Lent 05 Collect – 3 April 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called

Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

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E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

The COLLECT for Passion Sunday relates to the just and orderly government of the people of God in His trust and preservation. This COLLECT, too, is taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary.  The original (in the Latin) for ‘thy people’ was familia. I prefer the older term for it means the ‘Household, or family, of God’ and that is what those who trust in God should be called. 

 

            The government of God is just and equitable, and all governments incorporate to some extent the Laws of God for governance, but those that corrupt aspects of these laws in contempt of the Maker are those tyrants and despots that are so common in our day around the world. I need not remind the Christian that ALL just laws derive from the Law of God and are subordinate thereto. The French economist and Parliamentarian, Frederick Bastiat recognized this principle and very well articulated it in his short commentary entitled, The Law of 1848. But even sooner than this, the Holy Bible also held forth the same principle lest any forget: It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8) We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29) I hope no minister of God ever doubts his allegiance to God over the traditions or deceits of man-made government. If the government forbids the admonition of sins such as homosexuality, abortion, or adultery, I hope every Christian and minister reading this devotion will be faithful to his Christian vows and follow God rather than man. If the laws and purposes of government become contrary to Scriptural truth, then they are not legally binding on the Christian. God did not give us a conscience to be squandered away at the bar of government.

 

Our Founding Fathers well knew the legitimate limits of governmental power and included a clear definition in the Declaration of Independence – an oft disregarded formulary of our freedoms: “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.” Declaration of Independence, unanimously ratified by the Thirteen United States of America, 4^th July 1776, Anno Domini. Governments that are righteous will also enforce laws that are righteous. Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work  (Titus 3:1) Every good work is not possible under the tyranny of oppression and religious persecution. It is noteworthy that the Founding Fathers of the most flourishing Republic in history acknowledged the Source of legitimate governmental powers to descend from God.

 

We petition, in today’s COLLECT, for God’s government and preservation of His own people. WE beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people. Our prayers have no effect on the government of the ungodly, but they indeed do have application to the national character and morals of the nation in which His people dwell. You will recall from 2 Chronicles 7:14, that well-worn petition and counsel for national healing: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14) Though modern-day America has become overpopulated by heathen and luke-warm Christians, only those who are called by HIS name, with serious intent, will suffice in prayer. All the false professor and legal idiots do not need to offer prayer at all for no one would hear them.

 

“………that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul.”  What result may we expect if we are a nation well-favored by God for our faith and obedience? The amazing testimony of America in her first 175 years has been characterized by faith and righteousness before the Lord. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9 Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. (Prov 3:7-10)  The blessings of God on a nation obedient to His laws are inexhaustible and extend not only the health of the soul, but the health and preservation of the body as well. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12) What a tragic downfall that is destined for the favored-nation who has known well the blessings of God but, yet, has fallen for the filth and slop of the world – a nation that once honored God in all her public institutions and expressions, but has now abandoned every reference to God and embraced the sins of abortion and homosexuality along with every other abominable thing. 

 

            It has long been the yearning of my heart that I could write in truth and good conscience of my beloved nation’s turn back to the God that gave her standing from her ancient founding; but I cannot do so. I have prayed that God would place a hook in our hearts, if we awaken not to our peril, and draw is by force back to His favored ground. He may do so yet, but I fear we are approaching that impasse of which Jeremiah prophesied. He at first preached repentance for national salvation, yet, the apostasy became so great and tragic that he changed his prophesying to a preaching of going into bondage as a chastisement, and then a national salvation based on repentance from the land of bondage at Babylon. How earnestly I pray that such bondage will not overtake our beloved America, but if it cause a national repentance, I plead that the Lord will bring it on sooner rather than later. It will be a sad day when the American Song is sung in bondage to strangers as in Babylon: 1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. (Psalm 137:1-3) Will it not be far more edifying to sing our national song by the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers than on the riverbanks of some strange and hateful enemy of our people? Unfortunately, the enemy is encamped among us today and will have a song in mirth of Christ and our God. 

 

Again, beware the fateful words of that ancient Roman proponent of Republican forms of government, Marcus Tullius Cicero:   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. 42. BC

 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent - Propers with explanation – Rev Jack’s Sermon

The Propers for today are found on Page 132-133, with the Collect first: 

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, commonly called

Passion Sunday.

The Collect.

 

W

E beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:

 

The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.

 

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, starting at the Eleventh Verse of the Ninth Chapter.   Paul summarizes both the symbolism and the substance of the Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf.  Paul opens the secret of the One Perfect Sacrifice, One Time, for All Time and All Mankind.  Paul is clearly appealing to the sense of the Jews when he asks them if the blood of goats will set aside or atone for sin, how much more can be done by the Perfect Sacrifice made on our behalf?

 

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HRIST being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

 

This morning’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of Saint John, starting at the Forty-Sixth Verse of the Eighth Chapter and tells the story of Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees in the temple.  Like much of John it is filled with deep explanation of Jesus and His purpose here. 

 

Knowing them looking to find the worst in Him, Jesus asked, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?”  In a point central to Christianity, he went on, “He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”  When we hear the term Jews here, we should hear the world in general, for He spoke to all who would not hear.  When they would not hear, He pointed out He sought not glory or praise from them, but only from the Father whom in reality they knew not.  Here He offers the singular benefit of Christianity, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”  This concept being foreign to them, they asked if He thought He was greater than Abraham.  That brought the crowning touch, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.”  Knowing He was only in his early 30s, they could not grasp how he could have seen Abraham.

 

In a demonstration of the non-linearity of God’s time, He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.[1]”  As might be expected, this offended the Keepers of The Law.

 

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ESUS said, Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words:  ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

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[1] This response was similar to God’s answer to Moses’ question, “Who do I tell them sent me?”

Rev Jack's sermon can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE!

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… thy people; … by thy great goodness … may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul …

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge without God’s great goodness and divine intervention, we cannot be preserved in either body or soul.  This is a constant truth through ought the Bible, the New Testament in particular.  Without God’s great goodness we simply cannot be preserved. What does asking for God’s great goodness mean for us? It means when we ask we might be governed and thus preserved by His great goodness, we are in effect asking for His Guidance for us, so we can be preserved in both body and soul. We acknowledge God is the ultimate good and is the source of all truth, and we need His Help if we are to succeed. This concept is constant throughout all the collects. It is constant because it is the truth. We can only follow the narrow uphill path towards heaven with His Goodness and His Guidance.  As always, if we are left to our own devices and desires, we are lost.  Guided means we need to ask, then listen to what He Tells us, then actually follow those instructions.  

 

For those who are not perfect[1], following instructions can be hard at times but it must be done nevertheless. And I have found this holds true in all aspects of live not just our spiritual aspect. However, in all areas without His Guidance we are truly doomed. We must look to Him for Guidance if we want to have a sure chance of making it through the trials of this life and making it on the narrow uphill trail towards heaven.

 

Further to this thought, if we are looking to Him for guidance, we then need look to Him for safety.  Safety meaning only the safety of our soul, our eternal life. It does not mean safety from dangers to the body here on Earth. Our bodies are still able to be physically harmed, but our souls are safe from eternal damnation, that is what safety truly means. It also does not mean we are to put ourselves at risk recklessly, but it means we are to have confidence that if we die while doing actions for Him, we are ensured that our souls will be safe and headed towards heaven.

 

However in order to get into heaven one must be perfect. But as we all know as Saint Paul says, all fall short. So how do we get in then? Our only means of being accounted as perfect when we come before God is to rely on the sacrifice and intermediary priesthood of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ to account us as perfect before God on that final day. Christ has replaced the intermediary priesthood of the Jews with himself, our one and only High Intermediary Priest.  Your AOC ministers, while officially titled as priests, are not intermediary priests! The day of the intermediary priests have come and gone for us with the Old Testament in the past. We need only Christ, there are no middle men between us and Jesus.  He is our Savior, our Leader, our Teacher, our Master, our Example! 

 

Christ came to succeed the Old Covenant marked by sacrifices of innocent animals; killing off animals in an effort to atone for our sins really did not do the job.  It was a way to prepare people for Christ’s coming. They would not have understood His Message otherwise without it. Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection highlighted that His Ministry was all about action. If we truly are believers of Him, we will ACT upon His Word and not just say it. There is truth to the saying that action speak louder than words. 

 

In the Gospel, Jesus explained to the Pharisees before Abraham had even been conceived, He was. In fact, Jesus was the one who created this Earth, so He has been around since before the beginning of the planet. The Pharisees could or would not grasp in their heads Jesus was who He claimed to be, the Son of God. They chose to try to destroy His ministry rather than follow Him.  He was interfering with their comfortable way of living and deceiving the Jewish people. He was a threat to their system. They would not understand His Message, so they opted to try to destroy Him instead. Note the word try. Try as hard as they might, the Pharisees could not interfere with Jesus’s ultimate action for us, his Death and Resurrection upon the cross. Even with the truth of who He was laid bare in front of them, they still chose not to believe. Time and time again we see them confronted with the truth Jesus offers and they always choose to reject it rather than embrace the truth.

 

This is a very common pattern with God’s enemies. Their hearts have been blinded by their love of their selves, pride and greed. They cannot see the simple truths we see as followers of God. They look down upon us and think we are the ignorant ones, when reality is the other way around. 

 

They cannot, or will not, see that the priceless gift Jesus came to offer us. Jesus came to save our souls and give us eternal life, eternal life starting right then.  Not just for the Jews and Israel, but the whole wide world, Jew, Gentile, Greek and all others.  Jesus brought salvation and life to the entire world.  That was not what the Pharisees were looking so hard for with their magnifying glasses as they examined Torah and The Law.  They were looking for what would be only a temporary power, power on this physical plane. This pales in comparison to safety and happiness forever, for all eternity.  Pharisees were not big picture people, and as Calvin told Hobbes, We big picture people rarely become historians or Pharisees, I might add.   The Pharisees were very obviously not big picture people; they misinterpreted the prophecies of the Messiah. Regardless, even though some people chose to misunderstand the prophecies, He came and He made that one sacrifice, at one time, for all mankind, for all time. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life[2].

 

Who is Jesus?  Our Savior?  Indeed.  But, more He has been since before the beginning of the world, for He is One with I Am.

 

Through His Actions, we are saved.

 

Do ye likewise:

 

ACT

 

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

 

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

 

It is by our actions we are known.

 

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God

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[1] All of us, that is.

[2] If the text of this sentence seems familiar, it is John 3.16, probably the most widely quoted text of the Bible.

 

The Son of God – 31 March 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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HEN cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. 14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? 15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. 16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.      (Matt 3:13-17)

 

            It is the tradition of the Hebrews to have the first-born son inherit the father’s possessions at the death of the father. The New Testament gives testimony to the son’s inheritance of all things belonging to the Father as a result of sacrifice and not the death of the Father. Rather, it occurs owing to the death of the Son. And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 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, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. (Heb 9:15-22)

 

            The inheritance of the Son does not annul the Sovereignty of the Father but rather demonstrates the price the Father has suffered for our salvation in the sacrifice of His Son for which the old blood sacrifices of animals of the Old Testament were mere patterns of that to come in Christ. Let us not forget that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are One in purpose and Mind, yet three separate Persons. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (1 John 5:7-8) Of course, the Word to which John refers is the Lord Jesus Christ for He is the Word Incarnate. 

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  (John 1:1-4) In the beginning was before the creation of the time/matter/energy scale. In the beginning there was no earth, sun, or heavenly bodies for it was from the eternity past that God (and the Word) began His Creation.

 

In the remote eternity past, it was decided by the Council of Heaven that a Redeemer must be provided for the sins of fallen man in Adam. This Redeemer would be the most precious possession of the Father – His only Begotten Son – begotten, not made as are the other sons of God through adoption. But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Gal 4:4-7 (KJV) The Living Will of the Father is Christ Jesus in whom we share as heirs of the Promise made to Father Abraham – not by the blood of race, but by Spirit of Truth. Our blood relationship with our Lord is not that transmitted by man (neither Jew nor Gentile) but the blood of the Son of God who purchased our salvation.

 

Job foretold His coming perhaps 2,000 years before His birth. (approx. date – the Scriptures are not clear as to timing): Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.  (Job 19:23-27)

 

The most important question of the ages is posed in this passage from John in the words of our Lord: I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:25-26)

 

Do you believe while life remains for it is too late to believe when the shadows fall on this life?

The Doctrine of the Bible (Bibliology) – 28 March 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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HE words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.  8 The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.   (Psalm 12:5-8)

 

            In its most elemental sense, the Bible is the WORD of GOD expressed in writing. It contains nothing apart from the Mind and Will of God the Father. In its most exalted form, it is the only Begotten Son of God rendered in letters. 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  (John 1:1-4)

 

            The Old and New Testament do not express a change in the Mind of God but a consistent unveiling of that Mind. The Old Testament is a mundane shadow of the spiritual reality consummated in the life and times of Christ our Lord in the New. In fact, the reader would be handicapped to have a full understanding of the meaning and import of the New Testament without an understanding of that which precedes it in the Old. The redemption and blood sacrifice is more fully understood when one learns of the first Passover in Goshen of Egypt, for example. God is unchanging and He is the same yesterday, today, and always. 

 

            As we read from the 12^th Psalm above, it is not simply the ‘approximate’ word of God that is authentic, but rather EVERY Word is pure and preserved by God from generation to generation and forever. The Bible is to be understood in verbal, plenary translation and not so-called dynamic equivalence as averred by publishers of the new copyrighted versions that actually change meaning and omit full verses.

 

            I am addressing the Bible in this second devotion on the doctrines of Faith because it is an intermediary between the definitions of God the Father and God the Son. The Word (Bible) the nature and fulness of BOTH! 

 

            The Bible is the oldest Book in history and the only Book of Faith that has withstood the test of time for accuracy and meaning. Paul gives us several points of validity concerning the Bible in 1^st Thessalonians: For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. (1 Thess 1:5) 

 

The Words of Holy Writ are pure and true, but even more than this, they possess the power of the Holy Ghost that is intrinsic to their character. The very Words we read in Scripture possess a mystical authority that is foreign to secular writings or writings of other faiths. In order to be party to the blessings of God, one must have received the Word either through preaching or personal study. And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost  (1 Thess 1:6)

 

            To those of true faith, hearing may be the initial threshold of faith, but then one must study to show oneself approved of God. If we love God, we will naturally love His Word and thirst after it. In the habitual reading and study of the Bible, one’s mind becomes aligned with that of the Mind of God as we surrender our self-wills and receive in our hearts the Will and Mind of God. It is then, as a result, that we can recognize error because we KNOW the Mind of God. In our study of the Gospels, we learn that our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father, though separate Persons of the Godhead, are One in Mind and Purpose. We, too, must become one with Christ and thereby we become one with the Father. 

 

            Paul clarifies this fact, too: The Bible is the Word of the Lord (Thess 1:8); The Gospel of God (2:2,4,8, 9); The Word of God (2:13; The Gospel of Christ (3:2); and the Word of the Lord (4:15). You can observe the same Mind and Purpose across the Father and son in these passages in 1^st Thessalonians cited. 

 

            The so-called Higher Critics presume to know more of what God intended than He knows when they insist on altering the Bible to demean the divinity of Christ with subtle changes that grow more egregious with each new version published. 

 

            Our Church, the Anglican Orthodox Church, adheres to the doctrinal position of the English Reformers and the Reformation Church of England. We adhere to the Received Text Bibles as stipulated in the 6^th Article of the 39 Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church: All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them Canonical. The Textus Receptus WAS the commonly received text of the Reformers. 

 

            There is so much more that remains to be said regarding the absolute Word of God. Please study further for your own edification and knowledge. 

 

God the Father – 28 March 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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N 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.  (Gen 1:1-5)

 

            We will begin a series on the ten great doctrines of the faith. These will be brief summaries due to the space limitations of this devotional approach. (Doctrine of God, or theology). I hope these short devotions will engender love and curiosity to further research in the reader.

 

            The first fundamental truth that we must acknowledge is the reality of God the Father – the beginning and end of all things. In describing the Father, we must as well, note that those attributes of the Father are shared in the Triune Godhead. There is a subtle difference between the role of God as the first cause and beginning of all Creation and God as Father to all of faith. As Paul has said to the Thessalonian Church, Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thess 1:1)

 

In the sense that God is Creator and First Cause, we must admit that He is the Sovereign of all living. In His creative genius, He has made the blessings of His Creation available to all; but as God the Father, He has a special distinction as Father to all who are of His elect and chosen family on earth. In that role, He is not father to those who are incorrigibly wicked and reject His authority to rule over them. This means there exists two separate and distinct families only – those who claim the only Begotten Son as their Redeemer, and those who are lost and reject any part with God as Father. God the Father is not the Father of all Mankind’ as the hymn avers, but the true Father of those of faith who have believed the promise made to Abraham of a Redeemer.

 

The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1 is a special case not duplicated in English – Elohim – which is a singular/plural, or God in Three Persons. This is the Triune Godhead made reference to in Genesis 1:26. There is an overlapping scope of love and fatherhood in God and His Son, Jesus Christ, though they Trinity is comprised of distinct Persons. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.  (John 14:20-21)

 

Only those of faith may refer in truth to God as their Father, but we must come out from the family of mammon and be part of Gods separated elect: Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.  (2 Cor 6:17-18)

 

There are different terms by which God is known. God is Love (1 John 4:8); God is Light (1John 1:5); Our Shield, etc.  God encompasses every blessing. He is long suffering. He may abate His judgment on abject sinners (as in the case of David and Paul), because He knows the end from the beginning and does not judge at a moment in time. He looks upon us with prescient knowledge and sees what we can become in Christ rather than what we may be at the present moment in time.

 

The entire nature of God’s salvation plan is summarized in: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17) The Greek manuscript of the Received Text does not claim Christ is the ONLY Son of God, for you and I are also sons and daughters, but Christ is the only Begotten Son – meaning of the same nature and substance of the Father. We, on the other hand, are sons and daughters by ADOPTION!

 

This elementary devotion cannot do justice to the nature and works of God. Only a diligent and regular study of His Word can open one’s eyes to His glory, greatness, and love.

 

Grace and Service – 26 March 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

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IVING thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. 21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (Colossians 1:12-21)

 

            If you have been deceived by self-pride, or modern heretical preaching, you may believe that your own efforts and good intentions have led to your salvation, but that falsehood is nowhere found in Holy Scripture. God is Sovereign and He saves whom He pleases and those whom He has called and chosen before the foundation of the world was ever laid in the early dawn of Creation.

 

                While it is true that good works are the evidence of a soul’s salvation, it is not the means thereof. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10) No matter the works of a man, if he does not come to Christ by grace, he remains lost for even the plowing of the sinner is sin. (see Proverbs 21:4)

 

            Some well-meaning souls feel unworthy to come to the Throne of Grace because of their multitude of sins. They may believe that they must first amend their lives to the point of readiness. That approach can never lead to salvation. A wealthy king is able to grant great gifts of treasure because he is great. A great God is able to forgive the most desperate sinner because the wages for that sinner's wickedness have been paid by the only Begotten Son of God. The sinner must come as he is, destitute of righteousness, before the Throne of Grace. He is drawn there by the irresistible magnetic draw of the Holy Ghost. 

 

            What is the result and evidence of salvation? It is at this point that works of righteousness become the defining point. We are saved, not BY good works, but UNTO good works. Once we have received the Lord Jesus Christ into the Temple of our hearts, He becomes the sole Sovereign of that sinuous domain. His law is written on the walls of the chambers of our hearts. Wicked intent cannot coexist with the King of Glory. Our works of service become akin to those that comport with the will of God for we have surrendered our self-wills (some call free will falsely) and our works of righteousness become HIS works. We can lay no claim on personal righteousness for those belong to the Lord who works in and through our being.

 

            As we read those laws on the walls of our heart, written in love, we are only then able to keep His law and His Commandments. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.  (2 Tim 2:2) We are unable to purge ourselves by our own power, but by His power working in us. As we read those beautiful Words of faith on our hearts, we become more wholly like Him.

 

            In the solitude of our soul, we may be privileged to hear the soft, beckoning call of the Holy Spirit. He never speaks of Himself, but always points to Christ. We need to keep quiet to hear that still, small voice. Though the surroundings may be violent, our hearts can be still and focus – not on the noise – but upon that Voice. It whispers to the listener, Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

 

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UT the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  (John 14:26 (KJV)

 

            Where do we find all things that our Lord has said unto us? We find them in the Bible from Genesis 1:1 to Revelations 22:21 How can the Holy Ghost bring those things to our remembrance if we have not even made the effort to read them? Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.   (2 Tim 2:15) Armed with salvation and the Word, we are made ready for service and good works

The Vietnam Veteran Remembered – 29 March 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

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REATER love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  (John 15:13-14)

 

From Danang’s stormy shoreline,

To Saigon’s steamy bars,

The soldier stood his watches

And fought his dreaded war.

 

In Mekong Delta’s paddies,

And Ahn Khe’s rugged slopes,

Our best men suffered horrors

To battles angry notes.

 

Point man, walk with caution!

The trail with traps is sown,

And every man a target

As known to God alone.

 

The tunnel rat, courageous,

Seeks out the hidden foe,

And risks his life for others

Where cowards dare not go.

 

The soldier wakes ere daybreak

To meet his chopper flight, 

He comes again if lucky

To sleep another night. 

 

He dreams of home and family

As his DEROS day looms near.

If God allows, he makes it,

And comes home to hate and jeer.

 

Smirk on, unworthy traitor,

Who smears the hero’s name.

Renounce your blessed birthright – 

Endure betrayals shame.

 

The purchase of our freedom

Is paid with blood and sweat,

But the soldier stands e’er ready

To meet the tyrant's threat.

 

He bears his service proudly

Without remorse or blame,

He is his country’s pride and hope

To history’s proud acclaim.

 

            29 March has been designated Vietnam Veteran’s Day; therefore, I have written this tribute to those many unsung heroes of our nation who served, and some who died, in that terrible conflict.

 

            All gave some, some gave all.  Charge your glass, raise it high, drink to them.