Anglican Orthodox Churchsm
Worldwide Communion
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Sunday Report
The Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – August 11, 2024
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Propers:
The propers are 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 1540’s 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.
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 saint’s 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 195-196, with the Collect first:
The Collect for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. The Epistle. 1 Corinthians xii. 1.
BRETHREN, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
The Gospel for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity. The Gospel. St. Luke xviii. 9.
JESUS spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
On Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come from? The answer is from the people who uttered them. But, how did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, others from Rev. Geordie and many from Rev Bryan Dabney and a few from other places. Rev. Geordie – England (left)
Points to Ponder:
I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Psalm 116:1
He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
Proverbs 13:3
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with recompense; he will come and save you.
Isaiah 35:4
Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
Jeremiah 17:14
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1:2 (KJV)
Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this: always obey such an impulse. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
We cannot expect too little from man, nor too much from God!
Matthew Henry
A life spent in the service of God and communion with Him, is the most pleasant life that anyone can live in this world.
Matthew Henry
The Bible is a letter God has sent to us. Prayer is a letter we send to Him.
Matthew Henry
Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.
St. John Chrysostom – 4th century bishop at Constantinople.
Another thing which is essential to growth in grace is carefulness in the use of public means of grace. By these I understand such means as a man has within his reach as a member of Christ’s visible church. Under this… I include the ordinances of regular Sunday worship, the uniting with God’s people in common prayer and praise, the preaching of the Word, and the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. I firmly believe that the manner in which these public means of grace are used has much to say to the prosperity of a believer’s soul. It is easy to use them in a cold and heartless way. The very familiarity of them is apt to make us careless. The regular return of the same voice, and the same kind of words, and the same
ceremonies is likely to make us sleepy, and callous, and unfeeling. Here is a snare into which too many professing Christians fall. If we would grow, we must be on our guard here. Here is a matter in which the Spirit is often grieved and saints take great damage. Let us strive to use the old prayers, and sing the old hymns, and kneel at the old communion rail, and hear the old truths preached, with as much freshness and appetite as in the year we first believed. It is a sign of bad health when a person loses relish for his food; and it is a sign of spiritual decline when we lose our appetite for the means of grace. Whatever we do about public means, let us always do it “with our might” (Eccl. 9:10). This is the way to grow!
The Most Rev. J. C. Ryle– 19th century Anglican bishop and author (Holiness, pp. 115-116).
A Prayer for the Anglican Orthodox Church
O Lord our heavenly Father, look down from heaven, we pray, on thy holy church, and especially on our Anglican Orthodox Church. Fill it with thy Holy Spirit of peace, power, wisdom and goodness, and make it strong in will to do thy will. Keep it from all danger, evil and error, and defend it from all of its enemies. Bring into its fold thy countless children who are wandering today as sheep without a shepherd, that they may be fed with the Living Bread and nourished with the Water of Life. Move the hearts of thy people to give to it generously of their bounty as Thou hast given to them, that it may flourish for thy Name’s sake, witnessing to the glory of thy Son our blessed Saviour, and fulfilling its mission of training sound men for its ministry and spreading the good news of reconciliation to all mankind; that thy kingdom come and thy will be done through all the earth: all of which we ask in the Name of thy dear Son our blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bishop James P. Dees, Statesville, NC
1963
Jerry Ogles
Presiding Bishop
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
We are fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s you tube links, devotions on the Prayer of the Collect and sermon notes.
Bishop Jerry creates videos on various subjects, they last just under ten minutes and this week’s videos are listed below:
Article XI: Brief Study of Article 11 of the
39 Articles of Religion (below)
Parable Series by Bishop Jerry L. Olges: The Marriage Feast
(link below)
Sermon Notes for Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
THE PRAYER OF NEED
The Collect
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Every man, woman and child is born into this world with a great NEED – the need for salvation and the providence of God in their lives. There is an old saying that “beggars cannot be choosey” and so it is with prayer. God is the Great Sovereign of the Universe. He is eager to hear and to answer our prayers if we ask out of a humble and contrite spirit for the things it is pleasing to Him to grant. There is only one way our Great Need can be satisfied, and that is through the mercy of God alone. We are not entitled to anything under heaven; but God is pleased to grant those things that are right and just to us.
The Prayer of Collect succinctly states the issue. We seek His mercy to grant us grace to not only come to His throne of Mercy, but also to be granted the grace to walk in His Commandments and by His Spirit of Love. Once we are made sons and daughters of the King of Kings, we must deport ourselves accordingly by walking in His Way as princes and princesses.
Remember, too, that prayer is a two-way communication with God. Not only should we reverently offer praise to Him in every prayer, state our Need, and close with a glorifying benediction; but we must also wait on His response to those prayers. We must not simply repeat prayers as from mere rote memory, but deeply consider the actual terms of our petition. Remember the Third Commandment in prayer: “7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7; all scripture quoted is from the king James Bible) It is likely that the Lord’s Name is taken in vain in church as often as out. Mean what you pray!
In Paul’s 1st Epistle to the Corinthians, he enumerates the vast features of which the Gospel faith consists. First, we must receive the Word in faith as seed for the new character and life in Christ; we must Remember the Word through diligent study; we must stand upon that Gospel that we have received and believed; we must recognize our utter lack of worthiness and recognize only that merit of Christ by which we are accounted worthy; and last of all, we must be aware that we do not rust inwardly by self, but outwardly by the One who has redeemed us.
In confirmation, the Gospel text, of these points made in our prayer and the Epistle, our Lord tells us a parable that is directed to the hearts of those whom He knew were averse to His teaching. In the previous verses 1-8 of this same chapter, Jesus tells another parable concerning a humble widow who was persistent in prayer ere her prayer was answered. Many of those who heard His words were yet proud and rebellious to His teaching; so, He now tells the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican to distinguish between the prideful heart and the humble.
There are two opposing character dispositions revealed in this parable – the proud and boastful (the Pharisee) and the humble and penitent Publican. The difference in these two men makes all the difference in the state of our salvation.
Both men come up to the temple to pray. Whether in a valley, or on a mountain top, our prayers always place us in a spiritually higher plane. They came, supposedly, for the right purpose – to pray. But the similarities end at that point.
See how the Pharisee, dressed in his fine robes, prays – not to God – but within himself. He did, however, begin with the right words – “God, I thank Thee!” He would have been better off if he had said no more, for all after revealed his pride and disdain for others: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” He is unaware of his own sinful disposition. He believes himself to be righteous apart from the grace of God. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) He considers himself better than others in his self-proclaimed righteousness. He has come to an openly public forum – the Temple – to make his prayers for others to hear his boasting. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts! The Pharisee believes himself on high ground. He looks down on the Publican whom he considers to be on the lowest spiritual ground – but it is just the opposite.
The public is full of shame and remorse for his sins and lack of standing with God. The Publican would not so much as approach the Temple grounds for his lack of worthiness. He stood afar off and would so much as take the license to look up to Heaven, and smote upon his anguished breast in proclaiming his prayer of NEED! “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” What was the decisive difference in these two men?
The Pharisee failed to know his own heart in believing himself righteous and worthy. The Publican saw himself in light of the Word of God as a mirror to his soul. He knew himself unworthy to even address a Holy God; but it was precisely this frame of mind that enable his prayers to be received in favor and not rejected as was that of the Pharisee. The Pharisee came with the spirit of Cain; the Publican in the humility of Abel. Cain’s sacrifice was rejected because the source of his offering came from a cursed source – the ground. God had cursed the ground for Adam’s sake in Genesis 3; moreover, there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood. Abel brought and acceptable offering from his flock.
These two accounts are similar in nature. The offering of the Pharisee was made for vain purposes in being heard by others. His prayer did not garner the favor of God. The prayer of the Publican was out of a broken and contrite heart. “17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalms 51:17) Thus, the Publican went away justified while the proud Pharisee went away as lost as when he came.
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
Sermon – Bishop Jack Arnold – Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together. Consider the words from the Collect, wherein we ask God … who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; …
Once again, this Collect is kind of a follow-on to the last few weeks’ Collects. In the collect, we acknowledge that God’s tremendous power is manifested not in terror, but in mercy and pity on our failures. We should note that with all of the power that God has, He chosen to grant kindness and mercy to us; not the punishment we truly deserve. In this mercy, He shows His Almighty Power. He does not act like an imperfect human would in his position. Most humans are not capable of showing such mercy and kindness to others, not without the help of God and the Holy Ghost. This shows why we really need His Help. He is far kinder to us than we could ever possibly deserve. He provides the ultimate example of how we should act when great power and responsibility are given to us to handle. Like the servant of Matthew 18:23, we too often we act irresponsibly with said power and responsibility. Given our fallen nature we choose to cause misery rather than kindness. We must choose to do good rather than evil. It is difficult, but it is even harder without the help of the Holy Ghost.
The Collect goes on to ask His Help in following His Commandments so we might gain the good which comes from following His Will. We need to note that when we follow His Will, good things will happen to us. There will be times of hardship and that is expected of being a follower of God. But there will also be innumerable good things that happen to us as a result of following Him. We need to remember this in times of trouble and tribulation that if we stick it out and do our best to follow His Will, we will receive many good thing, the ultimate of which is eternal life with God our Father and Jesus in heaven.
In order to follow His Will, we have to not just talk the talk, but actually walk the walk. It can be extremely difficult; but this is what God has called us to do. If we truly do our best to follow God, it will not be easy at times, but in the end it will all be worth our trials and tribulations if we but stay the course. He calls us to perform actions in alignment with His Word, in order to spread His Word. We cannot effectively spread His Word if we are not in alignment with His Word. The reason we have trouble with this is that we are imperfect creatures with not just free will, but manifold, perhaps rampant free will, the norm is to choose what we want, not what we need, then we come to calamity. We are each grievous sinners, some worse than others, none better. Yet, we all come before God equal in our sinful state. In equally big trouble, some more, none less. We are all equal by virtue of the fact we are hopeless sinners without the saving grace and faith of Christ. It is only through His Faith we are saved. Not our faith, but the faith of Christ who dwells within us.
This is the point Saint Paul is making when he says that first he gave unto us that understanding he got directly from God as to the role of Jesus Christ. He recounts some of the factual information about Jesus’ time here on earth after the crucifixion, the descent into hell and the resurrection. He confirms the story of the Gospel as told to him. He notes the various witnesses, still alive or recently passed away. He makes the point we must propagate the Gospel so others might believe. In order to truly spread the Gospel, he infers our actions must be congruent with Scripture. He tells us we are saved by faith alone. The point is that we need to make sure that our actions lead people towards God and Jesus and not away from them.
Our faith? Partly, but not chiefly and not first. Then, by whose faith are we saved?
We are saved by the perfect faith of Christ, our only mediator and advocate before the Father. It is not by our faith, but the faith of Him who dwells within us, that of Christ. Without Christ, we could not have any faith to begin with. The perfect faith of Christ allowed a single sacrifice to be made one time, to cook the books and account for the sins of all mankind for all time. His is the faith which saves us and our faith in Him allows Him to operate in us.
The Holy Ghost is the big difference and advantage we have over those who are of this world. They do not have His guidance and comfort and are thus easily led astray by Satan. We must note that the Holy Ghost will not enter into those who disavow Him. God will not force His Way in. We have to first ask Him to enter, then only then will He enter. God does not force His Way on people and neither should we. If people refuse, then we should to paraphrase Jesus, shake the dust off our shoes and let them be. We are not called to force our beliefs on those who do not want to hear them. That would be contrary to His Message.
Another thing to consider is Jesus is real, He is Who He says He IS. He is not a fictional character; he is not a great teacher. He is THE SON OF GOD and He came to save us: body, heart, mind and soul. There is no other way to view Him that makes as perfect sense as this.
If that is not enough to turn your heart, consider the parable of the publican and the Pharisee related by Saint Luke. The man who was proud of his performance was not the example Jesus chose for the one justified, rather the one who acknowledged his failures and asked God for forgiveness and help. This is to point us as an example of who we should be like. It can be said with confidence it is not the Pharisee. Think of these examples and who would we rather be like, the publican, or the Pharisee? Because of our imperfect nature we often times find ourselves acting like the Pharisee rather than the publican. With the Holy Ghosts help we can train ourselves to act more like the publican and less like the Pharisee. And that is what we me must do. We must remember, the Pharisee’s job consisted of finding clever ways around the 613 Mosaic Laws. The publican was looking for help in actually following two commandments:
Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith.
THOU shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets. (BCP Page 69)
And, just as importantly, the publican was not looking for ways around those two laws, he was looking for help to follow God and forgiveness when he fell short. In our day to day lives, let us strive to be more like the publican and less like the Pharisee. Let us follow the publican’s example and look for help to follow God and ask for His Forgiveness when we inevitably fall short. Let us ask God for the help we need to follow His Will. For we must have His Help to act as we must here on earth!
Action counts. For by their actions ye shall know them. 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
Yves M. Méra
Presiding Bishop – AOC France Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide
We are fortunate to have a sermon from the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Orthodox Church of France and the Administrative Coordinator of Europe and Africa. As you will read, he is an excellent writer. The sermon is easy to read and provides much insight.
SERMON for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
AGAINST PRIDE
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
In arguing with God about Sodom, “And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18:27). If Abraham is indeed our father in faith, then we know that we are worth no more than him. And if Abraham is only dust and ashes, we are of his same race: dust and ashes. We have no reason for boasting of anything, nothing to be proud of.
As for those who march through the streets every year in June to show their ultra-minority sexual pride, it would do no harm to remind them that they were first created and that they are dust and ashes like us, and that like us, they owe their lives to their Creator (Genesis 2:7): “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” The only thing we can be proud of is not our sin, but that we are made in the image of God: male and female – not male or female, as you might like to choose! (Genesis 1:27) “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” And God’s plan was aimed at the fruitfulness of men (Genesis 1:28a): “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it”. Forming couples that are inherently infertile has never been in God’s will. This is sinning.
But there is worse than marching through the streets in scantily clad clothes waving multicolored striped flags, and our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us of this in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. Indeed, marching in the streets is nothing but vain propaganda and adolescent provocation. This approach is most often counterproductive, because it is shocking many, and many homosexuals turn away from it, because they feel embarrassed by it. It goes to show that the consciousness of sin remains, even in the deepest of degradations. And there is something worse than boasting before men by manifesting a guilty solidarity in sin: it is to boast before the Eternal God, attributing oneself some personal merit. We have no merit in anything, and if we have deserved anything, it is eternal hell. For we are all rebellious to God, disobedient, insensitive to His love and His rights over us who are His creatures.
Our Lord Jesus Christ puts these boasters of all kind and half naked in their rightful place. (Luke 18:9): “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” That is the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. But first, who are they? Jesus does not name them. It is therefore a general parable, applicable to each and every one of us.
What does the dictionary actually say? A Pharisee is a Jew who separates himself from other Israelites to live in strict observance of the written Law and the oral tradition of the scribes, and whom the Gospels accuse of formalism and hypocrisy. A French author from Brittany, a disbeliever but educated Celt, gives this truculent description of it: “A Pharisee was an infallible and impeccable man, a pedant certain to be right, taking the first place in the synagogue, praying in the streets, giving alms to the sound of a trumpet, seeing if he is greeted.” You may recognize Ernest Renan. And according to the Christian author François Mauriac, “the Pharisee has only the ostentation of piety, of virtue; he is a false devotee who believes that he embodies perfection and truth, strictly observing a dogma and rites; he recognizes by this the right to judge others severely, to condemn their conduct under the guise of doing them a service”, but he does so according to his own criteria – not those of the Bible, or else by arranging them in his own way. The French philosopher Alain published this definition in 1913: “The Pharisee is a man who believes in God, and who believes that God is pleased with him […] Whoever offends the Pharisee offends God: ‘Lord, you are righteous; You know my mind and my heart […] the moral light, the political light, it is I who have it. All perfection works through me […] therefore I have no right to forgive.’” Isn’t that thoroughly horrific?
As for the publican, still according to the same dictionary of the French language, he is a public man, a civil servant. There were two levels among them: on the one hand, they could be rich Roman knights who took over the collection of taxes. They paid the taxes owed to Caesar for the entire population of their jurisdiction, and repaid themselves by taxing those who were liable, often far beyond what was due, as Zacchaeus confessed to Jesus when he visited him (Luke 19:6-8): “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”
In the old French Penal Code, it was a crime, the crime of bribery, punishable by the highest penal Court. Today, it is only a misdemeanor, but the penalties have remained the same: 5 years of imprisonment and a €200,000 fine, unique and non-negotiable. On the other hand, the same term “publican” referred to the subordinate employees of these Roman knights, generally chosen from the local population. All of them were despised and hated by the people, and attracted this hatred and contempt by their authoritarianism and an air of superiority which they knew how to make their constituents feel, for whom they had no particular regard nor special tenderness, to say the least.
Typically, this is how Caesar’s public servants address the sovereign Creator, in the mouth of Jesus Christ (Luke 18:11-12): “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess”. Yes, the tax collector is a thief, like those to whom John the Baptist addresses this harangue (Luke 3:12-13): “Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.” Yes, the tax collector was unjust; Man is weak and the temptation is great to abuse the power given by public authority, at a time when controls were almost non-existent. No, the tax collector does not fast twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, because he works for the Romans who do not fast. And no, he does not give tithes of all his income, unless he is converted, like Zacchaeus in the presence of Jesus Christ: “Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” When Zacchaeus opens his heart and his wallet in repair, it is much more than the tithe he pays all at once: not 10% of his income but 50% of his capital, and 400% of what he received in excess of what was due. The main interest in the spiritual leads to a total disinterest in the material affairs.
In our parable, the publican accuses himself not of what he does, but of what he is – a sinner (Luke 18:13): “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” He rolls himself in dust and ashes, well aware that he has deserved the rejection of everyone in general, and of God in particular. Note the major difference between the Pharisee and the publican: if the publican believes in God and humbles himself before His Majesty, the Pharisee believes in himself and in his good works to deserve God’s approval, which he seems to take as a carpet seller with whom one could negotiate a discount to make a good deal. What a horrible mistake!
Which one do you think is closer to the truth? The Pharisee or the publican? Jesus gives us the answer: (Luke 18:14): “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Let us not seek to justify ourselves by puffing ourselves up with pride before God and rolling our machines to the tune of techno-music, perched on the imperial of a double-decker bus which is for the Creator the cart of the condemned, but let us roll in dust and ashes, for this is what we are made of, and this is what we are worth in the eyes of God, we and our so-called good works. The true Pride of Christians is what the Church manifests every year, every Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent, “… for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Even to Zacchaeus, Jesus gave this command (Luke 19:5b): “Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.”
This is the Gospel that Paul reminds the Corinthians, whose inhabitants were not known for their modesty, enriched as they were by the rights of passage of boats by land on scrolls. This Gospel of humility by which “… ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:2b). What can we be proud of, when “Christ died for our sins“? (verse 3). And Paul goes on to say (verses 4-8): “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”
It is often preached about the joy and relief that the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ brings to His faithful. But we must not forget the shame that the same Jesus Christ inspires in us when He saves us out of love, when we have all deserved the opposite, in hell. If God has saved us, it is therefore only by His grace, by a decree of His will alone. We have no merit in this salvation given to us by grace (verse 10): “… by the grace of God I am what I am …”, Paul says.
And the same Paul adds (verses 10b): “… and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Who are we in relation to Paul? evangelists who spread the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ in many foreign lands? Who are we in relation to Our Lord Jesus Christ? Bearers of His cross like Simon of Cyrene climbing with Him the slope of Mount Golgotha? We have done nothing of the likeness. We are useless and fruitless servants. And yet we have received the grace of God. We have nothing to brag about before God. All we have to do is roll in dust and ashes, and this is what our bodies will become again, once we have left our bodies of flesh and flown to heaven with our spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:42b-44): “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” “… so we preach, and so ye believed.” (1 Corinthians 15:11b).
We must put an end once and for all to this human pride that pushes us to boast of what we are – because we are dust and ashes – or of what we have been able to do well – because we have not done anything worthwhile that is likely to save us. Only the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, His total abandonment and His unwavering trust in the Father’s will and power to raise Him from the dead on the third day, is effective in saving us (Titus 2:11-14): “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Ephesians 2:8): “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God”
Let us give thanks to God who created and elected us before we were born, to Jesus Christ our Lord who redeemed us for His Father, to the Holy Spirit who dwells in us and convinces us of the truth of the Gospel, and to the Church who has transmitted and taught us this Good News of salvation, which has freed us from pride and the slavery of sin. Amen.
Rt. Rev. Yves Méra, AOC Bishop of France.
Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s AOC Vicksburg, Mississippi – Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, espouse the truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
In our gospel lesson for today, our Lord rebuked those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others (St. Luke 18:9). In his parable of the Pharisee and the publican, our Lord made plain God’s disdain for those whose lack of humility led them into arrogance before his throne. The particulars of this parable are these: two men entered the temple to pray. The former was a Pharisee and the latter was a publican, or tax collector. The former stood before God and recited a litany of supposed good things he had done for the LORD; while the latter stood afar off, having judged himself a sinner, and smote his chest as he sought God’s pardon. Our Lord then closed the parable with his appraisal of these men and identified the publican as having left the temple justified because he had humbled himself before God while the Pharisee had not.
Article XII of our Articles of Religion states in part: “. . .that good works, which are the fruits of faith and follow after justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgment… “ And Article XIV states: “Voluntary works besides over and above, God’s commandments … cannot be taught without arrogancy … for by them men do declare, that they do more for [God’s] sake than of bounden duty is required: whereas Christ saith plainly ‘when ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We are unprofitable servants.”
Our Lord was often chided by the scribes and Pharisees for his teachings because they conflicted with their understanding of God’s word written. These gatekeepers of the truth had insulated themselves from the very thing they were supposed to protect and espouse before men, and they did so via the traditions of their fathers (see St. Matthew 23:1-39). Proverbs 16:5 states, Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD. Also Proverbs 20:6 says, Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? And again in Proverbs 22:4 we learn that, By humility and fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life. And our Lord said (St. Matthew 18:4), Whosoever therefore will humble himself … the same is the greatest in the in the kingdom of heaven. And where was their humility? Clearly, they had none. They saw no need to do those things which Moses and the prophets had called on them to do in order to preserve their own souls as they were only interested in defending their traditional understanding of things (St. Matthew 15:7-9).
Today, we find that the disease of pharisaism has infected many souls who claim to follow our Lord. The modernist Pharisees will offer up to God their lists of “look-at-what-I-did-for-you-today” never once realizing that all their works are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). And so it should not be surprising if they resemble the Laodicean Church who also believed themselves to be rich and in need of nothing. (Revelation 3:17).
By contrast, the proper Bible Christian when presented with such thoughts of self-sufficiency and self-aggrandizement will fall to his or her knees in humble reverence acknowledging the very God who made such wealth possible. Sadly, the numbers of those who might be termed a “proper Christian” are dwindling daily. If one examines the various churches of our time, you will find several problem areas. First of all, there is a disturbing absence of humility. There is also, pretentiousness in worship; as well as an over abundance of self-centeredness. There is further, a rising tide of assumption about what God expects from his people that is not based upon Scripture; and an ever-increasing quantity and quality of deception. All the above have aided in the corruption of Christian doctrine. Let us now examine each of those charges in turn.
To begin with, the lack of humility is troubling because God has called his own to worship him in spirit and in truth (St. John 4:23-24). Arrogance is forbidden as all who would come to God must humble themselves before him (St.Luke 18:14). Consider the position that Moses took at the burning bush in the wilderness. God told him to take off his sandals and then Moses hid his face, likely in a face-down position (Exodus 3:1-6). Psalm 95:6 calls on us to …come let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. Kneeling as we do in our worship is a posture of humility. Still, we all have witnessed those who will kneel in arrogancy desiring to be seen of others as humble. Nevertheless, those who assume a godly posture devoid of a godly purpose will net themselves nothing in the long run. They may have the immediate satisfaction of appearing humble before men but their true selves are not hid from the Almighty.
There is also much pretense in worship today especially where the church mirrors that of a concert hall. “Let’s Pretend” Christians hold that entertainment is more important than humbleness in the presence of the Almighty. To these errant souls, worshipping the LORD in reverence “does not do it for them.” They are into “feeling” and not faith. However, feeling what they perceive as the Spirit of God may be nothing more than a pleasing sensation that they might have experienced while watching a love story on tv, or while listening to a popular song on the radio.
The over abundance of self-centeredness goes hand in hand with a lack of humbleness in worship. Truth be told, their worship is more an elevation of themselves; and, on account of their narcissism, they have also earned the moniker of “selfies.” So it should not be surprising that they are too busy taking care of themselves to give God what he desires most: their undivided attention. And so it follows that any church which engages in a form of worship dominated by self-centeredness will lose their sense of decorum and be overtaken by a rising tide of assumption about what is acceptable, godly worship. The Devil’s plan all along has been to destroy true Christian worship. He has utilized man’s senses to lure as many Christians as he can from a wholesome and true worship of the Godhead into a state of sensuality and carnality. Just as God is not honored in the worship of any pagan deity, so he is not honored by worship practices that do not give him all glory, laud and honor he rightly deserves.
Without a doubt, the aforementioned points will have a direct impact on their understanding of the doctrines of the Christian Church. How can they know the truth of the gospel when it is being withheld by ministers whose primary purpose has been to lure the unsuspecting into their slaughter-houses of falsehood and deceit? To paraphrase a character from “The Outlaw Josie Wales”: “They have been decently entertained carnally, and they have been decently slain spiritually.” Their capacity for godly discernment has been seared with the hot iron of sensation and excitement rendering them willing accomplices in the crime of arrogancy— offering God what feels good to themselves. In that condition, they are no different than the Pharisee who stood up and extolled himself before God.
Juxtaposed to the Pharisee in the parable was the publican. He sought and received forgiveness because he humbled himself before the LORD. It is only when we come before God’s throne of grace pleading with him to take away our sins that we are made fit to experience his love for us. As with the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, so will our heavenly Father graciously receive and pardon all who come to him if, and only if, they come with a heart seeking his forgiveness. For only those who truly seek after God will be made right with him through private confession and amendment of life. Only those who offer him the true sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart will be forgiven. Only those who worship him in spirit and in truth and without pretension or assumption will have their prayers received and their worship accepted.
And so two men entered the temple to pray. The Pharisee came with pride, while the publican came in humility and regret for his past actions. The Pharisee came and extolled himself, while the publican came downtrodden and abased himself before God. The Pharisee sought to justify himself, while the publican sought God’s pardon and mercy. The Pharisee treated God as if he had done him a
favor, while the publican sought God’s favor through his act of self-judgment. It is my prayer that each of you will seek a closer walk with the Godhead. That you will ask the LORD to forgive you of your sins and trespasses. That you will come before his throne of grace seeking his pardon with humble and contrite hearts. There is no reason to lay before him in pridefulness those things we have done in his service. So let us draw near desiring his forgiveness, and then seek his guidance. Only afterward, are we to stand and rejoice for we know that he is just and faithful to cleanse us in the name of his only begotten Son. May our good and gracious God be pleased to send his most holy Spirit to comfort, guide and keep you in Christ Jesus this day and forever more.
Let us pray,
Father, grant to us grace sufficient to bring ourselves: our souls and bodies, into humble submission to thy will and pleasure; that we might have a more perfect fellowship with thee in this life as well as for the life to come; for this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
Roy Morales-Kuhn, Bishop and Pastor
Saint Paul’s Anglican Church
Diocese of the Midwest Anglican Orthodox Church Suffragan Bishop of the AOC
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity
O GOD, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity; Mercifully grant unto us such a measure of thy grace, that we, running the way of thy commandments, may obtain thy gracious promises, and be made partakers of thy heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Romans 8:26-39
COMFORT
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)
In our groanings and problems within, we have the help of God’s Spirit in our weakness, who intercedes for us ‘according to the will of God’. Can we find comfort in the fact that the Holy Spirit will intercede for us when we don’t even know the purpose?
He who searches the hearts of mankind knows what is the mind of the Spirit. He knows what is right for us at any given time, because he intercedes for us according to the will of God. When we ponder our next move during times of crisis and infirmities, the Spirit makes intercession for us in a language we don’t know. “groanings which cannot be uttered…” We must seek that comfort that God has provided for us through the Holy Spirit.
CALLED
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30)
Those whom God has called can be absolutely certain that, in God’s sovereign purpose, everything will work together for their good. Their salvation is not an accident. God planned it in eternity, performed it in time, works it out in time, and will eventually perfect it in eternity. Our standing in Christ is absolutely watertight because of who He is and because He has chosen us and planned our way.
For many, the previous three verses, are tough ones to get our human mind around. We always want to be in control. We don’t like it when someone, especially God takes control. This passage erases that concept. He is in control, has been since the beginning, and will be to the end. It is God’s purpose, not ours, He is our Creator, He is our Lord, it is His plan that does control the universe, not us. This certainty of salvation should bring comfort to us, especially when we are alone and lost in our doubts. “… according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; 3But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;..” (Titus 1:1b-3)
If you take time to study the Word of God and focus on such terms as God’s sovereignty, sal-vation, security of faith/salvation, you will read over and over again, God’s plan for us, not our plan for God. Very humbling, to say the least.
CONQUERORS
A whole range of problems, trials, disappointments, and suffering will come against the child of God. In all this he is to remember that God ‘did not spare His own Son’ but freely gave Him for us, and freely gives us all other things that we need. With God on our side as our Justifier, our Intercessor, our Lover, and our Keeper, we are more than conquerors ‘through Him who loved us’. Once saved by Christ, nothing at all in the past, present or future, and nothing on this earth or anywhere else is able to ‘separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’. We conquer because we have the Conqueror living within and working for us. Now let the Word of God show us the plan.
“31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?….38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39Nor 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 31 & 38-39)
And if God is there in the worst of it, He is there through all of it. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Paul reminds us again of the great sacrifice that God the Father gave… “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” (Romans 8:23-35) And now the final surety of it all, our eternal Salvation: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35)
Some days we seem to be lost as far as what we think we are supposed to be doing with our lives. Today, being the last Sunday before school starts for many of you, here are some thoughts to consider. The time and energy that you spend in the “trenches” never seems to pay back. There are days, weeks, and months of frustration, lack of progress, pressure from above, test scores, state scores, etc. And yet each year, yes each day, we have to opportunity to shape the minds and lives of those young people we are charged with teaching. It may seem like a thankless task at times, and at times an endless task, but one day, it should pay off. The most important aspect of your job is that you execute it with honesty, faithfulness, and integrity. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” I trust that this year will be a successful year, that you are kept from harm, and that you will know that God is with you in all that you do.
Let us pray:
ALMIGHTY God, we beseech thee, with thy gracious favour, to behold our universities, colleges, and schools, that knowledge may be increased among us, and all good learning flourish and abound; bless all who teach and all who learn; and grant that in humility of heart they may ever look unto thee, who art the fountain of all wisdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in thy Son’s Name; We beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears to us who have now made our prayers and supplications unto thee; and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE LORD bless us, and keep us. The LORD make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The LORD lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore. Amen.
Bishop Roy Morales-Kuhn
The Rev. Don Fultz
Rector of St. Peter’s AOC
located in the AOC National Office
We are grateful to have this sermon of the from Rev. Don Fultz from St. Peter’s AOC, Statesville, NC.
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity – Gospel- St. Luke 18:9
One of the most important aspects of our Christian faith is prayer. How we approach God in prayer is very important as Jesus tells us in this morning’s Gospel Parable. He uses the example of two men who go up to the temple and pray. In verse 10, Jesus tells us “One was a Pharisee and one was a Publican (tax collector) “. Jesus in some of his parables had a tendency for using the marginalized and excluded people groups such as Samaritans and other professions such as tax collectors for the sake of contrasting genuine faith with Jewish unbelief and self-righteousness. This parable is a prime example.
The Pharisee was supposed to keep the law honorably and with moral integrity, or thought he did. He was well respected by the Jewish people and looked up to as a Religious leader. In contrast, the Publicans were despised as traitors who had sold themselves out to the Roman captors for the privilege of collecting taxes from their own people. They were regarded as corrupt and sinful men. A normal practice was that the tax collectors would add to the required tax their own cut and by doing so many became quite wealthy. Thus, they benefited from the Roman Occupation and were hated and regarded as criminal and corrupt.
It seems unfair that the prayer of a man of such exemplary behavior is not acceptable, while the prayer of the one with a questionable job is. The Pharisee had everything, except the one essential thing. The publican had nothing but the one essential quality, which is a sense of his own unworthiness and his need for God’s grace.
The parable is about the honest prayer of a sinner verses the self-justifying prayer of the self-righteous. The main focus is humility in prayer out of a realization that righteousness cannot be reached by means of our own efforts.
The prophet Isaiah tells us that our righteousness is not worth more than “Filthy rags” in chapter 64, verse 6.
Prayers are heard and answered because of God’s mercy not because of our self-justifying merits (v. 14). Jesus therefore rebukes the self-righteous and demonstrates the kind of attitude necessary for God’s acceptance.
The purposes of this Parable given in verse 9 are two-fold, one cannot trust in himself for righteousness and one should not view others with contempt. “And He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. “
A great danger of pride is noted right at the start. First, we come to trust our own abilities rather that trusting God.
Second we come to regard other people with contempt and disrespect rather that seeing others as being created in the image of God. Pride of self and contempt for others go hand in hand. Those who trust in themselves that they were righteous refers to those who view their righteousness or acceptance by God as stemming from their personal goodness or their adherence to the law or religious rituals. Jesus’ will show that they are self-deceived and then give an example of a disrespected person who is justified in God’s sight.
The content of the Pharisees prayer is given in verses 11 & 12. Verse 11 gives us an example of the wrong way to approach God in prayer. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican.”
Notice the content of heart that leads him to say “I am not like other people.” His estimation of his own righteousness is greatly exaggerated for he assumes that he is acceptable to God.
Self- righteousness is really self-delusion. The man who said, “I am not like other men; I fast; I give tithes” thought himself superior to others, especially this tax collector. The tax collector is grouped with robbers, swindlers, the unethical, and adulterers.
The religious man felt God owed him. He gave all the credit for his good life to himself and gave none to God. He praised himself even in the place built for the praise of God. The Pharisee was actually praying to himself, instead of to God.
The Pharisee was proud of his life and of his accomplishments, especially his religious ones. He wasn’t bad like other men; he had fulfilled the requirements of the law. He experienced no conviction of any wrong in his life. He was just self-satisfied with his own righteousness and looked down on others. When he thanked God it was only for his own goodness, not for God’s grace and mercy toward him.
It is always easy to compare ourselves favorably with others for we almost always look at others from our view point instead of from God’s point of view. However, God’s ideal behavior and action remains His Son, not us nor nor our works. We will not see others clearly until we have developed Christ-like eyes and character. When we do we will understand how far short of the perfect glory of God we fall just as St. Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” Since salvation is by grace we should not feel superior to another. Grace doesn’t express itself in or by despising others.
The religious routines of the Pharisee continue in verse 12. “I fast twice a week, I give tithe of all that I Possess” Not only would a religious Jew pray three times a day, but he would fast twice a week. Fasting twice a week went beyond that which was prescribed in the law. The Jewish law prescribed only one absolutely required fast—on the Day of Atonement. But those who wished to gain special merit fasted also on Mondays and Thursdays.
It is noteworthy that these were the market days when Jerusalem was full of country people. Those who fasted whitened their faces and appeared in disheveled clothes, and in those days gave their piety the biggest possible audience. Fasting should be done as an act of contrition, brokenness, humility or sorrow instead it became another point of pride for the Pharisees.
The Pharisee’s prayer was concerned with telling God what a good man he was, for not only did he keep the Law by fasting and tithing (v. 12), but also he considered himself better than other people (v. 11). He was using other people as his standard for measuring righteousness.
Jesus teaches us the correct way to approach God. In verse 13 when the tax collector prays a completely different kind of prayer than the Pharisee. “And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. “
The publican respected the holiness of God and therefore saw himself as sinful and in need of grace and forgiveness. He even “smote upon his breast” as a sign of mourning and contrition. In such contrition the acknowledged sinner throws himself upon the mercy of God. He then cries out “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” His location, posture, and speech reveal his humility and a proper understanding of his sinfulness, in sharp contrast to the self-righteous Pharisee.
The difference seems to be that the Publican used God as his standard for measuring righteousness the prayer of the tax collector therefore expresses humility, dependence and desperation.
The Pharisee was proud and boastful, the Publican grieved over his own sinful condition. The Pharisee described his righteousness, the tax collector begged for mercy to escape the judgment his sin deserved. Which one of them truly prayed?
As long as the sinner claims innocence and denies his sin before the Lord, he cannot receive the blessings of redemption. But when he pleads guilty and cries out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner,” he is forgiven . In order to be found, you must first recognize that you are lost. To find salvation you must admit you are lost. Just like the Younger son did in the parable of the Prodigal Son.
When we confess to being a sinner and cast ourselves upon God’s mercy, we are traveling the road to true righteousness. We deserve justice but need mercy. That need is met only in response to humble confession and earnest petition.
In verse 14 Jesus unequivocally states which one was justified before God. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
Jesus’ closing declaration and pronouncement uplifts the publican as an example to us. The application of the parable is that it is necessary for people to humble themselves before God to gain forgiveness (13:30). God only justifies the repentant.The Pharisee left the temple confident he had fulfilled his religious duties but still bearing his sin and guilt before God. He had not sought forgiveness through confession and repentance and thus had not found forgiveness. That God justified the tax collector and not the Pharisee is a shocking role reversal. The Pharisee, who was perceived as righteous in the eyes of the people, was not accepted by God whereas the hated but truly penitent tax collector was. No doubt this enraged the Pharisees in His audience (v. 9) and gave them further cause to seek Jesus’ death in Jerusalem a short time later.
With His closing advise in the last part of verse 14 Jesus once again (14: 11) warns us not to exalt ourselves above others. “Everyone who exalts himself will be abased” . Those who are proud and exalting themselves will one day be brought low (humbled) by God.
This principle of humbling ourselves isn’t just a general principle of life here on earth but also it is a principle of life in the kingdom of God. The bible tells us in both James 4:6 and 1st Peter 5:5, that “ God resisteth the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Proverbs 29:23 says: “A man’s pride shall bring him low; but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
As we fill ourselves with the true knowledge of God and we humble ourselves before Him. He will lift us up when, where, and as He desires which may well be when He examines us at the Judgment Seat of Christ according to St, Paul in 2 Cor. 5: 10.
Becoming the new person we are in Christ means reversing our natural tendencies toward pride and looking down on others. Instead we are to be mindful of our sins so that we can confess them in repentance. We have a natural tendency to judge other people by their actions and our self by our intentions rather than our actions. If we would reverse that, it would change our life. If we judge others not by what they do, but by what they meant to do. Then judge our self not by what we meant, but by what we did, we would be much humbler Christians.
In the name of the Father, Son, And Holy Ghost. Amen
AOC Worldwide Prayer List –
I have received updates from a few and those will be the first added to the list. Please send all prayer requests and updates to aocworldwide@gmail.com for future reports. If you would like to be removed from list just respond with remove in the subject line.
Keep Praying for the following:
Shamu, Tom, Craig, Jack & Dru Arnold, Roberto & Bianca, Dotty, Sue, Sandra, Madison & Hilda, Steve, Josh Morley, Jennifer,
AOC USA, AOC Missions, Zach, Jess, Luke, Jacquie, Harper, Genie, Bishop Zephaniah,
Prayer Needed:
Linda – 20 Years with Multiple Myeloma, in remission for sometime,
Her numbers are increasing and they have to increase the new chemo that causes hard side effects- pray the increase decreases the numbers and she can stay in remission again.
James – Recovery from surgery for bleeding ulcer
The Berman Family for loss of their daughter/sister Danni.
Steve Ciccarelli – Recovery from Cervical Fusion Surgery
Camella and Noel have returned home from St. Marteen, please continue to pray for comfort and loss.
Tommy and Vikki for comfort for the Loss of their brother/brother-in-law, Jeremy.
Bishop Zephaniah – Medical Issues
Extended Issues need continued prayer;
Laurie with long Covid Symptoms – Extreme exhaustion, heart palpitations, breathing problems and unstable blood pressures are constant worries causing depression to settle in.
Brenda – long term Laryngitis – help speaking again
Praise Reports and Prayer for Safe Travels:
Rev. Don and Ruth Fultz celebrate their
60th Anniversary on Ausgust 15th.
They are on travel to the Outerbanks with A Christian Tour Group.
Please pray for safe travels and a
Happy Anniversary.
