The Collect for the Sunday after Ascension Day
O God the King of Glory, Who has exalted Your only Son Jesus Christ with great Triumph to Your Kingdom in Heaven ; We beseech You, not to leave us comfortless ; but send to us Your Holy Spirit to comfort us, and to exalt us to the same place where our Saviour Christ has gone before, Who Lives and Reigns You and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen.
The Epistle. 1 Peter 4:7-11
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
The Holy Gospel of St John 15:26 to 16:4
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from the First Epistle of St Peter Chapter 4, Verses 7-11.
In this portion of his First Epistle St Peter exhorted his readers to be alert as the approaching culmination of the history of the world is not very far away, and all Christians must be ready to welcome the Lord Jesus at His second Coming:
“7 The end of all things is near.”
The Christians of St Peter’s time expected the Lord Jesus to return within their lifetimes, however time as we perceive it is very different to God’s time.
St Peter reveals the nature of God’s time, in his Second Letter Chapter 3, Verses 8-9:
“8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
It is also important to understand that the Greek word “telos” which is translated in our Epistle Reading as the “end,” also means “goal” so Verse 7 of today’s Epistle may also be read: “the goal of all things is near.”
This alternate meaning of the Greek word “telos” reveals to us that the end of the ages is the destination and completion of the unfolding plan of God for the Redemption of His Chosen people from all the ages of History, and the establishment of God’s Great Eternal Kingdom.
God had set this Goal in place, before the foundations of the world were laid.
St Peter then urges all believers to be alert and keep watch for the Lord Jesus’ Return:
“Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray”
This exhortation reminds us of the parable (an earthly story teaching a Heavenly Truth), that the Lord Jesus told, concerning the ten virgins waiting for the Bridegroom, recorded in the Holy Gospel of St Matthew Chapter 25, Verses 1-13:
“25 At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.”
Our duty, as Christians, is always to be alert, and on watch, for the Return of Our Lord.
St Peter then urges his readers to always love other people deeply, whether they be our Christian brothers and sisters, or strangers:
“8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins”.
Loving other people honours the love that God has shown for us in giving us the Gift of the Holy Gospel. The Love of God in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus has covered our sins and clothed us in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus, thus saving us from God’s Righteous Judgement at the end of the ages.
Our love for others may lead them to faith in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, and Salvation from God’s Holy Day of Judgement.
St Peter then tells us that our good deeds and hospitality to others must be done without grumbling, or whinging, to use a modern term. Our good deeds must be done out of love, and without complaint about the cost of doing them:
“9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Individual hospitality to others, in St Peter’s time, was most important, as there was no church infrastructure, such as we have today, that could be used to accommodate itinerant ministers of the Holy Gospel, or visiting Christians from other parts of the Mediterranean world.
Visitors to a Christian Community situated in a distant part of the Roman Empire, would have been provided accommodation and meals in the homes of members of the local Church.
All the Apostles, and St Paul in particular, were able to conduct their missionary journeys, more easily, through the provision of hospitality by other believers.
St Peter then urges all Christians to use whatever Gift God has given them to serve others to the Glory of the Lord Jesus:
“10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides.”
There are two main elements in St Peter’s teaching on the Gifts of God. The first element is the Gift of speaking, or as we would say, preaching and evangelizing, and the second element is the Gift of serving the widows, orphans, and poorer members of the Church.
St Peter reinforces the importance of these two Ministries, and the necessity to ensure that they are both equally undertaken with the full power of God’s Grace, so that God may be praised through the Lord Jesus.
St Luke also writes of these two Ministries in his Book of the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 6, Verses 1-6:
“6 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic (Greek speaking) Jews among them complained against the Hebraic (Hebrew speaking) Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.”
St Peter concludes this portion of his Epistle with a doxology (concluding lines of a prayer, or hymn, giving Glory and Praise to God through the Lord Jesus):
“so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Let us give thanks to God for the diversity of Gifts with which He has Blessed His Church. May we all use the Gifts that God has given to each of us, for the benefit of all the Lord Jesus’ people and the enrichment of His Church on earth, until that day when He returns to gather all faithful Christians as His People, and to establish His Glorious, Eternal Kingdom. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is taken from the Holy Gospel of St John Chapter 15, Verse 26 to Chapter 16, Verse 4.
This portion of his Holy Gospel St John records the Lord Jesus’ instruction to His Disciples regarding the Gift of the Holy Spirit, Whom He will send to them, after He has returned to His Father in Heaven:
“26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
The Lord Jesus told His Disciples that the Holy Spirit would bear witness to His Life, His Works, His Death, and His Resurrection from the dead.
The Great Work of the Mighty Holy Spirit is to bear witness to, to uplift, and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Gospel, and in so doing bring comfort and confidence to God's Chosen People.
The Holy Spirit will not promote, or speak, of Himself.
The Holy Spirit's entire Ministry will be focused on the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Holy Gospel.
The Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ God’s Perfect, finished, and complete Work.
Sadly, many Christians do not understand the Ministry of the Holy Spirit and concentrate on what the Holy Spirit is doing in their own lives, rather than allow the Holy Spirit to focus their concentration on what God has done for them in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christians we must not be inwardly looking, for that will profit us nothing, for within ourselves we find only sin and disobedience to God,
With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we become outwardly looking to the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, which is Perfect, and which clothes us in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus, which is the only basis of our right standing before God.
This is what the great Reformers of the Church called Justification by Faith alone.
The Lord Jesus also told His Disciples that they must also bear witness to His Life, Death and Resurrection, and the Mighty Work of the Holy Gospel, having seen these momentous events with their own eyes, from the beginning.
The Lord Jesus then told His Disciples about the cost of their bearing witness to the Holy Gospel.
The Lord Jesus made it very clear that the cost of Discipleship will be very high, with some of His Disciples eventually being put to death for their testimony to the Holy Gospel:
“16 All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them.”
The enemies of the Lord Jesus and His Holy Gospel will stop at nothing as they seek to discredit and hide God’s Truth, and the message of Salvation, from men and women, because these enemies of God have not known the Father or His Son.
It is by the faithful witness and preaching of God's Holy Apostles, and their written account of the things of the Lord Jesus, preserved in the Holy Bible, that subsequent generations of men and women are saved.
It is by the teaching of God’s Faithful Servants in days gone by, and by the witness of His Faithful Ministers, in our own time, that we, who live in this day and age, are able to read, and understand, fully the true meaning the Mighty Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Redemption that He has secured for us on the Cross of Calvary.
May it be so for all the ages of man yet to come !
Let us thank God for His Faithful Servants from all the ages of history, and for their written testimony to the Lord Jesus and His Holy Gospel. Let us also thank God for His Gift of the Mighty Holy Spirit Who, in times past, inspired and sustained those Faithful Ministers of His Holy Gospel, so that the Truth of the Holy Gospel was preserved and is available to us today, and through the Mighty Holy Spirit’s continued inspiration and sustaining will be available for Christians of the future, until the Lord Jesus returns. Amen.
Bishop Ian