Verse of the Day

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Pentecost which is commonly called Whitsunday and the time of Whitsuntide



The octave (8 days) following Whitsunday. In the Book of Common Prayer, the Monday and Tuesday after Whitsunday are Red Letter days, so called because days provided with a proper Collect (prayer), Epistle, and Gospel were marked in the calendar in red ink. "Whitsuntide" (formerly also spelled "Whitsontide") or "Whitsun Week" is derived from Middle English whitsonday, from Old English hwita sunnandæg, "White Sunday", in reference to the white ceremonial robes formally worn on this day.
Whitsunday marks the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the 50th day after Easter. It ranks, after Easter, as the second festival of the Church. In the West, the Vigil of Pentecost soon became a secondary date for baptisms, with a ceremony resembling the Paschal Vigil Service. (Pentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which falls on the 50th day after Passover.) As the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles on this day (Acts 2: 1), the name was applied to the Christian feast celebrating this event, popularly called "Whitsunday".

Memorial Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those members of our Armed Forces who made the ultimate sacrifice, without whose sacrifice we would not be free.

Memorial Days[1].
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

Our country is free today because when our freedom has been threatened by those who would overturn our way of life, patriots stepped forward to take action against our country’s foes.  They put their lives on the line that we might be free.  Tomorrow on Memorial Day, we remember those whose lives were given, whose families paid the price for our freedom today.  They did not give their lives for anything but freedom.  If you ascribe their motives to other motives, you do so at your own peril.

Hundreds of thousands have given their future for ours.  Charge your glass, raise it high.  Drink to them.  Give thanks to God for their patriotism and steadfast courage.

Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding. 

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister or our Deacon Striker.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off.  Red Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days.  Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events.  Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent.

The Propers for today are found on Page 180-181, with the Collect first:

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout Whitsun Week.

Dru Arnold read this morning’s Epistle, which written in the Second Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles beginning at the First Verse, which consisted primarily of a listing of all the countries and regions surrounding Jerusalem, or at least the hardest to pronounce ones, and a description of the actions of the Apostles when the Holy Ghost came upon them.  But, you will also notice that the coming of the Holy Ghost demonstrated the universality of The Word, for when they spoke in tongues, The Word spoke to each in their own language.  The Word was not some stranger’s language, but their very own!

W
HEN the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilæans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judæa, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Gospel which was written in the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Fifteenth Verse:

J
ESUS said unto his disciples, If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do.

Sermon – Time and Action - The Third God Guy
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

Consider these words from the Collect:

sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort 

When Jesus left on Ascension Day, we lost a teacher here on earth.  We still have Him as Redeemer and Savior, but what to do for understanding?  In response to His departure, God sent us the Holy Ghost.

Who is this Holy Ghost?

We worship the One True God, a triune God, that is Three in One; Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Most people have no trouble understanding the concept of God the Father, Christians seem to get God the Son, but many seem to have a bit of difficulty with the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost has been there since the beginning, He breathed life into the world, yet His actions seemed to be sporadic until Pentecost.

Well, today is Pentecost, the time one normally thinks of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Breath of God, the Comforter.  When people do think of Him, they oft think of the actions described in the words of Saint Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.  The dancing and speaking in tongues.  All that happened so we might understand that with the help of the Holy Ghost we might bring the Word to all mankind.  The Word of God is a universal language.  When the disciples spoke in tongues, the people around them heard the Word in their own language, not an odd combination of sounds that no one understood.  The disciples spoke and were heard by those around them in their own language, not Klingon.  It is not for us to speak in tongues without study; that was a one shot deal.  It was designed to show us that we could, with hard work and persistence bring the Gospel to the world in the language of the people.  

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that He would be leaving, but the Father would send a facilitator; one who whose presence, if we let Him into our hearts, would let us understand His Word with those self same hearts.  The Comforter would bring the Love of God into our hearts to let us feel His Love.  He will help us understand that we are striving to be one with God, with Jesus and with the Holy Ghost.  Our love can be demonstrated by our actions.  For if we love Jesus, we will do as He asked.

If you think about it, you will recall that the second half of the Book of Luke is titled The Acts of the Apostles.  It is not the thoughts, the beliefs, the feelings, the meditations, the inner feelings or any other touchy feely, it is the ACTS.  If you believe, act on those beliefs.

We need the help of the Holy Ghost to learn what we are to do, how we are to do it and most of all to do it.  Action, not just diction.

Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.  Today is one of those Sundays.  Today’s sermon starts off with the collect.  It will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

Sermon Whitsunday
27 May 2012 Anno Domini

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.  (John 4:19-26)

Pentecost, commonly called Whitsunday.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout Whitsun Week.

     We have hitherto observed the Church Season from Advent to Whitsunday (today) of the present year. The entire church year is like the budding of a beautiful rose in revealing the completed works of Christ for us.

     In today's text, Jesus had begun his ministry on Jordan Banks at His baptism, performed His first Miracle at a Wedding Feast at Cana of Galilee, and then determines that "He must needs go through Samaria." This is more than a quaint phrase from Shakespearean English. Why did Jesus NEED to go through Samaria when this would have been a diversion to the normal course of travel to Galilee? Perhaps we might posit that question much earlier: why did Jesus find it necessary to come to Bethlehem as a babe, or to be baptized like unto us, or to do so many marvelous works and wonders among us, or to readily go to the cross and die in our stead? The answer, of course, is that He must satisfy the foreordained purpose and grace of God the Father in saving us…..and, as well, a poor and sinful woman at Jacob's Well, and at an insignificant city in Samaria. Christ must needs go through Samaria because He knew of a woman whose heart was pierced with many wounds that sin had caused in that heart. And He came not only for that particular woman, but all of the other men and women of Samaria who would be drawn to Him through the testimony of that woman whom no one would have believed prior to her coming to know Christ. Is this not marvelous to know - that He came, two thousand years ago, to a manger in Bethlehem to save multitudes of that land, but also you and me in particular!

     Christ had a rendezvous with an unsuspecting woman whom He had watched many times, through the eyes of the Holy Ghost, come to draw water at an inopportune time of noon to the Well. She thirsted for water, but she knew not that Water which would satisfy not only her thirst but her soul. She brings an empty bucket to be filled, but she also brings an empty heart that needed filling more.

     Our Lord Jesus Christ is foremost a gentleman. The Spanish say: "Jesus es el Senor" He will not impolitely impose upon our hearts without a proper opening.  The Lord insightfully engages the woman with a marvelous exchange of wisdom and insight into her character and present circumstance. Doesn't He engage us in the same manner? Have we ever gone through the usual exercise of the day when, suddenly, we meet someone, or have an experience, that is totally unplanned but which changes our whole day? The woman got out of bed as usual that day. She avoided the women of the city and their gossip by going to the Well at the unusual hour of greatest heat – Noon.  But there she met someone whom she considered to be a Stranger. Perhaps He had been to her, but she had been no stranger to Him for He knew of every secret of her heart. He knows the secrets of our hearts as well and nothing is hidden from His understanding.

     As the two discuss the matter of water, the poor woman's heart is focused on water that lies fifty feet or so beneath the surface in the bottom of a Well; but Christ makes reference to that Water which comes down from Heaven – the Water of Life which He freely offers. An empty heart can hold much of this Water once it opens to the Giver. Our hearts are also made to be receptacles of that Water of Life if we open them to the Giver.

     The woman claims not to have a husband, and Jesus confirms that she does not have, for the five she has had before are not her husbands, and the one with whom she lives now is not her husband. The woman is mystified by this Stranger whom she can not deceive. He knows too much of her to be one of those kinds of men she has known in her past.  That is one of the characteristics of Jesus – He mystifies us with His grace, His love, and His Wisdom towards us.

     The woman recognizes that none other than a great prophet could utter such words of understanding. Her sin-dimmed mind is beginning to receive a small and glowing light that leads to an even greater suspicion of who this Figure might be.  She says that Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Now her mind is turned from earthly water to that which Christ offers. She is curious to know more.

     21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. Has that hour yet come for the moslem-infested land of Samaria? Truly it has.  We, too, can know what and Whom we worship for Christ has taken upon His perfect Person the flesh of men such as we are. Being sinless, He suffered every pain and temptation that we are heir to. There is not longer any geographic limitation to the worship of God; however, we must worship in Spirit and, at the same time, in Truth. If we have great spirit, but depart from truth, we are not worshipping the True God. If we worship rigidly in Truth but lack the attendant Spirit of Love, we are amiss in our worship. Truth and Spirit combine to the glory of God in worship.

     So the lesson of today's Gospel text reminds us of the fullness of the ministry and Person of Christ. He came in the flesh to minister to us and to be Light unto our path. He died for us sealing the redemption promised to Abraham and his Seed. He was, in fact, that Promised Seed. He rose on the Third Day, according to the Scriptures, and then what? He ascended into Heaven where He sits on the right hand of God to be our constant Advocate and Intercessor. Having physically departed, Christ promised not to leave us comfortless (Greek meaning: orphaned). He must send the Spirit to be our Comforter and Guide in leading us into an understanding of all the truth of Christ revealed in Scripture. A Spirit is not limited in physical properties. The Holy Spirit has the nature to be in a billion hearts at once and leading all in the particular way the Spirit determines. Christ went away in bodily form and sent the Spirit to be a comfort to all of God's people regardless the distance and time that separates them from one another. This is the Glory of Pentecost and Whitsunday! Do you have that Water of Life poured out in your heart by that Holy Spirit of God in Christ today?

Bishop Dennis Campbell’s Sunday Sermon
As is oft the case, we are honored to present Bishop Dennis’ Sunday sermon presented to his parish.  Dennis has a special sermon for the Sunday after Ascension Day:

God Our Comfort
Psalm 68, Acts 2:1-11, John 14:15-21
Whitsuntide
May 27, 2012

The message of Whitsunday, or, Pentecost, is God our comforter. The idea of a comforter brings several images to mind. We can think of the sense of comfort the people of ancient Israel felt knowing that the hills surrounding their city made them secure from attack. We can think of the sense of security of a small child embraced in his mother's arms and knowing his father stands, strong and ready to protect him from harm. We can think of the comfort we find in the love of people who love us. We can think of the comfort we find in the love and power of our Saviour, the Good Shepherd, of whom David said, "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." All of these invoke feelings of comfort and security, and remind us that God is our comfort in a way no human person or institution can ever be.

Let's think together about two ways in which God is our comfort. First, He is our comfort in the work of Christ who gave Himself on the cross, that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." There once was a barrier, called, sin, that kept us from God. Christ bore our sin in His own flesh, and when His body died on the cross, our sin died with Him. So that barrier is gone. We have free access to God through Christ. And Christ Himself spoke comforting words (we call them "comfortable words" in Holy Communion), saying "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest [comfort] unto your souls." Second, He is our comfort as He dwells in our souls through the Holy Spirit. If you are in Christ, that is, if you truly believe in Christ as He is revealed in Scripture, God lives in you. He makes His home in you, and He brings you into Himself to enable you to live in Him. The great God of eternity, almighty, all wise, all good, all sustaining, lives in you, makes His dwelling, His home, in your being. I have no words to adequately describe such a thing. Every word in every language I know is trite and empty and powerless to express the meaning of this reality. It has to be embraced on a level that is beyond words. Please embrace it.

The Collect for the day is a prayer of thanksgiving for the Gift of the Holy Spirit. God "didst teach" and make us rejoice in the comfort of the Spirit, "through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour," we pray in the Collect. The word, "comfort" comes from today's Gospel reading. In John 14:16 our Lord says, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." If you look a little further down the page of your Bible you will read in John 14:18, "I will not leave you comfortless." I am going to make a very profound statement here, so please listen intently. Comfort is the opposite of comfortless. There, aren't you glad you have me to explain these intricate theological complexities? But I didn't say that just for a joke. To be comfortless in this world is to dwell in spiritual darkness and despair so deep and heavy it crushes the life out of your soul. Darkness, in this sense means to have no knowledge of ultimate reality, and it means to have no hope of ever gaining such knowledge. It means to have no way of knowing truth or goodness or right morality. It also means to have no way of knowing God, or even if there is a God or not, or whether you're going to Heaven or hell or nothingness. This kind of spiritual darkness is the underlying cause of the despair and angst that grips our world today. Dwelling in darkness, people cannot know whether God exists or not, or what constitutes good choices that contribute to happiness and meaning in life, or if anything "matters" or not. They don't know anything, except that they will die one day, and death scares them because there might be a God and there might be a hell.

Comfortless means to be in spiritual despair because you are left with nothing but your own opinions and experiences upon which to make decisions that will decide your destiny today and forever. Comfortless means to live in the knowledge that any or all of your decisions can be wrong, and probably will be, and there is nothing you can do about it. There is no comfort in this kind of darkness, only an ever widening and deepening whirlpool of despair that will eventually drown you no matter how hard you swim, no matter how good a swimmer you are. Even believing that all people are in the same condition is no comfort. I know people who say they know they're going to hell, but at least they won't be alone. There is no comfort in that. It is only despair multiplied by billions of souls.

But Jesus said He would send the Comforter, and Pentecost is the annual celebration of the arrival of the Comforter of God, the Holy Spirit. The Comforter dispels the darkness and despair I just spoke about. He replaces them with knowledge for He is the Spirit of Truth. He teaches us the things of God. He reveals the truth to us. He gives to us the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God is life to our minds and souls forever. He dispels our despair by giving the sure and certain hope of our resurrection unto life eternal in the Paradise of God. He enables us to believe. I think this is probably the single, most important work of the Holy Spirit; He makes sense of life for us, He makes sense of God for us, He makes sense of the Bible for us, and then He enables us to believe what He has taught us, so we may receive the gift of eternal life by faith.

Then, the Holy Spirit, comforts us by enabling us to abide in the faith forever. He keeps our faith alive. That doesn't mean it will always be a bright and shining bonfire. Sometimes, I know, it will only be a smoldering ember, barely hanging on. But it will hang on. Isaiah 42:3 says of God, "A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench." There will be times when the trials of the world, the flesh, and the devil will make your faith feel like a smoking flax; like the barely glowing edge of the candle wick after the flame has been extinguished. He won't let it stop glowing. He will keep it alive. He will not quench it Himself, and He will not allow anything else to quench it. He will bring us into that place of unimaginable joy, and we shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever. That is comfort to the soul.

I must make one more important point before I end this sermon. The arrival of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago marks the beginning of the New Age; not as it is defined by a current fad, but as it is defined in the Bible. It marks the beginning of the end time and the last days; not as they are defined by current pop theology, but as the Bible refers them, as the final era and the last kind of day before God brings this present creation to an end and ushers in the Kingdom of God in complete fullness. It is the character, not the number, of the days that make these the last days. It is the character, not the place on the calendar, that makes our era the end time. You will save yourself much needless grief and prevent yourself from being fooled by those who say they have the return of Christ all figured out if you will simply learn and remember this; the end times are the era in which the promises of God in the Old and New Testament begin to come into fulfillment. The last days are the days when the plan of God for His creation begins to become reality. The Lord is gathering His elect and bringing them into His Kingdom, which is the Church. He is forgiving their sins and making them right with God and with each other. In the fullness of time He will end creation as we know it, and will restore it to its original goodness, populated by people who know, love and obey Him. The details of this plan are hidden in the mind of God, but the knowledge that it is happening is comfort to His people.

So God is our comfort in ways nothing else can be. And His comfort is primarily the comfort of the soul of those who "truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy Gospel" which is the promises of God" declared unto mankind In Jesus Christ our Lord." One of those promises is that He Himself will draw us into Himself and dwell within His people by His Holy Spirit.

"O God, who as at this time didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
--
+Dennis Campbell

Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia

Guest Sermon from Bishop George W. Conner
George Conner is the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Episcopal Church.  He graciously provided a copy of his sermon notes for Whitsunday.  I think you will find his sermon different than those usually published here, quite enjoyable and quite instructive.  I am confident you will enjoy it.

Quo Vadis - A Sermon for Whitsunday, 27 May 2012

Today’s Epistle lesson, Acts 2: 1-11 relates events on the day of Pentecost, variously calculated to have occurred sometime in the years 29 to 33. Often Pentecost, or Whitsunday, is called the “birth of the Christian Church” since it provided the reassurance of our Lord to His Apostles and early followers. that He, through the actions of the Holy Ghost, would be with them always. I want to skip some years afterwards, to the reign of the Emperor Nero (64-68 AD), and the persecutions of the early Christians in the Roman Empire, including the traditional martyrdoms of Saints Peter and Paul.

Persecution of the early church occurred sporadically almost from the beginning, but the government under Nero first sanctioned it. In 64 AD, a great fire ravaged Rome. Nero took the opportunity provided by the destruction to rebuild the city in the Greek style and begin building a large palace for himself. People began speculating that Nero had set the fire himself in order to indulge his aesthetic tastes in the reconstruction so, according to historians, the eccentric emperor placed the blame on the Christians for the fire in an effort to divert attention from himself. Nero was quite insane, and is reported to have tortured Christians with great cruelties for his own enjoyment. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote:

“Besides being put to death they [the Christians] were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were clad in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and was putting on a show in the circus, where he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or drove about in his chariot. All this gave rise to a feeling of pity, even toward men whose guilt merited the most exemplary punishment; for it was felt that they were being destroyed not for the public good but to satisfy the cruelties of an individual.”

Despite these extreme brutalities, Nero's persecution was local and short-lived. However, it was the first official persecution and marked the first time the government distinguished Christians from Jews. After Nero, it became a capital crime to be a Christian, although pardon was always available if one publicly condemned Christ and sacrificed to the gods.

Quo Vadis is a 1951 epic film made by MGM in Technicolor. adapted from Henryk Sienkiewicz's classic 1896 novel  of the same name. Thanks to this year’s Lenten and Easter programming by Turner Classic Movies, I was able to view  Quo Vadis again and record it. It also is available in DVD format from a number of sources. I commend it to you.

Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?" or "Whither goest thou?" The title refers to an incident reported in the apocryphal Acts of Peter. Peter was fleeing from likely crucifixion in Rome at the hands of the government. Along the road outside the city he met a risen Jesus. Peter asked Jesus "Quo vadis?", to which our Lord replied, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again". Peter thereby gained the courage to continue his ministry and returned to the city, eventually to be martyred.

The phrase also occurs a few times in the Vulgate translation of the Bible, notably in John 13:36, when Peter asks Jesus the same question, to which our Lord responds, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards."
When I was in the tenth grade, the film Quo Vadis came to my hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. It played at the Lamar Theater, only two blocks from Central High School. My friends and I all went to see it.  The film didn’t disappoint.

The action takes place in ancient Rome from AD 64–68, a period after Emperor Claudius' illustrious and powerful reign, during which the new corrupt and destructive Emperor Nero ascends to power and eventually threatens to destroy Rome's previous peaceful order.The main subject of the film is the conflict between Christianity and the corruption of the Roman Empire. The characters and events depicted in the film are a mixture of actual historical figures and situations and fictionalized ones.

The film tells the story of a Roman military commander, Marcus Vinicius (played by Robert Taylor), returning from the wars, who falls in love with a devout Christian, Lygia (played by Deborah Kerr). Marcus slowly becomes intrigued by her religion. Their love story is told against the broader historical background of early Christianity and its persecution by Nero, played by Peter Ustinof.  Nero's atrocities become increasingly more outrageous and his acts more insane. When he burns Rome and blames the Christians, Marcus goes off to save Lygia and her family. Nero captures them and all the Christians, and condemns them to be killed in the arena.

Marcus is arrested for trying to save Lygia. In prison, Peter (played by Finlay Currie), who has also been arrested after returning to Rome upon a sign of the Lord, marries the couple. Eventually, Peter is crucified upside-down.

Nero's wife, who lusts after Marcus, devises a diabolical revenge for his rejection of her. Lygia is tied to a wooden stake in the arena. A wild bull is also placed there, and Lygia's bodyguard giant, Ursus (played by Buddy Baer) must try to kill it with his bare hands, otherwise Lygia will be gored to death. Marcus is tied to the spectator's box and forced to watch, much to the horror of his officers, who also attend the spectacle. When all seems hopeless, Ursus is able to break the bull’s neck. Hugely impressed by Ursus' courage, the crowd exhorts Nero to spare them, which the emperor is not willing to do. However, Nero's four other advisors vouch for the mob's demands by putting their thumbs up as well. Marcus then breaks free of his bonds, leaps into the arena, freeing Lygia with the help of the loyal troops from his legion, and announces that General Galba is at that moment marching on Rome, intent on replacing Nero. The crowd, now firmly believing that Nero, and not the Christians, is responsible for the burning of Rome, revolts. Nero flees to his palace, where he strangles his wife to death, blaming her for attempting to scapegoat the Christians. Then, a palace slave who was once in unrequited love with Nero aids him to kill himself before the mob catches him.

 Marcus, Lygia and Ursus are now free, and leave Rome. By the roadside, Peter's  shepherd’s crook, which he had left behind when he returned to Rome, has miraculously sprouted flowers. As the film ends, the radiant light intones, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

I was particularly impressed with the music score for the movie, composed by Miklos Rosza. I wrote to Mr.Rosza to ask whether or not the score might be available for purchase. He actually replied to my inquiry, a very pleasant letter, but answering in the negative. I was able, not long afterwards, to find the music as a piano transcription at a music store. I promptly gave it to our organist at Galloway Methodist Church in Jackson which I attended as a child and teenager.  She played several of the selections from this music during  services for a number of years afterwards.

Here are some take-home lessons: the Christian Church has been under persecution for most of its history. Today we regularly see rampant persecutions  in Africa, Asia, and throughout much  of the rest of the world, mostly by militant Islam, but also by other non-Christian religions and secularists. The Church also is under persecution in this country by the ACLU, by militant atheists, by Marxists, by Muslims, and even by the policies of our own federal government.

American Christians aren’t now being killed in arenas, but open warfare has been  declared against Christian beliefs and practices by the current national administation. Long-established moral doctrines and dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church and its institutions have been assaulted . In so doing, the administration attacks orthodox Christians of all denominations, including our own. It assails Christian belief in the sanctity of marriage and the family. It attacks human life itself, at its beginning and through its end, by support of the abortion of the unborn, infanticide of the newborn, and by promoting policies that can only be described as euthanasia. Such poliies establish “health guidelines” which discriminate against the elderly, the handicapped, the chronically ill, and those who are considered to be unworthy of life because of their perceived mental inferiority. These policies will surely intensify in coming years.

I believe that we, as Christians, must “wake up and smell the skunk cabbage”. I believe that we are obligated to protest, by our deeds and by our giving, those policies of our so-called “leaders” that dehumanize the life given to us by our Creator. Each one of us must recognize that godly action is required. Said actions won’t necessarily be identical, but in aggregate, they should and must be to the glory of God the Father and His Son, our Lord

On this Whitsunday, let us give thanks for those Christian groups that promote freedom of religion, the sanctity of human life, and the preservation of the God-established family. Let us pray for the strength and wisdom to do what we must to return our nation to righteousness. And let us support those groups such as Barnabas Aid, which minister to the persecuted Christian Church throughout the world.

Let’s go back to the original question asked of our Lord by St. Peter: Quo Vadis? Whither goest Thou? Today the question may well be asked of each of us by our Lord: Where are WE going?

LET US PRAY:

A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify,

A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky.
To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill:

O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!
Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live;

And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare
A strict account to give!
Help me to watch and pray,
And on Thyself rely,

Assured, if I my trust betray, I shall for ever die.


[1] From the Book of Common Prayer page 42

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Ascension Day and The Sunday after Ascension Day


Ascension Day

On Ascension Day, we had three members present for the service. Ascension Day commemorates the return to heaven, the ascending of our Lord.  This is a day filled with joy, one where we get to recall fulfillment of promises.

The Ascension Day service always brings a lot of happiness and fun, being one of those days.[1] 

If you did not make it, resolve to come next year.  The parish will buy your dinner afterwards if it is your first time to the service[2].

The Ascension Day Propers[3]
The Collect
G
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

 ¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

For the Epistle. Acts i. 1.
T
HE former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

The Gospel. St. Luke xxiv. 49.
J
ESUS said, Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.

Ascensiontide Messsage from the Presiding Bishop
We live in an age of sensationalism and fantasy which often passes, among the naïve and spiritually gullible, for reality. On today’s charts there are books and DVDs claiming their authors to have made visits to either Heaven or Hell, and then returned to tell us of the fabulous experience they enjoyed there. Unlike the writings of CS Lewis such as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which derive from higher Gospel truth, these fables have no authority in biblical truth and openly violate that truth.

      The modern apostate churches have ventured into like error and open defiance of Gospel truth. Is there nothing sacred to the spiritual scoundrels of our day – not even Heaven itself? Reflecting on that great Creed of the Church, whose every claim is profoundly biblical, we aver Sunday after Sunday that Christ is the Son of the Father who came down to us by assuming a carnal body through the agency of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin, lived a sinless life marked by miracles and holiness, died a substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose the third day according to the scriptures. He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father. Do we believe this? Do we believe that Christ is uniquely the Son of the Father. Do we believe that his descent and ascension distinguish Him from all us mortals? Or was Christ wrong in His description of Himself as the Bread that came down from Heaven? If we believe Christ (and our mortal souls depend on that belief), He is the only Man who descended from Heaven and ascended again. If we believe, then all the popular claims of the sensationalists are egregious lies from the pits of Hell.

      Christ is distinct and different in His Office as Son of God and, even Himself, very God. He descended for us mortals, and ascended on High where He intercedes for us with the Father. And He will come again in like manner of his ascent to receive His Bride, the Church. Where will we own our estate if we have not believed in the immutable Word of God for He it is who bought and paid for us.

     At this Ascensiontide, let us reaffirm that biblical faith once delivered to the saints and reject the fables and myths of ungodly men.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Most Rev. Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Church

The Sunday after Ascension Day


The Propers for today are found on Page 179-180, with the Collect first:

The Sunday after Ascension Day.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.


The Collect for Ascension Day, found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:

The Collect for The Ascension Day.
The Collect.

G
RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.


Dru Arnold read this morning’s Epistle, which is written in the Fourth Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Seventh Verse:

T
HE end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel came from the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the Twenty-Sixth Verse.  The Gospel talks about the origin of the Holy Ghost and the reason for which He is being sent.  It also foretells the enmity that Christians will find from those of this world who do not share their understanding of God and His Will:

W
HEN the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.

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

Once again the propers for this week come together very well, their focus is narrow, thus powerful.

Consider these words from the Collect:

We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before

The Ascension having just happened, Jesus having ascended in to heaven, we are alone and separated from God who gives us strength.  Thus, we are looking towards Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost.  We ask for God’s help that we might follow Jesus to heaven for all eternity.

For, while the end of the earth and this world may come at any time, for 285,000 people each day, their time here is up.  Thus, in a very real sense as Saint Peter put it, “The end of all things is at hand…”  So, how should we act?  We are to do what we can with a smile on our face.  To work hard, take care of those who cannot and be good stewards of the considerable grace God has given us.  This does not just refer to spending MONEY, but rather to giving of our time and effort to bring the Gifts of God to others.  We are to share the LOVE in our hearts with those we encounter, for Love is of God.

But, without the Holy Ghost, the needed action on our part is impossible.  We need God’s help and He sent it in the form of the Holy Ghost.  The portion of God which can enter our hearts bringing understanding, hope and most of all the courage and determination to do what needs be done.  Those who will not have Him in their hearts can never understand God and His Will.

Pray for His continual presence in your heart.

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

Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.  Today is one of those Sundays.  Today’s sermon starts off with the collect.  It will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

Sermon Notes
Sunday after Ascension
20 May 2012 Anno Domini

The Sunday after Ascension Day.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.

     Our Collect for Sunday after Ascension follows logically the observance of the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is perfectly timely and natural that we, having observed our Lord ascend, should now desire the promised comforter - I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you(John 14:18) This word `leave means, in the Greek, to divorce or to sever all legal connection. Christ will not disown His people even if He has departed to a High Station. Many of our friends may forget who we are if they advance to high political or social office, but not our Lord Jesus Christ. His very Ascension was for our benefit. We have been left with a close and intimate intercessor who will ALWAYS testify of Christ to us and point always to His benefits.

     The Collect refers to God the Father as the King of Glory and is based, for the most part, on the 24th Psalm. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalms 24:7-8) It is interesting to note that the preceding Psalm (23rd) describes Christ as the Lord our Shepherd, and here the Father is called the King of Glory.  The plea is rhetorical for Christ has promised with a surety that He will NOT leave us Comfortless. The Holy Ghost (or Comforter) will exalt us to a standing place in Christ. The Holy Ghost has not come to exalt Himself, but to exalt and point only to Christ. We see that many churches corrupt the purpose of the Holy Ghost in granting wealth, power, and benefits outside those promised in Christ.

THE TEXT

    26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (John 15:26-27)  1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. 2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. 3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. (John 16:1-4)

     Christ walked among us and taught us all things concerning Himself. He went about all of Judea and Galilee preaching, teaching, and healing. But Christ was confined to a body with limitations of time and space. He came to a few whom He called to Himself as Apostles so that a living testimony would remain after His Testament (death Will). This was a necessary component of God's plan to expand the witness of the Gospel unto all nations by means of witnesses. Today, we are those witnesses who teach and preach the Gospel of Christ once delivered to the saints. This teaching has taken place from heart to heart.

     But it was necessary that Christ die on the cross, else we would remain unredeemed and unsaved. This was His most critical intent. Secondly, it was necessary that Christ ascend to the father, not only to make intercession for us, but that the Comforter might come. The Comforter, or Holy Ghost, is a Spirit not subject to limitations of time or space. The Holy Ghost is capable of witnessing in a diversity of places and times because He is a Spirit. He can warm my heart in Alabama and point me to the truth of the Gospel while He is able, at the same time, to do the same for a Christian in Indonesia. He not only reveals truth to us as written in Holy Scripture, but He also administers comfort, succor, and encouragement to us when the world offends. He does not leave us alone for He ABIDES in our hearts if we belong to Christ. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. Do not be deceived by the modern apostates that the Holy Spirit will whisper secrets in your ear not revealed in God's Word, or cause you to speak in a babble that no one else can understand (including yourself). The Holy Ghost is reasonable, Biblically true, and loving.

      27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. Jesus is speaking to His apostles here, but He also speaks to us. "From the beginning, for us, is the moment that we first believed. That is OUR beginning, for before we were born anew in Christ, we were dead in trespasses and sin. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Eph 2:1-6)

     We all find our `beginning' in Christ Alone. Because we have known Him from the beginning, we must also bear witness of Him. If we have ever been WITH Him at all in faith and trust, we must still be so, for He loses none that the Father has placed in His able hands.

    1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. There is an old saying, "To be forewarned is to be fore-armed."  When we have been warned of coming trouble, we are able to make provision for it and to prepare our hearts and minds. The Greek word for `offend' is Skandalizo. It means to entice to sin, or to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey (to cause to fall away). If you have been told by the Field Commander to expect to encounter enemy elements ahead, you will be alert and at the ready for the encounter. If, on the other hand, you walk complacently and oblivious to the enemy, you will not be prepared for the engagement and may perish by the wayside or in ambush.

      2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. Do you realize that more martyrs have died in the last century than any previous one? Do you know that men and women are being hung by their necks, and beheaded, today in the name of a presumptive god called Allah? Those who bear the sword believe that they serve God by brutally killing all who do not accept their false god. Christ has told you already that they shall put you out of the synagogues (churches). If you have not yet been cast out, do not be surprised if you are so cast out when you insist on biblical truth and righteousness. You may be labeled a `contentious one" for opposing a luke-warm Gospel or outright heresy. You may be beheaded as an `infidel' for adhering to the faith of Christ. "This is America – such things cannot happen here!" you may say. Really? Have you observed the great changes that have transpired in just your own lifetime in America? Have you noticed how those things that are godd have been relabeled bad, and the bad relabeled good? Have you noticed the departure from solid truth in modern churches and the embrace of abject error?

     3 And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. How can those who profess Christ, or even allah, cast you out as a heretic? Because they are false professors of Christ. They have not known the Father because they do not recognize His Son. The churches are full of such people every Sunday who call, unbelievingly, upon the name of Christ. They call upon that unblemished name to gain wealth and political objectives. They stoke their own fires in Hell by so doing.

     4 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. The predestinate will of God does not include sin. God never ordains sin, but He warns us that it shall come. God may use the sin of others to advance His will for us and to chastise us, or to try us, but He is never the Author of sin. Many are being told today that God will never allow them to undergo the great Tribulation. Suppose these know-alls are wrong. What happens when the tribulation fires are stirred for believers in China, India, Vietnam, North Korea, or Alabama? Will we cease to believe because we have not been warned and feel deserted by the of our nativity?Erroneous doctrine can do much harm. It is for this reason that Christ warns us, and why a right understanding of His Word is so critical for our time.

     What is it to you or me if Christ comes for us today, or in one hundred years? Regardless of when He comes for us, He is always `on the way' and we must be ready for the sounding of the trumpet. He may come for you in the next ten minutes by means of an heart attack, or He may come for me on the highway this morning as I drive to church. His coming for us is at His own discretion and good time. Give no thought for when the Master of the House shall return – simply be prepared for Him always and there will be no worry or grave doubts. Are you ready?

     The day will come, my friend, when God's Word ceases to go out through the medium of preaching and teaching. There is a famine coming upon the land – evidence of which may already be observed in the brazen sky and denuded land - Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. (Amos 8:11-12) Those who pick up man's Bible instead of God's is already evident in its prominence. The NIV, the ESV, and others posing as God's Word are simply copyrighted words of men who have corrupted the Bible and adopted false manuscript evidence to satisfy their insatiable appetite to embrace sin while appearing as Christians.

     God's Church is a Holy Army. It sends out missionaries and evangelists ahead of its main body just as an earthly army sends out skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes ahead of its own main line of deployment. When the enemy draws near for the decisive battle, these skirmishers, pickets, and vedettes are recalled to the main battle line. So shall it be in the days of the consummation of that Last Battle.

     It is interesting to note that the term `sorcerer' can mean a marketer of mind-altering drugs in some parts of Scripture:  Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. (Rev 9:21) The word, sorceries above in the Greek is the same from which we get the word `pharmacist' – Pharmakeia. Look also in the following verse taken from the last book of the Bible - Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. (Rev 22:14-15) If you have in your hands a modern wonder of error such as the NIV, you may miss some of the point of this counsel in verse 14: "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. " Rev 22:14 (NIV) This change is not consistent with every other truth of the Bible – it is the white and sinless Robe of Christ that covers our sins – not the effort we make in washing them ourselves. We are told in Philippians 3:2 to beware of those of the `concision.' These are those who `mutilate' the Word of God.

     In Verse 15 above, those dogs and sorcerers are a very clear definition of the society in which we live today. To the best of my recollection, no recognized government has ever before sanctioned homosexual marriage as legitimate. Though it was one underlying cause of the fall of Rome (Gibbon), it was not enacted into the law of the Republic. The Bible refers to sodomites as dogs - Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deut 23:18) The word used for dog is blk Keleb – whose gender is masculine and which means a male prostitute. The preceding verse is clear as well: There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite of the sons of Israel. (Deut 23:17) We see that this has already happened even at the Episcopal level of ECUSA and other apostate churches.

    The Day of Battle draws ever nearer in our day. The Church of God will remain only as a remnant, but all of the forces of Satan shall be destroyed who assail it. All of the armies of Satan shall be gathered and will encircled that little enclave of God's people. Then shall the power and might of God be demonstrated in destroying them. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Rev 20:9-10)

      There are those in our ranks who will resent my speaking so openly and forcefully of sin. The world would prefer a more gentle and polished dissertation of sinners, but God never minces words, neither should we in addressing the sins of the day. Are you in the right Army, or that which shall be destroyed by the Arm of God.  Remember: And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD'S. (1 Sam 17:47)

Bishop Dennis Campbell’s Sunday Sermon
As is oft the case, we are honored to present Bishop Dennis’ Sunday sermon presented to his parish.  Dennis has a special sermon for the Sunday after Ascension Day:

God Exalted
Psalm 21, 1 Peter 4:7, John15:26
Sunday after Ascension
May 20, 2012

"Grant, O Lord, that by thy holy Word read and preached in this place, and by thy Holy Spirit grafting it inwardly in the heart, the hearers thereof may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and may have power and strength to fulfill the same." In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Sunday after Ascension has two major themes. First is the exaltation of Christ. He came to earth in deep humility in which He was "touched by our infirmities."  He knew hunger, thirst, weariness, and what it means to live with the constant knowledge of the inevitability of death. He even knew death; not just death, but the horrible death by torture of crucifixion.  He knew all of this by experiencing it Himself, yet He lived in complete righteousness without sin.  His resurrection is His victory over His enemies.  Men and devils did their very worst to Him, yet He rose from the grave as easily as we rise from our beds at morn.  But the Ascension is His exaltation.  The Ascension is His return to His place in Glory, His ascent to His Throne.  The Bible talks about Him as being seated at the right hand of the Father.  This is the place of highest honour and glory.  There is no award or prize or honour anywhere to compare with this, for it means He is recognised and received by God as God.  He will remain on the throne of glory until His enemies are subdued forever and the whole creation honours Him as Lord and God.  He came to earth as a Servant.  He returned to Heaven as God. Thus, the exaltation of Christ is the first theme of today's message, and it is the reason we remember the Ascension of Christ.

Expectation is the second theme of the Sunday after Ascension.  We, who belong to Christ live in the expectation of His return.  The words of the Apostles' Creed are no mere words to us; they are the expression of a conviction that is at the core of our faith; "The third day He rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead."  The Nicene Creed gives His Return more emphasis, saying, "He shall come again with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end."  1 Peter states that "The end of all things is at hand." His words refer to the Return of Christ, when He will end the physical universe of material, space, and time as we know and understand it.  All will be changed, rolled up as a scroll, consumed by fire, and replaced by a new cosmos and a new earth in which we shall walk with Christ by sight rather than by faith.  For He will be with us, and we will be with Him in Paradise.  This is a major part of our expectation today.  We expect these things to happen just as we expect the earth to make a complete revolution every twenty-four hours. 

In the mean time we live in another expectation.  We live in the expectation of the fullness of the Holy Spirit.  When Christ spoke the words recorded in John 16 and 17 the Holy Spirit had not been given in the same sense that He came on Pentecost.  So the men who were soon to become Apostles were being told to expect the arrival of the Spirit.  The Spirit would be their teacher, leading them in the truth and enabling them to understand those things Christ had taught them during His three year ministry and during the forty days after His resurrection.  It is incredibly important for us to realise that our Lord did not just leave earth after His resurrection.  He stayed with the disciples for an intense time of instruction in the doctrines and practices He intended them to teach and establish in His Church.  One of the most important aspects of the work of Christ on earth was the formation of the Church, which the Bible calls both His Body and His Kingdom.  He gave instructions about the organisation, structure, doctrines, practices, and sacraments of the Church, and He commissioned the disciples to become the Apostles, to found the Church and to establish it firmly upon the teachings and directives He gave.  And we clearly see in the New Testament and in the Post Apostolic era that the Church worshiped liturgically and was led by bishops, presbyters, and deacons.

The Holy Spirit is given to the Church.  I do not mean to imply that individual Christians are not baptized in the Holy Spirit.  That would be like saying a house is built of clay bricks but the individual bricks have no clay in them.  But the Spirit is given to the Church and lives in the Church.  This is an important point because many people have separated themselves from the Church while claiming to have the Spirit, or, even to be led by the Spirit to leave the Church.  It is sadly true that most of the organisations that call themselves "church" are very far from the teaching and practice of Christ, and all true Christians must "come out from among them."  Likewise, all true Christians must align themselves with the true Church whenever possible, even if they have to be the only member of the parish in their area and communicate with the rest of the Church by mail or internet.  But all true Christians endeavour to be active members of the true Church.

But these points are asides.  The real point I want to express today is this; all who are in the true Church by faith in Christ, have the Holy Spirit.  There is no need to speak in tongues, or work miracles as "proof" that you have been "baptized in the Spirit."  Growing faith, diligent use of the means of grace, and holy living are the proofs that you are in Christ's Spirit, and Christ's Spirit is in you. Therefore, we expect the Holy Spirit to lead us into the things of God through the means of grace.  You can expect the Holy Spirit to lead you into the Bible, lead you into private prayer and public worship, lead you into the Church, lead you into the sacraments, and lead you into God.  This is part of our expectation today.

There is yet another, and very important expectation we remember today; the return of Christ for us.  I do not refer here to the Second Coming.  I refer to the moment when we pass out of this material world into the world where spiritual things are more real to us than material things are now.  I refer to that event we call death, when our souls go into the immediate presence of God and we see with our own eyes the glory and love and power and grace of the Almighty as He welcomes us into His presence forever.  This is our expectation as we gather before Him in worship on this Sunday after Ascension.


O
 GOD, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.  Amen.

--
+Dennis Campbell

Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
www.lifeinthescriptures.blogspot.com


[1] One can imagine the apostles on the line, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1 IGNITION, Houston, we have liftoff here at Cape Bethany.”
[2] Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.  On the other hand, what do you have to lose?  You have to eat and the parish might buy.  It certainly will, if you remind Hap!
[3] The propers are the Collect (prayer) for the day and the Bible readings appointed for the day.  They are selections based on the Christian Year and make a particular point.  Their selection is important.  The propers have been more or less the same since the beginning of the Church of England and a large portion precede the founding of the Church of England.