MORAL DECLINE, a Devotion for 6 February 2019 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:” (Leviticus 18:20-24; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
Nations and cultures are built upon the elementary building block of all civilizations, and that is the family unit. It was that which God intended from the beginning of the covenant of marriage which He proclaimed to our first parents in the Garden at Eden. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24)
What is it about divinely appointed marriage that makes it so critically important in God’s plan? It is vitally important because the Holy Estate of Matrimony is an exact type and figure of that relationship which exists between Christ and His Church – the Church is the Body, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head:
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (Ephesians 5:20-33)
I will admit to the mysterious nature of this relationship to which Paul makes reference; however, when we consider the spiritual and contextual nature of the marriage covenant, we are brought to a near understanding as to what this mystery means. If MAN and WOMAN become one flesh in that estate of Matrimony, and they do so if they exercise their responsibilities in love, then the marriage (though imperfect) is directly comparable to that Oneness that exist between Christ and His Church. “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:11-16)
Just as our Lord Jesus Christ is One with the Father, so should we be One with Him; and if One with Christ, then also One with the Father and the Holy Ghost – because Love is indivisible. This is the perfect marriage model, is it not?
The totalitarian dream of Communism and Fascism cannot be attained when strong families are fostered.
The only true liberty that exists under the sun is that granted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has told us this in no uncertain terms: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) So where may this truth be found? ‘Only in Christ’ is the correct response: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Our Lord is not ABOUT the Truth, or PART of the Truth – He IS the whole, unblemished Truth!
The family unit today, along with the ancient morals of primitive wisdom, are under severe attack in our day. There are unprincipled men and women who use politics to further, often unbeknownst to even themselves, the objectives of that Mastermind of Deceit, Satan himself, to accomplish these evils of the modern day. And what are these tools in Hell’s basket that are fashioned against the family? From the days of Eden, it has been Satan’s plot to destroy the man which the Lord had made. His designs in accomplishing this feat has been by means of wars, famine, disease, fiery disasters, and, now, homosexuality and abortion. If all accepted the abominable lifestyle of homosexuality, what do you suppose the world population would look like in two generations? The same is true of the murderous practice of abortion which has murdered the most innocent among us to a greater degree than all those atrocities of Genghis Kahn, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, or or Adolph Hitler.
If you were privileged to be educated in schools prior to the 1950’s, you will recognize that chilling statement: “A SPECTRE is haunting Europe—the spectre of Communism. All the Powers of
old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. . . .” Communism is the old, old battle plan of the devil formalized in a single document – the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Lenin. While it is true that old Europe did its best to exorcise this demon at its inception, it has subconsciously adopted the main points of its own destruction inculcated by that Manifesto. Here are some salient points to consider when we observe the American political scene today – taken from the 2nd chapter of that sordid document in the very words of its authors:
“The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property” (Much like the liberal politics of over-taxing the wealthy).
“Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family!” (No need for comment on this one)
“Bourgeois marriage is, in reality, a system of wives in common and thus, at the most, what the Communists might possibly be reproached with is that they desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalised community of women. For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private.” (NOTE: What they mean by ‘Community of Women’ is traditional marriage.)
“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society. But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.” (No school prayer, no Ten Commandments, etc)
We see social and biblical morality being attacked in every direction in the America of today.
In our leading biblical text, we read of God’s condemnation for the violation of the Marriage pact in the commission of adultery. Then follows the condemnation of the great sin of infant sacrifice which has gained popular approval of those whose minds have been drugged by ignorance and compassion. Finally, an abomination so despicable as to be seldom mentioned by biblical scholars – the abomination of homosexuality!
Why have they omitted the mention of this horror? It is for two primary reasons: first of all, this filthy practice was so rare in more moral society that it did not seem to warrant a warning; and, secondly, I believe God-fearing commentators would have been embarrassed to even mention the word in more decent times.
God gives a dire warning for nations that even allow the stranger among them to practice these evils: “ Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations (adultery, infanticide, and homosexuality), even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.” (Leviticus 18:26-29) The warning is repeated in Romans 1. Do not accuse me of judging, for I judge with righteous judgment, that is, with God’s Word and not my private opinion. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24 Do thou likewise!
MORAL DECLINE, a Devotion for 6 February 2019 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her. And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you:” (Leviticus 18:20-24; all scripture quoted is from the King James Version)
Nations and cultures are built upon the elementary building block of all civilizations, and that is the family unit. It was that which God intended from the beginning of the covenant of marriage which He proclaimed to our first parents in the Garden at Eden. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:21-24)
What is it about divinely appointed marriage that makes it so critically important in God’s plan? It is vitally important because the Holy Estate of Matrimony is an exact type and figure of that relationship which exists between Christ and His Church – the Church is the Body, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head:
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.” (Ephesians 5:20-33)
I will admit to the mysterious nature of this relationship to which Paul makes reference; however, when we consider the spiritual and contextual nature of the marriage covenant, we are brought to a near understanding as to what this mystery means. If MAN and WOMAN become one flesh in that estate of Matrimony, and they do so if they exercise their responsibilities in love, then the marriage (though imperfect) is directly comparable to that Oneness that exist between Christ and His Church. “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” (John 17:11-16)
Just as our Lord Jesus Christ is One with the Father, so should we be One with Him; and if One with Christ, then also One with the Father and the Holy Ghost – because Love is indivisible. This is the perfect marriage model, is it not?
The totalitarian dream of Communism and Fascism cannot be attained when strong families are fostered.
The only true liberty that exists under the sun is that granted in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has told us this in no uncertain terms: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) So where may this truth be found? ‘Only in Christ’ is the correct response: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) Our Lord is not ABOUT the Truth, or PART of the Truth – He IS the whole, unblemished Truth!
The family unit today, along with the ancient morals of primitive wisdom, are under severe attack in our day. There are unprincipled men and women who use politics to further, often unbeknownst to even themselves, the objectives of that Mastermind of Deceit, Satan himself, to accomplish these evils of the modern day. And what are these tools in Hell’s basket that are fashioned against the family? From the days of Eden, it has been Satan’s plot to destroy the man which the Lord had made. His designs in accomplishing this feat has been by means of wars, famine, disease, fiery disasters, and, now, homosexuality and abortion. If all accepted the abominable lifestyle of homosexuality, what do you suppose the world population would look like in two generations? The same is true of the murderous practice of abortion which has murdered the most innocent among us to a greater degree than all those atrocities of Genghis Kahn, Josef Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, or or Adolph Hitler.
If you were privileged to be educated in schools prior to the 1950’s, you will recognize that chilling statement: “A SPECTRE is haunting Europe—the spectre of Communism. All the Powers of
old Europe have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. . . .” Communism is the old, old battle plan of the devil formalized in a single document – the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Lenin. While it is true that old Europe did its best to exorcise this demon at its inception, it has subconsciously adopted the main points of its own destruction inculcated by that Manifesto. Here are some salient points to consider when we observe the American political scene today – taken from the 2nd chapter of that sordid document in the very words of its authors:
“The distinguishing feature of Communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property” (Much like the liberal politics of over-taxing the wealthy).
“Abolition [Aufhebung] of the family!” (No need for comment on this one)
“Bourgeois marriage is, in reality, a system of wives in common and thus, at the most, what the Communists might possibly be reproached with is that they desire to introduce, in substitution for a hypocritically concealed, an openly legalised community of women. For the rest, it is self-evident that the abolition of the present system of production must bring with it the abolition of the community of women springing from that system, i.e., of prostitution both public and private.” (NOTE: What they mean by ‘Community of Women’ is traditional marriage.)
“There are, besides, eternal truths, such as Freedom, Justice, etc., that are common to all states of society. But Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.” (No school prayer, no Ten Commandments, etc)
We see social and biblical morality being attacked in every direction in the America of today.
In our leading biblical text, we read of God’s condemnation for the violation of the Marriage pact in the commission of adultery. Then follows the condemnation of the great sin of infant sacrifice which has gained popular approval of those whose minds have been drugged by ignorance and compassion. Finally, an abomination so despicable as to be seldom mentioned by biblical scholars – the abomination of homosexuality!
Why have they omitted the mention of this horror? It is for two primary reasons: first of all, this filthy practice was so rare in more moral society that it did not seem to warrant a warning; and, secondly, I believe God-fearing commentators would have been embarrassed to even mention the word in more decent times.
God gives a dire warning for nations that even allow the stranger among them to practice these evils: “ Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you: (For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations (adultery, infanticide, and homosexuality), even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.” (Leviticus 18:26-29) The warning is repeated in Romans 1. Do not accuse me of judging, for I judge with righteous judgment, that is, with God’s Word and not my private opinion. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24 Do thou likewise!