Lot flees from Sodom
Rafael
Fresco from the Loggia
Posted on 06/28/2005 6:48:25 AM PDT by Salvation
Lot flees from Sodom
Rafael
Fresco from the Loggia
Rafael -> Raffaello
Pillar of salt to be.
 |
Tuesday, June 28, 2005 Meditation Matthew 8:23-27 Have you ever felt so fully loved by someone that you thought nothing could ever go wrong again in your life? We often hear stories about the brave young knight who rescues the princess and whisks her away to live happily ever after with him. We see newlyweds who are so caught up in each other’s love that the whole world is new for them. As beautiful as these images are, experience tells us that fairy tales are just fairy tales and that all married couples face steep challenges as well as times of complete joy and security. But while we are all flawed and bring our flaws with us into marriage, God is not flawed. He is perfect. He is the brave young knight who rescues us. He is the perfect lover of our souls. As idealistic as it may seem, God loves us completely, unconditionally, and passionately. His love has the power to drive away every fear, remove every worry, and heal every wound. That’s what this story of the storm at sea is all about. Jesus was able to sleep through the storm because he knew that no matter what happened, his Father loved him and would not abandon him. The disciples, on the other hand, feared for their lives because they had yet to learn how deeply God cared for them. Jesus asked them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26), not because he was angry with them but because he wanted them to see the contrast between his reaction to the storm and theirs. He wanted them to see that it was a matter of faith, and not foolishness; a matter of trust and not recklessness. God wants us all to have the faith in his love that Jesus has. He knows it doesn’t come automatically, and so every day he gives us opportunities—both large and small—to trust him and to let him prove himself to us. He knows that the more we take steps of faith the greater our trust will be. And, the greater our trust, the more peaceful we will become—to the point where we will utterly amaze those who have yet to discover the treasures of the Father’s love. “Father, I abandon myself to you. I believe that you hold me fast, whatever situation I may face. I know that I can rest secure in your love.” Genesis 19:15-29; Psalm 26:2-3,9-12 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Prayers offered up for our troops in Iraq.
All Believers can attest with confidence, that the Heavens are not closed. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy he renders us in our daily walk with Him.
Apostolic Succession
Irenaeus
"For all these [heretics] are of much later date than are the bishops to whom the apostles handed over the churches, and this fact I pointed out most carefully in the third book. It is of necessity, then, that these aforementioned heretics, because they are blind to the truth, walk in devious paths, and on this account the vestiges of their doctrines are scattered about without agreement or connection. The path of those, however, who belong to the Church goes around the whole world, for it has the firm tradition of the apostles, enabling us to see that the faith of all is one and the same" (Ibid. 5:20:1).
Irenaeus
"Polycarp was instructed not only by the apostles and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also appointed bishop of the church in Smyrna by the apostles in Asia. I saw him in my early youth, for he tarried a long time and when quite old departed this life in a glorious and most noble martyrdom. He always taught those things which he learned from the apostles and which the Church had handed down and which are true. To these things the churches in Asia bear witness, as do also the successors of Polycarp even to the present time" (Ibid. 3:3:4).
Irenaeus
"It is necessary to obey those who are the presbyters in the Church, those who, as we have shown, have succession from the apostles, those who have received, with the succession of the episcopate, the sure charism of truth according to the good pleasure of the Father. But the rest, who have no part in the primitive succession [of bishops] and assemble wheresoever they will, must be held in suspicion....The true gnosis [knowledge] is the doctrine of the apostles, and the ancient organization of the Church throughout the whole world, and the manifestation of the body of Christ according to the succession of bishops, by which succession the bishops have handed down the Church which is found everywhere" (Ibid. 4:26:2, 33:8).
One God or Many?
Irenaeus
"For the Church, although dispersed throughout the whole world even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and from their disciples the faith in one God, Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them; and in one Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (Against Heresies 1:10:1 [inter A.D. 180-199]).
Irenaeus
"Nor is he moved by anyone; rather, freely and by his Word he made all things. For he alone is God, he alone is Lord, he alone is creator, he alone is father, he alone contains all and commands all to exist" (Ibid. 2:1:1).
Irenaeus
"Of his own accord and by his own power he made all things and arranged and perfected them; and his will is the substance of all things. He alone, then, is found to be God; he alone is omnipotent, who made all things; he alone is Father, who founded and formed all things, visible and invisible, sensible and insensate, heavenly and earthly, by the Word of his power. And he has fitted and arranged all things by his wisdom; and while he comprehends all, he can be comprehended by none. He is himself the designer, himself the builder, himself the inventor, himself the maker, himself the Lord of all" (Ibid. 2:30:9).
The Authority of the Pope
Irenaeus
"But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the succession of all the churches, we shall confound all those who, in whatever manner, whether through self-satisfaction or vainglory, or through blindness and wicked opinion, assemble other than where it is proper, by pointing out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. With that church, because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world, and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (Against Heresies 3:3:2 [A.D. 189]).
Infant Baptism
Irenaeus
"And [Naaman] dipped himself . . . seven times in the Jordan" [2 Kgs. 5:14]. It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [this served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes, even as the Lord has declared: "Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" [John 3:5].. (Fragment 34 [A.D. 190])
Irenaeus
He [Jesus] came to save all through himself; all, I say, who through him are reborn in God: infants, and children, and youths, and old men. Therefore he passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, sanctifying infants; a child for children, sanctifying those who are of that age . . . [so that] he might be the perfect teacher in all things, perfect not only in respect to the setting forth of truth, perfect also in respect to relative age. (Against Heresies 2:22:4 [A.D. 189])
Peter in Rome
IRENAEUS
"Matthew also issued among the Hebrews a written Gospel in their own language, while Peter and Paul were evangelizing in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church" (Against Heresies, 3:1:1 [A.D. 189]).
IRENAEUS
"The blessed apostles [Peter and Paul], having founded and built up the church [of Rome], they handed over the office of the episcopate to Linus. Paul makes mention of this Linus in the epistle to Timothy [2 Tim. 4:21]" (ibid., 3:3:3).
IRENAEUS
"But since it would be too long to enumerate in such a volume as this the succession of all the churches, we shall . . . [point] out here the successions of the bishops of the greatest and most ancient church known to all, founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, that church which has the tradition and the faith which comes down to us after having been announced to men by the apostles. With that church, because of its superior origin, all the churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world, and it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition" (ibid., 3:3:2).
THE HELL THERE IS
Irenaeus
"The penalty increases for those who do not believe the Word of god and despise his coming….[I]t is not merely temporal, but eternal. To whomsoever the Lord shall say, 'Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire,' they will be damned forever" (Against Heresies 4:28:2).
Irenaeus
"[God will] send the spiritual forces of wickedness, and the angels who transgressed and became apostates, and the impious, unjust, lawless, and blasphemous among men into everlasting fire" (Against Heresies 1:10:1 [A.D. 180]).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.