One Small World – 4 February 2017, Anno Domini

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8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)

            God whom we worship in the Anglican Orthodox Church cannot be restrained in walls or even galaxies. He is far too big for that. Neither can He be confined to periods of time such as a single day of the week. Many believe that they ‘visit’ Him on Sunday’s and then lock Him inside when the service is over and do not expect to commune with Him until the following Sunday. The shallowness of modern faith is nothing new. It persisted at the time of our Lord’s first Advent, and even before as Noah labored 100 years in building the ark. The crowd round about laughed him to ridicule, but that crowd perished when the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up and the first-ever rains from Heaven descended in torrents. 

            When a cadet many years ago, a favorite trick we played on our fellows was to pull the bottom of the sheet up to the head, and pull the covers back up to hide the half-sheeted bed. We called this being short-sheeted. It was great fun to watch the dreary fellow try to pull the covers up at taps when he only had half a sheet. This was not a new trick, but one mentioned in the Old Testament: 20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. (Isaiah 28:20) 

            I was driving though Knoxville some years ago and happened to hit upon a sermon being preached on a local radio station. I believe the minister’s name was Denton. He seemed to be quite old, but sincere and dedicated to his calling. Though his vocabulary could have used some polish, his sermon was as biblically sound as any I have heard, and far better than the pabulum being preached from the pulpits of ‘First’ churches around the country. He was making reference to errors which had arisen in many mainline denominations in which, in order to get a bigger and more lucrative church assignment, “the minister may preach from a corrupt Bible version and hold to tenets that are not consistent with Scripture. In this way, he stands in quite favorably with those who decide church assignments. He may even preach from an error filled ESV – even more deceitful than the NIV.” The old preacher went on to add, “Everybody is looking for a new bible and a new religion. But you may say, ‘we want the old-time religion of the Baptist persuasion, or we want the old time religion that originates with Wesley, or even the man-made religion of the Roman Church!’ But I want a Bible much older than the new error-filled versions, and I want a faith and religion that goes back before there was a Baptist, a Methodist, or a Roman Church. I want that old time religion that our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostles taught, and I want a Bible that is faithful to each and every word that He spoke!”

            That old minister had more sense and understanding of the Apostolic Faith than all of the modern pulpit dandies combined! God is bigger than man’s limited sense of truth. He promised to preserve His Word, and He has done so. If the new versions, based on inferior textual and manuscript evidence, are better than the Received Text of the Great Reformation, then God would not have preserved His word to those before.

            Modern man (and primitive as well) desires to wear his religion in $2,000.00 apparel, in magnificent and LARGE buildings designed to impress the world. But none of these point to God for we are all naked before Him. There are far more faithful churches worshipping under brush-arbors in the hot climates of equatorial Kenya than in the finest crystal and granite cathedrals of the west. Do we really believe that God is impressed with the best our hands can construct? He is NOT!

            There seem to be few in our time that seek to hear true and biblical preaching, but for the few who do seek such, I am reminded of the prophecy of Amos: 11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12) I was one who sought to find biblical preaching from sea to sea and north to east, but did not find it until I discovered Bishop James Dees and this Church. I was surprised that there was a church remaining which placed the Bible above the imaginations of men’s minds, but I found it, and I have been here from that day. I am sure there are other small church groups that are faithful to God, but you will find none of the mainline churches that are truly biblical and godly.

God does not need our rudimentary structures that attempt to imprison the God of all Creation within their doors. He is a far better architect than the best of our day, and even of the renowned ancient Egyptians. He does not need our paltry offerings of gold and silver, of wood, and brick. He demands a better building than we can construct – that building will not be the work of men’s hands, but of God’s own handiwork. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;  Neither is worshiped with men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; (Acts 17:24-25)

We bring further evidence to the bar for your understanding: Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?  Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. (Acts 7:48-51)

Does God limit His home to our shabby dwellings and steeple temples?  Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.  (Isaiah 66:1-2)

Warning for Our Day

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD. 3 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. 5 For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; 6 If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: 7 Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever. 8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. 9 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; 10 And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? 11 Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. 12 But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. 13 And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spoke unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; 14 Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. (Jeremiah 7:1-14)

            I prefer the Temple of God to your rude fantasies of grandeur. Observe these select verses:

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 

(1 Corinthians 3:16-17)

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God'sI. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. (2 Corinthians 6:16-17) 

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.  (Ephesians 2:19-22)

Those who believe are the true Church and Temple of God. It is the Chambers of the Heart and not the walls of a building that defines the Church. The World He made is too small for Him and for us.

Naked – 3 February 2017, Anno Domini

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9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. (Genesis 3:9-10)

            The immediate penalty and fruit of sin is shame and fear. Nakedness represents the complete exposure of our sins before the eyes of the Lord. Nothing is hidden from His purview. Sin results, not from free will, but rather from a will that is in bondage to mammon and the devil. The only will that is free is that will which accords with the will of God. Just because the chain about our necks is twenty feet long does not mean that we are free. Certainly, we can take seven steps on our own volition ere the chain restrains us, but we are yet prisoners of the chain. That is what free will without God is all about. The will of man that does not comport with the will of God is under the absolute bondage of the will of the world and of the devil. Man can neither do, nor even imagine, a good thing apart from the Holy Will of God.

            We are utterly naked before God without a covering for our sins. Suppose a man, without that covering, believes he can, by his will, do sufficient good for salvation. Can he? Imperatively, NO, he cannot! 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 3:20-24) If no man can be righteous under the claims of the law, even if he wills to do so, proves that man’s will is not free until he has received that imputed righteousness and covering offered by our Lord Redeemer. 

            No respectable person would appear naked in public. It would be a tremendous embarrassment! Adam had no idea what nakedness truly was until he had sinned before God and came under a conviction of sin resulting from disobedience. Suddenly, he had a knowledge of the sinfulness of, not only nakedness, but every other offense against the Sovereignty of God.  Where would Adam, or any other man, obtain a covering for his nakedness if not from God. We own nothing on our own right. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. (Gen 3:6-7) All things are made, and owned, by God. I am reminded of a story that mentions a meeting between God and the Devil. Prompted by his arrogance and pride, the Devil said, “God, I would like to inform you that I can do anything that you can do.” God, half-smiling, says, “Really? Can you make a man?” “I sure can,” boasted the Devil. “Fine,” answers God, “You go first, Devil!” So the Devil reaches down and picks up a handful of dirt from which to make his man, but God exclaims, “No, no! Mr. Devil, you must get your own dirt!” Fig leaves cannot cover our sins because those, too, belong to God.

            The great European reformer Martin Luther had something to say regarding the illusion of free will without Christ: 

"For if man has lost his freedom, and is forced to serve sin, and cannot will good, what conclusion can more justly be drawn concerning him, than that he sins and wills evil necessarily?" Bondage of the Will pg. 149  and "the commandments are not given inappropriately or pointlessly; but in order that through them the proud, blind man may learn the plague of his impotence, should he try to do as he is commanded." Ibid, pg. 160.

            Sin prevents us from attending to the privileges of worship. It appears from the text of Genesis 3 God communed with the couple of Eden during the coolness of the day; they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Gen 3:8) Sin places a gulf between man and His Maker.  God was in the place prescribed for communion, but Adam was not due to his sins. He was rather hiding in the bushes and trees due to his shame and fear of being found in his sins. Thousands, and millions, in America today have likewise erected a wall of separation in worship between God and themselves – often and shamefully in the very sanctuary of backslidden churches themselves. Now his fear and shame has driven him away from the presence of God – just as it does in our day. God never moves – it is the sinner that moves away.

            God called upon Adam, knowing beforehand all that had caused him to hide: And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Gen 3:9) When caught red-handed in our sins, a confession may be forced upon us, but we yet attempt to wiggle out from under the condemnation of guilt by equivocation and attempts to shift the blame from ourselves. God asks, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat.  And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. (Gen 3:11-12) Notice how Adam attempts to shift blame to anyone other than himself – not only does he blame Eve, but he blames God Himself for giving him such a woman! Such denial of sin begins at birth. The baby, with chocolate smeared from cheek to cheek, denies that he has stolen the cookies. There are no guilty convicts in prison – to hear their stories, they are all innocent of any evil or criminality. We are all naked without the proper covering that God provides to cover our sins – the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

            Let us review, for a moment, how that covering was purchased for us by our Lord. The circumstances found Adam and Eve naked before God in the Garden. If man could live, God could not allow such nakedness (uncovered sin) to continue. There had to be an intermediate and temporary covering for that nakedness while the Great Tailor prepared a sufficient covering for all sin. Remember that all of Creation was made by the strong love of God for all that He created. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (Gen 1:20-23) You already know from your Bible study that God is the Author of all life. God created these creatures with a deep and abiding love for them. But now God is faced with a choice that He had made long before He had created man – He must take the innocent life of one of his beloved creatures in order to cover the senseless nakedness of Adam and Eve. So God killed an innocent animal, deprived it of its own covering, and gave this as a covering to Adam and Eve. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. (Gen 3:21)

            I can assure you taking the life of any of His creatures is not a thing which God takes lightly, but the taking of the beautiful robes that covered an innocent animal must have broken the Heart of Divine Love. In the taking of that innocent life, God recognized that a greater sacrifice would be necessary if a permanent solution were to be provided to redeem men from their sins – that of His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. 21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: 25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; 26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  (Hebrews 9:16-28)

            Just as the Prodigal Son found, with the gift of the finest robe of his father, a covering for the filth of the pig sty; so may you and I have a covering for our sin and nakedness by that pure, white Robe of Righteousness purchased for us by our Lord at Calvary.

            Are you still running about disgustingly naked? If so, seek the covering that was purchased for you. This is the only means by which you can be freed from the Bondage of the Will to Satan, and enjoy the privilege of that Perfect Law of Liberty made available in Christ. omnipotence and foreknowledge of God, I repeat, utterly destroy the doctrine of 'free-will'...doubtless it gives the greatest possible offense to common sense or natural reason, that God, Who is proclaimed as being full of mercy and goodness, and so on, should of His own mere will abandon, harden and damn men, as though He delighted in the sins and great eternal torments of such poor wretches. it seems an iniquitous, cruel, intolerable thought to think of God; and it is this that has been such a stumbling block to so many great men down through the ages. And who would not stumble at it? I have stumbled at it myself more than once, down to the deepest pit of despair, so that I wished I had never been made a man. (That was before I knew how health-giving that despair was, and how close to grace.)  Luther BW pg. 217