Sunday, June 1, 2014

June 1, 2014 Sunday Sermon


... in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  Amen.  Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us.  Amen.  Glory to You, our God, Glory to You.

O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us (three times).

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.  Lord, cleanse us from our sins.  Master, pardon our iniquities.  Holy One, visit us and heal our infirmities for Your Name’s sake.  Lord have mercy (three times).

June 1, 2014 Sunday Sermon

The Scripture

Psalm 119:18

Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.

Ephesians 1:17-23 (Paul’s Prayer)

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that [world] which is to come: and has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is His body, His fullness that fills all in all.

The Gospel

John 17:1-13

These words Jesus spake, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, said,

“Father, the hour is come; glorify Your Son, so that Your Son may also glorify You.  As You have given Him power over all flesh, so that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.  This is life eternal; that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.  I have glorified You on the earth: I have finished the work which You gave me to do.  Now, Father, glorify me at Your side with the glory which I had with You before the world was created.

“I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave me from the world: they were Yours, and You gave them to me; and they have kept Your Word[1].  Now they know that everything You have given me is from You: for I have given to them the words which You gave me; and they received them, and know surely that I came from You, and they believe that You sent me.

“I pray for them: I do not pray for the world, but for them whom You have given me: for they are Yours.  All mine are Yours; Yours are mine; and I am glorified in them.  Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You.  Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given me, so that they may be one, as we are.  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name.  Those whom You gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost, except for the son of perdition, so that the scripture might be fulfilled.

“Now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world, so that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.”

The Homily

Jesus prays for one thing for Himself in His high priestly prayer.  He prays that the Father would glorify both of them together: He prays that the light of the Shekinah would be unveiled again in heaven.

Jesus prays for one thing for His disciples in His high priestly prayer.  He prays that they would be One: One with God the Father, One with Himself, One with the Holy Ghost, and One with each other.

Why does Jesus ask for these two things?  He has one reason.  He wants us to receive the fullness of His joy.  It is frequently said that joy is a decision: people decide to be happy.  This is true: happiness does not depend on our circumstances.  Nevertheless, there are two essential things necessary for real happiness.  One, We must in united with The Whole Christian Church on earth, with The Whole Christian Church in heaven, and with the Whole Consubstantial and Undivided Trinity.  Two, We must have a clear view of the Beatific Glory of Jesus, the Shekinah.  Without these two things we can never truly be happy.

A little girl observed a donkey, “You must be a Christian donkey.  You have such a long sad face.”  Christians may be sad, but they ought to be filled with joy.  The reason that Christians lack joy is that they are so horribly divided and no longer seek the Beatific Vision.

Revelation 19:7

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready.”

It’s time to get dressed, folks.  We have a wedding to attend.

We may ask for the Holy Ghost to enter our lives.  When the Holy Ghost enters our lives He heals our blindness, so that we can see and understand the Gospel of Jesus in both heart and mind with all due humility.[2]



[1] God’s Law
[2] If you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost, share, or use any of them as you wish.
These meditations are not controlled by Creative Commons or other licenses, such as: copyright, CC, BY, SA, NC, or ND.  They are designed and intended for your free participation.  They were freely received, and are freely given.  No other permission is required for their use.

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