1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,120 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,840 Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,720 mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the light of the world 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,480 and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,480 enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge. 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,040 obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,320 every hour. O You who enlightens the 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,480 rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my 10 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,320 Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and 11 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,680 divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:01:04,950 and Holy Spirit, forever Amen. Hello everyone, and welcome back 13 00:01:04,950 --> 00:01:08,840 to another episode of I was going to say Vision of Hope, and 14 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:11,640 that's in the Assyrian segment. But no, this is the double edged 15 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,680 sword, right? We've been reading and studying 16 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:17,920 the book of the Acts of the Apostles chapter 12. 17 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,400 And as we prepare ourselves for that amazing celebration of the 18 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,760 birth of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, you 19 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:31,760 know, I see something there's a trend now when you know, I see 20 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,360 videos of people giving their Christmas messages and they flip 21 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,840 between seasons and holiday and Christmas and season and holiday 22 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:43,120 season. Christmas just called Christmas. 23 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:48,920 It's not a specific season. And if it is, you know, there is 24 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:51,360 reason for the season is Jesus Christ, Amen. 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,520 But Jesus is not just for the reason for that season. 26 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,240 Jesus is praise his name. So do a flip flop. 27 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:04,560 Don't be politically correct, if I may say it's Christmas, it's 28 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:07,760 the birth of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ, period. 29 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:10,759 So those who don't want to hear that, well, there is. 30 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,960 It is that time where we celebrate that amazing birth and 31 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,120 that amazing gift of God to the entire world. 32 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:25,200 We closed off chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles and last 33 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:29,920 episode we learned that we have to give glory through faith, 34 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:34,320 through works, through deeds and through actions, not mere lip 35 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:38,320 service as ascribed in Isaiah chapter 21 verse 13. 36 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:43,160 These people honor me only with their mouth, but their hearts 37 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,640 and their their minds and their motives are not so far away from 38 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:50,480 me. My question is now have you, 39 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,080 that is ascribed glory to God by your faith, words, deeds and 40 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,640 actions? If yes, praise God, continue to 41 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:05,160 glorify Him in all that you do and say every minute of your 42 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,600 life. Don't claim victory, yet 43 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:14,080 continue to press on so that you may obtain that thing for which 44 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,960 Jesus Christ has seized you according to the Scriptures, 45 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:22,560 which is eternal life with him. If not, if you've been a little 46 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,680 lazy and reluctant and you've left it off for another day, you 47 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:28,360 know, let's put it on the back burner. 48 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,800 Well, no. If you haven't glorified God 49 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:36,480 with all that you have said and all that you have done, pray to 50 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,160 God. Pray to Him to be delivered from 51 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,960 being a mere hearer of the Word and not a doer of the Word. 52 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,400 According to Saint James. That's the danger, beloved. 53 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:53,640 God doesn't want lip service. God wants us to act upon our 54 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,440 words. So we're going to start with 55 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:01,480 chapter 13 and I'll read from verses one to four and we'll see 56 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,160 how far we go with discussing and expanding. 57 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,320 Now they were in the Church of Antioch, prophets and teachers 58 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:16,600 Barnabas and Simon, who was called Niger and Lucius from the 59 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:18,959 city of Cyrene. And Manel. 60 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:24,520 Manel means who is God? Manel, who is God, who was the 61 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:28,760 son of the man who brought up Herod the tetrarch, the leader 62 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,040 of four quarters, the same Herod that was struck down by Angel. 63 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:36,840 And this Manel was brought up in his house. 64 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:39,320 We're going to talk about him and Saul, who was later called 65 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,960 Paul. As they fasted and prayed to 66 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,840 God, the Holy Spirit said to them, Appoint for me Saul and 67 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,120 Barnabas, for the work to which I have called them. 68 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,760 So after they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands, 69 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,960 that is, the laying on of the hands on them, they sent them 70 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:03,640 away. Thus these two were sent forth 71 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,840 by the Holy Spirit, and they went down to Seleucia. 72 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:14,880 Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 73 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,240 Let us go back and discuss this stereotyping. 74 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,520 I had to confirm with Steven what it actually meant, but I 75 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:26,760 was right. I was on the point. 76 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,000 We stereotypes sometimes, right? We're going to now be refuted. 77 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,680 Stereotyping is refuted in the scriptures. 78 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,160 This now some versions call him Manian. 79 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,760 You know all the other people, the Simon and the Barnabas and 80 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:47,200 Simon who was called Niger. Then we have Soul and Barnabas. 81 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:48,800 We know that these were apostles. 82 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:53,600 These were the apostles that were preaching the word of God, 83 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:55,960 which means Jesus Christ. Because remember, there was no 84 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,480 gospels then, There was no written word, there was no book. 85 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:00,520 So they were preaching Jesus. We're going to talk about that a 86 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:06,520 little. So this Manel or Manel is said 87 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:11,200 to be a foster brother of Herod. He was raised in the same 88 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,160 household. He they grew up together. 89 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,600 Now on one side we have Herod, an evil person who didn't want 90 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:24,240 to be converted, a self edified person basking in the Vainglory 91 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,280 of mankind. And what happened to him? 92 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,480 End of chapter 12. He was struck down by an Angel. 93 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:34,520 And on the other side, same household, beloved. 94 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,720 And now we're going to be put to shame for generalizing and 95 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,480 stereotyping. We have on the same on the other 96 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:46,360 side, this Manil who was raised in the same household, who was 97 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:48,840 considered worthy of the gift of prophesying. 98 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:51,720 Now prophesying doesn't only mean foretelling. 99 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,320 Preaching is prophesying. Expanding on the word of God is 100 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,440 prophesying as well. He must have been glorifying God 101 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:05,000 and not himself, living a life that is appeasing to the Lord. 102 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:11,400 And this happens today, beloved, in the case of stereotyping 103 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:19,160 within families, we generalize 1 member of the family and we we 104 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,280 pass on the same judgement and the same conclusion and the same 105 00:07:22,280 --> 00:07:26,360 understanding according to the entire family within a group of 106 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,680 friends, schools, governments, you know, there's, there's some, 107 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,600 some Christian Congress people or senators regard, I'm not sure 108 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:38,920 what they called in many other countries, but senators and 109 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,360 congressmen that are Christian, that are not reluctant, they 110 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,480 don't hold back to mention the name Jesus Christ. 111 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:51,920 They don't feel awkward. Yet there are some politicians, 112 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,320 congressmen and senators who cringe at the name Jesus Christ 113 00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:01,160 and when they've caught out, when they've been put on show 114 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,160 and they've been fact checked, you want to call that, they come 115 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:07,680 back and tell us, oh, I go to church and I pray. 116 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,840 Well, those who go to church and those who pray, and I'm sure 117 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,960 that church would teach us to glorify and jump for joy and be 118 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,640 in Jubilee when the name of Jesus Christ is mentioned. 119 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:24,320 Don't cringe and disrespect the name of Jesus Christ, because 120 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,600 then we know you're now being a hypocrite and you want those 121 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:33,039 votes, right? No, no, no, at schools we have 122 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:34,760 good students. We have bad students. 123 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:38,640 You cannot, you cannot stereotype and generalize the 124 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,679 entire students because the school has a bad reputation. 125 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,920 Just from this Mannell and Herod grew together in the same 126 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,400 household. Herod was evil, Menel wasn't. 127 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:56,960 He was holy and pleasing to God and was worthy to be called an 128 00:08:56,960 --> 00:09:00,280 apostle and to be given the gift of preaching. 129 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:08,520 You see, God's gifts, God gives His gifts, imparts His gifts 130 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,880 without showing partiality. And we read this in Romans 131 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:13,680 chapter 2, verse 11. You want to read it up? 132 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,360 We too, beloved, should not throw the baby out with the 133 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:23,080 bathwater as they say. We should judge righteously. 134 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,440 That's why Jesus instructs us and warns us that if you've got 135 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,560 to make a judgement, do it righteously. 136 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:34,600 Be fair, don't stereotype type and don't generalize. 137 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,440 And we see it from the example, but unfortunately, it is common 138 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,120 among many. And why? 139 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,480 Why is it a common among many? This is due to the fact that 140 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:55,800 those, all of us, we have not not only understood God's grace 141 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:01,200 and righteousness, but more so that we haven't experienced it 142 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:05,640 in our lives. You see, is anyone worthy, 143 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,560 beloved? Is anyone worthy of God's 144 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:12,720 gracious gifts and provisions? You may say yes. 145 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:14,720 Jesus died for us and he cleansed us. 146 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:16,920 We are the children of God we weren't worthy of. 147 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:19,600 That's grace. That is grace. 148 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:27,440 Grace saved by grace from being a child of perdition to a child 149 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:33,480 of God seized by Jesus Christ for good, good works. 150 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:38,040 That is salvation by grace. We haven't experienced it. 151 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:43,600 No one is worthy beloved, keep in mind that we have all 152 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:46,600 according to the scriptures, Romans chapter 3 verse 23. 153 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,960 We have all sinned and have failed of the glory of God. 154 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:59,560 When God examines your spiritual resume or curriculum vitae, your 155 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:08,760 CV, he searches for love, for faith, in an obedience to Him. 156 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:13,280 He doesn't look at what family you've been grown in or you've 157 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:16,160 grown up in. He doesn't look at what school 158 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,160 you have graduated from, what university, what college. 159 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:23,400 He doesn't examine what your profession is. 160 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:25,760 No, no, no, because he doesn't need those. 161 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:30,520 Beloved, God doesn't need our experience, our profession, our 162 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,800 knowledge, our education for His glory, for His work, because He 163 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:40,720 works it through His power. The only experience He requires 164 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:47,680 is our experience with Him, with His Son, with his Holy Spirit. 165 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,120 Now that is the experience we share together. 166 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:58,600 Beloved as Church, we share together as His Church in His 167 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,200 house and through the divine sacraments each time we gather 168 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,920 to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. You're now saying hang on, hang 169 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:08,240 on, what's that got to do with it? 170 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:10,840 Yes, it has a lot to do with what we're reading. 171 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:14,520 Beloved, our experience. Why did I mention that? 172 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:21,960 Let's read again verse 2 as they fasted and prayed to God. 173 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:24,800 See they were worshipping at the 1st right? 174 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,560 The church in the Antioch, they were worshipping as they fasted 175 00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,080 and prayed to God. The Holy Spirit said to them, 176 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:39,840 what were they doing while they were worshipping the Lord and 177 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:44,080 fasting? The Holy Spirit spoke to them. 178 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,200 That sounds like an experience, right? 179 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:56,760 That sounds like what we do. What worship is Luke talking 180 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,560 about here? Now remember, at that time there 181 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:05,240 was no Bible, there was no Gospels, there was no book. 182 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:11,360 They came to worship. They came to celebrate the 183 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:18,160 liturgy in the synagogue, and the liturgy pertained to the 184 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:23,280 Torah, the first five books of Moses, the Pentaton, the 185 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,360 Septuagint. Why were they fasting, beloved? 186 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,280 Then is it ringing bells, You know? 187 00:13:30,560 --> 00:13:35,560 So they read the Scriptures of the Old Testament, but they were 188 00:13:35,560 --> 00:13:37,600 fasting. What do we do at church? 189 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,320 When we come to church on a Sunday, we listen to the 190 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:43,440 Scriptures and we're fasting. Why are we fasting? 191 00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:47,400 We're fasting to partake in the Holy Eucharist. 192 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:52,560 So were they possibly celebrating the liturgy of the 193 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:58,480 Old Testament, but still celebrating the breaking of the 194 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:00,520 Eucharist? Not the bread and wine, the 195 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,520 breaking of the Eucharist. Was this during this Sacramento 196 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:05,360 service? Well, it was. 197 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:06,680 That's what the Fathers are saying. 198 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:10,440 That's what they were required to do. 199 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:13,560 They were fasting. Henceforth, those who asked why 200 00:14:13,560 --> 00:14:15,320 do we have to fast before the Eucharist? 201 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,280 Because the apostles would do that. 202 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:21,200 And we fast so that the first thing that we consume, we're 203 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,480 intake in our bodies is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus 204 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:27,440 Christ. And fasting pertains to 205 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,640 abstinence. You see, when we read the 206 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,960 Scriptures, beloved, we must always remember that at that 207 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:40,360 time, at the time of the Acts of the Apostles, it took 100 years 208 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,320 for the Bible to be canonized. At that time there was no Bible 209 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,720 per SE. The scriptures refer to the Old 210 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:54,200 Testament were the Old Testament were the five books of Moses. 211 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:59,160 I think the misunderstanding is not knowing and keeping the mind 212 00:14:59,160 --> 00:15:02,480 in mind when we read the Holy Scriptures. 213 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,560 This is where we start misunderstanding because we 214 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,560 forget that there was no book as we have today. 215 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:14,000 For example, one misinterpretation is Revelations 216 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:18,080 chapter 8, verse 22, and it reads, I testify to everyone who 217 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:22,960 hears the word of this prophecy, of the prophecy of this book. 218 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:29,120 Whoever will place upon these things or whoever will place 219 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,680 upon these things or change these things, God shall place 220 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:36,240 upon him the plagues that are written in this book. 221 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:37,600 What book? The Scriptures. 222 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,720 No, no, he's talking about that prophecy, that prophetic book, 223 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:48,480 because there was no Bible then. So the early church would gather 224 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:55,960 in the synagogue on a Sabbath to worship, to celebrate the 225 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,400 liturgy of the Old Testament. You know, they say they would 226 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:03,240 come out with with celebration to read the books. 227 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,360 They would read from the book of the books of the Torah, the 228 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,240 Pentateuch, but they would preach the word of God. 229 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:17,080 And what word of God is that? Is Jesus himself, the Word of 230 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,040 God, the word Incarnate, which is Jesus Christ. 231 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,320 And this is evident in Acts chapter 3. 232 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:27,400 Simon and John went up together to the temple. 233 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,440 This is after the ascension. Hang on. 234 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:33,680 But everything was abolished. Come on, What are they doing 235 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:36,480 going to the temple? That's wrong, Simon, John, you 236 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:40,080 shouldn't be going to the temple because the law was abolished. 237 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,440 Everything was abolished. Jesus abolished. 238 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:45,320 No, he didn't. He fulfilled by the way, but 239 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:50,240 they still went to the temple on the Sabbath at the time of 240 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,440 prayer, which was the 9th hour, that's three PM. 241 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,200 They went to the temple and they would listen to the readings. 242 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,880 They would partake in the liturgical service of the Old 243 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,400 Testament and listen to the readings of the Holy Scriptures 244 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,560 of the Old Testament. So it seems that they may have 245 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:14,800 worshipped in the synagogues on the Sabbath, but they would have 246 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:21,440 celebrated the Holy Eucharist with the believers only in the 247 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,599 upper room on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. 248 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,360 And this would happen continually later on. 249 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,640 Later on during the history of the church, we know that they 250 00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:40,160 were expelled from the synagogue because they were preaching 251 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:45,760 Jesus, not the Bible. They were preaching Jesus, the 252 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:50,080 word of God. The living Word of God is Jesus 253 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:54,000 Christ. As we read in John Chapter 9 254 00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:00,720 verse 22, when the parents of the man born blind were 255 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:05,600 questioned, is this your child? They said yes he is. 256 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,160 Well how is it? Was he born blind? 257 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,080 Yes he was. Well how is it that he sees it? 258 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,880 And they said, listen, ask him, he's old enough to reply for 259 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:15,680 himself. Why? 260 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,520 Because they were scared that they would be cast out of the 261 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,520 synagogue, because the Jews would cast those who preached 262 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,040 Jesus Christ and believed in Jesus Christ out of the 263 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:33,920 synagogue. So these apostles were praying 264 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:40,840 and worshipping and they were offering the Holy Eucharist. 265 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:47,320 And during this time the Holy Spirit talks to them and says 266 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:51,040 separate soul and Barnaba or Barnabas. 267 00:18:54,440 --> 00:19:01,920 The Holy Spirit, beloved, is perfect God, because unless it 268 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:08,720 had the same authority, He not it, unless the Holy Spirit had 269 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:13,040 the same authority, He would not have dared to say this without 270 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:18,040 mentioning of the name Father or of the Son. 271 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:23,360 No, no one in power. Hence the Holy Spirit speaks 272 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,280 just as God spoke, just as Jesus spoke without granting or 273 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,640 requesting permission from one another. 274 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:38,640 No, because it is one God. Praise be to His name, one of 275 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,880 the Church Fathers, Ammonius of Alexandria, late 6th century 276 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:45,920 comments. It must be noted that the Holy 277 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:50,200 Spirit does not speak to those who happen to be there by 278 00:19:50,200 --> 00:19:57,160 chance, but to those who serve Him and observe fasting. 279 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,520 Wow. And it must be noticed, he goes 280 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:07,720 on again, that they did not lay hands on the deacons at random, 281 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:12,600 but on those who were previously fasting and praying. 282 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:17,040 And those who fast and those who pray are in the faith. 283 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:21,840 Verse three, we read that they ordained them. 284 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,080 They ordained soul. And Barnabas, let's look at 285 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,440 soul. Let's just concentrate on soul 286 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:35,680 and see how the three konome hypostasis, which is Konoma, 287 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:40,840 which are the reality of the essence of a nature, the 288 00:20:40,960 --> 00:20:46,680 essence, the reality of Christ divine nature was seen in his 289 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,760 konoma, divine konoma. Let's see how these three Konome 290 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:57,280 in the one Godhead in the Trinity are one in nature and 291 00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:02,440 they are divine beloved. Let's read Acts chapter 22 292 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:08,160 verses 12 to 14 first and this all pertains to the conversion 293 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:14,040 of soul Acts chapter 2 verses 1222. 294 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:18,560 I'm sorry, Acts chapter 22, verses 12 to 14. 295 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:33,000 And he said to me, this is Ananias who was instructed by 296 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,600 Jesus Christ to go and meet soul. 297 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:40,040 Look at what he said, and I'm going to not go chronologically, 298 00:21:40,040 --> 00:21:42,600 OK? And he said to me, the God of 299 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:45,840 our fathers has appointed the God of our Father. 300 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:50,960 God the Father has appointed you to know his will and to see the 301 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,200 righteous. Now if we say no, no, he's still 302 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,960 talking about the God of our fathers, He's talking about 303 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:56,560 Jesus Christ. No, let's be careful. 304 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,080 He goes on. And he said to me, the God of 305 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:04,240 our fathers has appointed you to know his will and to see the 306 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:07,720 righteous one. That's Jesus Christ, to hear the 307 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:12,720 voice of his mouth. So God the Father has appointed 308 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:19,960 soul to then meet God the Son. Now that is the Father. 309 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:27,280 So there is the Father, the first kunuma of the Holy 310 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:29,760 Trinity. Let's see where the sun comes 311 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:32,160 into it. Act Chapter 9. 312 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:37,320 We read that this is in the conversion that while Saul was 313 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,800 on his way to Damascus to capture those of the way that is 314 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,400 Christians, the way Jesus Christ Jesus appeared to him. 315 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,200 Saul, why are you persecuting me? 316 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:52,040 You cannot kick a upon. You cannot not, not strike your 317 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:58,680 feet upon thorns. This is now Jesus. 318 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:03,840 God the Son speaks to him. And this was all prepared by God 319 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,160 the Father. And then we read in these verses 320 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:15,480 that the Holy Spirit tells them to set aside soul for the 321 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:19,200 missionary work. So it is God the Father, God the 322 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:23,600 Son, God the Holy Spirit, one God, praise and glory be to His 323 00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,840 name, that He's working in the soul of other life of soul, and 324 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:32,040 his missionary and his calling. Hence we worship and we must 325 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,800 worship the three of the Holy Trinity equally. 326 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:41,360 And we certainly pray not only to the Lord God in the name of 327 00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:47,240 Jesus, we pray to the Holy Trinity and in the name of the 328 00:23:47,240 --> 00:23:50,440 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 329 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:56,280 And we see this in the Acts of the Apostles, beloved, and they 330 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,840 lay hands on them. Now, let me ask you this 331 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,960 question. The Holy Spirit has already 332 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,320 chosen. The Holy Spirit has has 333 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,520 appointed, has elected, it is appeasing to the Holy Spirit, 334 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:14,320 and let's not forget to God the Father, God the Son, and God the 335 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,400 Holy Spirit. It's already chosen. 336 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,720 Why was there need for these people, these apostles to lay 337 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:27,280 hands on them? Remember Saint Paul, soul Jesus 338 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,480 appeared to soul he, he, he chose him, He elected him. 339 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:35,360 He he set him apart, He blinded him and he again gave him his 340 00:24:35,360 --> 00:24:37,400 sight. He preserved him. 341 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,760 He was a chosen vessel by the Lord God. 342 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:48,200 Why was there a need for someone ordinary to lay their hand on 343 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,120 them? Well, that is the way. 344 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,760 That is what we call the Apostolic succession. 345 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,840 Beloved, God's work is through his people. 346 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,760 God uses his people. God has used his people, those 347 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:03,080 he called. We cannot take people away. 348 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,760 We cannot take anyone away from the equation of God. 349 00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:12,600 No, when God has used the apostles to continue the work of 350 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,600 the Church, we today, the Church must continue the work of the 351 00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:20,840 apostles. We cannot just say no, I don't 352 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,200 feel it doesn't matter what you feel, what you don't feel. 353 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,480 Look at the scriptures, look at the life of the church. 354 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:33,440 Jesus chose these apostles. He gave them authority and again 355 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:38,000 he, the Holy Spirit, Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit, one 356 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,560 God, this time God the Holy Spirit speaks to them and moves 357 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,280 them and commands them. It's just like when in Numbers, 358 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:54,000 I think it's 26 now it's 25 or 26 where Moses time is coming 359 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:55,360 up. You know he's getting old. 360 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,440 There must be someone, Moses says, who's going to take over 361 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:03,800 Lord when I die, when I leave, who's going to take over my 362 00:26:04,000 --> 00:26:06,840 responsibility, my calling to lead these people? 363 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:12,440 God says take for yourself, Joshua, the son of nun Joshua, 364 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,520 take for yourself. He has the Spirit. 365 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:19,080 Go and check it out, Numbers 25 or 26. 366 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:22,720 Google it, you'll find it. He has the spirit. 367 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,280 A man who has the spirit. What spirit is God talking 368 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,120 about? Khasli cleans me, Lord. 369 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,600 Is it the evil spirit? No, no, no, the spirit of 370 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:37,040 knowledge and understanding and professionalism and academia? 371 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,320 No, no no, He has the Holy Spirit. 372 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,840 Set him up before Aaron, set him up before the congregation for 373 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,800 they to see, and then lay your hand upon him so that you may 374 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:55,320 give him you, you may give him a portion of your authority. 375 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:59,640 Through you, through this vessel, my will will be done, 376 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:05,240 beloved. So do you see the Holy Spirit, 377 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,560 the Holy Trinity has been working in the church, in the 378 00:27:10,560 --> 00:27:17,200 life of the church. It mind boggles me for 379 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:21,240 Christians to say, you know, they, they claim they preach the 380 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:24,640 name of Jesus Christ, but then they don't believe there is a 381 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:26,960 Holy Spirit. What Jesus Christ are you 382 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:31,240 preaching, brother or friend? What Jesus? 383 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,760 Who is this Jesus you are preaching? 384 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,320 Or there's only the Lord and there's only Jesus Christ. 385 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:43,200 What about the Holy Spirit? They are one in unity. 386 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:48,920 They are one in power, one in glory, one in might, one in, in, 387 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,040 in, in understanding. They are one. 388 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,760 Hence, when we mention, we mention the three. 389 00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:01,120 We pray to the three. In the Holy Scriptures the three 390 00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:05,760 have always been mentioned. We see these in Jesus's baptism. 391 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,640 The Son has been baptized By who? 392 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:12,920 By John the Baptist. No, John did not baptize. 393 00:28:14,360 --> 00:28:20,840 Hang on, Rob is changing the 2024 years of of of doctrine. 394 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:23,360 No, no, no, John did not baptize. 395 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:27,200 You know, when the priest baptizes hands in the Church of 396 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:31,600 the East, I do not proclaim that I baptize. 397 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:37,040 No, no, no, I proclaim that Stephen is baptized, John is 398 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,960 baptized, Mary is baptized. Because you know who baptizes? 399 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:46,520 It is God the Father. It is God who baptizes. 400 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:52,320 When Jesus came out of the water, it was God the Father's 401 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:58,320 voice that was heard through his Spirit that rested upon Jesus as 402 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:04,760 a form in a form of dove. So the Holy Trinity is evident, 403 00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:11,040 beloved, and today we see this. We see it in, in, in Saint 404 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,440 Paul's or souls calling and ministering until now. 405 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:23,720 The Holy Spirit now is it was the Father who had planned for 406 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:28,000 souls conversion to hear the voice of the righteous one which 407 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:31,520 was Jesus Christ God the Son. Jesus Christ God the Son 408 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:37,600 appeared and the Holy Spirit now we see is sending and they were 409 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,080 fasting and they were praying. Beloved, the Holy Spirit is 410 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,200 always at work during fasting and praying. 411 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,920 Our 2 keys of communication with our Lord Jesus Christ. 412 00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,720 They complement one another. You can't pray without fasting. 413 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,960 You can't say I only pray. We don't need to fast. 414 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:56,720 You know. Again, again, another mind 415 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:01,160 boggler, another another state of being dumbfounded. 416 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:05,600 Where in the Bible does it say or where in the scriptures does 417 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,200 it say today that you don't need to fast anymore? 418 00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,600 Well, Jesus says when you fast, what does that mean? 419 00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:16,200 When you fast, that means there will come a time that you need 420 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,520 to fast. The the apostles were fasting 421 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,000 again. Find me in the Scriptures. 422 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:23,560 Two things. Find me in the Holy Scriptures. 423 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,720 Beloved, where in the Holy Scriptures does do we read that 424 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,720 fasting was abolished? You know, people use that term 425 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:32,720 abolish very, very lightly. It was abolished. 426 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,600 No, nothing's abolished. Fulfilled, yes. 427 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:37,960 Completed, yes. Made perfect, yes, through Jesus 428 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:39,760 Christ. Where in the scriptures do we 429 00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:42,280 read that we do not need to fast? 430 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,320 That's a matter of fact. Jesus says that when you want to 431 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:48,560 take on evil demons, you need to do it through prayer and 432 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,560 fasting. Now if some versions have done 433 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:54,080 away with the word, well, that's now altering the Word of God. 434 00:30:54,120 --> 00:31:01,000 Woe, woe, woe to those people. Woe to those who have rewritten 435 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,240 the scripture in the pretense that we want to make it simple 436 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,680 and incorporated their their authority and doctrine. 437 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:11,080 Woe to those people for taking out the word. 438 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,880 Fasting. No, no, no, we fast yes, because 439 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,560 the apostles fasted. You know why did the apostles 440 00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,240 fast? Because Jesus fasted. 441 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,040 Where did fasting come from? God praise his name when he said 442 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:25,160 Adam do not eat. That's fasting, that's 443 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,120 abstaining. Do not eat simple don't dare to 444 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,960 do away with God has instituted and confirmed through his Son 445 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,640 and through the Holy Spirit. And the second question before 446 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:45,080 we end is where in the scriptures do we read that the 447 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:50,120 apostolicity of our faith in the church has been abolished? 448 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,200 When did it end? Show me, tell me it ended. 449 00:31:53,200 --> 00:32:01,360 See Father, go and read my book according to my understanding 450 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,840 chapter, my chapter, my verse. It is being, no, no, you don't 451 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,280 find in the Scriptures, beloved, no, no, no, the Holy Trinity has 452 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:11,080 been working through the church, has been working through the 453 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,560 authority of the church, vested by the apostles as we see today, 454 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,800 because the apostles continue to lay hand until today. 455 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:23,000 This most weak vessel of God, Dasha Gennard, Father Gennard 456 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:27,120 was ordained. I have this authority by the 457 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:33,160 grace of God, by the laying on of the hand, and that laying on 458 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:38,560 of the hand was concluded in the name of the glorious Trinity, 459 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,440 Father and Son, and Holy Spirit, one God forever. 460 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:11,520 We hope you enjoyed this week's message. 461 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,760 Please don't forget to rate and review this podcast and share 462 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,120 with your friends and family. For any future topic suggestions 463 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,560 or to give us detailed feedback, please visit our link in the 464 00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:25,960 show notes. Linktr dot EE forward slash 465 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,920 double edged sword. Until next time, God bless you 466 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:29,200 all.