... 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
8, 2014 Sunday Sermon, Pentecost
The
Scripture
Psalm 119:12, 18
Blessed are You, O
Lord: teach me Your Statutes.
Open my eyes, so that
I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.
Acts 2:1-11
When the day of Pentecost
had finally arrived, they were all with one accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of
a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. There also appeared to them cloven tongues like
as of fire, and it sat on each of them.
They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues,
as the Spirit gave them ability.
Devout men, Jews from
every nation under heaven were dwelling at Jerusalem, as well. So, when this was noised abroad, the multitude
came together, and were confounded, because everyone heard them speak in their own
language. They were all amazed, marveling
and saying to one another,
“Behold, aren’t all these
who are speaking Galileans? How does every
one of us hear in our own native language?
People from Parthia, Medea, Elam, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus,
Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome; Jews and proselytes; Cretans and Arabians? We all hear them speak the wonderful works of God
in our own language.”
The
Gospels
Luke 11:9-13
Ask, and it shall be given
you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you: for everyone
who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be
opened. If a son shall ask for bread from
any of you who is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask for a fish, will he for a fish give
him a serpent? Or if he shall ask for an
egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?
John 7:37-52
On the last day, the great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If any man thirst, let him come unto
me, and drink. He who believes in me, as
the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (But this He spoke about the Spirit, which they
who believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because
Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Therefore when many of
the people heard this statement, they said, “Truly, this is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” Some said, “Shall Christ come from Galilee? Hasn’t the scripture said that Christ comes from
the seed of David, from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” So there was a division among the people because
of Him. Some of them would have taken him;
but no one laid hands on him.
Then the officers came
to the chief priests[1] and
Pharisees; who said to them, “Why haven’t you arrested him?” The officers[2] replied, “No man ever spoke
like this man.” Then the Pharisees responded,
“Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers
or of the Pharisees believed on him? This
people who do not know the Law are cursed.”
Nicodemus interrupted
them, (he who had come to Jesus by night, was one of their members), “Does our Law
judge any man, before it hears him, and knows what he has done?” They retorted, “Are you also a Galilean? Search, and see: for no prophet arises from Galilee.”[3]
John 8:12
Then Jesus spoke to them
again, saying, “I am the light of the world.
He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life.”
John 15:26-27
When the Comforter[4] has come, Whom I will send
to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, Who proceeds from the Father,[5] He shall testify of me: and
you shall also bear witness,[6] because you have been with
me from the beginning.
John 16:7-15
“Nevertheless, I tell
you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I do not go away,
the Comforter will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. When He comes, He will reprove the world of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they don’t believe in Me;
of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and you see Me no more; of judgment,
because the prince of this world is judged.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide
you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He hears[7], He shall speak: and He will
show you things to come. He shall glorify
Me: for He shall receive My things, and reveal them to you. Everything that the Father has is mine: therefore
I said, that he shall receive My things, and reveal them to you.”
John 20:19-23
The same day at evening,
the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled
for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace
be with you.” And when He had said this,
He showed them His hands and His side. Then
the disciples were glad, when they saw the Lord. Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with
you: as My Father has sent Me, even so, I send you.” When He had said this, he breathed on them, and
said to them, “Receive the Holy Ghost: whoever’s sins you remit, they are remitted
to them; and whoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.”
The
Homily
On the Day of Pentecost in 33 AD the
coming of the Holy Ghost took place as recorded in Acts 2:1-11. There is no more significant day in the life
of The Church. The Holy Ghost is the
Father’s special gift to The Church, Jesus prayed and promised that this great
gift would come, so the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father exactly as John
15:26 declares. In spite of the
magnitude of this gift, it is either belittled by exaggeration, or by
neglect. This is a shame, for our lives
depend on this gift, and we would do well to give it serious attention.
This coming of the Holy Ghost was attended
by flames of fire resting on all of those present. Later, when the Gospel spread, these flames were
seen again as evidence of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the midst of The
Church. What can this possibly
signify? The flame, as with Moses, and
in the temple for eight hundred sixty years is the visible Presence of God’s
Glory, the Shekinah, and now He is exclusively present in the midst
of the assembled and united Church. In
586 BC that Glory had departed from the temple, from Jerusalem, and from Israel. In 4 BC a star of Glory appeared in the
east. It was the return of the
Glory. Later that Glory was unveiled on
the Mount of Transfiguration. Now that
Glory is with The Church. What could
possibly be more important than that?
Along with these flames of fire
resting on every believer present was the granting of Spiritual gifts: much
more than fleshly human talents. Man has
two aspects: a physical material body and an immaterial spirit. Talents relate to the human body, and all
human beings have them. Spiritual gifts
relate to the human spirit in its communication with the Holy Ghost. Every Christian has at least one Spiritual gift,
which is to be used for the Glory of God.
Because of all these things, the Day
of Pentecost in 33 AD is also the birthday of The Church: for without the coming
of the Holy Ghost to organize, lead, and bless with His wonderful gifts, there
would be no Church on earth.
Because of the promise of Luke
11:9-13 we may freely 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.
People do not need expert knowledge of the Bible. When they receive this gift of the Holy Ghost
He will begin to patiently explain everything to them and lead them to reliable
human teachers in due time.
Because the anniversary of the Day
of Pentecost in 33 AD is so special, Kneeling Prayers are often said on this
occasion.
The
Kneeling Prayers
The beautiful kneeling prayers are
especially devoted to Pentecost. Here is
one place you can find them.
http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-prayers-of-kneeling-service.html
[1]
The chief priests were members of the Sadducee party and direct enemies of the
Pharisees. Their malice toward Jesus is
so all consuming that here they temporarily become colleagues.
[2]
Probably Levites, who inherited such duties since Moses.
[3]
This is dubious: for Nahum was probably from Galilee, and Jonah as well. If both Nahum and Jonah are from Galilee,
then the Pharisees and Sadducees are living in direct denial of their own
history. Such is the force of malice,
that it blinds the mind to truth.
[4]
The Holy Ghost
[5] From
the Father only
[6]
The essential quality of good witnesses is that they report what they have
observed accurately.
[7]
From the Father, not from any random source
[8] 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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