Devotion on Hymns of the Church - Hymn 552 – Soldiers of Christ, Arise– 9 October 2018, Anno Domini(In the Year of our Lord)

 

Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground. Ephesians 6:13

            "Soldiers of Christ, Arise" is a Wesleyan hymn composed by Charles Wesley in 1749. Musical score is St. Ethelwald(Silver Street) by Isaac Smith in 1770. It is an Epiphany hymn and resembles greatly Onward Christian Soldiersand Stand Up O Men of Godfor valorous connotation. Every Army needs its rousing music ere the battle is joined, and the Church is no exception. But, unlike Pickett's Chargeat Gettysburg in which the Confederate band played a waltz, the music must match the tenor of the occasion. This hymn is definitely suited for the Church Militant, and the times are ripe for joining the battle in our day. We have left the spiritual walls of the Church unattended far too long, and our high towers have been overthrown. The enemy walks freely among us, and we have no hope except in God as a Healing Balm for our nation and the Church. The Church is strong in numbers but lacking in true faith and resolution. I have added the last verse which was part of the original but which the 1940 Hymnal committee failed to include.

Soldiers of Christ, Arise!

Soldiers of Christ, arise,

and put your armor on,

strong in the strength which God supplies

through his eternal Son;




Strong in the Lord of hosts,

and in his mighty power:

who in the strength of Jesus trusts 

is more than conqueror.




Stand then in his great might,

with all his strength endured,

and take, to arm you for the fight,

the panoply of God.




From strength to strength go on,

wrestle and fight and pray:

tread all the powers of darkness down,

and win the well-fought day.




That, having all things done,

and all your conflicts past,

ye may obtain, through Christ alone,

a crown of joy at last.




Jesus, eternal Son,

we praise thee and adore,

who art with God the Father one,

and Spirit evermore.

But, above all, lay hold on

faith’s victorious shield;


Armed with that adamant and gold,

be sure to win the field.

           Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on, strong in the strength which God supplies through his eternal Son;Many seemingly formidable in number armies have been vanquished by numerically inferior armies for a variety of reasons, but one of the prevailing essentials of victory on the battlefield has traditionally been to seize the high ground as evidenced by the Confederate slaughter of Union Army soldiers who sought to engage the Confederates at Marye's Heights outside Fredericksburg, and, later, the slaughter of Confederate soldiers under General Pickett who charged the Union Army at Cemetery Ridge under the gallant General Hancock. The high ground provides a favorable purview of the battle area, and places gravity on the side of its possessors for movement of troops and ordnance. For the Army of Christ, the High Ground is faith in the Word of God. FAITH is our shield and buckler; our main strength is TRUTH; RIGHTEOUSNESS is the breastplate to protect our hearts; our FOOTWEAR is the Gospel of Peace when peace is possible; SALVATION is our helmet to protect our understanding; our SWORD is the Word of God; and PRAYERFUL WATCHFULNESS our means of communication in the heat of battle. We do not need only some of the armor of God, but the FULL armor of God!

           Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in his mighty power: who in the strength of Jesus trusts  is more than conqueror.Apart from the Lord of Host, there is no strength for the battle. In a righteous cause, the Battle belongs to the Lord. Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. (2 Chron 20:15-16)Victory in battle is not the end and purpose of battle, but the peace secured thereby in a righteous cause. To be more than conquerors, as Paul says in Romans 8:37, is not a joy based on bettering a foe in combat, but the love and peace of God following every spiritual victory.

           Stand then in his great might, with all his strength endured, and take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God.Stand in the might of the Lord and not the frailty of your own strength. Behind the closed door of the Ark of Christ is perfect security. Arrayed in the resplendent and gleaming attire of Christ, no darts of the Enemy can penetrate.

           From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray: tread all the powers of darkness down, 
and win the well-fought day.Elated at our triumphs of initial battle, we are emboldened forward to trample down the walls of darkness and win, not only the next battle, but the day itself. Then will come well-deserved rest and sleep.

           That, having all things done, and all your conflicts past, ye may obtain, through Christ alone, a crown of joy at last.Crowns of battle are not given until valor is demonstrated on the battlefield. I do earnestly covet that crown of joy, and pray that my own works may not merit only a pitiful stocking-cap of patched fur. Our war ribbons in heaven will be our spiritual battle scars.


           Jesus, eternal Son, we praise thee and adore, who art with God the Father one, and Spirit evermore.Herein is a tribute to the ONENESS of the Holy Trinity. If God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are ONE in Will, Purpose, and Action, we had best be ONE with Christ and, thereby, ONE with the Godhead.

           But, above all, lay hold on faith’s victorious shield; Armed with that adamant and gold, be sure to win the field. In over-running the misappropriated ground of the enemy, we might think to take those articles of war he left behind on the battlefield and turn them against the malicious foe. As John Milton says in Paradise Lost:  Sa­tan, with vast and haugh­ty strides ad­vanced, Came to­wer­ing, armed in ad­a­mant and gold. This is Wesley's implication in saying that we turn Sa­tan’s equipment against him.  Of course, the Army of Christ has no logistical need for the implements of war scattered abroad and deserted by the enemy. They are weapons without power or effect if our superior ordnance of the spirit is employed to the glory of God.

Sermon Notes - Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity - Saint Andrew’s Anglican Orthodox Church - 7 October 2018, Anno Domini

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

O

 GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A

FTERthis there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. 10The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” (John 5:1-16)

            The Christian does not have the grace to withstand the temptations of the world without that grace be granted by God. The pure hearts and minds we have are refined by love which is the currency of Heaven to obey and follow Christ bearing our crosses. Christ did not tell us to worship the cross – He commanded us to take up our crosses daily and follow Him. This is an impossibility without the grace to do so being imparted to us from God.

            First, a word about the occasion – the Sabbath Day. The Lord often created a controversy among the Jewish clergy and leaders for performing miracles on the Sabbath Day. Such controversy arises from a false and rigid definition of the day which God never gave it. 

Don Isaac Abarbanel 1437-1508 wrote of the Jews during their prohibition in Spain: 

            When , in 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain, and were forbidden to enter the city of Fez, lest they should cause a famine, they lived on grass ; yet, even in this state, 'religiously avoided the violation of their Sabbath by plucking the grass with their hands.* To avoid this they took the much more laborious method ofgroveling on their knees and cropping it with their teeth.

            Their devotion to the Sabbath was right, but their method of applying it was false in the extreme. A set of hard, definite rules binding the conduct, instead of great principles planted in the heart, always leads to evil, to inconsistency and hypocrisy, and smothers the true life under a load of mere outward forms, as King Henry, angry with his courtiers, locked them into the dining room and smothered them with roses and flowers. Or as a man might seek to preserve his house by refusing to sweep down the cobwebs or clean away the mildew or drive away the moths or pull down the scaffolding, lest he injure the house.

            The formal Sabbath Day has forever been the seventh day of the week. It was not somehow changed to Sunday. If you find that in Scripture, please tell me of it. But Christ came to fulfill the Law, not to abolish it. He fulfilled the Passover by becoming the True Passover ordained from before the foundation of the World. He came to pay the penalty for our sins by dying in our stead. He also became our First-fruits to arise from the dead. Finally, He became our Sabbath Rest (the words are interchangeable). If we put our burdens on Him, He will give us rest (sabbath). So we do not worship and honor God one day out of seven since our redemption; but rather seven days out of seven. This is the Sabbath Day perfected. All of our Godly works belong to Christ and wee rest in Him.

Jesus has gone up to Jerusalem at the feast of the Jews. This feast is considered, by most traditional Bible scholars, to have been the Passover.  I concur in the view of these. That feast must surely have been the Passover.  It is very appropriate that He be present at EVERY Passover, for He has become our Great Passover and the Lamb Without Blemish slain on the Eve of His last Passover on earth.  The sheep market was just outside the gate of the Sheep Gate referred to in Nehemiah 3:1. It is altogether appropriate that Christ should come to that Gate on the eastern walls of Jerusalem for He is our Lamb of Sacrifice and the Sun of righteousness which shall arise (from the East) with “Healing in His wings..” (Malachi 4:2) Moreover, it is a lovely place to which He has come (the Pool of Bethesda) which, interpreted, means House of Mercy. Christ, thanks be to God, is our Bethesda – our House and Ark of Mercy. When we come to this pool for the healing of our souls, the moment of our visitation and healing is altogether dependent on the discretion of Heaven and not our own. We patiently await the movement of God in the things we need for His timing will always be the perfect moment to answer our prayers.

 “After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.” Christ “went up to Jerusalem” to this Passover. If we will go up to the Passover of our souls, we must arise from our common labors and be about – not our own devices and pleasures – but the work of our Father in Heaven.  The direction to the Narrow Gate is always upward.

“Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.” The Lamb of God comes to this sheep market place. You and I were these sheep without a shepherd until that Lamb came to us, knowing our hurts and needs as One like unto us, and became the Great Shepherd of His sheep. We waited alone in the market place, being bought and sold by men, until Christ came and laid claim to His sheep. There at the Sheep Gate, though a place of barter of souls, yet there is also a House of Mercy (Bethesda) into which we may run as shelter from having our souls sold out by the world. But we enter that House on the terms of God and not on those of our own making. “…whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.” Do you not find great consolation in the term “whosoever.?” We know immediately that ‘whosoever’ can mean you and me as well. All we need do is come to the House of Mercy and wait upon the provision of God to heal all our wounds.

Now comes another term that is different from that of ‘whosoever’ for it points to a definite identity: the word here that I love is ‘certain.’ “And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.” This is no ‘certain man’ by accident, but a certain man whom Christ has come to visit by His own choice – just like you and me who have been blessed to encounter Christ as His ‘certain men and women, boys and girls.’ We laid our souls by the House of Mercy and at our Time of visitation, He came to us. Now, to know this beautiful truth beautiful truth fills my heart with a burning love and gratitude to that Dispenser of Pure Grace called My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! 

Though our souls feel to be at the very center of the Wilderness as was poor Hagar, the Lord sees us. She called the Fountain where the Angel of the Lord found her, The Well Of The Living One Who Sees Me (Beerlahairoi). (Gen 16:13-14) What beautiful strokes of vivid color does the Master paint upon the canvas of our lives?  “When Jesus saw him lie” yes, and not just at this moment, but for all the years of the man’s misery! 

“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?” Is this not a very simple question, and does it need an answer? Yes, even though it is the greatest desire of the afflicted man, he MUST answer this question just as you and I must answer it for the healing of our souls. Being made whole is much more than a healing of our physical ailments, but a wholeness in body, soul, and spirit. Our most grievous affliction is our sin before God. It is this affliction that will bring not only physical death, but eternal death without the Grace ad Mercy of God.

Of course, the man desires to be made whole, but there is no help forthcoming from any other than Christ. The healing of the leprosy of sin cannot be healed by man. “The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” Many times even the disciples tried to step in between Christ and those wanting mercy, but Christ would not allow it. He suffered the little children to come unto Him, the blind Bartemeus, and the woman from the coast of Tyre and Sidon over the objections of those closest to Him. No man can prevent our access to Christ!

 “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” Why wallow in our misery while Christ is near? Why slumber on the water’s edge when the Water of Life stands at the ready to lift us in? It is not a request that we rise up and walk, but a command! If we possess the sure mercies of David, why linger fasting in the Wilderness. We should not only walk where we were unable in times past, but carry our beds as well in doing good and serving others. And to what result? “And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.” Don’t we see that this poor man, though carrying his bed, had complete rest on this Sabbath Day? His Eternal Sabbath was realized in Christ! 

Guess who is watching and burning in wrath and malice? “The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.” These men were more concerned about prying particulars than they were about life and healing and truth – as always. This man answers that he cares not about the violation of one of their onerous mandates, but he does care that the Lord has healed him.

 “Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.” Jesus may not choose to reveal Himself to us in the crowds, but in a place apart. It is not the influence of the multitudes that bring us to Christ, but Christ Himself. “Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee..” After finding our wounded persons on the Road to Jericho, and healing us to wholeness, the Lord next finds us in His Holy Temple which is the heart in which He resides. He will most often reveal Himself to us behind those closed chambers of our hearts. His counsel to the man to “sin no more” is ample evidence that the man was forgiven his sins as well as healed physically. — "What the past sin was to which the Lord alludes, we know not, but the man himself knewwell. This much is, however, plain to us, that Christ did connect the man's suffering with his individual sin. However unwilling men may be to receive this, bringing as it does God so near, and making retribution so real and so prompt a thing, yet it is true not the less. As some eagle pierced with a shaft feathered from its own wing, so many a sufferer, even in this present time, sees and cannot deny that it was his own sin that fledged the arrow of God's judgment, which has pierced him and brought him down. And lest he should miss the connectionoftentimes he is punished, in the very kind wherein he has sinned against others..” Archbishop Trench, CoE

The man now understands the depth of his healing because he has come to know the greatness of his Redeemer. “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” Please note that it was the crippled man who carried his bed on the Sabbath – not Christ. It is for the goodness of His healing the desperate cripple alone that prompted these murderous vultures to desire to kill Christ.

My friend, if you have been found by the wayside of the traffic of life by the loving Savior, have you heard His voice and responded to His invitation. “Wilt thou be made whole?” If so, why linger beside the pool at Bethesda without getting up? Why not take up your former prison (bed), and walk as a new creature in Him who has made you whole? Do so today!

Roger Young, Unsung Hero – 5 October 2018, Anno Domini

 

N

OW when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. 8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. 10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, thereshall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. (Matt 26:6-13) 

            You may never have heard of a young soldier named Rodger Young, but one platoon of infantrymen owe their lives to him; and so do we owe much gratitude to him for making our freedoms more sure by his service to our Country on a far away island in the Pacific Basin. I believe it to be a biblical principle to remember those who have sacrificed their resources and lives on our behalf. Jesus justifies the remembrance of personal virtue in the profound demonstration of honor and worship paid him by the woman who anointed His divine Head with precious ointment at the house of Simon at Bethany. So, I believe appropriate that we should honor those heroes of the past who have given their “last full measure of devotion” (Lincoln) in the preservation of our Constitutional Liberties.

            My mother used to sing, among many others, a song about some fellow named ‘Rodger Young,’ in the mid- to late forties. At that time, I had no idea who Rodger Young was, or of what he did. But the tune, “The Ballad of Rodger Young,” a ballad written in his memory by Frank Loesser and first performed in 1945, lived in my memory for years to come.

            How surprised I was to hear the tune played by the West Point Military Band on the Plain as a cadet at West Point almost twenty years later. It had come to be viewed as the Infantry song. My interests were spurred by that experience both out of curiosity as well as a compulsion to memorize the historical backgrounds of all the marches that the military band played, or starve at the evening meal.

            I believe it is very sad that so few Americans remember him and what he did for us. Time does not diminish the debt of gratitude for the sacrifices of love and death made for us by simple men and women who were distinguished as heroes in an instant of time - perhaps as surprising to themselves as to us for their courage. Here are the words to the Ballad:

The Ballad of Rodger Young

Frank Loesser 

Oh, they've got no time for glory in the Infantry. Oh, they've got no use for praises loudly sung. But in every soldier's heart in all the Infantry Shines the name, shines the name of Rodger Young.

(Shines the name, Rodger Young! Fought and died for the men he marched among. To the everlasting glory of the Infantry. Lives the story of Private Rodger Young.)

Caught in ambush lay a company of riflemen Just grenades against machine guns in the gloom. Caught in ambush till this one of twenty riflemen Volunteered, volunteered to meet his doom.

Volunteered, Rodger Young! Fought and died for the men he marched among. In the everlasting annals of the Infantry Glows the last deed of Private Rodger Young.

(It was he who drew the fire of the enemy That a company of men might live to fight. And before the deadly fire of the enemy Stood the man, stood the man we hail tonight.)

On the island of New Georgia in the Solomons Stands a simple wooden cross alone to tell. That beneath the silent coral of the Solomons Sleeps a man, sleeps a man remembered well.

Sleeps a man, Rodger Young! Fought and died for the men he marched among. In the everlasting spirit of the Infantry Breathes the spirit of Private Rodger Young.

            The ballad names Rodger Young as a private soldier, and indeed he died as a private soldier; but he was sent to the Solomon Islands as a Staff Sergeant and squad leader. So, why was he demoted? That is part of his heroic tale.

            Rodger Young was a shy and diminutive young man born in Tiffin, Ohio, on April 28, 1918,  from which he joined the National Guard at the age of twenty. Having been injured in a basketball game in high school, Rodger suffered a partial loss of hearing that increased with time.

            His National Guard unit was activated during World War Two and Rodger found himself and his National Guard unit being posted to the Solomon Islands (Guadecanal) where thousands of lives were given in fighting the Imperial Forces of the Empire of Japan. Prior to being posted to a forward battle line on the Island of New Georgia, Young discovered that his hearing was almost completely gone. He worried for his performance of duty – feared that his lack of proper hearing might jeopardize his performance as squad leader for the squad of men who were his friends from his own hometown. He reported to the Commanding Officer and requested demotion to private because he could not hear. The Commander believed it to be a ploy to being sent home; however, the medical staff confirmed his loss of hearing. The Commander informed Young that he would be sent home. But Rodger insisted that he remain with his platoon to which the Commander reluctantly acceded.

            Having been posted to New Georgia for the offensive, Young’s platoon was on a mission to reconnoiter the enemy deployments on New Georgia. On July 31, 1943, at around 4 PM, his platoon came under heavy machine gun fire from a forward gunner’s position overlooking the elephant grass through which the platoon was moving. The entire platoon was pinned down and could neither advance nor withdraw. Darkness was only a few hours away at which time the platoon knew the Japanese would be searching them out. Their situation was perilous. The entire platoon could have perished that night. 

            As the platoon leader evaluated the impossible odds, a soldier began crawling from the rear toward the head of the unit. It was Rodger Young. As he crawled past the platoon leader, the lieutenant tried to grab his leg to hold him back; but Rodger shook loose and continued forward past the forward elements of the platoon. The lieutenant repeatedly called for Young to come back; but Rodger looked back and grinned, “Sorry, Sir, you know I am hard of hearing.”

            Rodger advanced to within fifty feet of the machine gun nest. Knowing full well the consequences, Rodger Young raised up on his knees, one of which had been hit by gunfire, and hurled a grenade into the nest as the machine gunner’s bullets ripped through his chest.

            Now I know the meaning of a song about Rodger Young – a young fellow whose mention was just a name to me in the past. Private Rodger Young represents perhaps thousands of heroes of whom we may never know, or hear about. Heroic actions have been performed on battlefields in which every member perished and no one remained to remind us of the great sacrifices made. 

            Private Rodger Young was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 6 January 1944. He knew nothing of the recognition, but we who enjoy our freedoms do remember, now that we are informed of his story.

            There are a number of parks and military cemeteries that recognize Young’s sacrifice. One such park was named for Rodger Young in Erie, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, though the park is known as Young Park, the installation plaque only mentions the name of the mayor of Erie and the city council – Young’s name is omitted leaving the children who play there in ignorance of his valor, courage, and sacrifice. Remember him!

The tumult and the shouting dies;

The Captains and the Kings depart:

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,

An humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;

On dune and headland sinks the fire:

Lo, all our pomp of yesterday

Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!

Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

     

  ~ from RECESSIONAL, Rudyard Kipling

The Impending Moral Crisis– 4 October 2018, Anno Domini

L

ETevery soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.  (Romans 13:1-5)

I have heard this passage used to justify every grievous excess of government. It cannot be so used, for any government ordained of God is a government of just and equitable laws. The excesses of Hitler’s Nazi Party, of ISIS, of Stalinist Russia or of Maoist China are not ordained of God – they are in defiance of God and His social and moral order. We are, in fact, exhorted in Scripture to pray for such God-ordained government: I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. (1 Tim 2:1-2)No one has ever lived a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinessunder Communist or Sharia rule.

A government ordained of God is one which upholds order and righteous behavior. Any other kind of government yields itself to wickedness, corruption, and oppression of personal rights granted by God. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. (Prov 29:2)A wicked and intrusive government is one which Isaiah describes: 20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 (KJV) The remorseless murder of innocents is never a thing ordained of God; neither is the repression of God-given rights enumerated in our Master Founding Document – the Declaration of Independence: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. 

Our American government, in its original Constitutional establishment, has proved to be the most perfect of any other governing authority in the history of the world save that of ancient Israel. Why was this so? It is because the guaranteed protection of personal freedom and liberty opened the flood gates of human ingenuity and innovation. It starkly stipulated that those rights were inviolate as granted by the Creator of the world and not subject to the restraints of petty government. 

Many decades ago, the manipulators of power politics in America found themselves incapable of wrenching those freedoms from the American citizens. The US Constitution forbade it! They found a willing tool to circumvent those Constitutional provisions of protection of rights – the Supreme Court of the United States. All they needed do was to seek out justices for the Court who would redefine the clearly stated terms of the Constitution. Contrary to popular belief, the Supreme Court is NOT the Supreme Law of the Land. That distinction belongs to the Constitution itself. Elementary education of my generation clearly taught those principles in Civics classes from Maine to San Diego and Seattle to Miami. But the social engineers who have infiltrated public education have decided it best to ignore civics as a class for students who might suffer a longer period of socialist indoctrination were that course widely taught.

So, what has happened to the beautiful dream? How did our youth come to view every sin and vice as acceptable? How did they come to become abusers of drugs, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, violence, and disregard for the property of others? This did not happen in a vacuum. There is always a First Cause. 

Youth are no longer capable of critical thinking, logic or reason. They are quite adept at shouting out Marxist and Nihilist slogans as they destroy public and private property under the guise of ANTIFA (Fascists pretending to be Anti-Fascist – an old Communist ploy described years ago by Dr. Fred Schwartz).

Our public lecturers tell us that there is only a RIGHT and LEFT political spectrum, and that this spectrum is comprised of Fascist on the Right and Communists on the Left. One side is total government, the other side is the total absence of government. How foggy can this be! All totalitarian governments are much alike. The Right side of the spectrum in government represents what is RIGHT (Personal guarantees of God-given freedoms) and the Left is all government which leans to totalitarianism under Communism, Fascism, Islamism, etc. So, a statesman who stands up for his nation and her Constitution is labeled as some sort of right wing Fascist. 

Back to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has redefined the US Constitution as some sort of ‘living document’ which changes with time and social concepts. If the Constitution does not mean exactly what it says, it is no longer a Constitution. A Constitution is a written legal document whose provisions must be meticulously followed. The corrupt justices (not all) on the Supreme Court are able to accomplish more  fundamental change, illegally, than all of the efforts of the complicit legislators who lack the backbone to stand up and openly deny the safeguards of the Constitution. The ancient proponent of Republican forms of government wrote:   

          Power and law are not synonymous. In truth, they are frequently in opposition and irreconcilable. There is God's Law from which all Equitable laws of man emerge and by which men must live if they are not to die in oppression, chaos and despair. Divorced from God's eternal and immutable Law, established before the founding of the suns, man's power is evil no matter the noble words with which it is employed or the motives urged when enforcing it. 

Men of good will, mindful therefore of the Law laid down by God, will oppose governments whose rule is by men, and if they wish to survive as a nation they will destroy the government which attempts to adjudicate by the whim of venal judges. - Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 B.C.

Let us review our Civics lessons on the Constitution. Your will remember most the first three Articles on the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. Article I outlines the powers of the Legislative Branch, Article II the powers of the Executive, and Article III the powers of the Judiciary. The precise powers delegated to each are clearly enumerated in the Constitution and its Amendments. Article I provides that Congress can only make laws within the framework of those powers granted it under the terms of the Constitution. The powers of the Executive Branch provide for the power of the President and his staff to enforce constitutionally enacted laws. The power of the Judicial Branch, headed by the Supreme Court, is limited DIRECTLY by the precise wording of the US Constitution to determine that all laws passed by Congress are in compliance with the US Constitution. That is all! 

Let’s examine a few of the first Ten Amendments known as the Bill of Rights: 

Amendment 1 

Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably  o assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

If Congress has made no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (and they have no power to do so), who made the law that children cannot carry a Bible to school or pray any where they choose? You guessed it – it was the supreme Court who exceeded their bounds of authority  in making themselves legislators.

Amendment 2 

- The Right to Bear Arms

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

The Founding Fathers had just experienced the excesses and oppression of a government which recognized no rights of the colonist. A disarmed populace is at the total mercy of such government. In order to safeguard the government from invasion or insurrection, a militia was envisioned as necessary; but, congruent with that militia, the people must not be left helpless before such a militia. So, the right to bear arms was necessary – not for hunting and sport, but to defend against government grown oppressive. What powers were reserved to the individual states (States Rights)? The Ninth and Tenth Amendments articulate those powers: 

Amendment 9

Other Rights Kept by the People

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment 10

Undelegated Powers Kept by the States and the People

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

These are self-explanatory sufficient for any child to grasp. 

There is a great and immoral force that has been acting under the surface to enslave the American people – in fact, the world (globalists) – by educational indoctrination (oxymoron), subterfuge in misinterpretation of the constitution by unscrupulous judges, and an imbalance of justice. The US Constitution guarantees a republican form of government to every state – a form of government whose laws apply equally, without exception, to every citizen. Each citizen would retain possession of the fruits of his own labor. It was feared that the American government might degenerate into a democracy in which justice is meted out to the loudest special-interest voice.

The Church itself has been complicit with the decline in morality in our nation. Where was the outcry of churches when the Bible was banned from public schools, and then Prayer, and then abortion became legalized for the absolute murder of the most innocent among us – the baby in its mother’s womb. Marriage itself has been demeaned and discouraged. In a pure Communist society, there actually is no such thing as marriage, so it must be destroyed. Satan in the Garden envisioned the destruction of all the Creation that God had made. He began by asking a question: Hath God said? and ended in flatly denying the word of God: Ye shall not surely die! Later, he led the people of Sodom into the grievous sin of homosexuality. This give an ungodly dignity to homosexual marriage which we observe today in society. Satan has many weapons for the destruction of mankind: abortion, homosexuality, war, disease, famine, and the death of love. 

 In conclusion, I will append an excerpt of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx in which he outlines the Communist position on marriage. If you wonder from whence the motivation to undermine godly marriage comes, it will be worth you time to read the quotation:

The selfish misconception that induces you to transform into eternal laws of nature and of reason, the social forms springing from your present mode of production and form of property--historical relations that rise and disappear in the progress of production--this misconception you share with every ruling class that has preceded you. What you see clearly in the case of ancient property, what you admit in the case of feudal property, you are of course forbidden to admit in the case of your own bourgeois form of property. Abolition of the family! Even the most radical flare up at this infamous proposal of the Communists. On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form this family exists only among the bourgeoisie. But this state of things finds its complement in the practical absence of the family among the proletarians, and in public prostitution. The bourgeois family will vanish as a matter of course when its complement vanishes, and both will vanish with the vanishing of capital.

Do you charge us with wanting to stop the exploitation of children by their parents? To this crime we plead guilty. But, you will say, we destroy the most hallowed of relations, when we replace home education by social. And your education! Is not that also social, and determined by the social conditions under which you educate, by the intervention, direct or indirect, of society, by means of schools, etc.? The Communists have not invented the intervention of society in education; they do but seek to alter the character of that intervention, and to rescue education from the influence of the ruling class. The bourgeois clap-trap about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parent and child, becomes all the more disgusting, the more, by the action of Modern Industry, all family ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple articles of commerce and instruments of labour. 

But you Communists would introduce community of women, screams the whole bourgeoisie in chorus. The bourgeois sees in his wife a mere instrument of production. He hears that the instruments of production are to be exploited in common, and, naturally, can come to no other conclusion than that the lot of being common to all will likewise fall to the women. He has not even a suspicion that the real point is to do away with the status of women as mere instruments of production. For the rest, nothing is more ridiculous than the virtuous indignation of our bourgeois at the community of women which, they pretend, is to be openly and officially established by the Communists. The Communists have no need to introduce community of women; it has existed almost from time immemorial. Our bourgeois, not content with having the wives and daughters of their proletarians at their disposal, not to speak of common prostitutes, take the greatest pleasure in seducing each other's wives. Bourgeois marriage is in reality a system of wives in common and thus, at the most, what the Communists might possibly be reproached with, is that they desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalised community of women. For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private.

The Pilgrims of 1620 – 3 October 2018, Anno Domini

 

Today’s story is taken from The Heath Readers, Sixth Reader,the story is by Edward Everett. Everyone of fifty years or above may be very familiar with the history of the pilgrims coming to America in order to practice their religion in freedom and peace; however, those of lesser age lack the same benefit we had of learning the glorious history of America from The courageous voyage of Columbus, till the Mayflower and other ships of Godly purpose sailed from Europe to the New World; nor will they have a good understanding of our Founding Fathers, the sacrifices made by principled men (both rich and poor) who won our Liberty on snow hardened battlefields. I submit this story as a step forward in reminding us of our Godly heritage.

Our land is permeated by great monuments to our Founders. Those who hate our Liberty and Freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. constitution would, like ISIS, attempt to destroy every memorial of our glorious past; but honor and reason compel us to REMEMBER! 

Jerry L. Ogles

W

HENyour children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. (Josh 4:6-7)

Pilgrims of 1620

Methinks I see one solitary, adventurous vessel, the “Mayflower” of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a future state, and bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing, with a thousand misgivings, the uncertain, the tedious voyage. Suns rise and set, weeks and months pass, and winter surprises them on the deep, but brings them not the sight of the wished-for shore. I see them now, scantily supplied with provisions, crowded almost to suffocation, in their ill-stored prison, delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous route, — and now, driven in fury before the raging tempest, on the high and giddy waves. 

The awful voice of the storm brawls through the rigging. The laboring masts seem straining from their base; the dismal sound of the pumps is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly, from billow to billow; the ocean breaks, and settles with engulfing floods over the floating deck, and beats against the staggering vessel. 

I see them escape from these perils, pursuing their all but desperate undertaking, and landed at last, after a five months' passage, on the ice-clad rocks of Plymouth, — weak and weary from the voyage, poorly armed, scantily provisioned, without shelter, without means, surrounded by hostile tribes. 

Shut now the volume of history, and tell me, on any principle of human probability, what shall be the fate of this handful of adventurers? Tell me, man of military science, in how many months were they all swept off by the thirty savage tribes, enumerated within the early limits of New England? Tell me, politician, how long did a shadow of a colony on which your conventions and treaties had not smiled, languish on the distant coast? Student of history, compare for me the baffled projects, the deserted settlements, the abandoned adventures of other times, and find the parallel of this. 

Was it the winter's storm, beating upon the houseless heads of women and children? was it hard labor and spare meals? was it disease? was it the tomahawk? was it the deep malady of a blighted hope, a ruined enterprise, and a broken heart, aching in its last moments at the recollection of the loved and left, beyond the sea? was it some, or all of these united, that hurried this forsaken company to their melancholy fate? 

            And is it possible, that neither of these causes, that not all combined, were able to blast this bud of hope? Is it possible, that, from a beginning so feeble, so frail, so worthy not so much of admiration as of pity, there has gone forth a progress so steady, a growth so wonderful, an expansion so ample, a reality so important, a promise yet to be fulfilled, so glorious? 

Edward Everett (1794-1 865) was a distinguished American orator and statesman. He filled at various times the positions of President of Harvard College, Minister to England, and Secretary of State. 

Postscript:

            Unfortunately, the author failed to indicate the reason for the survival of that tiny host from Europe’s sod who overcame tremendous dangers and obstacles in the founding of a colony – it was clearly the Hand of an overseeing Providence that laid the Ancient Landmark on these wilderness shores just as surely as that same Providence guided and protected Israel in the Wilderness Journey. 

Jerry L. Ogles

Hymn 273 – Holy God, We Praise Thy Name– 2 October 2018, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

            This richly spiritual hymn is most often used as a recessional hymn. The 1940 Hymnal makes significant changes in the original text which, to me, is disappointing. The original seems far more powerful than the version in the Hymnal. Moreover, the original was comprised of eight stanza’s while the Hymnal has reduced that number to three. I have included the concluding stanza of the original. The hymn is one of Triune nature and significance.

            The author of the lyrics was the German priest, Franz Ignaz, wrote the original German lyrics in 1771 as a paraphrase of the Te Deum, a hymn of the Book of Common Prayer descended from the Church of the 4^th century. The tune is, Vienna, of 1774. There was a bit of controversy that had no part with the spiritual meaning of the author’s original lyrics that sprang up in 1939 when the Evangelical Church added a verse to their military service book for American soldiers praising the Führer Adolf Hitler. This had no relevance to the original author’s intentions.

            This hymn, as originally written, is a beautiful and biblical expression of praise for the Holy God.

Holy God, We Praise Thy Name

Holy God, we praise Thy Name;

Lord of all, we bow before Thee!

All on earth Thy scepter claim,

All in Heaven above adore Thee;

Infinite Thy vast domain,

Everlasting is Thy reign.

Hark! the loud celestial hymn

Angel choirs above are raising,

Cherubim and seraphim,

In unceasing chorus praising;

Fill the heavens with sweet accord:

Holy, holy, holy, Lord.

Holy Father, Holy Son,

Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee;

While in essence only One,

Undivided God we claim Thee;

And adoring bend the knee,

While we own the mystery.

Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray,

By a thousand snares surrounded:

Keep us without sin today,

Never let us be confounded.

Lo, I put my trust in Thee;

Never, Lord, abandon me. 

Holy God, we praise Thy Name; Lord of all, we bow before Thee! All on earth Thy scepter claim, All in Heaven above adore Thee; Infinite Thy vast domain, Everlasting is Thy reign.From the first utterance of this hymn, let us agree in acknowledging that God is, above all else, HOLY! We bow before no man, but we do, indeed, bow before God. He rules in the affairs of men and nations and bears mystical sovereignty over all kingdoms and empires of the world.  Since we are made in the image of God, we must, too, be holy if we will abide in His will and in His Kingdom: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:15-16)

Hark! the loud celestial hymn Angel choirs above are raising, Cherubim and seraphim, In unceasing chorus praising; Fill the heavens with sweet accord, Holy, holy, holy, Lord.One day, each faithful reader of this devotion will witness a concert that excels all earthly concerts combined – the angelic host in chorus. It is that same chorus to which Job makes reference – that Creation morning whose joy overwhelmed the heavenly hosts: When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)Please observe the oft repeated refrain in Scripture of Holy, Holy, Holy. It would not be possible to praise God with less than that meaning. In the Holy Communion Service of the Book of Common Prayer, both priest and laity respond in unison to these words following the Proper Preface, or if there be none, these words alone: 

T

HEREFOREwith Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious Name; evermore praising thee, and saying, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord God of hosts, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory: Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High. Amen. 

This characterizes our Prayer Book worship of reverence and honor to God in our services and not to man. Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6:3)Why the three repetitions of the word HOLY? Because of the nature of the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Three represents perfection, and God is perfect in His Three-in-One Being. See how classical hymns reinforce doctrinal truth in the next stanza.

Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee; While in essence only One, Undivided God we claim Thee; And adoring bend the knee, While we own the mystery.It is true that we name those three Persons of the Godhead, but the last Person – the Holy Ghost – is silent in posting His Name before us. Instead, His purpose is to always point to Christ, and in bringing all things to our remembrance written in the Scriptures concerning Him. He will not speak of Himself. Our Lord is the Great I AM that pervades all Scripture and all time and Eternity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. (Rev 4:8)This stanza is a full and meaningful definition of the Holy Trinity. The Trinity to many is a mystery, but not to those who know and love the Lord. We love Him; we praise Him; we honor Him; and we ADORE Him. We do, indeed, own the mystery.

Spare Thy people, Lord, we pray, By a thousand snares surrounded: Keep us without sin today, Never let us be confounded. Lo, I put my trust in Thee; Never, Lord, abandon me.This verse begins with a plea of contemporary application to our own time as a nation among the nations of the earth: Spare thy people, Lord.Our churches of today are not only surrounded by a thousand snares, but with sinful men of deceiving hearts within their walls – many of whom occupy the pulpits. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? (Joel 2:17)In America, it is obvious that the heathen ALREADY rule over us. 

The heathen are justified in asking Where is their God? because we have vanquished Him from every public place in our society. Neither we, nor the heathen, know where is our God. If we do not very soon raise up the banner of Godly LIBERTY and FREEDOM in our Land, God may make Himself very hard to find. He may make a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord as has already begun in our fair land. 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: 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)The devil is working overtime to extinguish the word from our churches – through politics, through manipulation of the Bible in his corrupt translations, and through indoctrination instead of education in our schools.

You may get sick and tired of me warning about these things in many of my devotions, but we live in a day when such warnings are dire and completely germane to the manner in which our American Republic is collapsing on every hand. We need to shore up the foundations by turning back to God who will lead us, once again, from the Bondage of the Soul into a Liberty of Conscience.