Hymns of the Church - 63rd Psalm from Scottish Psalter – 8 September 2015, Anno Domini

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.  (Psalm 63:1-2)

There is, to me, a divine power and mystery in the first two verses of this Psalm/Song of David! It expresses a beauty and a wonder that can scarcely be explained in human terms – it is felt in the secret chambers of the heart. This Psalm was the favorite of an old War Dog named General George S. Patton. He knew many of the Psalms by heart, but favored this one especially. I suppose this proves that the beauty of God’s Word may be borne in a rugged vessel. The Author is One of particular antiquity being God Almighty Himself whose utterance was given through the pen of David the King – so this hymn can only be praised as PERFECT. The tune is St. Peter (or How Sweet the Name) which is the same for the hymn, How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds, composed by Alexander Robt. Reinagle of Oxford, England.

Psalms 63 (paraphrase)

1 Lord, thee my God, I’ll early seek:

my soul doth thirst for thee;

My flesh longs in a dry parch’d land,

wherein no waters be:

2 That I thy power may behold,

and brightness of thy face,

As I have seen thee heretofore

within thy holy place.

3 Since better is thy love than life,

my lips thee praise shall give.

4 I in thy name will lift my hands,

and bless thee while I live.

5 Ev’n as with marrow and with fat

my soul shall filled be;

Then shall my mouth with joyful lips

sing praises unto thee:

6 When I do thee upon my bed

remember with delight,

And when on thee I meditate

in watches of the night.

7 In shadow of thy wings I’ll joy;

for thou mine help hast been.




8 My soul thee follows hard; and me

thy right hand doth sustain.

9 Who seek my soul to spill shall sink

down to earth’s lowest room.

10 They by the sword shall be cut off,

and foxes’ prey become.

11 Yet shall the king in God rejoice,

and each one glory shall

That swear by him: but stopp’d shall be

the mouth of liars all. AMEN!

            This hymn/Psalm was composed by David under the inspiration of the Holy ghost while a fugitive from King Saul in the desert of Judaea. He suffered deprivations of food and water and many other hardships of diverse kinds – not the least of which was the rejection of a King whom David loved bore particular allegiance as the anointed one of God.  1 Lord, thee my God, I’ll early seek: my soul doth thirst for thee; My flesh longs in a dry parch’d land, wherein no waters be. In a desert place where no water is plentifully available, we retire to sleep with thirst, and awaken with greater thirst; but David makes reference to a more lofty and divine thirst – that for the fellowship of the LORD. In the deserts of sin, there is no water to be had. The land of sin is a parched and desolate ground; yet, David’s first waking thoughts are of his thirst for the Lord, and the realization of his great need for God. What a great change we should see in our own society were our leaders thirsting for God as did David.

2 That I thy power may behold, and brightness of thy face, As I have seen thee heretofore within thy holy place.  If one has not beheld the power of God in their lives, or the bright beauty of holiness in worship of Him, how destitute of riches is that soul! Such a one is afflicted with a blindness that may border on madness. But the child of God, which all devout Christians are, has indeed been given the spiritual vision to see God in His Holy Sanctuary which Sanctuary the Heart is.

Our good friend and teacher, Matthew Henry, expresses the meaning of the beginning two verses this way:  Early will I seek thee. The true Christian devotes to God the morning hour. He opens the eyes of his understanding with those of his body, and awakes each morning to righteousness. He arises with a thirst after those comforts which the world cannot give, and has immediate recourse by prayer to the Fountain of the water of life. The true believer is convinced, that nothing in this sinful world can satisfy the wants and desires of his immortal soul; he expects his happiness from God, as his portion. When faith and hope are most in exercise, the world appears a weary desert, and the believer longs for the joys of heaven, of which he has some foretastes in the ordinances of God upon earth.  —Matthew Henry Concise

3 Since better is thy love than life, my lips thee praise shall give. 4 I in thy name will lift my hands, and bless thee while I live. 5 Ev’n as with marrow and with fat my soul shall filled be; Then shall my mouth with joyful lips sing praises unto thee: 6 When I do thee upon my bed remember with delight, And when on thee I meditate in watches of the night.  Instead of cursings and by-words, should our lips not be used to the better purpose of praise to God? Our hands are, indeed, God’s Hands. Should we not lift them in His cause and in praise of that Great Dignity who has preserved us? The best of all things belong to the Christian though the world is blind to true riches. When He has filled our hungry lips with the best of the table, and filled our cups with soothing wine of the Spirit, should we not praises Him all the more rather than to grow fat and self-satisfied? Here is an interesting thought: Do we remember the Lord upon our beds? Those who do can never be driven to adultery or other sins of the flesh. Though David is the writer of these words, God is the Author. David did not always heed the words God spoke herein. Remember when David arose from his bed and went for a little walk on the roof to spy out Bathsheba? Every rousing moment of our sleep, we should be mindful of the One who gives sleep and rest.

7 In shadow of thy wings I’ll joy; for thou mine help hast been. 8 My soul thee follows hard; and me thy right hand doth sustain. 9 Who seek my soul to spill shall sink down to earth’s lowest room. 10 They by the sword shall be cut off, and foxes’ prey become. 11 Yet shall the king in God rejoice, and each one glory shall. That swear by him: but stopp’d shall be the mouth of liars all. AMEN! God is our Fortress and High Tower – a Fortress to protect from the slings and arrows of the Enemy; and a High Tower of watching for dangers and assaults. Once we admit that we can do nothing except God gives us the means, then are we more closely drawn to Him. We need not harbor vengeful thoughts against our enemy – the justice of God is sure and full. I have personally witnessed this in frightful ways often in my life. The true King shall rejoice in God our Father, and we all will have cause to glory in Him. But the evil eye and wicked tongue shall be destined to feed the fires of an eternal Hell.

It is not fear of Hell that motivates the Christian, but rather the joy of being accounted a Child of the King!

God is my Co-Pilot? or the Devil is in the details – 7 September 201

This devotion is based on a letter to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Chapter [6083] of Enterprise, AL, September 2015.

            In 1945, a movie was released by Warner Brothers entitled, God is My Co-Pilot. It is the story of Colonel, later Brigadier General, Robert L. Scott who flew managed to get into combat with the Flying Tigers in World War II under General Chenault and went on to be a moving force in tactical aviation.

While the title is charming and well-intended by Scott, a dedicated Christian, we must recognize God takes a second seat to no one.  He is either our Commander, our Master, our Lord, our Pilot-in-Command - or He is nothing to us[1].  Fortunately for Scott, unlike the title of his book, God was his Pilot and he guided his life.

            There is another well meaning and similar slogan one finds on posters and bumper stickers which read: "Jesus Died For Your Soul And The Soldier Died For Your Freedom. I hate to be an iconoclast, but this, too, regardless the commendable motive behind it, is also not true in whole. Regardless the esteem earned by the American soldier, there is no freedom apart from that granted in the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ. Isaiah the prophet, in describing the coming Lord, says: 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. (Isaiah 61:1 KJV)

            To the synagogue, on the Sabbath at Nazareth of Galilee, Jesus confirmed and fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 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, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  (Luke 4:18-19) The Lord came to heal, to save, and to set free. No mortal can do any commendable work apart from that which mirrors the redemptive work of the Lord. A good and Godly soldier, just as a minister of God, imitates that good work of the Lord in fighting for Liberty, Freedom, and Justice for all alike.

            Jay Kim, the first Korean elected to Congress, tells this story of MacArthur's liberation of Seoul. The North Korean occupiers were evacuating the city ahead of the leading elements of MacArthur's invasion force. But they had demanded that the city be destroyed along with personal possessions, setting homes and buildings afire. Jay Kim was just a little boy at the time. There was smoke, and the sound of gunfire, everywhere. He was helping his father and other siblings salvage what little possessions they owned from their burning residence. Suddenly, there was an eerie silence as the last elements of the North Korean Army fled the city. Jay looked down the smoke filled street to see the largest soldier he had ever seen emerge from the smoke and chaos. It was a US Marine bearing his weapon at the ready. He came to the boy, stooped down and put his arm around his shoulder, gave him a stick of gum, and directed him to seek cover inside the building since there was still sporadic sniper fire in the area. From that moment forward, a little boy named Jay Kim resolved, someday, to become an American! And so he did!

That is what Freedom is about - and perfect and true Freedom only comes as a gift from God though enforced and perpetuated by his appointed minister - the Godly soldier.

---

[1] Much like The Trilemma of Jack Lewis in Mere Christianity - I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Sermon Notes - Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity - Saint Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church - 6 September 2015, Anno Domini

The entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE!

The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A

nd it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.  (Luke 17:11-19)

Gratitude 

            The casual (to us) beginning of this Gospel text – “And it came to pass….” – is not casual at all. In fact, nothing in Scripture is casual. It was determined from ages past to “come to pass” for it was an event in the foreordained ministry of our Lord. Jesus is on His final journey of His earthly mission to Jerusalem to suffer and die for remission of our sins. His journey includes the gentile region of Samaria as well as the Jewish sector of Galilee. This should comfort us in understanding that His ministry was to all people of faith, and not limited merely to a certain race of people.

            Our text today involves, again, the healing of lepers. Leprosy might be compared to sin in several particulars: 1) sin is insidious in its onslaught. It is not usually obvious at what point an innocent child comes to age of reckoning and becomes an outright sinner – but the sin will grow to the point that it is obvious to all that the former child willfully sins. The same is true of leprosy. No one notices the early onslaught of leprosy – even the victim. But with time, spots and blemishes appear that grow more all-invasive and severe until the body appendages begin to rot and deteriorate. 2) leprosy, like sin, has an increasingly reprehensible odor associated with its progress. At first, one might be able to cover the odor with ointments and perfumes, but even these cannot stench the growing unpleasant odor that the disease emits.3) Leprosy, like sin, separates us from our loved ones. A leper is disposed to live apart from all others of society and to shout, “Unclean!” to all who might approach him. Sin separates us from God. 4) Leprosy is debilitating – so is sin. Many of the dreams and aspirations of the leper are interdicted by the disease. The same is true of the growing depravity of sin. 5) Leprosy finally kills its victim – so does sin result in spiritual death of its victim. These are just a few of the parallels that can be drawn between leprosy and sin.

            Jesus is the Great Physician – not only in healing the body, but also the soul. As we look at this text today, let us consider the condition of our own hearts in comparison with those of the lepers described.

            Jesus is approaching a village at some point on his journey.

He is met by ten lepers outside the village – lepers were not allowed to mingle with the village people. They could not approach near to Jesus, but remained afar off. Sinners, too, cannot come near to Christ until they do so with penitent heart. Sinners are separated from God by their sin.

            They believed that Jesus could help them though they could not fully understand the manner of healing. They believed strongly enough that they, in unison, lifted up their voices and cried, “Master have mercy on us.” IT is not necessary to beg for details of mercy. The mercy of Christ will always suffice for our healing.

            Prayer will always get the attention of the Lord. Jesus had not yet seen the men until they called upon His name. “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” Another point illustrated here is the fact that distance is not an impediment to healing where the Lord is concerned.

            Why show themselves to the priests? It was not to complete any healing, for they were healed as they went away – it was to grant them entrance into polite society again. When we come to Christ, we are admitted to the society of other believers – we are accounted righteous though our righteousness is that IMPUTED righteousness of Christy and not our own.

            “And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.” It surely MUST come to pass if Jesus issues the decree!

            When we come to Christ, believing in faith, our faith must result in acting upon that faith. Obedience to Christ requires our immediate response. Immediately the lepers departed to see the priests. When we have repented of our sins and believed, we must walk in a different direction, and with a different purpose, than our previous walks.

            “15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God.” The grant of great expectations requires a great response. One of the ten, realizing that his leprosy was gone, could continue no further without glorifying the Great Benefactor who had healed him. He was not ashamed to lift his voice and loudly glorify God. In fact, I do not believe he could resist doing so. How silent do we remain after Jesus has healed us of our great sins? Should we not bear witness, far and wide, of our healing by revealing that Great Physician that healed us to other lepers?

            It is implied nine were Jewish, and clearly stated this one was a Samaritan who was healed. He could not resist the power of gratitude to fall at the feet of Jesus and thank him for so great a favor. “And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” He was the very one least expected to come near to Christ – he was a Samaritan! But he was now cleansed and, as we must do also, he came near to Christ after his healing. After our forgiveness of sins, we, too, must draw near by faith to Christ and ever after remain so.

            In our sins, we are all strangers to God, but once we are cleansed, we delight in His company. “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” Today in church, there are perhaps one in ten who are gracious and loving of Christ to kneel (in their hearts) at his feet and than Him for His many mercies to them. Where are the nine? They are no longer in fellowship with Christ. They have disappeared!

            Only this stranger – this Samaritan – was made whole and healed to the fullest. The other nine had their leprosy healed, indeed; but they again drifted away and were separated from the most important One with whom they could have associated themselves. Many make public professions of faith and do the same thing. “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.”  The faith (and gratitude) of the Samaritan had made him whole to the fullest extent. Not only had his leprosy been healed, but, more importantly, his soul!

            Everyone present in the worship service today has that opportunity to express their full faith and gratitude to Christ – through their public testimony, through their changed lives, and through their service to Him. Have you done so?         

The Twenty-Third Psalm – 5 September 2015, Anno Domini

The Book of Psalms, Tehillim in Hebrew (תְּהִלִּים or תהילים meaning "Praises"), commonly referred to simply as Psalms or "the Psalms", is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible.  The title is derived from the Greek translation, ψαλμοί psalmoi, meaning "instrumental music" and, by extension, "the words accompanying the music."  The book is an anthology of individual psalms, with 150 in the Jewish and Western Christian tradition and more in the Eastern Christian churches.  The psalms are linked to King David, commonly referred to as The Psalmist.

The psalms have many many uses; they were the primary text for worship in the time of Jesus.  They provide worship, praise, solace and peace. 

Generally speaking, if anyone has memorized a psalm, the first one to be memorized is the Twenty-Third.  Its thoughts and wording have permeated our language.

Psalm 23

T

he Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Psalmist draws three comfortable conclusions from three very comfortable premises:

God is our protector and keeper

So - He will never keep any good from us, he will meet all our needs.

As our Shepherd, He will protect us

So – As long as we follow Him, He will see no harm comes to our soul.  For, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  It is only bodily harm that can come to us, for none, save God, can harm our soul.  We all die, so what is that to us?

God’s Mercy is with us forever

So – No matter what situation comes upon us, we are safe in God’s Hand.  He will never leave us, never ever.  We are but sheep of His Pasture and as long as we stay there, we are safe.   Recall the words from Chapter 10, Verse 28 of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew:  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

The more often you read this psalm, the more it will enter into your heart and soul to provide you with comfort, strength, understanding and patience.  Kind of like the Holy Ghost.

Devotion on Firsts of the Bible - First and Only Prophet Swallowed by a Whale – 3 September 2015, Anno Domini

…  Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish…

Part Two – The Journey Begins

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  (Jonah 1:3)

            In Jerusalem (on Mt. Moriah) Jonah walked with the Lord in that lofty city and heeded His beckon and call, but now Jonah has elected to go out of the will of God which is a continual spiral downward and finally Jonah finds himself going down into the depths of the sea. In the way of postscript to yesterday’s Introduction of this book, I will add that the Book of Jonah is not simply an account of what happened in the life of a single prophet of the ancient day, or to the thousands of people of Nineveh, previously ignorant of the true God; but it is given as a SIGN to us and to all peoples of all time. An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a SIGN; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt 12:39-40, see also Matthew 16:4) Today, worshippers are mad to find a church which makes fabulous claims of miracles and extra-biblical teaching, but they walk in abject darkness if they seek such.

God has provided a sufficient sign for us in the works of His prophets of old, and in the consummating life, death, and resurrection of His dearly beloved, only Begotten Son. God has punctuated His signs among the people during all times. It was intended as much to awaken Israel to the promise of the coming Savior as it was to lighten the darkness of the back streets of Nineveh of the Assyrians. That brazen serpent, lifted on high by Moses for the healing of those bitten by the fiery serpents, was also a sign to those who are bitten by that deadly Old Serpent, called Satan. Those who look to Christ lifted up on the cross, and risen to the Father, are healed of the deadly penalty of sin. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Num 21:7-9) The relationship of that SIGN was pointed out by Christ: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15, see also John 8:28, 12:32, and 1 Peter 2:24)

As we proceed in our study of Jonah, we must recognize that in many points, Jonah is a type of Christ, just as was Adam, except in those areas of failure and weakness. He went down from the close presence of God as did Jesus, but Jonah went in the wrong direction. Jonah went to the wicked people of Nineveh just as Christ came down to the wicked world. Jonah lamented the forgiveness of god for the people of Nineveh, but Christ rejoices in it.

            Whereas, Jesus humbled Himself in descending to our level and becoming flesh and blood like unto us, Jonah rebelled and rose up AGAINST the commandment of God. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.” See the contrast with that of Christ in his actions: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Phil 2:5-8) Have we not all, from the eldest to the youngest, not behaved in the like manner as Jonah at some point? We know what the Lord has commanded, but we think we are somehow special and can disregard that commandment in our peculiar circumstances. We go in the opposite direction from obedience. Is there a great and hungry fish awaiting us in our flight from God? Please note, again, from the 5^th verse of Philippians, that we surrender our old free wills when we accept the Lordship of Christ and take His will upon us.

            Jonah used his own will to subvert the perfect will and commandment of God. He was angry and dismayed God would command him to go to the terrible, Gentile enemies of Israel. He knew, instinctively, that God would not warn a people of their gross sins unless He was ready to forgive them in their repentance. Jonah was fearful that his mission would be successful! He did not fear its failure. See? Jonah had a firm knowledge of God’s Mind, and he had faith in knowing that whatever God disposed to do, He would accomplish. Yet, Jonah fled from what he deemed the “Presence of the Lord.” How futile is the effort when we attempt to flee and hide ourselves from the commanding Eyes of God! The first to learn this hard lesson was our ancient parents in the Garden eastward in Eden. The next to learn was Cain. And now, Jonah will learn the same, but he must first suffer much effort in escaping by sea – but in two different conveyances – a ship and a whale! How do we ever expect to escape the All-Seeing Eye of god when all of the Universe is His, and He made it?

            Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and it was located some great distance to the EAST of Jerusalem; but Jonah went the opposite direction. He went WEST to the coast of Joppa. If God would go with him to Nineveh, did her believe that God would not follow to sea and to Tarshish (coasts of Spain)? Anger and rebellion blinds men to the will of God. So was Jonah blinded by his own small mind? . . . and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish” There was another opposite direction taken by Jonah. When Jonah went out from the will and presence of God, he, like all who disobey, went DOWN. He went DOWN to Joppa. The Lord had sent a ship there to meet Jonah. But Jonah thought that he, himself, had found that ship. It was prepared and furnished with crew and canvas to sail the seas; but today, it would sail into a teeming gale of such force that the crew could not maintain control of either sail or rudder – but God could! When we run from God and His plan for our lives, He is able to bring us into the great storms and buffeting breakers of life. He watches us there for He is the “God that seeth me.” We may worry about the outcome, but He does not for He has already ruled it. The ship that Jonah ‘found’ may have, indeed, been going to Tarshish, but Jonah was NOT!

            If we do not allow the Lord to provide our means of passage, we will pay a very great price from our own treasure:  . . . so he paid the fare thereof.  Little did Jonah know exactly how great that fare would be in the end of three days. How wasteful it is to run on our own way and depart from the Narrow Way of God!

            . . . and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. So far, Jonah has gone DOWN twice in our narrative, but he has THREE more occasions remaining in which he goes DOWN. The way is always a spiraling DOWN to the abyss when we flee from God. Jonah went DOWN into the ship which he presumed would take him to Tarshish. He had his own ticket, but a ticket is no better than its issuing authority – in this case, man.  He believed man’s sailing ticket would take him out of the Presence of God. Good luck with that one, ole boy, for it is a dangerous delusion. Jonah would actually come INTO a presence he did not contemplate; yet, the Lord would be there with him in that sea-monster’s belly after Jonah had become just another dish of seafood.

            Do we struggle against the pricks of God? I KNOW that I have done so and will, doubtless, so struggle again. I am, by nature, a stubborn thing. God may use our stubbornness to achieve his purposes if we allow, but when we use it for our own ends, we may wind up in the depths of the sea in a conveyance not of our own choosing. Jonah has gone in the opposite direction on earth that he was commanded to go. He should have gone East to Nineveh, but Jonah went West to Joppa. He also went in the opposite direction spiritually from that which he should have gone. Jonah went DOWN to Joppa, and DOWN into the ship, instead of going UP to a closer fellowship with God. Quite often, good Christian people so get immersed in doing the WORK of the Lord that they forget the LORD! The labors of Martha were beneficial to the Lord and dinner guests, but Mary chose the better part – at the feet of Christ where she was often wont to be. The struggles of Godly living are moment by moment – not year to year. We must constantly be aware of the allurements of the world AWAY from God. We must cast away our free wills daily, and put on that Mind which was in Christ Jesus! Have you done today, friend?

Islam and the Devil – 2 September 2015, Anno Domini

Look about the world today as you read this and see if you find any similarities in what you read here and what you see there.  Civilizations prosper and advance when they follow the instructions given them by their maker and fall when they follow the fallen one.  Start reading Genesis:

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. (Genesis 1:1-7)

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: (Genesis 3:1-4)

Disclaimer:  I am first a Warrior Priest[1] of the one true living Triune God, second a scientist, a nuclear physicist to be precise.  From hence comes my viewpoint.

When you consider what is, and more important has, been going on since the beginning, you can see nothing has changed.

In the garden, he was referred to as the deceiver or the serpent, now he is Allah.  Capitalizing a name does not make one God, merely one of the false gods.  Make no mistake; Allah is another name for the Devil.   The first of the fallen.

The first thing the deceiver does is divide and conquer.  The Devil calls for fairness[2], then defines it for us in terms not found in any dictionary.  When you allow the enemy to set the terms and rules, you find the battle half lost.

Most of our current problem can be traced back to allowing junk science.  There is absolutely zero evidence of evolution, yet our schools teach it as fact.  We are not allowed to consider Creation as even a theory; yet the order of creation as laid out in Genesis is that “scientists” presently think happened, though the time span is not the same.  We are said to be “flat worlders”, yet the Bible clearly calls the earth round.

Why no Creation, why Evolution in the face of absolutely zero evidence?  To remove God as the source of all: law, order, soul.  To establish the state as primary.  One cannot have a National Socialist or Communist State and have God as the source of all power.  The State must be the ultimate source of power. 

People presently will not accept the widespread worship of the Devil and primacy of his State, thus we are faced with atheism as the current State Religion of the United States of America.  We are seeing the attempted primacy of the State over God’s Law, the Constitution and People.

Islam is acceptable to National Socialism and Communism, it is a religion that is flexible and worldly oriented.  It believes whatever it worldly rulers believe at the time.

Expect to see atheism promoted, Islam tolerated to the point of preference, Christianity and Judaism persecuted.   There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Godspeed,

Hap

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[1] Not an intermediary priest, but a minister.  That must be clear.

[2] Fairness – A word found not once in the Bible.  Right, yes.  Fairness, no.

Hymns of the Church – Is Your All on the Altar – 1 September 2015, Anno Domini

Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.

(Romans 12:1)

We seldom consider the value of PEACE until we are without it, but peace is one of the loftiest gifts of grace in God's treasure trove. Few attain to that perfect peace made available in Christ even though it is available to all of the elect of God who claim His sacrifice and salvation.

There is a story of a great New England philanthropist and patron of the arts who desired to reward, with a handsome grant of money, an aspiring artist who could best depict perfect peace in a painting. Many entries were presented and finally narrowed down to two entrants. The first revealed a beautiful pastoral scene of gentle rolling countryside with sheep graving on fertile pastures, and birds singing sweetly from the trees. There was a wonderful sunrise in the background that added many hues of color to the sky. It was a truly fine work of art.

The second painting was of a great and tumultuous waterfall cascading from a rocky cleft of a mountain. The water fell hundreds of feet into a misty pool at the bottom. It was anything but a peaceful scene; yet, behind the waterfall, a cherry branch had sprouted, and grown there, affording a bluebird an ideal place to build her nest in the midst of the uproar and terror of the water fall just a few feet away. No creature would have ventured there into that calamitous place to harm the nest. The mother bluebird was peacefully sitting on her nest. Though the first painting had much merit, it was the second that won the prize for depicting perfect peace because peace is not dependant on the external environment, but the internal condition of the heart. This is the peace that Christ gives. It is the kind of peace that the great martyrs, Huss, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, and hundreds of others embraced on their dying crosses. It is the peace described in Philippians 4:7 - "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." As the text declares, this is the kind of peace that keeps our hearts and minds stayed on Christ!

Today's hymn is an old evangelical favorite entitled, "Is Your All on the Altar." Both music and lyrics were created by the great hymn composer, Elisha A. Hoffman of Philadelphia in 1905. Hoffman is almost as highly celebrated as Fanny Crosby among hymn writers. He also wrote the lyrics and tune for two thousand other hymns including "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" though the refrain was written by AJ Showalter of Dalton, Georgia.

Is Your All on the Altar

You have longed for sweet peace,

And for faith to increase,

And have earnestly, fervently prayed;

But you cannot have rest,

Or be perfectly blest,

Until all on the altar is laid.

Refrain

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the Spirit control?

You can only be blest,

And have peace and sweet rest,

As you yield Him your body and soul.

Would you walk with the Lord,

In the light of His Word,

And have peace and contentment alway?

You must do His sweet will,

To be free from all ill,

On the altar your all you must lay.

Refrain

O we never can know

What the Lord will bestow

Of the blessings for which we have prayed,

Till our body and soul

He doth fully control,

And our all on the altar is laid.

Refrain

Who can tell all the love

He will send from above,

And how happy our hearts will be made,

Of the fellowship sweet

We shall share at His feet,

When our all on the altar is laid.

Refrain

"You have longed for sweet peace, And for faith to increase, And have earnestly, fervently prayed; But you cannot have rest, Or be perfectly blest, Until all on the altar is laid." It is possible to experience a false peace that is derived from false religion or even from the spirits of a bottle; but that peace will not hold you in times of danger and trouble - only the peace of God can do that. It is natural for the soul to long for peace that is not simply the absence of turmoil, but which imparts a sweet savor. With the growth and increase of faith comes, as an added bonus, greater measures of PEACE. Perhaps you have prayed and longed for that peace, but find its benefits have eluded you. Why have we failed to achieve that perfect peace when we have fervently prayed for the same? It is perhaps because we have held back that wedge of gold, or tenaciously clung to that single besetting sin that we simply do not desire to relinquish. We have not placed our ALL on the altar. Though we can truly offer nothing to God since He owns everything, including our souls; we can, by faith return to Him that which is rightfully HIS - our ALL! When we come to Him without reservation, we will find peace.

"Would you walk with the Lord, In the light of His Word, And have peace and contentment alway? You must do His sweet will, To be free from all ill, On the altar your all you must lay." When we walk with the Lord, we are not headed in the way of our former desires, but according to His direction and way. We know the Way because we have been given the Light of His Word to guide us thereon. Perfect Peace and Freedom is not doing what the old corrupt spirit of man desires, but obeying and doing what the Lord has shown to be His will through the Scriptures. It is by this means that we can always have that peace and comfort - not holding anything back from the Altar.

"O we never can know What the Lord will bestow Of the blessings for which we have prayed, Till our body and soul He doth fully control, And our all on the altar is laid." If our souls desire something that is outside the will of the Lord to grant, we shall not receive it regardless our fervent prayers. There is a single exception in which the Lord may grant an inconvenient request so that we may learn, after overly persistent prayer, that to have our prayer answered will not profit, but harm, us. Overly persistent prayer is a one-way prayer in which we persist to ask when God has already said, NO. It is a prayer that speaks but does not listen. When our sinful wills (free wills belonging to Satan) have been surrendered for His perfect will, then our prayers will be measured by what is righteous and lawful for us to have. Even our desires are conformed to His for us.

"Who can tell all the love He will send from above, And how happy our hearts will be made, Of the fellowship sweet We shall share at His feet, When our all on the altar is laid." Love does make joyful. The currency of God's Kingdom is LOVE. All love comes down from Him. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17) The tears our dear sister, Mary of Bethany, shed at the feet of Jesus were also tears of great joy - joy that Jesus had honored her household with His Presence. If we shed tears of sorrow, Christ will, in due course, turn them to those same tears of joy that Mary Magdalene shed upon seeing the risen Christ at the Garden Tomb. But we must surrender those material and spiritual possessions that eclipse our vision and view of Christ in order to have that perfect peace of which this hymn makes reference.

Refrain

"Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid? Your heart does the Spirit control? You can only be blest, And have peace and sweet rest, As you yield Him your body and soul." This hymn concludes with two mutually dependent questions. First, have we turned over our all and all to Christ? And, secondly, have we substituted HIS all-in-all for our own; in other words, have we surrendered our works, our bodies, and our desires to Him in total? Then have we laid claim to His Will and Spirit to be our own in all future endeavors? Our bodies are presently an essential abode for our souls; but the day will come when we must disrobe from this carnal body, and all that we shall possess in the interim is our souls. It is that soul which will determine at which place it shall be, at the resurrection, reunited with a body - either Heaven or Hell. It is my hope and prayer that you have not measured that which you have placed on the altar of God - it is just enough if you have placed all that you have, all that you are, and all that you shall become, there. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.  (1 Cor 15:28)