Who is your Father? – 13 February 2024, Anno Domini

 

Y

E are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.  (John 8:44)

 

            Are you able, without hesitation, to declare who is your Father? We are all naturally born with an earthly father, but we are also born with a spiritual father. Due to the Fall of Adam at Eden, our natural father is the devil for it is his will that we do as sinners in the bloodline of Adam. All have sinned  . . . for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Without our Heavenly Father, we shall all be left as orphans at the last Trump.

 

            In our introductory text, Jesus is addressing the Jewish rulers, Scribes, and Pharisees. These are those who take umbrage of God sending His only Begotten Son to redeem the chosen of God. It is not necessary to stand up daily and deny Christ to share in the rejection – we do so by our thoughts, words, and deeds daily. One thing Satan abhors, and that is any who read, digest, and rely upon Bible study daily in ordering their lives. 

 

            The most wonderful verse of the Bible is John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have ever lasting life. Faith comes by the grace and sovereign will of God to those whom He has called and chosen by the agency of the Holy Ghost. It is not attained by good works or by any goodwill intention. We are born with a corrupt will that is in bondage to Satan. That Will can, in no wise, be considered ‘free,’ but is subject to the evil imaginations of man’s heart. Rather than being free, it is self-will. The only ‘free will’ that a person can enjoy is found in the Will of God which he assumes at the moment of salvation. Our minds and wills are changed into that of the Mind of Christ if we have taken His Mind upon us. If we are in Christ, our sins are washed clean, and we are made new creatures in Him since no sin can exist in Christ.

 

            There is only One who can be called the Begotten Son of God – the Lord Jesus Christ. He is of the same substance, nature, and will of the Father. He is One with His Father and, therefore, equal with the Father and the Holy Ghost in the Triunity of the Godhead. It is not possible to be One with God and less in nature. How, then, can we aspire to sonship of God being sinners? It is by means of the adoption made available by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

            There are other sons of God mentioned in Scripture. Adam is called a son of God by way of creation. All who are redeemed in Christ are also called sons and daughters of God. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth His Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. (Galatians 4:6), and 18 And ‘I’ will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:18)

 

            The adopted child is received as an act of love. The child may not have known the adopted parent at the time of adoption, but is finally bound in love and obedience to the adopted Father. Believers are not children of God by nature, or accident of birth, but by the love and grace of God. Adoption occurs only at the behest of the adopting authority – in our case, God the Father. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5)

 

            So, new bibles labeling Christ as the one and only son of the Father are casting a false identity, for Christ is not like unto the sons and daughters of God through adoption, but by natural essence and character. To make the claim Christ is the only son of the Father is to make God a liar – either here in John 3:16, or in other texts in which God declares the believer to be sons and daughters of God. There was no grammatical reason to change that wording of John 3:16 except to bring Christ down to the common level of those for whom He bled and died. Seemingly minor changes in meaning can make a tremendous difference in understanding down the passing years. If the lay of an artillery gun is moved, almost imperceptibly, two or three mils, the discharged round will not impact the intended target. As the evil imaginations of men continue to make ever so slight changes in our biblical text, downrange, we can see great misinterpretations of our Lord’s character revealed.

 

            The Scribes and Pharisees sought means by which to discredit the Word of God in their opposition to Christ, and we can witness the same happening with the new, copyrighted versions of Scripture that belong to man and not to God.

AOC Sunday Report - Quinquagesima

Happy Quinquagesima Sunday!

The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE!

Today we have really excellent sermons from Bishop Jerry, Roy, Jack and Dennis; as well as from Rev Brian. Each one of them is considerably different and I am confident you will enjoy them.  Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/ZpNUhtyjwyI

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity.  What is charity?  The Epistle and Gospel come together to give you an understanding of just why charity is so very important. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

It may seem like we ask you to pray for people every week, that is because we do. This week is no exception. Please start with the family of Marco, Bishop Igor's father, who passed away today. Continue with Shamu, Tricia, the family of Johnie and work out from there.

As we come into the Lenten season with Ash Wednesday being in the middle of this week, I] commend to you the following quote from Robert E Lee.

On Lent

The best way for most of us is to fast from our sins and to eat what is good for us.

Robert E. Lee

American General and Patriot

There is a lot going on in the world today, much of a very confusing and disturbing. If you're having trouble accepting and digesting and figuring out what to do, might I suggest that you look to God for help. Open your heart to His assistance.

May you have an epic week ahead.

Godspeed,

Hap Arnold

Bishop Coadjutor

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

PS - If you want to know why the airplane picture, you will have to read Bishop Jack's sermon,

What is Quinquagesima?

Quinquagesima, or, in full, Quinquagesima Sunday, is the name for the Sunday next before Ash Wednesday in the Catholic (Universal or Whole) Church Calendar. 

 

The name Quinquagesima originates from Latin quinquagesimus (fiftieth), referring to the fifty days before Easter Sunday using inclusive counting, which counts both Sundays (normal counting would count only one of these). 

 

Since the forty days of the Lenten fast included only weekdays, the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, succeeds Quinquagesima Sunday by only three days. The earliest Quinquagesima Sunday can occur is February 1 and the latest is March 7. The Roman Church no longer observes much of the Christian Year, including Quinquagesima and the two immediately before it — Sexagesima and Septuagesima Sundays.

 

The contemporary service books of many claiming to be Anglican provinces do not use the term but it remains in the Book of Common Prayer. 

 

The 17-day period beginning on Septuagesima Sunday spanning Sexuagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays was intended to be observed as a preparation for the season of Lent, which is itself a period of spiritual preparation for Easter. In many countries, however, Septuagesima Sunday marks the start of the carnival season, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday.

Sermon Notes - Quinquagesima - For now we see darkly - The Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide - 11 February 2024, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

Bishop Jerry records what he categorizes as mini-devotions from time to time.  If you want to be on that mailing list, let me know.  In any event, the Brazen Serpent is the topic this weekend:

 

https://youtu.be/T1kMpn3qJC4

 

 

The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the

Sunday next before before Lent.

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

 

T

HEN he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. 35 And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way side begging: 36 And hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. 37 And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. 38 And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 39 And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. 40 And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, 41 Saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. 42 And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. (Luke 18:31-43)

 

            Perhaps, as a Christian, you have believed that you might escape the troubles and trials of righteous JOB and rest at ease in your faith of Christ. Has this ever been true? No, it has not been true for, if you courageously stand upon that Rock of your Salvation in both desert and garden, the world will hate and trouble you. There is no escape unless you are blessed to live in a nation whose God is, in fact, the Lord and not rhetorically so. Even then, there is always a gravitational pull downward on the soul of man enticing him to sink to the gutter of sensual living rather than to rise to the pinnacle of moral living. If you are the “life of the party” wherever your feet take you, and always well received by the world, you are not living a Christian life of victory. The Christian shall see days of greater and greater rejection as the whole world continues in its spiral into the abyss of darkness. It is not that the world does not understand, but that the world does not DESIRE to understand. Evil is multiplying at phenomenal levels in our day. Is it any wonder that Christ asked the question: “……when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

 

            Christ KNEW of His coming suffering. He was going up to Jerusalem for His last earthly visit. Yet He never tarried or demurred from going. Christ was intent on a perfect obedience to His father, and He knew there could be no forgiveness without sacrifice. He tells us that we, too, have a cross to bear. It is not a silver, gold, or ivory cross, but rather a cross made of crude and splintered timber. That cross has two axes – one vertical pointing from Heaven (God) to earth (us); and the other horizontal pointing across the plane of all humanity. In geometry we are told an axis is a fixed reference in conjunction with other points which define its direction. The cross has two fixed references: 

 

The Vertical

From a point (God) in Heaven to another point (man) on earth. It illustrates that God, on the vertical beam, has offered a means whereby fallen man can be redeemed from the just wrath that his sin entails by the coming down of God the Son to sacrifice Himself in Love. 

 

The Horizontal 

This beam illustrates sacrificial love (as clearly described in the Epistle today from 1 Corinthians 13) which we who are redeemed must bear for one another in obedience to God. We have a rude cross to bear and, if it does not weigh upon our shoulders, perhaps it is because we have not taken it up. If  any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

 

            God sometimes brings things into our lives which we do not presently understand. Our understanding may be deferred until such time that we can most profitably grasp the meaning. 31. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. You will have to admit that this is reasonably clear language, yet His disciples did not understand. They had witnessed the great power of God at the hands of the only Begotten Son of God. They had seen the dead restored to life simply at the sound of His Voice. They had seen sight restored to the blind, the crippled made to walk, the adulteress forgiven, an issue of blood arrested at the touch of His garment, the stormy sea made calm at His command, and the wretched lepers touched by His wholesome hand and cured! How could the Jewish rulers and Romans commit such a hateful crime on one so full of power? The answer, of course, is that they COULD NOT! It was God who allowed His only Begotten Son to be crucified as a willing sacrifice for our redemption. Perhaps God has also told us things through His Word that we have understood amiss, yet, in time, we come to a full and precise understanding of the meaning after God has allowed His Holy Ghost to testify thereof to our hearts.

 

            It is often God’s intention a temporary curtain be dropped over our eyes as a gossamer veil so we only see vaguely until such time as the full picture is exposed. It is doubtful Mary, the mother of Jesus, well understood all her Son represented and taught. She seemed to be absent from most of His teachings. She failed, perhaps through remorse, to come to the Garden Tomb with the other Marys. Perhaps she would have come had she believed she would see her Risen Lord! But now, you and I know something the disciples did not know when Christ spoke the above words. How will we respond? Your cross is waiting for you. If you take it up, you, too, will feel the lash of the Roman (government) sanction against you. You, too, will be spat upon and rejected in the public square. Do you still desire to bear the cross? Or do you prefer to carry a pretty rosary (much lighter to bear and far more appealing) to illustrate your piety? 

 

            Do you remember a time when you were a beggar? Has your memory faded in remembering that you one day grew into a realization that your baptism and covenant made for you by your parents must be confirmed in a living faith? Did you proudly receive that faith as something you deserved, or did you plead with your Lord for forgiveness and reception? Were you not blind from the past days of your life until you sat, as a beggar, beside the road awaiting the approach of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you hail to Him without shame – even in a public place? Did you disregard the nay-sayers who flocked about Him and shout your appeal for mercy – not vision? Well, my friend, it is very likely that you, too, were a blind beggar by the dusty roadside of Christ. You had heard of Him perhaps on your mother’s knee. You believed it as far as you were able, but it did not make complete sense to your youthful mind that you were made whole through the death of a Messiah. Now you KNOW! Now you have begun to feel a nagging emptiness in the very chambers of your heart.  How to fill the void? There is only one supply that can fill that emptiness – the Lord Jesus Christ! And you heard of His approach. You waited silently until His countenance could be clearly seen, then, you shouted from the top of your voice, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” Those of the modern church who were closest to Christ attempted to silence you and prevent your coming. After all, you were only a beggar and unworthy of the company of saints, right? And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace. But your NEED was far greater than their DOUBT and DISCOURAGEMENT! The world would always prefer that you not come to Christ!  But you could not hold your peace!  but he cried so much the more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. Notice that the MERCY of God is all that we need to lift the scales from our eyes. His Mercy always precedes His grace. 

 

Expectantly, you stand waiting, your eyes closed to the Light of the World! Suddenly, there was a change in the air. The discordant voices were silent as the Voice of Heaven spoke – what was spoken, you may not have known, but you felt in your heart that a tremendous experience was about to be had. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him Did you not know, my dear people, that your appeal for mercy will bring Christ to a full stop before you. When a man stands still, it usually means he has quit his journey, but when Christ stands still – whether on a dusty road leading into Jericho or beneath a sycamore tree into which Zacchaeus climbed – something miraculous is about to happen. Even the air is made calm and full of electrifying expectation. If you have appealed to Christ for mercy, He has stopped to hear your petition! Suddenly, you feel his servants (perhaps His true ministers) pulling at your arms and bringing you into a wide place. Though your vision is dark, there is nothing amiss with your ears for you hear the most majestic and loving voice you have ever imagined speak to YOU! What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? When we first appealed to Christ for mercy and begged for healing, were we not somewhat taken aback by the power of His Voice? Perhaps the beggar had hailed many passers-by for succor, and only a few had ever responded. None had asked that the beggar be brought to them as did this Man. When He spoke, perhaps His Voice overpowered you in love and power. You didn’t REALLY believe such an important personage would stop and listen to your grievance, did you? Notice that Jesus did not say, “What wilt thou that I do FOR you,” but, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? If Jesus merely heals our sight, He has done something FOR us only; but if He makes us into new creatures through His redeeming power, we have had a change made TO us. 

 

            You eagerly search for a response to this most appealing voice. Finally, you know that you have His full attention. He has granted mercy already, so you press forward with a desire that has plagued you all the years that you have sat by the roadside in the darkness of a bright day: Lord, that I may receive my sight. Now, you anxiously wait. Have you imposed too much on the great King to have your request granted? Do you not know that a great King is complimented by a great request? The great request is recognition of His great power to grant. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. Notice Jesus granted the beggars lesser request first – his sight. But the greater favor came as the best wine came last at Cana of Galilee – SALVATION! Our greatest miracle from the Lord will always be His forgiveness and reception of us into His Kingdom!

 

            Now, good friends, what did you do when Christ healed YOU? Did your heart immediately break out in praises and joy? Did you immediately follow Him wheresoever He led? Did your exuberance at your salvation spill over into the crowd (world) around you? If not, perhaps you still pine away in blindness, for look at the response of the poor blind beggar: And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God. That very moment that the Lord grants us vision to see Him, we, too, should praise God!

 

Go Thou and do Likewise!

Quinquagesima - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

 

Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/ZpNUhtyjwyI

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity.   What is charity?  The Epistle and Gospel come together to give you an understanding of just why charity is so very important. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 122-124, with the Collect first:

 

The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the

Sunday next before before Lent.

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the Thirteenth Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.  Paul talks of charity[1], “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”  Paul goes on to say that no matter what you do, if in your heart you have not that love for others, it is all to naught.  Our understanding here on earth is limited, we will never here see the fullness of God’s plan, yet the part most clear is the love we must have one for another, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason other than we know that is right so to do.  Paul uses the phraseology “through a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a variation to describe earth as compared to heaven.  He calls the earth The Shadowlands and says in heaven all is clear and bright, not dark and muddled as here on earth.

 

T

HOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 

The Holy Gospel for today came from the Gospel of Saint Luke, the Eighteenth Chapter beginning at the Thirty-First Verse.  The Gospel starts out telling of Jesus’ trying to prepare his disciples for what was to come, and they could not grasp it: “Then Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.”  The Gospel goes on to tell of Jesus’ healing of a blind man near Jericho, “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging: and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.”

 

If you take nothing else from today’s Gospel, take this – Faith will save you.  After you are saved, you need to act on your faith.  The order is clear.

 

W

HEN Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging: and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

---

[1] Charity - Love; universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love.  Properly understood the Love of God, that perfect love, to which man should aspire. [1913 Webster]

Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Training and Education Department

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Bp Jack brings the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/ZpNUhtyjwyI

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  Let us start by reading today’s Collect:

 

The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the

Sunday next before before Lent.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity …

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity.  Webster tells us that Charity is love; universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love. What it really means is Love in Action! Like many areas of our Christian development, we will never fully get there. But if we never try to put Love into action, we will never even get close to getting there. The key words are in action. Meaning we just can’t think about loving people, we actually have to go out and do actions showing that we really do love them, not just say it.  Just saying we love them does not mean as much as performing actions that show we actually love them. Without the love in our hearts, nothing we do here has any meaning, our actions would be meaningless without love in our hearts for God and our fellow human beings and creatures. We must strive to incorporate love for God and others in our actions. We must allow the Holy Ghost into our hearts to allow us to have that love.

 

Charity is the purest form of love there is and derives from God’s love for us. Without God’s love in us, we cannot hope to have any form of charity towards our fellow humans. God has given us love to enable us to act on His behalf here on this Earth. Without the love that God gives us, we cannot hope to be able to perform good works for Him. We are naturally not very loving beings, actually we are very sinful and angry creatures. We need to ask God to enter into our hearts and shine His Light in and replace our negative emotions with positive emotions such as His Love. Unlike our natural emotions, Love is not selfish or wasteful, but kind and abundant. We are to be agents of good change, not bad; with Charity, we will act with love towards one another.  With charity in our hearts, we will be agents for change of good. These are qualities that are not naturally part of our sinful nature. If we do not have love in our hearts towards one another, how can we expect to be able to effect positive change on the world around us?

 

In connection with the Collect which talks about one who is brought before God without love in his heart is a dead person. And not just in eternity but in life, a person with no love is a dead person walking.  Paul makes this very point in his Epistle, saying that no matter what talents we have, without the Love of God in our hearts, it is all for naught.  You can be the best in your profession or have a super unique talent, but in the end if we do not have the Love of God in our hearts, our talents are ultimately wasted. We need to ask God to send that Love into our hearts that we might be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit and His Love to act for Him.  We cannot do anything for God without that Love in our hearts. We must have the Love in us, brought to us by the Holy Spirit, in order to be effective in our ministerial efforts. He is the reason we are here in this life and He is the one we must act for.  It must be clear to us our understanding here on earth is limited, while here we will never see the fullness of God’s Plan; yet the part most clear is the love we are to have one for another, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason other than we know it is right so to do. 

 

Having Love in our hearts is a must if we are to perform actions for Him here in this world. In order to have love in our hearts, we must be open to the Holy Spirit. Only then can we truly receive His Love to spread around. And do not fret, there is an unlimited supply of love for everyone. When Paul talks about God’s great plans, he uses the phraseology “through a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a variation to describe earth as compared to heaven.  He calls earth The Shadowlands and says in heaven all is clear and bright, not dark and muddled as here on earth.  So, here our understanding is limited, it will not always be so. That will be fulfilled when we pass those Pearly Gates into heaven, and in order to do that, we have to have faith, and act in good works with charity. 

 

As they were coming in to Jericho, Jesus told the disciples of what was to come, yet they could not grasp their leader would submit to such treatment on their behalf. One of the reasons they could not grasp it is that they did not yet have the Holy Spirit in their heart to help grasp the words that Jesus spoke. In their minds He was the Conqueror; in a sense they were right, He came to conquer death for us, not the Roman Empire. He had the Love of God with Him and He loved us so much that He would die a painful method of execution and go into Satan’s realm in order to free us from the terrible wages of sin, that of death. As they went along, they encountered the blind man who was, like many of us are, blind.  His blindness was of eye, not heart, he knew the power of God and of love. The blind man who wanted his sight and knew Jesus had The Power.  He cried unto the Lord and was rebuffed by His People. This is the key and it applies to us as well. Did he give up?  No, he cried the more.  We are like the blind man in that our sin blinds from seeing what we could be with the help of the Holy Ghost. We must cry out for Jesus to enter into our hearts, souls and minds and lead a transformation of our minds to serve Him.

 

When Jesus heard him, he turned and asked what the man wanted.  MY SIGHT!  No generalizations, no beating about.  The blind man asked of Him what he truly wanted.  Ask and it shall be given unto you.  He lacked sight, not vision.  Nor, it might be added, did he lack faith. We should ask God to have to sight and hearing that we might see, hear and act upon the Word. To some, the faith he had might seem a blind faith, but it was one he acted on and gained what he lacked.  Will we have the faith to act?

 

True love is Faith, Hope, Charity[1].

 

There is but one way to heaven.

 

That easy to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where eternal life in the real world awaits.  Open your heart to the Holy Ghost, use His Power to follow our Lord to God who awaits in heaven.

 

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] The three Gloster Gladiator fighters Faith, Hope and Charity defended Malta against the Italian Air Force during the early part of the siege of Malta in World War II.  Legend has it all three persisted and of the three, Charity never failed.

There is Life for a Look– 9 February 2024, Anno Domini

 

 

L

OOK unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

(Isaiah 45:22)

 

            This is a hymn of hope with a very appealing musical score (Latakia). It was composed in 1832 by Amelia Hull (1812-1884)  - a twenty-year old English girl who would go on to write scores of additional hymns over a lifetime, many for children. It draws our attention to the depth of God’s plan in preparing a meet sacrifice for us reflected across the entire canon of Scripture. This hymn is taken from the Presbyterian Book of Praise, #148.

 

There is Life for a Look

 

There is life for a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee;

Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved,

Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.

Refrain

Look! Look! Look and live!

There is life for a look at the Crucified One,

There is life at this moment for thee.

 

Oh, why was He there as the bearer of sin,

If on Jesus thy guilt was not laid?

Oh, why from His side flowed the sin-cleansing blood,

If His dying thy debt has not paid?

Refrain

 

It is not thy tears of repentance or prayers,

But the blood, that atones for the soul;

On Him, then, who shed it, thou mayest at once

Thy weight of iniquities roll.

Refrain

 

Then doubt not thy welcome, since God has declared

There remaineth no more to be done;

That once in the end of the world He appeared,

And completed the work He begun.

Refrain

 

Then take with rejoicing from Jesus at once

The life everlasting He gives;

And know with assurance thou needst never die,

Since Jesus, thy righteousness, lives.

 Refrain

 

There is life for a look at the Crucified One, There is life at this moment for thee; Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved, Unto Him who was nailed to the tree. Look unto Christ – the Living One as well as unto Christ who bore our sins upon the Cross at Golgotha. Christ provides us with a perfect illustration of that sacrifice in the account of the Brazen Serpent which represented the sins of Israel crucified on a pole. 8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. 9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. (Numbers 21:8-9) Our Lord Jesus Christ used this account as a picture of His own sacrifice: 14 ¶ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14) and, 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  (John 12:32) Sin leaves scars. The snake-bite of sin is painful and leaves scars as well; however, looking unto Christ on the Cross, we shall not surely die, but LIVE!

 

Oh, why was He there as the bearer of sin, If on Jesus thy guilt was not laid? Oh, why from His side flowed the sin-cleansing blood, If His dying thy debt has not paid? There was a great void of sinlessness on the cross. That void was filled by Our sinless Savior who took upon Himself the sins of the world – the only Man who was worthy to die in our stead for our sins, being sinless. At His crucifixion, He was lifted up between Heaven on earth on the cross, and became our Intercessor and Intermediary between Heaven and the elect. Like the Rock of Horeb, our Lord was cleft in the side by the Roman Sword, and outflowed the symbolic Water of Life for us.

 

It is not thy tears of repentance or prayers, But the blood, that atones for the soul; On Him, then, who shed it, thou mayest at once Thy weight of iniquities roll. The broad shoulders of Christ are sufficient to bear all our burdens of sin. 28 ¶ Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-29)

 

Then doubt not thy welcome, since God has declared There remaineth no more to be done; That once in the end of the world He appeared, And completed the work He begun. Jesus spoke to the anguishing Jairus whose daughter had died,  Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36) he says the same to every sinner who has felt the quickening of the Holy Ghost in his heart. The fear of God will bring us near to Christ, but it will not hold us there. Fear is the beginning of knowledge, but not the end. Our fear is transformed into a love that echoes back to our Lord the love He has shed upon us. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)

 

Then take with rejoicing from Jesus at once The life everlasting He gives; And know with assurance thou needst never die, Since Jesus, thy righteousness, lives. There can exist no death in Christ, and if we are in Christ, we can never see death. 25 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) Those who die in Christ merely sleep and live on in the spirit with God. But the heart must first respond to the quickening beckon of the Holy Ghost while life yet remains. We must be called and chosen while life remains, and we must respond to that call.

Is your Bible Holy? – 6 February 2024, Anno Domini

 

T

HE words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.  (Psalm 12:6)

 

Racism is a favorite mantra of the left anytime an issue of public policy is introduced to promote merit in hiring. It is a favorite tool of the radical political left. Well, politics is not the only source of such irrational name-calling. It also exists in the religious and spiritual realm as well. If any church uses the King James versions they are labelled ‘King James Only’ as if a derogatory term. What of those who used it for centuries?

 

An example of a rant is the subject of today’s presentation on the King James Bible.

 

Our church uses the King James Bible in worship and for all authority in doctrine. We also recognize any of the other Bibles that are based on the Received Text such as the Geneva Bible, Matthew’s Bible, Coverdale, Great Bible, Bishop’s Bile, etc.

 

Modern theologians of the liberal mode scream ‘idolatry’ and King James Only nonsense when we insist on these Bibles based upon those used by the Great Reformers.  If we do not agree, they simply shout more loudly. They all desire their OWN bibles that allow for favored sins – for example the gender-neutral bibles.

 

What is the issue? Article VI of the Articles of Religion of the Reformation Church of England stipulates the New Testament Books of the Bible as commonly received by them at the time. That text was the Received Text for which men were willing to die at the stake to defend every word. This text was the primary text of all protestant Bibles for centuries. IT is the Bible that has inspired Britain and America from our early foundations.

 

The language of the King James Version is majestic, eloquent, precise and reverent. Those who advocate the modern versions such as the NIV and ESV will often claim that these versions simply translate the Bible into more commonly understood language. This is a ruse for it is not the wording that is at issue as much as it is the underlying spurious manuscript evidence used in translation of these modern versions.

 

The Westcott-Hort manuscripts were not used by the ancient church even though their existence was known. Why? Well, one reason is that they are lacking completeness in many respects. Verses are missing with only a blank space there to indicate their absence. The Westcott-Hort (W-H) Manuscripts are comprised of mainly two manuscripts – the Sinaiticus and the Vaticanus. These were discovered by a fellow named Tichendorf in the 19^th century. The Vaticanus had been in the possession of the Vatican for centuries earlier, yet, even Jerome did not use it in translating the Vulgate Bible for Rome. These two manuscripts represent only 5% of the manuscript evidence of the Bible while the Received Text (Textus Receptus) is based on 95% of the available manuscript evidence. Moreover, the manuscript evidence of these texts agree with each other in every important detail – not true of the Westcott-Hort (so-called NU-text).

 

These manuscripts of W-H are missing key verses and passages. They often change the fundamental meaning of verse – for example: in John 3:16 our Lord is referred to as the ‘one and only Son of God’ which is completely inaccurate. It demeans the divinity of Christ since Adam was named a son of God and we of faith are called the sons and daughters of God. So how could Christ be the one and only Son since others are so called by Scripture? The Received Text Bibles translate the title of our Lord in the same verse as the “Only Begotten Son” which differentiates His Sonship from those of us who are the adopted sons and daughters. Our Lord is of the same substance, nature and character of the Father – we, however, are His adopted children who were conceived in sin.

 

Another interesting point is this. The King James version is in the public domain in every place but Great Britain. In Britain, the text belongs to the Crown which has never refused the printing of the Bible to any who desire to do it. The Bible should rightfully belong to God and His Church – not a government copyright as in the case of the modern versions. These belong to man and not God since permission must be granted to cite more than fourteen verses in most cases. I can print and publish as many King James Bibles as I please without getting permission from some publisher who holds a copyright. The Bible belongs to God alone!

 

There is no justification for the claim that the Bible must be brought down to the street language of the day. God is Holy and some deference should be observed in addressing His Majesty. We should train our children up to the language of the King James Bible – not down to the street level.

 

There are many other reasons that the modern versions, based on the so-called NU-text, should be shunned. Time and space does not afford these to be addressed in this short article; however, if you would like to research the issue in detail, we will be glad to accommodate with many respected works of others. Let’s keep the Bible Holy!

AOC Sunday Report - Sexagesima

 

Happy Sexagesima Sunday!  What does this mean?

What is Sexagesima?

Sexagesima, or, in full, Sexagesima Sunday, is the name for the Second Sunday before Ash Wednesday in the Catholic (Universal or Whole) Church Calendar. 

 

The name "Sexagesima" is derived from the Latin sexagesimus, meaning "sixtieth," and appears to be a back-formation of Quinquagesima, the term formerly used to denote the last Sunday before Lent (the latter name alluding to the fact that there are fifty days between that Sunday and Easter, if one counts both days themselves in the total). Through the same process, the Sunday before Sexagesima Sunday is known as Septuagesima Sunday, and marks the start of the Pre-Lenten Season, which eventually became the time for carnival celebrations throughout Europe, this custom being later exported to places settled and/or colonized by Europeans. While Quinquagesima (50th day) is mathematically correct (allowing for the inclusive counting), Sexagesima and Septuagesima are only approximations (the exact number of days is 57 and 64 respectively). The earliest Sexagesima can occur is January 25 and the latest is February 28 (or February 29 in a leap year). 

 

The 17-day period beginning on Septuagesima Sunday spanning Sexuagesima and Quinquagesima Sundays was intended to be observed as a preparation for the season of Lent, which is itself a period of spiritual preparation (for Easter). In many countries, however, Septuagesima Sunday marks the start of the carnival season, culminating on Shrove Tuesday, more commonly known as Mardi Gras.

 

The Gospel reading for Sexagesima week is the parable of the sower (Luke 8:4).

The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE!

We have excellent sermons today from Bishops Jerry, Roy and Jack; as well as from Rev Bryan. Each one is different and each one is very very good. I hope you will take the time to read them. If you don't feel like reading,  Bishop Jack brings the propers together in his sermon which can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/OTF7EH6mTJM

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we tell God we put our trust for eternal life not in our actions, but in His Power.  For, only He has the capability to actually protect that which is truly important to us, our eternal souls.  When Paul writes to the people of Corinth, he tells them to get a grip on who they are and what is important and it is not them.  When Jesus relates the well known Parable of the Sower, which might be better referred to as the Parable of the Four Soils, for the seeds were all alike, that naturally brings up the subject of weeding and feeding.  Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

This week, like every other one, brings a lot of people needing your prayer, today is no exception.   Please take a little time to pray; start with Jim, Mr. Kim, Tricia, Laurie, Shamu and work out from there.

There was a really really epic week ahead, but you're not going to find it without help. You might consider opening your heart to God if you're having a hard time seeing the good and the world. And I might add differentiating between good and bad.

Godspeed,

Hap Arnold

Bishop Coadjutor

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide