The Hand of our Lord – 28 July 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

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ND, now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.    (Acts 13:11)

 

            The Hand of the Lord is a mighty hand that cast into their orbits the earth, the moon, the sun, and all celestial bodies to set their path and to determine their place. The first chapter of the Gospel of St. John tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Creator of all that exists in this material Universe – including every species of plants and animals . . .  and man. 

 

            It can be a great blessing to know the Hand of the Lord is upon us, but it may also be a fearful realization if that Hand comes upon us in judgment. There are a number of characteristic delineated in Scripture to inform us of the nature of our Lord’s Hand. My favorite comes from Isaiah 49:15-16 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. It is a great comfort to know that our names were ENGRAVED, OR CUT, into the palms of our Lord’s Hands at Calvary by those terrible iron nails. There are too many other examples to list all, but here are a few points to treasure about the Hand of the Lord:

 

Healing Hands

There was a leper who came to Christ with his filthy rags and sores seeking healing: 2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. This leper had been unable even to approach anyone else due to his contagious disease, but faith brought him near to Christ and Christ did not hesitate to touch the leper with His Hand of Healing  - something from which all others would recoil. The leper was healed by that Hand. That Hand healed many diseases then, and does so today : 40 ¶Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. (Luke 4:40)

 

Life-Giving Hand

Remember the little daughter of Jairus who lay in the cold grip of death? She was only twelve years old. Her father had thus far not been a avid believer being the ruler of the synagogue; however, desperation often drives us to faith. He came to Christ for healing, not knowing that his precious daughter was already dead. Jesus went into the death chamber of the child and took her delicate hands into His strong Hand and said, Maid, arise! Immediately the spirit of life returned to the maid and Christ ordered that she be given food! The Hand that created the celestial bodies of deep space also deigned to take the hand of a child to heal it. (see Luke 8:41-56 and also Luke 7:14)

 

Hand of Blessing

Our Lord always had time for the children for He loved them. When the children were brought to him by their mothers for blessing, He did not hesitate: 13 ¶Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. (Matthew 19:13-14)

 

Hand of Salvation

The impulsive Peter begged to be beckoned by the Lord who was walking of the sea. The Lord bade him come, and Peter had the nerve to get out of his safe boat and walk on the sea. As long as Peter focused on the Lord, he walked well on the turbid waters, but when he diverted his attention to the stormy waters, he began to sink. Peter uttered the shortest prayer recorded in Scripture (as far as I know), Lord, save me! This is the most simple of prayers, yet the most effectual: But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

SUSTAINING HAND: With those nail-scarred Hands, Jesus broke the Bread and served the two men on the Road to Emmaus. Those same Hands attend to our every need, if not our every desire: Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5)

 

Perhaps we would be very wise to put our own hands in the Hand that restores, heals, and saves. Let us heed the words of the popular Gospel song:

 

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water.

Put your hand in the hand of the man who parted the sea.

The Rent Temple Veil – 27 July 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

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ESUS, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent.  (Matthew 27:51)

 

            The seemingly random references of Scripture to things that may not seem related usually are most related. This passage of the Rent Temple Veil is no exception. It is the exclamation point for the conclusion of our Lord’s work of redemption on the cross at Mount Calvary. The Rent Temple Veil coincided with the powerful last words of our Savior at the last moment of ministry: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished:" and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30) So how were these two events related?

 

            In fact, they were the one and the same event. The Temple Veil separated the Holy Place in the Temple from the Most Holy (ore Holiest of Holies) that contained the Ark of the Covenant in which was the Rod of Moses, the Ten Commandments, and the Manna. There is a depth of mystery and truth contained in these events that may escape the notice of the casual Bible scholar.

 

The Occasion

It was the exact tome of the Passover Sacrifice in the Temple at which the High Priest only had access to the Holy of Holies. He stood, at that very moment, before the Veil to offer the yearly sacrifice. Once per year was the only time any man could have access to the Holy of Holies, and that man was the High Priest of Israel. The Veil separated the people of God from the Holy of Holies. An intermediary in the form of the High Priest offered up the sacrifices of the people at each Passover observance. The Passover was the early type and shadow of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon the same Mount Moriah on which the Temple stood, and where Abraham was tested in sacrificing his only son. Isaac. (see Exodus 26:31-37 & Hebrews 9:7-24)

 

The Spiritual Significance

The Temple Veil was torn from top to bottom at the instant of our Lord’s giving up the Spirit. The Temple Veil, in reality, represented the body of Christ torn at the Cross for us. It was Christ who became our eternal intercessor in His appointed Office of High Priest when He was sacrificed as that perfect Lamb of God foreshadowed by the Passover Lamb in the Land Goshen in Egypt. No longer would an earthly High Priest be necessary as our intercessor between the sinner and God for Christ became our High Priest and Intercessor at His death on the cross. Christ alone, not Mary or any saint, is our High Priest and Intercessor

 

            Behind the Veil was considered to be the place of God. The Ark containing the Law stood just behind the Veil, and above the Ark was the Mercy Seat of Christ. It was by His merciful redemption from our sins for which this seat stood. Mercy tops Law just as the Mercy Seat topped the Ark containing the Law. Not that the Law had been disannulled, but that Christ would pay the penalty for our disobedience thereunder. The Law of God is still binding, and became even more so, but now no longer written on Tables of Stone, but upon the soft sinews of the heart with the ink of LOVE.

 

            The Veil was rent right in the face of the High Priest. No human hand touched it just as salvation cannot be produced by any good work of human hands. It was torn completely in two equal portions representing the new status of the Law tempered with the Mercy of Christ. It was torn from top to bottom because salvation begins with God and is passed down to the believer by the once-made sacrifice of our Lord.

 

Effects the Rent Veil Should Have on Us

If the man made Temple Veil was considered with such reverence in its holiness, how much more should the elect of God reverence the ultimate and Divine Presence of Christ that the Veil represented? No longer are we separated by the Veil from the Presence of god, but have gained access to God and the Mercy Seat through the works of our Lord Jesus Christ – not on our own merits, but by His righteousness and substitutionary death in our stead. The torn Veil denoted the removal of any distinction between the Jew and Gentile in the sinner’s approach to God, and the removal – not of the Law of God – but of the ordinances that had been added by the Jewish rulers from Moses to the present. 

 

Should we not be glad and filled with divine joy that the Temple Veil was Rent at our Passover that Christ was?

Ashamed – 26 July 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

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

 

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OR what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.  (Luke 9:25-26)

 

The emotion of shame is brought on by humiliation, pride, or sinful behavior among other things. Have you ever been ashamed of yourself? Probably you have been if you are like me and about seven billion others in the world. That kind of shame is often brought on by a feeling of inadequacy or some revealed sin. Unfortunately, we are not often ashamed of ourselves as long as the sin remains secret.

 

What of Adam in the Garden following his disobedience to the only Commandment God had given him? Immediately upon partaking of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve felt an intense shame. They knew they were naked. Their knowledge of that sin and of disobedience aroused a mighty fear in their hearts. Nakedness most often refers to sin in the Bible. In fact. Public nakedness is a sin that most moderns have forgotten. 

 

God covered the nakedness, or sin, of Adam and Eve by the blood of an innocent animal of the Garden. The fig leaves the two had made to hide their nakedness were not at all sufficient to cover either their nakedness or their sin. The covering Robe of Righteousness of the Christian elect to cover their sin was purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. If we are covered by that blood and that Robe, we shall not stand ashamed at the Judgment.

 

When I was a small child, I was proud of the openly expressed love of my parents; but as I grew into my teen years, I tried to avoid every expression of a public show of affection. I was ashamed if my mom gave me a kiss when she let me out at school. Today, I would love to have such a kiss whether alone, or before thousands.

 

It is sinful to be ashamed of those who love you and have sacrificed so much for you. It is a sin to be ashamed to express our faith among every diverse nature of peoples. 

 

You will recall that Adam’s sin seems trifling compared to the more cardinal sins of murder, rape, and pillage; however, Adam’s sin was the most serious of all because it directly violated the Commandment God gave to him personally. It brought death, suffering, and misery upon the whole Creation. In the end, it resulted in a life of misery for Adam and Eve, the murder of their righteous son (Abel) by their first-born, Cain. It demonstrates the downward and spiraling nature of sins begun in petty actions but leading to the most egregious ones.

 

Peter was ashamed and fearful to admit that he was a disciple of our Lord before the Sanhedrin, so, Peter denied the Lord three times. He repented in bitter tears and was forgiven. But there comes a time, and often many times, when we all are ashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ – our dearest Friend, and Maker of all. There is something about deeply held conviction and love that embarrasses us in the presence of those who have no faith. It is quite easy to confess loudly the Lord Jesus Christ in the Church forum, but how do we confess Him in our daily lives? We may suffer in our business relations if we are not ashamed to confess him by our daily living – not just our words. We often offend our own consciences in failing to speak out against wickedness and sinful living. 

 

Our Lord bore the greatest shame of the Cross of us. He was stripped naked before all to see and lifted up on that cruel instrument of death and torture – for you and me. His was modesty of the highest order, yet He was not ashamed to die for us in that terrible manner. How can we be ashamed of Him under any circumstance? How can we ever deny Him?

 

There are two distinct parts to those two verses of Luke 9:25-26:

 

1.     A specification of a certain form of conduct. That is the conduct of being ashamed of our Lord and Savior. This results from lack of faith, compromise, rejection of truth, abandonment of worship, and an unwillingness to follow Christ in all His Holy Counsel.

 

2.     The result declared for those who are ashamed of our Lord – The Lord shall be ashamed of those whose faith allows shame of Him. We will appear as naked as Adam and Eve in the Garden at the judgment seat, lacking any covering from your nakedness, and we will be ashamed for certain.

3.       

Are you ashamed of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?

AOC Sunday Report - Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Happy Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

The AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE!

We have excellent sermons this morning from Bishops Jerry and Roy, as well as Revs Jack and Bryan.  Rev Jack's can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE!

There are always a lot of people who need your prayer.  Today is no exception.  Please start with Tricia, Buzz, Shamu, Jim, Laurie and Lourie, work out from there.

There is a super week ahead, if you have trouble seeing it, maybe you need the lens the Holy Ghost can and will provide.  Yes, things do not always go the way we want, part of that is our miss using the words WANT and NEED, two four letter words used interchangeably that do not mean the same thing.  Part of that is our point of view, the Holy Ghost can help there.  Part of that is having done the easy thing rather than the right thing at some time in the past.  Well, you cannot go back.  Consider that for the future.

Have an EPIC Week!

Godspeed,

Hap

Church of the Faithful Centurion

Descanso, California

United States of America

Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Propers with explanation – Rev Jack’s Sermon– With Video

The Propers for today are found on Page 197-198, with the Collect first:

 

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

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 GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

As is oft the case, the Collect asks for help from the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts that we might love God and, thus obtain His most excellent Gifts.  As imperfect creatures with free will, if we ask God for something, it tends to be what we want, not what we need.  He knows.  Thus, we need His Help in the form of the Holy Ghost.

 

The Epistle came from Paul’s letter to the Romans, beginning at the First Verse of the Sixth Chapter. Paul tells us that as we were baptized unto Jesus in life, so we are baptized unto his death.  We share His death on the Cross for our sins and by His death, our sin is dead; then as He was raised up, so are we.  It is intended the death we die unto sin is to be permanent and that we go forth and sin no more.  Yet, as long as we live here on earth, we sin.  Yet, as long as we live in Christ, we live.  Thus, we reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

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NOW ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, beginning at the Twentieth Verse. Jesus tells his disciples, Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Very worrisome indeed!  Scribes and Pharisees spent their entire lives acting the epitome of righteousness.  There is no way mere mortals could exceed their righteousness, or so it would seem.  Jesus goes on to tell us that not only would we not go to heaven if we commit murder, but we are in danger of the same judgment of we are angry without just cause.  If that were not worrisome enough, we are in danger of hell-fire if we call one another a fool!  Let not the night fall on discord with your family and friends, your neighbors in the Christian sense of The Word.  The text following asks us to do our best to follow Jesus and in return, his sacrifice will serve to set aside the just judgment and we shall be accounted as righteous before God.

 

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ESUS said unto his disciples, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt do no murder; and whosoever murdereth shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

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

 

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

 

Consider these words from the Collect, … who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire …

 

We acknowledge God will give those who love Him more good than they can imagine, let alone ask for.  But, first you have to love Him. How do we accomplish this? We do it by asking the Holy Ghost to enter in to our hearts so we might truly love Him.  If we do, more good will come to us than we can even imagine or hope for.  The point of the collect is that we cannot fathom how much goodness will happen to us, if we follow Him. God will give us more goodness than we could possibly ever deserve if we will follow Him. And this goodness is far more precious than anything the world could ever give us. With His Infinite Grace and Love, God has the potential for unlimited amounts of Goodness.  But the key word here is Love. And where we do we get that love from? We are back to the Holy Ghost. He is a key element of love, without Him we cannot even love Him. If we cannot love others we have seen, how can we love Him who we have not seen? He gives us far more love than we can possibly deserve. 

 

Who is the other component in this equation?  Jesus!  Jesus is that missing variable in our complicated equation state. He is the X. He can give us his guidance and grace via the Holy Ghost, to make us better men and women of the Lord.  He will help us to utilize the Holy Ghost to love God the Father. He is who we need to gain eternal life. By His Sacrifice, made one time, for all mankind, for all time, we are accounted as perfect by His Faith and Action. 

 

This is a rather stark contrast with  our rather usual shortsighted short term view, we must think in the terms of the big picture, not the tiny speck in the picture. We are not used to thinking in the long term view.  Think of going through life to get to Heaven as like flying an airplane. Flying an airplane requires constant adjustments and as you can imagine everytime you fly you learn something. That concept carries over into general day to day life. Every day we learn something be it big or small. What matters is that we learn from what we did wrong and not just what we did right. We endeavor to repeat what we did right and not repeat what we did wrong. This is a continuous process that will occur the rest of our lives. Some of our days may be harder than others, but as long as we never give up, trust in God and carry on, all will be well with our souls. This may be hard to accomplish sometimes, but if we let the Holy Ghost into our hearts, we will find that there is no limit to what we can accomplish for Him.

 

Like flying an airplane, lots of little tiny fluid adjustments are required in our lives here on Earth. Some will be easier than others of course. And we will fail from time to time as that is just our human nature. We have to get back up and be ready to start again and not the same mistake again that caused us to fail. When acting, think of how your actions will impact you, your family and others down the road, before acting and make the necessary fixes, if any are needed. The Holy Ghost can provide the inspiration and guidance we need to think through our actions. We just need to listen to Him at the moment when we need to act and remind ourselves that our future will be better if we listen to the Holy Ghost rather than ourselves.  

 

We have to think of ourselves as a part of God’s much bigger plan, and act to the best of our abilities and with the guidance of the Holy Ghost as a positive aspect of that larger picture.  Each of us has a role to play in His Plan. And each of us has an important part to play in His Plan. We do not know the whole details of that plan, but God will give us our part of His Plan if we but listen to what He has to say. We just have to focus on doing our part for Him in His Plan. And the key word here is to listen. We have to listen to what He actually says and not what we want Him to say. There is a distinct difference between the two.

 

In today’s Epistle, Paul says as Jesus Christ died and rose again, so too should we die to our sins and rise again in a better state. He uses this metaphor to describe both our life here on earth as previously we had been living in our corrupt natural state and through the renewal of the mind through the Holy Ghost, we are transformed into something more pure than we had been. 

 

And as he says, as death has no dominion over Jesus Christ, so too shall it have no more dominion over us. For by His death and resurrection, He has paid the wages for our sin, which as Paul says in Romans is death. His death paid for our sins, so we might be accounted as perfect to get into heaven. Paul is telling us about that same accounting irregularity we mentioned earlier and Christ is that accounting irregularity. As we of our own volition cannot resolve the accounting issue, and thus cannot be worthy on our own to get into heaven. 

 

The resurrection truly is the greatest miracle Jesus performed. Because before He came and died for our sins, we could not get into heaven on our own and in fact still cannot. It is by God’s Grace, that He sent His only begotten son, that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.  I find myself still amazed every time I think of it. How we poor sinful creatures who could not make it to heaven on our own, have had our wages of sin paid by our Lord’s death upon the Cross. Think of how much Jesus loved us, He willingly let Him self be arrested, tried and put to the painful death upon the Cross, and then went into Hell to battle Satan for our souls, because He loved us. It must have been hard for Him to do those things, but He did it anyway. That is a lesson for us, even if things are hard sometimes, we must do them anyway regardless of the cost or spiritual pain if God commands us to do those things. In the end, all the suffering we endure on this Earth will be worth it with all the goodness that awaits us in Heaven.

 

The lesson of the Gospel is that we must put aside our often foolish and angry thoughts and not act upon them, but rather have Christly thoughts and act upon those. We can’t advance God’s cause here on Earth if we are angry all the time. We have to be able to think and make rational decisions and we can’t do that if we are angry. This is another concept easier said than done. But if we allow the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts, we will find that we have the spiritual strength to accomplish this. Instead of acting irrationally, we must instead think calmly and figure out the best way to handle whatever situation we are in without losing control of our emotions. How do we do this? The clear solution is to pray to God and ask for His Help in bridling our tongue and have it be a tool of reason rather than a tool of anger and deceit! And to also remember this every time we are in a moment of heated emotion.

 

When Jesus gave His Life for us, He did it knowing we would fail to follow in perfection, but fully aware some would follow to the best of their ability. We must get back up after we make our mistakes and continue on trying the best we can to follow Him. That is all He asks, do your best.  Even Saint Paul had trouble following our Lord, but he kept trying and doing his real best not to make the same mistake again.  Doing your best is not the same as saying you are doing your best.

 

There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. 

 

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

Sermon Notes - Sixth Sunday after Trinity - Two Diverse Offerings - Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide - 24 July 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

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 GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Collect

            As an introduction, I will quote a fellow I am not so fond of quoting – myself! This is taken from my Sunday Sermon opening remarks: The Prayer of Collect for this day stresses a very distinct and singular element of our faith – LOVE! Love of God has a fundamental dependence upon FAITH. If we do not know or believe that someone, or something, exists, love for that person or thing cannot exist. Of course we could further narrow the field to a ‘person’ since we cannot truly love a ‘thing’ though we may be very fond of it. Our degree of love for God is directly proportional to our degree of faith. The greater the faith, the more intense the love!

 

            Pervasive in all Scripture is the fact this material life is fleeting – in fact, no more than a vapor according to Saint James: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)  The prophet Isaiah compares the days of our lives on earth to grass that dries up and withers away: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:7-8)  A man who is lacking the burning Spirit of God in his heart might be dismayed by these verses, but not the Child of God who is well aware of his future disposition in God’s Heaven. O GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's understanding It is true that we may be unknowing of the magnitude of joy that we shall have with our Lord, but we can be sure that it surpasses any joy we have ever before experienced – even the joy of a mother at the birth of a beautiful and healthy child. 

 

            What is it that qualifies us for this joy which the Lord has prepared for us? Is it faith only? No, it is not faith alone for devil’s, too, “believe and tremble”. (James 2:19) Then what is it, and what kind of faith? It is the kind of faith that binds us to God in love. Love is the cement and faith is the essence. Our earthly life is a temporary state (as all can attest who have lost so many of their loved ones to the last sleep). Though life is a temporary state, LOVE is FOREVER.  LOVE is one perpetual resource that we can possess both in Heaven and on earth! Love is not subject to expiration or death. The cement of LOVE is the very fabric of Heaven.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) This is the strongest witness we can bring to the subject – the Word of God. But note, that the required response of faith is LOVE of God. He loves those who have reciprocated His own love towards us! Does He love us because we came to love Him before His love was manifested to us? NO! We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

 

            Love is such a powerful force even when saddled with this frail flesh we presently occupy. Mothers have been known to exhibit super human strength in saving their babies from some threatened danger.  If human love is that powerful, what do you suppose can be the measure of Godly LOVE? Well, then, what is the source of all Love? Isn’t it the Fountainhead of love in God? Has He not imbued our hearts and souls with a love that we could never own without Him? Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire. The strength of the Collects of the Prayer Book is their absolute reliance on Holy Scripture for the truth they profess - much like the classical hymns of the Church.

 

            Our love for God is not even our own – it is granted us and supplied to our hearts by the gracious God of our Salvation. Our hearts, being filled with the spirits of Love, become like an overflowing fountain of love but, in a more real sense, very much like a “cup that runneth over” with love. (see Psalm 23:5b)  The Fountain Source is God, the Cup is our own hearts being replenished moment by moment. With the eye of the heart focused in unwavering concentration on the object of our Love, we will see the work of God in the weakness of a hungry child, the hopeless and struggling widow, the righteous one in prison. It is true because God’s love flows through all of these conditions of life. If we will enjoy the benefits that God has prepared for us, we must be destined to the dwelling place and Source of all Love – God our Father in Jesus Christ. Loving God above all other things, we will love that which He loves and adores. Did we not change the things we love most when we fell in love with the darling of our hearts? Did we not turn our love toward those things that were the object of that darling’s affections - the Princess of our hearts, or our Knight in Shining Armor?  How much more must we love those things which are filled with the Fountain of God’s Love?

 

Jesus Christ He will come to awaken His Church in Love before the ruin is too advanced. So we need not lose hope, but persevere on the line of battle. At the moment of decision, the love of God shall be made manifest by a parting of the heavens, and the clarion call of the Trumpet of God. Our flagging armies shall experience a renewed vigor by the Armies that descend from Heaven led by the Captain of our souls. Victory shall be certain. Then shall all things be made sure for the people of God.

 

A

ND Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. ² And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. ⁶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. ⁹ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? ¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. ¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; ¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. ¹³ And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. ¹⁵ And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. ¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (Gen 4:1-16)

 

The Sermon

Our Old Testament Bible text, taken from the Lectionary for the day, today exposes the age-old battle between good and evil, right and wrong, Hell and Heaven. Cain and Abel represent the starkly opposing sides of that battle.

 

     ¹ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. ² And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground

 

Who was Cain?

Who was Abel?

 

Cain was the first born of woman (Eve). Just as his father, the first man, Adam represents the human race, fallen and rebellious, so does this son, being the first born upon earth, represent fallen man in the depravity of will and conscience. In every culture and custom, the first born usually occupies the seat of preeminence among the offspring of a family, but with God, it has always been just the opposite: Examples:  (example: Adam – Christ, Cain-Abel, Ishmael-Isaac, and Esau-Jacob). He is a man, not cursed of God, but cursed by his own sins, unrepented. All who go into the fires of Hell go by their own merits. No one enters Heaven by their own merits – only by the Salvation made available through the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Cain brought an offering to God which was the product of his own labors, and from a source that was cursed – the earth.

 

Abel was the first prophet born of woman.  He honored God in his worship and obedience. He did not worship God according to his own desires, but in reverence and conformity to the will of God. Abel brought a blood sacrifice which was pleasing to God, and not a product of the labors of his hand. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (Matt 23:34-35)

 

Why was Cain’s offering refused? Because it was not honoring to God. It was a product of the sweat and labor of Cain in tilling the earth. The earth was cursed.  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life (Gen 3:17) Cain was arrogant and presumptuous to bring an offering that he knew was not pleasing to God. He worshipped his OWN way and not the way laid down by God. ³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

 

Abel brought forth a lamb for his offering. The lamb foreshadows that Lamb of God whose coming was necessary to redeem us from our sins. Abel, himself, foreshadows Christ. He was a prophet, and he laid down his life (at the hand of his brother) in making a sacrifice pleasing to God. The sacrifice of Christ was pleasing to God because it conformed to His plan to redeem fallen man. ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering  God does not need our good (or truly bad) works. He needs an acceptable offering. That offering is the Blood of Christ. He needs not money and sacrifice now that the sacrifice has been made – He needs a broken and contrite heart. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.  (Psalm 51:17)

 

B

UT unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 

 

When we fail to bring that suitable offering to God mentioned above, why are we upset with God instead of ourselves? We are too much laboring to get God on OUR side instead of getting our hearts and souls on HIS side. So we do wrong and are chastised. We sulk away angry and resentful as a child who has been refused the third popsicle. Being angry with God, contrary to many popular novels of deceit, is not a healthy proposition. Anger against God is a sin! When we embark on the road of harboring one sin, that one sin gives birth prolifically to many sins just as described in Psalms 1. Sin is a road that leads down and down to destruction.

 

⁶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. The privilege of the first born was high honor in ancient times.  God tells Cain, “If you do well, your sacrifice would be received and you would not have lost your birthright.” When Isaac blessed Jacob (the second born) he thought he was blessing Esau. Jacob deceived his father in getting that blessing of the first born. Isaac said: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.  (Gen 27:29) But Cain did not well receive the chastisement of God. He made his prospects of greater damnation in that rejection.

 

⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. The implication here is that the ‘talk’ Cain had with Abel was not friendly. Perhaps Abel, being a prophet, reminded Cain of his obligation to bring a suitable offering of blood to God. Cain was rich in products grown from the soil – not sheep. So he wanted to offer that which was CONVENIENT to him. Doing things OUR way always leads to ruin. It not only hurts us, but those to whom we owe love. Cain began in disobedience to proper worship, and ended with the murder of his only brother. The reverence and proper order in which we worship is important to God. We do not worship using those products of the world, but in an impeccable manner honoring to that One who bled and died for us.

 

⁹ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?  Not only had Cain failed to be his brother’s keeper, but his murderer instead. How often we attempt to mitigate our sins by committing a greater one. One does not lie to God. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7) and …….ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.  (Num 32:23)

 

 ¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground Though the bodies of the righteous martyrs lie in the earth, their spirits cry unto God from the dust for their murders.  Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘Tale-Tale Heart’ illustrates this even if fiction.

 

¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; ¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth I ask you, friends, what caused the curse to fall upon Cain – God, or Cain’s sins? I believe the answer will be perfectly honest to all who hear this sermon. It was the transgressions and rebellion of Cain that brought upon him the curse! It is the same for us in our day.  God will take from us every privilege because we have renounced right to that privilege.

 

¹³ And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. Whether or not the punishment for our sins is greater than we can bear is irrelevant! We SHALL, indeed, bear them. Sin ALWAYS separates us from God. And who sins, God or us? We separate ourselves from God through our disobedience and disregard for the reverence owed Him in worship – if we worship at all.  Even the world hates the reprobate of God.

 

¹⁵ And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. Even though despised and hated for his perverted ways, murdering such a one is a sin against God because it would deprive God of the prospect of redemption for even a Peter (who denied Jesus thrice) and you and me for our sins of commission and omission. We shall leave it to God to condemn though we judge sin by His Holy Word. We do not know precisely the manner of ‘mark’ set upon Cain, but I believe it was not a visible mark, but one in the mind where judgments and decisions were made – much like the Mark of the Beast or the Seal of God mentioned in Revelations which was IN the forehead (where deliberative decisions are made and judgments enacted) and not ON it.

 

¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. All who abide in their sins go out from the presence of the LORD. Remember that horribly fateful night when Judas departed from the presence of Christ and went out into an eternal dark night? He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night. (John 13:30) Are you yet in the dark night, or have you come into the glowing Presence of Christ?

Trinity 06 Collect – 24 July 2022, Anno Domini

  

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man’s understanding; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

            As an introduction, I will quote a fellow I am not so fond of quoting – myself! This is taken from my Sunday Sermon opening remarks: The Prayer of Collect for this day stresses a very distinct and singular element of our faith – LOVE! Love of God has a fundamental dependence upon FAITH. If we do not know or believe that someone, or something, exists, love for that person or thing cannot exist. Of course we could further narrow the field to a ‘person’ since we cannot truly love a ‘thing’ though we may be very fond of it. Our degree of love for God is directly proportional to our degree of faith. The greater the faith, the more intense the love!

 

            Pervasive in all Scripture is the fact this material life is fleeting – in fact, no more than a vapor according to Saint James: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)  The prophet Isaiah compares the days of our lives on earth to grass that dries up and withers away: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.  The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. (Isaiah 40:7-8)  A man who is lacking the burning Spirit of God in his heart might be dismayed by these verses, but not the Child of God who is well aware of his future disposition in God’s Heaven. O GOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's understanding It is true that we may be unknowing of the magnitude of joy that we shall have with our Lord, but we can be sure that it surpasses any joy we have ever before experienced – even the joy of a mother at the birth of a beautiful and healthy child. 

 

            What is it that qualifies us for this joy which the Lord has prepared for us? Is it faith only? No, it is not faith alone for devil’s, too, “believe and tremble”. (James 2:19) Then what is it, and what kind of faith? It is the kind of faith that binds us to God in love. Love is the cement and faith is the essence. Our earthly life is a temporary state (as all can attest who have lost so many of their loved ones to the last sleep). Though life is a temporary state, LOVE is FOREVER.  LOVE is one perpetual resource that we can possess both in Heaven and on earth! Love is not subject to expiration or death. The cement of LOVE is the very fabric of Heaven.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) This is the strongest witness we can bring to the subject – the Word of God. But note, that the required response of faith is LOVE of God. He loves those who have reciprocated His own love towards us! Does He love us because we came to love Him before His love was manifested to us? NO! We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

 

            Love is such a powerful force even when saddled with this frail flesh we presently occupy. Mothers have been known to exhibit super human strength in saving their babies from some threatened danger.  If human love is that powerful, what do you suppose can be the measure of Godly LOVE? Well, then, what is the source of all Love? Isn’t it the Fountainhead of love in God? Has He not imbued our hearts and souls with a love that we could never own without Him? Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, may obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire. The strength of the Collects of the Prayer Book is their absolute reliance on Holy Scripture for the truth they profess - much like the classical hymns of the Church.

 

            Our love for God is not even our own – it is granted us and supplied to our hearts by the gracious God of our Salvation. Our hearts, being filled with the spirits of Love, become like an overflowing fountain of love but, in a more real sense, very much like a “cup that runneth over” with love. (see Psalm 23:5b)  The Fountain Source is God, the Cup is our own hearts being replenished moment by moment. With the eye of the heart focused in unwavering concentration on the object of our Love, we will see the work of God in the weakness of a hungry child, the hopeless and struggling widow, the righteous one in prison. It is true because God’s love flows through all of these conditions of life. If we will enjoy the benefits that God has prepared for us, we must be destined to the dwelling place and Source of all Love – God our Father in Jesus Christ. Loving God above all other things, we will love that which He loves and adores. Did we not change the things we love most when we fell in love with the darling of our hearts? Did we not turn our love toward those things that were the object of that darling’s affections - the Princess of our hearts, or our Knight in Shining Armor?  How much more must we love those things which are filled with the Fountain of God’s Love?

 

Jesus Christ He will come to awaken His Church in Love before the ruin is too advanced. So we need not lose hope, but persevere on the line of battle. At the moment of decision, the love of God shall be made manifest by a parting of the heavens, and the clarion call of the Trumpet of God. Our flagging armies shall experience a renewed vigor by the Armies that descend from Heaven led by the Captain of our souls. Victory shall be certain. Then shall all things be made sure for the people of God.