The Sunday after Ascension Day
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:
… leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before …
In some ways, today is no different than the very First Sunday after the Ascension. Jesus has ascended in to heaven, we are alone and physically separated from God who gives us the strength we need to do His Will. Like Peter and the other apostles, the further we are from God, the weaker we are. Thus, we are looking towards Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Ghost who will strengthen our connection to God.
We ask for God’s help we might have the true belief, courage, knowledge and strength to follow Jesus to heaven for all eternity. That help is on the way in the form of the Holy Ghost. On the other hand, it is different today than two thousand years ago. We actually have the real presence of the Holy Ghost, here and now. He does not ebb and flow with the liturgical year; where would we be if He did? He is a constant presence within our lives. We just have to acknowledge Him and follow the advice that He gives and all will be well with our souls.
The end of the earth and this world may come at any time, indeed for 313,000 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…” He counsels us to live each day as if it were going to be our last. Thus, we should act as if it was our last day on earth and do our jobs with smiles on our faces knowing our eternal destination is secure as long as we do our best to follow Him. This puts things into perspective for us and should make us more mindful of what we need to do to follow Him.
Jesus left us so that the Holy Ghost could come down and dwell amongst us and in us to provide us with the guidance we need to follow God. Without Jesus leaving, the Holy Ghost could not come down and dwell amongst us. With Jesus’s departure, the Holy Ghost was free to descend and enter into our hearts, souls and minds upon invitation.
In order to get the guidance from the Holy Ghost, we have to wait and hear what He has to say before we act. Then once that Holy Spirit has given the answer, we must act upon the answer. This is a continuous cycle and we must always prioritize our work to be for God, our Country, Family, friends and co-workers in that order and things will fall in line. Along these lines, we must strive 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 called not to hoard love, but to spread it throughout our travels. For as love is of God, then it follows there is an infinite supply of love. In fact, love multiplies with use, so there is more than infinite amount of love out there.
For as Saint Peter says in his Epistle this morning, charity (love) truly does cover a multitude of sins. So, when we do things for others, the driving force behind our actions should be that of charity, or love, for our fellow human beings and not any self-seeking motivation. Charity will cover for our multitude of sins, but we need to be thinking how we can help others. It is the greatest of gifts God and the Holy Ghost gives to us; a gift we find ourselves needing to use more often. The Holy Ghost is key in giving us the desirable thoughts and attributes that we need to carry out His Plan on Earth. He also helps us deal with our less desirable thoughts and attributes and helps us deal with very difficult people and situations. Turning to the Holy Spirit in those very stressful times will reduce the burden on your heart and shift it from you to God, giving you the clarity you need to act for Him, to be able to act in an effective and Christ like manner.
The Gospel’s take away is without the Holy Ghost’s presence in our hearts, the needed action on our part is impossible.. This explains why those who do not follow Christ cannot comprehend the strength and value of the Good News and Jesus’s death and resurrection. They do not have the wisdom to understand because they refuse to let the Holy Ghost into our hearts. The Holy Ghost is that portion of God who can enter our hearts bringing the needed spiritual resources to help us win the spiritual battle here on Earth. Those who will not have Him in their hearts can never understand God and His Will. That is why they cannot understand or fathom the plan He has for us. They cannot understand why we follow God and Christ. They do not believe; therefore, they cannot have Him in their hearts, and therefore they will not understand.
The end of time is nearer each day than the day before, of that we can be certain. But there is a certainty we have in this uncertainly world, the unfailing love of our Lord and Saviour Jesus and the presence of the Holy Ghost in our lives, if we let Him in, and the inerrant Holy Scriptures to guide us throughout the rest of our lives. With this knowledge of an unchanging standard, we can stand fast by this standard and be content knowing we are following the One True Triune God, and though we may physically suffer a while, it is nothing to enjoying eternity with God. This is an advantage that us believers have over non believers is that unwavering certainty of our final destination once we have ran our race for Him here and departed this life.
The current world climate, even in this country, is less hospitable than in centuries to Christians. There is a reason for this which only God understands and not us. God has a plan for all of this. And in the end God’s plans always work out, even if we do not understand it at the time. We just have to trust in God and do our part to follow Him and do our part to follow His Plan. In time, we will realize what the plan is. But for now, we are unaware of His plan in the greater scheme of things. But what it is doing is solidifying the faith of true believers around the globe, forming the Army of Light together, ready to battle against the malicious forces of Satan. We cannot make this journey alone. We must have the close and continuous presence of God. That presence is the Holy Ghost. That is why He is here.
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.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
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