But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” — Isa 6:6-7
Each seraph had six wings. “With twain, he covered his face.” Here was Reverence, which is one of the noblest traits in character, whether angelic or human. The statesman who, beneath human movements, set himself to understand the Divine purpose. The a... moreBut then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” — Isa 6:6-7
Each seraph had six wings. “With twain, he covered his face.” Here was Reverence, which is one of the noblest traits in character, whether angelic or human. The statesman who, beneath human movements, set himself to understand the Divine purpose. The artist, whether in music, poetry, or painting, discovers a Presence that fills him with elevated and pure ideals. The scientist compares himself to a child gathering pebbles on the shores of a boundless ocean. These resemble the Seraphim with their veiled faces.
“With twain, they covered their feet”—Self-effacement and Humility. If we begin thinking and talking of ourselves, we prove we are second-rate. We may be attractive and valuable but have not attained the first and best. The angels forgot themselves in their absorbing love for God. When shall we forget ourselves in His constraining love, not to live to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose again?
“With twain, they did fly”—Obedient Service. The third part of our energy should be spent thus. Two-thirds of communion and worship must work themselves out in service, or else we become dreamy mystics. Such life becomes contagious—“One cried to another.” There is always a cry going forth from the eager soul, which is right with God, and this awakens a response in others and stirs them to service. One bird in the woodlands singing at dawn will wake the whole forest glade to music. The Seraphim declared that the entire earth was God’s glory!
The prophet saw his need for cleansing: “Woe is me! I am a man of unclean lips.” We do not need to agonize with God for cleansing but to open our hearts in confession. Immediately, one of the Seraphim will fly to meet our needs. Nay, the Lord Himself—Lo, this live coal, saturated with blood and steeped in flame, combining Calvary and Pentecost, has cleansed our iniquity and purged our sin! Then we shall cry: “Here am I; send me.” Redeemed, forgiven, and cleansed sinners make the best evangelists!
Prayer
Give us, O Lord, more than an angel’s love, for Thou hast redeemed us. Give us the swiftness of an angel’s obedience; may we do Thy commandments and listen to the voice of Thy word. Cleanse us from all iniquity, purge us from sin, and use us in Thy service. Amen.
GC John Kelmy
KCP, Priory of St. Michael the Archangel
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. — John 15:16
It is a beautiful thing to hear these words from the lips of our Lord when we remember what the Devil said to Him at the beginning of His ministry (Luk 4:6). Evidently; the scepter had been wrested from the hand of the prince of this world. Our Lord is supreme in heaven and equally so on earth. He has authority over wind... moreYou did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. — John 15:16
It is a beautiful thing to hear these words from the lips of our Lord when we remember what the Devil said to Him at the beginning of His ministry (Luk 4:6). Evidently; the scepter had been wrested from the hand of the prince of this world. Our Lord is supreme in heaven and equally so on earth. He has authority over winds and waves, the natural world with its laws and elements, gold mines and harvest fields, and the minds and souls of all men whose precious blood has been purchased. It would greatly facilitate our obedience to His Command if we realized that the whole world is His by creation and redemption and that wherever we go throughout its vast territory, we are within His domains.
Notice the care with which Christ insists that those disciples should be taught to observe all His commands (Mat 28:20). He chose the Apostles to receive His commands, not for their own obedience alone, but that they might impress them upon others. Obedience is the law of spiritual growth and blessedness. Let us resolve, first, to observe whatsoever the Master has appointed and, second, to teach others to do the same. Whenever the task seems too great for our strength, let us remember the precious promise that He is with us always, as the margin puts it—“all the days,” Never a day can come with its demands, its call for dutiful obedience. Still, He will be at hand to bear our burden, help us by the right hand of His strength, and inspire us by the light of His face.
Christian life, after all, comes to this—how much will you obey Christ? If you refuse, you shut yourself out of His best, for He can do nothing for you or with you. But if you surrender yourself to obey, there is no limit to the usefulness and blessedness that must ensue (Gen 18:18-19). To live like this, we must abide in Him and allow His words, by meditation and prayer, to abide in us. Then obedience ceases to be an effort but is the fruit of an exuberant life.
Prayer
Please help us abide by our calling with Thee and detect Thy presence everywhere. May we realize that every place may be a temple, every duty service and that we are part of Thy great host, who do Thy bidding and hearkening to the voice of Thy word. Amen.
GC John Kelmy
KCP, Priory of St. Michael the Archangel
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. — 1 Cor 15:45
Are you, my friend, in the first Adam or the second? It is a vital question, and it would be a good reward if you put aside all else to give a considered answer to this question. You ask for the fundamental difference between the first Adam and the second. The Apostle states it clearly in this chapter from which our text is taken. The contrast between the two is the so... moreSo also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. — 1 Cor 15:45
Are you, my friend, in the first Adam or the second? It is a vital question, and it would be a good reward if you put aside all else to give a considered answer to this question. You ask for the fundamental difference between the first Adam and the second. The Apostle states it clearly in this chapter from which our text is taken. The contrast between the two is the soul-life of the first and the Spirit-life of the second. This is the distinction Jesus made at the beginning of His ministry, pervading the New Testament. The sphere of Christianity is the realm of the spirit. Its object is lifting man from the soul to the spirit level.
The soul is the center of our personality. It is you, or I, or any other person! From it, we look at two worlds. In the material world, we are related by the organs of touch, sight, smell, taste, and hearing. To the eternal world, we are related by the organs of the spirit, which are probably identical to the lower. We can descend by the spiral staircase downward to materialism or ascend upward to fellowship with God. Alas, too often, we descend to the lure of the savory pottage instead of climbing the ladder that reaches Heaven.
We must die to the self-life, to the promptings, suggestions, and solicitations of the ego entrenched in the soul. Self is the root of our alienation from the Life of God. All the evils of fallen angels and man are born in the pride of self. On the other hand, all the blessedness of the heavenly life is within our reach when the self-life is nailed to the Cross of Jesus.
How is this self-life to be brought to death? Only by our identification with the Cross on which Jesus died. We were nailed there in the purpose of God, and we must accept that position and extract its help from a living faith. It was by the Eternal Spirit that Jesus offered Himself unto God, and it is by that same Spirit that we, too, may say: “I have been crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” There must be an exchange of lives, from the self-life to the life of the Crucified and Ascended Saviour, communicated by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Behold, O Lord, I am Thy servant, prepared for all things; for I desire not to live unto myself, but unto Thee; and Oh, that I could do it worthily and perfectly! Amen.
GC John Kelmy
KCP, Priory of St. Michael the Archangel
