe.
St. Mark 5:36
Know ye not that ye are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
I Corinthians 3:16
For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
II St. Timothy 1:7
It is fitting and right beyond
doubt that buildings set apart for Christian worship should be worthy of the
purpose for which they are used. Whatever is done for Christ ought to be well
done. The house in which the gospel is preached, the Word of God read, and
prayer offered up ought to lack nothing that can make it comely and
substantial. But let it never be forgotten that the material part of a
Christian church is by far the least important part of it. The fairest
combinations of marble, stone, wood and painted glass are worthless in God's
sight unless there is truth in the pulpit and grace in the congregation. The
dens and caves in which the early Christians used to meet were probably far
more beautiful in the eyes of Christ than the noblest cathedral that was ever
erected by man. The temple in which the Lord delights most is a broken and
contrite heart renewed by the Holy Spirit. Without the truth in their pulpits,
the most beautiful buildings are simply historical museums.
JC Ryle
19th century
Anglican bishop and author
Someone should tell [the
president] that “1984” is not an instruction manual.
Steve Stockman
21st century
American congressman.
The principle of spending money
to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity
on a grand scale.
Thomas Jefferson
18th century
American patriot and president
When a small man casts a long
shadow the sunset is near.
Lin Yutang
20th century
Chinese academic and author
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers:
special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought
prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in
the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of
Canterbury after the re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be
read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The
Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in
the New Testament. The Gospel is a
reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as
a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in
our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the
service in our church is read by an ordained minister.
The propers are the same each
year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook,
falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White
Season, where it is put off. Red
Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in
red, are special days. Most of the
Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development
of the church, others to special events.
Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be
used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.
The Propers for today are found
on Page 218-220, with the Collect first:
Twenty-First
Sunday after Trinity
The
Collect.
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G
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RANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord,
to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all
their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for this morning came from
Saint Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Sixth Chapter, beginning at the Tenth
Verse. In these passages, Paul
gives his clearest definition of the spiritual war between the forces of Satan
and those who would follow God. It not only assures us that there is a
spiritual war, but it warns us that apart from utilizing the weapons which God
has provided for us, we are hopelessly underpowered. This passage tells us what
our divine weapons are. Beyond this, these weapons imply the nature of the
struggle which we are in. The weapons which God has provided for us are those
weapons which best repel the attacks of Satan, and thus we can learn a great
deal about the nature of Satan’s opposition from simply considering each of the
weapons at our disposal.
After a consideration of the war
in general, we will then proceed to examine in more detail each of the weapons
Paul mentions, and the offensive strategy of Satan which they imply. May God
give us open hearts and minds to understand the spiritual war, and the means
which He has provided for our defense.
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M
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Y brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore,
having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of
righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all
the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and
supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me,
that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for
which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought
to speak.
The Holy Gospel came from the
Fourth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John beginning at the Forty-Sixth
Verse. This is a telling of the
story of the healing of a Jewish nobleman's son Capernaum through the faith of
his father. When the man came to
him asking for help, he responded as he often did to Jews, “Except ye see signs
and wonders, ye will not believe.”
The man persisted and because Jesus saw faith in him, he said, focusing
his attention on faith in God, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” or "Be on your way. Your son is
alive." In other words: "Do not worry. My Word can heal your son at a
distance." The boy was healed in the very instant when Jesus spoke the Word.
The father believed this Word. So did his household, wife, children and
servants. More than one person was healed on that occasion.
This miracle shares
characteristics with the previous healing of the Centurion’s son:
- Jesus has just come back to Galilee.
- Someone comes to him with a request.
- Indirectly Jesus seems to refuse at first.
- The person persists.
- Jesus grants the request.
- This leads another group of people (his disciples, the nobleman’s household) to believe in him.
Note the necessity of trusting in
Jesus as the giver of life. Of the
text, Luther wrote: "Although the Lord performed miracles and signs to
make Himself known and to lead people to faith in Him, the underlying purpose
was to focus their attention on the Word rather than on the signs which served
merely to attest the truth of His testimony. Faith must rest on the Word of
God." Another Lutheran
theologian wrote: "In affliction faith is practiced and chastened. If a
person does not see, taste and experience the help and grace of the Lord, then
that person learns to trust the Word and nothing but the Word. That is the true
faith, trusting the Lord for its own sake. Such faith comes not from flesh and
blood. It's the Lord to which faith clings. That almighty Word works
faith."
Jesus led this nobleman from a
"miracle" faith to a true faith in His Word. He does this to us also.
"Be on your way. Your son
lives." This Word of Jesus was not only a prophecy. It had the power to
heal the sick boy. And this Word took the nobleman's worries away.
|
T
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HERE was a certain nobleman,
whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judæa
into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and
heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him,
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto
him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son
liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he
went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him,
saying, Thy son liveth. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to
amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left
him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said
unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house. This is
again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judæa into
Galilee.
Commentary on John 4:46.. For the
21st Sunday after Trinity
from A Commentary on the Old
and New Testaments by Joseph Sutcliffe
4:46. A certain
nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. Erasmus, following some others,
reads regulus, a deputy, a prince, a lord lieutenant, a thane. He was a
nobleman high in office, but his rank is not exactly known.
4:47. Besought him
that he would come down, and heal his son. He was accustomed to command
attendance; but now he does it with solicitation. Like Martha, he was not as
yet acquainted with the omnipresence of the Saviour.
4:49-50. Sir, come
down ere my child die. He was importunate, and would not be denied. His faith
was real, though less enlightened than that of some others. He obtained however
an immediate answer: Go thy way, thy son liveth. He believed the word, and on
his return his servants met him with the joyful news that the fever had left
his son at one o’clock, the very hour of the preseding day that the Lord had
said, "Thy son liveth." So he and all his house believed on the Lord.
— And shall one branch of our families be clearly converted to the Lord, and
made happy in the joys of remission, and the rest of the family remain unmoved,
and unconverted? What greater slight can such a family offer to the grace of
God? What other means do they await to effectuate their conversion?
From Rev Geordie
Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold
Church of the Faithful Centurion -
Descanso, California
Today’s
service was actually held at the Seattle Tacoma airport, SEATAC or SEA, as the
congregation was on travel from a wedding there. Still, that does not stop the Sunday service!
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not
simply diction and are all tied together.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… Grant … thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed
from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind …
We ask Got to pardon our sins that we might serve Him
with peace of mind. That we might
do His Work without having to worry about our fate. It is good to have a clear mind when you go into battle, to
be free of worry that you might do your best. You do not want to have a foggy
mind when you are doing an action that requires your best concentration, so
that is what we are asking from Him. To give us clarity of mind that we might
do what is right.
Paul gives his clearest
definition of the spiritual war between the forces of Satan and those who would
follow God. It not only assures us that there is a spiritual war, but it warns
us that apart from utilizing the weapons which God has provided for us, we are
hopelessly underpowered. This passage tells us what our divine weapons are.
Beyond this, these weapons imply the nature of the struggle which we are in.
The weapons which God has provided for us are those weapons which best repel
the attacks of Satan, and thus we can learn a great deal about the nature of Satan’s
opposition from simply considering each of the weapons at our disposal:
Clothing Truth; this
our cloak, as well as our cover;
Breastplate or Armored Vest Righteousness;
being at one with the One True and Triune God;
Boots The Gospel;
the Word of God will get you there;
Shield Faith; able
to not only ward off blows of evil, but quench the fiery darts hurled at us;
Helmet Salvation;
we are saved already, thus we cannot be harmed by any of the forces of this
world, the armored helmet of the gift of salvation given to us by our Lord will
protect us in the end, the only time that counts;
Weapon Up to now,
the equipment has been defensive or at least supporting; but to win a war, you
need to be on the offense, our offensive weapon is the sword of the Holy Ghost,
the Word of God!
Now, what to do? Clearly we are commanded to take the
offensive, to “ride towards the sound of gunfire.” Where the fight is, that is where we must go. With the help of the Holy Ghost, we
should open our “mouth boldly[1],
to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds:
that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” You don’t play the
defensive in this spiritual battle, as in tactical warfare, nobody ever won a
battle by being stuck on the offensive. You must go out and preach boldly and
speak the truth and not worry about the consequences of doing so.
The Word spreads “by word of
mouth” and by action. Your mouth,
your actions!
Speaking of actions, Winston
Churchill said, “Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or
small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might
of the enemy.”[2]
Churchill was not the first. God wants us to
persist. Consider the case of the
nobleman of Capernaum. The man
asked Jesus for help for his son.
Jesus did not immediately grant the request as He needed the man to
persist to make a point for those around him. He responded as he often did to Jews, “Except ye see signs
and wonders, ye will not believe.”
The man persisted and because Jesus saw faith in him, he said, focusing
his attention on faith in God, “Go thy way; thy son liveth” or "Be on your way. Your son is
alive." In other words: "Do not worry. My Word can heal your son at a
distance." The boy was healed in the very instant when Jesus spoke the
Word. The father believed this Word. So did his household, wife, children and
servants. More than one person was healed on that occasion.
This miracle shares
characteristics with the previous healing of the Centurion’s son:
- Jesus has just come back to Galilee.
- Someone comes to him with a request.
- Indirectly Jesus seems to refuse at first.
- The person persists.
- Jesus grants the request.
- This leads another group of people (his disciples, the nobleman’s household) to believe in him.
·
Note the necessity of trusting in
Jesus as the giver of life. Of the
text, Luther wrote: "Although the Lord performed miracles and signs to
make Himself known and to lead people to faith in Him, the underlying purpose
was to focus their attention on the Word rather than on the signs which served
merely to attest the truth of His testimony. Faith must rest on the Word of
God." Another Lutheran
theologian wrote: "In affliction faith is practiced and chastened. If a
person does not see, taste and experience the help and grace of the Lord, then
that person learns to trust the Word and nothing but the Word. That is the true
faith, trusting the Lord for its own sake. Such faith comes not from flesh and
blood. It's the Lord to which faith clings. That almighty Word works
faith."
Jesus led this nobleman from a
"miracle" faith to a true faith in His Word. He does this to us also.
"Be on your way. Your son
lives." This Word of Jesus was not only a prophecy. It had the power to
heal the sick boy. And this Word took the nobleman's worries away. As it will
take ours away if we will let it.
We are asked to let God forgive us our sins and go to
battle in this world with His armor.
With Him all things are possible; when we depend on our own pitiful
resources, the outcome is in doubt and the result unlikely to be favorable in
the end. When you believe in our
Lord and act on that belief, victory is certain in the end. Understand, the result here on earth
may not be the one you want, but it is the one God wants for you. God expects you to accept His help and
act with His help to gain victory over the prince of this world.
Consider also that God, through our Lord, offers
forgiveness. Forgiveness lets you
restart your life, regain your foothold, strengthen your soul. If you accept the forgiveness and go
forward you can do great things.
If you will not, and likewise you will not forgive, you will be bound by
the prince of this world and doomed to failure. You will never attain the greatness of which you are capable
with God’s grace and help.
Do what is right, I would say no matter if there is
no one looking; but He is always looking.
It is not that hard.
Believe, take His help, act on the belief you profess, never ever give
up.
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?
The time to act is NOW. Will you act? For whom will you act?
Will you count the cost before you act?
Action, not diction, is what counts. It is by your actions you are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker. He is able to take
biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
We Wrestle
Ephesians
6:10-20
Twenty-first
Sunday after Trinity
November 9,
2014
Most contemporary churches
and preachers present a false view of the Christian life. In fact, the more “contemporary” a
church, preacher, or sermon attempts to be, the more it usually strays from the
Bible and the more distorted its message is. The Christian life they present is a carefree jaunt from one
spiritual mountain to experience to another. Christians, they say, are delivered from the trials and
tribulations of life. They will
not feel pain, or depression. They
will not grieve at the loss of friends and family. They will not feel loneliness. They will be healed of every illness. God will give them great success in
their employment, and they will enjoy great material wealth. The tribulations of life are for the
unbelievers and the weak in faith.
In fact, most “Evangelicals” think tribulation is something that happens
to unbelievers after the Christians are raptured out of the world just before
the Return of Christ. Just for
your information, the “tribulation” referred to in the book of Revelation is
the tribulation of the Church by unbelievers, not a series of catastrophes
visited on unbelievers by God.
The basic message
proclaimed by most “churches” today, especially the more famous and larger ones
whose sermons are published on radio and TV, is that God wants to deliver you
from all suffering and sickness; all interpersonal, family, and marital
problems; and all financial problems.
He wants to give you perfect warm fuzzy relationship, perfect health,
and material wealth. All you have
to do is believe He wants to give it to you, and ask for it in faith, and it
will miraculously be yours. This
view of the Christian life is often called the “name it and claim it gospel”
because it teaches that you can claim your miracles if you pray in faith. It is sometimes called the “prosperity
gospel,” or the “health and wealth gospel” because it teaches that God wants to
give you these things. It is often
called “happy-clappy” because it teaches life is one big warm fuzzy feeling and
because its worship services are boisterous combinations of rock concerts and
football games. Almost every big
name preacher, and every mega-church preaches this message.
How does this message
connect with the teachings of Scripture?
It doesn’t. The health and
wealth, name it and claim it, happy-clappy gospel opposes and competes against
Biblical Christianity, and it is just as false and heretical as those who deny
the Bible’s authority and the Deity of Christ.
Look at our reading from Ephesians
6 as an example. Most contemporary
preachers think it teaches that the armor of God protects us from all harm and
all problems. In reality it
teaches that the Christian life is a continuous and relentless battle against
supernatural forces that will destroy you unless God protects you. When the Bible says, “we wrestle,” it’s
not talking about a wrestling match, or even a childish fight on the play
ground. It refers to hand-to-hand
combat to the death. That’s what
the Christian life is. And every
Christian is called to be a soldier in the battle.
No soldier who goes into
battle thinks he will not be shot at.
He knows the enemy will shoot at him. He knows he may be wounded. He may loose an arm, or a leg. He may be horribly disfigured, or become an invalid for the
rest of his life. He may be
killed. He knows any kind of
battle experience will change and haunt his life forever. Yet preachers and churches today tell
Christians in the spiritual war they will never be wounded, never be hurt, never
experience battle fatigue or shell shock or experience the horrors of war. If you have been taught, or believe
that, I have bad news for you.
Everyone will be wounded in this war. Everyone will be a casualty. By the time you get to Heaven you will have more purple
hearts than you can count. You will have sorrow so deep you’ll think it will
kill you. You will experience
deep, deep depression and grief.
You will bear scars and suffer pain all of your life. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but
I can’t. Suffering and death are
part of every war, especially spiritual war. I am not saying you will not have joy. Thanks be to God He gives us joy and
peace. I am saying you will also
experience sorrow. It is a natural
part of life. So, if you are suffering,
it is not an abnormal thing. It is
not a lack of faith. It is not
that God has deserted you. It is
part of the spiritual warfare all Christians face.
I can tell you this; in
spiritual warfare, you are your own worst enemy. Your desire to please yourself rather than obey God, will
cause you more grief and loss than anything the world or the devil can throw at
you. The greatest part of your
spiritual energy and courage will be devoted to overcoming your own desires and
passions, and you will have moments of small triumph, and moments of crushing
defeat.
The world is another
terrible enemy. The world calls
you to attach yourself to it; to make enjoying its treasures and pleasures the
meaning of your life. The world doesn’t
tell you its pleasures and treasures are transitory at best. In the end you will loose them all, and
what will you have then? Isn’t it
true that most of our griefs and fears
focus on getting, and loosing earth’s pleasures and treasures? Much of your personal part in the
spiritual battle will be wrestling with the world, trying to prevent it from
becoming the focus and meaning of your life. And it will be a hard fought battle.
The devil is another
terrible foe. He is skilled in
battle and wise in the ways of war.
He knows your weaknesses, and how to exploit them. His job is to get you to make yourself
your god. He wants to get you
tangled in the things of earth, and the fulfillment of your own lusts and
pleasures. He wants you to put
them first, above God. It is when
you put them first that you fall into coldness and disobedience. You become self-centered, and
heard-hearted towards God.
Beware of these enemies.
For they do not come at you dressed in armour. They come dressed as friends bearing gifts. They are stronger than you, and they
will conquer you unless God protects you and enables you to make it through the
fight. Therefore, Christian,
remember to put on your armor.
What is this armour of
God? It sounds to me very much
like what we call the means of grace.
Verse 14 talks about having your loins girt about with truth. What is that if not the revelation of
God in Scripture? How do you gird
yourself with the truth if not by diligently looking into the Bible and letting
it shape your thoughts and attitudes and life? Verse 17 talks about the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God, again pointing us to the Bible. But here it is an offensive weapon to be used as Christ used
it when tempted by Satan Verse 18
speaks of prayer in the Spirit.
This is not some special prayer language, or speaking in tongues, or
going into a trance. It is praying
according to the will of God and trusting the Holy Spirit to bear your prayers
to Heaven, and to interceded for you in those things too deep for words. These things are the means by which God
feeds our souls and draws us into himself. They are the means by which God enables us to stand firm in
the battle, quench the fiery darts of the wicked, and watch unto perseverance
and supplication.
Others are mentioned
here. Salvation; which is God’s
entire work of justification, sanctification, and glorification. Without the helmet of salvation you
will fall. Indeed, you are fallen
already. The shield of faith
refers to the doctrinal content of the Christian faith. These doctrines are great comfort to us
in time of trouble. When facing
trials we are cheered by the knowledge of God’s omniscience and omnipotence. When we sin we are cheered by the
knowledge of His everlasting love and grace. When death claims our loved ones we are cheered by the
reality of Heaven. When sorrows
threaten to overcome us we are cheered by the hope of a place where sorrows
will touch us no more forever. The
Church is mentioned here. Verse 18
talks about all saints, and that is the Church, the people and body of
Christ. The Church is a means of
grace. Here we worship God. In the Church we are fed by the
sacraments. In the Church we are
fed on the Scriptures and the communion of saints. The Good Shepherd gathers His sheep into the fold, the
Church, to keep them safe from wolves and robbers. Those inside the fold are called sheep. What do they call those outside of the
fold? Mutton. A word to the wise is sufficient.
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity
In our gospel for today (St. John 4: 46-54), our Lord remarked that Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.
He said this to a man who had besought him to heal his dying son. The man
nevertheless persisted and our Lord sent him home with a message of
encouragement that his son was alive. When the man returned home, he found that
his son was healed at the very time when he had been appealing to our Lord for
his assistance, and as a result he and his whole house believed on the Lord
Jesus.
How many times have we heard the unregenerate say, “If only God would
do this thing or that, I would also believe”, or “Why doesn’t God work explicit
miracles in our world today?” I usually reply: “Would you really believe in God
on account of their actual occurrence, or would you simply explain away his
wonderful works as chance or an accident?” Experience reveals that the latter
response will be given over the former because the unregenerate, by their very
natures, cannot give any credit to God. They cannot because their master will
not permit them to do so.
The Scriptures tell us that the LORD has used signs for a variety of
purposes. He has used them to authenticate a prophetic announcement, as in
Numbers 16: 28-33 wherein Moses said Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath
sent me to do all these works... If these men die the common death of all
men... then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and
the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto
them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these
men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end to
speaking... that the ground clave asunder that was under them...
The LORD has used signs to strengthen the faith of those who were
called to perform a given service and who were incomplete in faith or ignorant
of the truth of God, as in the case of Gideon (Judges 6: 36-40). Gideon asked God to moisten a piece of
fleece one night and to moisten the ground around the dry fleece the next. Such
proved to him that he had the favor of the LORD in his calling to defeat of the
Midianites.
The signs of the LORD have also been used to remind us of past
blessings and encourage a continuing faith, such as when Joshua (Joshua 24: 17-18) reminded the children of Israel of all the
signs and wonders which they had witnessed on their journey through the
wilderness. The recounting of these events was enough to spark their faith for
they had seen with their eyes the workings of God present with them. Elijah
called the people of Israel to witness an awesome display of God when his
offering was completely consumed by fire out of heaven along with the very
stones of the altar on which his sacrifice was offered. Elijah never once put
spark or flame to the wood of the sacrifice, and even had water poured over it
which filled a trench that encircled the altar. And lo and behold the LORD
consumed it all in a instant. As a result, the faith of many was renewed and a
brief period of revival developed in the kingdom of Israel (I Kings 18:21-39).
Signs confirm God’s Word. In Hebrews 2:14 we are told that both with
signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost,
according to his own will... God confirmed unto his own the work of salvation.
Our Lord Jesus Christ through the workings of the Holy Ghost raised Lazarus
from the dead, turned water into wine, healed all manner of ill and injured
persons, cast out devils and brought the light of the gospel of peace into a
sin-darkened world. He confirmed the faith of many through his works the
greatest of which was his resurrection from the dead. Why did Christianity grow
and catch on like a wildfire? The testimony of the multitude of witnesses and
the proof of the empty tomb spoke volumes and resonated with those whom God had
called unto himself of all nations and tongues beginning in Jerusalem and continuing
on to the uttermost parts of the earth.
But as we have noted, signs displayed to the unregenerate are not
sufficient for them. One would have thought that after having witnessed the
plagues that befell the Egyptians at the hands of Moses and Aaron, such would
have quieted any dissent among the children of Israel. Yet, in spite of all
that the LORD had done for them, only two men above the age of twenty from the
original host which left Egypt— Caleb and Joshua— believed that the people
could enter the land of Canaan and take it from those wicked people whom the
LORD had promised to drive out from before them. Two out of so many. What a
shame. Or, how about the disciples of our Lord at the Garden of Gethsemane?
They ran from the scene when our Lord was taken by the temple guards and went
into hiding as if their whole world had ended. They seemed to have forgotten
the host of miracles which they themselves had witnessed while with the Master.
Only after his appearance to them in their secluded retreat following his
resurrection was their faith renewed.
I suppose for me, and perhaps for you, a sign and wonder which I am
looking for is our being gathered together with our Lord in glory.
Nevertheless, we should look about us every moment for God works all manner of
signs and wonders, many of which go completely unnoticed. Our very lives are a
miracle of nature. Every child born into this world is a miracle— a sign and
wonder of the power of God in creation. To think on the complexity of our
bodies and how every system must work in the ways which it had been developed
represents the thoughtfulness of our Creator God.
If we have received of God the gifts of the Spirit, we will be working
in those areas of life in which we have been called. For it is through our
efforts within those respective spheres that the hand of God can be discerned
in changed lives, and humbled hearts. God desires our love and devotion and all
who are called of him will give him those things. May each of you have the
courage to heed his calling and live in obedience to his word and commandment.
Let us pray:
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ather, assist us, we pray, to see the signs and
wonders which you perform daily all around us; that we witnessing the same will
have our spirits enlivened to do those works which thou hast called us to
perform; for this we ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
