The Homilies On The Acts of the Apostles

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In the 20th century, Pope John Paul II likened the modern media to the New Areopagus , where Christian ideas needed to be explained and defended anew, against disbelief and the idols of gold and silver. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 28 September Christian faith and practice in a consumer culture. Acts of the Apostles. Retrieved from " https: Christology Paul the Apostle Christian sermons Christian apologetics.

Articles containing Greek-language text. As a young boy, I loved the story of Jesus ascending into heaven. I visualized Him slowly rising above the earth with hands outstretched in blessing. I remember wondering why He went up visibly instead of instantly disappearing as He had done at other times after His resurrection. I also wondered where heaven is located and what Jesus is doing there now. Why did Jesus ascend visibly?

Perhaps to show that His earthly ministry was completed and that He would no longer be seen by His disciples. He had paid the price for sin Romans 5: He had given His followers all the evidence and instruction they needed to live for Him Acts 1: What did He ascend to do? I once thought of it as a place millions of miles away in outer space.

Now I think of it as a realm near at hand but undetectable. This fills my heart with gratitude and praise. How wonderful that we have an ascended Savior! This is more than a historic statement made by Luke. It is a challenge to all the critics who would deny the literalness of the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke made the amazing and startling statement that Jesus was alive, He was seen by a great multitude of people, and His resurrection was confirmed by a great number of convincing proofs.

Today, nearly 2, years later, no other doctrine of the Scriptures has been more persistently attacked than the bodily resurrection of our Lord. And no wonder, for it is the keystone in the great arch of all Christian doctrine. With the resurrection of Jesus, the whole structure of Christian doctrine stands or falls. If the resurrection could be disproved, Christianity would crumble in the dust and have less credence than the wildest myths of ancient Greece and Rome.

The devil knows this, and so his earliest and most frequent attack on the truth of Christ is against His bodily resurrection.

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He told an unbelievable tale of how he had lived in a snowy wilderness after parachuting from his disabled plane. By the time he showed up alive, he had already been declared officially dead. When further search failed to turn up the wreckage, a hoax was suspected and Steeves was forced to resign under a cloud of doubt. More than 20 years later, however, his story was confirmed when a troop of Boy Scouts discovered the wreckage of his plane. A man by the name of Jesus Christ walked out of the Judean wilderness making claims a lot of people found difficult to believe.

He was later executed and pronounced dead. But 3 days later He showed up alive. And there have been skeptics ever since. His integrity is well-founded. Prophets foretold His coming. Miracles supported His deity. Eyewitnesses verified His resurrection. And today the Holy Spirit confirms to anyone who is seeking to know the truth that Jesus is alive. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me. A pastor I know and love is discouraged. Although he is diligent in prayer and works hard, his church remains small while a new congregation nearby is rapidly developing into a megachurch.

Yet when I think of the alcoholics, drug addicts, and sexually immoral people he has led to the Savior and a new way of life, I see him as one who witnesses in the power of the Holy Spirit. We forget that a little later the same people filled with the same Holy Spirit were rejected, flogged, imprisoned, even executed. But through it all they were powerful witnesses! But it is seen as well in the volunteer who carries on a one-on-one prison ministry, in the person who witnesses to a co-worker or a neighbor, and in the Sunday school teacher who faithfully teaches week after week.

The power of Pentecost is not reserved for the highly gifted. It is available to all believers in Christ who want to serve Him. During the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension to heaven, Jesus appeared again and again to His disciples. What an amazing and significant time that was! It seemed as if He came out of nowhere, then just as mysteriously He would vanish from their sight. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God Acts 1: These appearances were not some figment of their imagination. When I was a boy, I used to ponder those mysterious events.

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Where did Jesus come from when He appeared, and where did He go when He disappeared? I came to believe that Jesus was able to slip from heaven to earth and back again during those 40 days. Mystery still remains, but I find comfort in the fact that the Bible records those events. They also reassure me that heaven is near at hand.

Call the roll of some of the states men and dictators who for a brief time dominated the global stage in this century: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D.

The homilies of S. John Chrysostom on the Acts of the Apostles

Where are they now? But where is Jesus Christ, the rejected and crucified first-century Galilean? He is alive forevermore, enthroned in celestial glory. After dying on the cross to redeem us, Jesus rose from the grave. Forty days later, He dramatically departed from our sphere of time and space by ascending into the clouds as His disciples looked on.

He returned to the indescribable splendor and joy of His heavenly home. It marked the beginning of His high-priestly ministry in glory. No longer limited to being in one place at a time, He could be present anywhere as our invisible Intercessor, constantly praying for us Heb. And since our High Priest is also the almighty Sovereign Matt. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me … to the end of the earth. In a criminal court case, witnesses provide vital information about a possible crime.

Being a witness means telling the court the truth about what you know. Just as the criminal justice system relies heavily on witnesses, Jesus uses bold, faithful, and credible witnesses to spread His Word and build His church. Before Jesus ascended to His Father, He gave His disciples a final command—to launch a worldwide witnessing campaign. The Holy Spirit would come upon them and give them supernatural power to be His witnesses throughout the world Acts 1: Jesus called these early apostles to go into a world where people did not know about Him and to give a truthful account of what they had seen, heard, and experienced Acts 4: Since they had witnessed His perfect life, teachings, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection Luke In taking the gospel to the ends of the world, we are called to testify to the truth about Jesus and how He has changed our lives.

What are you doing to tell others? A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father. After His resurrection, they saw Him again and they hoped He would be establishing His kingdom on earth at that time. They would have to wait even longer. But they were to do more than wait. And He gave them the Holy Spirit to empower them to do this. Years ago, I was hospitalized following a life-threatening, foot fall from a bridge. While I was there, the wife of the man in the next bed stopped to speak to me. I had grown up going to church, but I had never imagined that God would want to be involved in my life.

Her words pointed me to a Savior I had heard of but did not know—and marked the beginning of my coming to Christ. I cherish the memory of those words from a gentle witness who cared enough to say something to a stranger about the God whose love is real. Her words conveyed care and concern, and offered purpose and promise. Jesus challenged His disciples—and us—to tell others about the love of God: Through the Holy Spirit our words and witness can have the power to make an eternal difference in the lives of others.

When I was a teen, I witnessed an auto accident. It was a shocking experience that was compounded by what followed. As the only witness to the incident, I spent the ensuing months telling a series of lawyers and insurance adjustors what I had seen. I was not expected to explain the physics of the wreck or the details of the medical trauma. I was asked to tell only what I had witnessed. As followers of Christ, we are called to be witnesses of what Jesus has done in us and for us.

What we must do is explain what we have witnessed in our own lives through the cross and the resurrection of the Savior. With His help, we can witness to the life-changing power of His presence in our lives! We view time from the perspective of our own brief life span. He wanted them—as He wants us—to live in an attitude of expectation. But how do we live expectantly? Jesus instructed the disciples to be witnesses to all the world Acts 1: John urged us to walk in close fellowship with Jesus 1 Jn. Missionary Keith Gustafson was forced to leave the Congo because of the civil war that erupted in He reported that as the fighting spread, people in the remote area where he lived knew that soldiers were approaching because of the message of the drums.

Down the trails and along the riverbanks came the chilling drumbeat that warned of danger. The drums of the Congo are also used to alert the tribes when there's been a death, to announce a birth, or to call a meeting. They serve as a general news alert; a messenger follows up with additional information. We have the opportunity to deliver a news alert to the people with whom we come in contact every day.

Our manner of speech and our moral standards can help prepare the way to share the gospel. We can follow up our general testimony with the specific message of the gospel.

An insurance company sponsored a conference at its huge, national headquarters building in New York City. Agents from all over the country attended. During the convention, one of the delegates from a western state sold insurance to a barber, an elevator operator, and a restaurant employee—all three of whom had worked in that headquarters building for years. The life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life. One of them, a church leader, gave an arresting testimony. But he was glad they had even that unsatisfactory set.

Then his family learned that an outside antenna was needed. Our enjoyment was transformed. Without a knowledge of God and His purposes revealed in Scripture and in Jesus Christ, we finite humans with our sin-darkened minds have at best a blurred picture of the invisible, holy Creator. But when we pick up the Bible and encounter Jesus, the Man who was God-in-the-flesh, the fuzziness vanishes. Are you helping others to see Him too? Anointing oil speaks of the presence and the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

All believers have received the anointing of the Spirit 1 John 2: The more we are like Jesus Christ in character and conduct, the more we please our Father; and the more we please Him, the more He can bless and use us for His glory. I once heard Dr. But is that what God wants? Do we dare pray in the energy of the flesh when the Spirit is present to assist us Rom. Do we try to witness for Christ without asking the Spirit to help us Acts 1: Every corner of our world, no matter how remote, must be touched by the message of the cross.

The Savior died for the world—and that includes people both near and far. Who can you tell today? God raised Jesus from the grave and exalted Him to His right hand in heaven Ephesians 1: Yet for 40 days Jesus made many bodily appearances to His disciples. But the 40th day was different. With His disciples looking on, He slowly ascended into the sky until a cloud hid Him from view Acts 1: The time had come for His followers to trust His word instead of relying on their physical senses From heaven Jesus would send the Holy Spirit to replace His bodily presence.

Christ would form the church and rule as its Head Ephesians 1: By His Spirit, He would live within His followers and fill them with peace and power. He would no longer be visibly present, but He would still be with them in a very real way Matthew The same is true for every believer today. These all continued with one accord … , with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. For everyone with a close family member who is not a follower of Christ, Dr. Luke has included a wonderful surprise in the first chapter of Acts. Among those gathered for prayer in the days after Jesus ascended to heaven, Luke mentioned Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers Acts 1: These same brothers grew up with Jesus in Nazareth Mt.

They came to take charge of Jesus during His early ministry because they mistakenly thought He was out of His mind Mk. Our Lord experienced the heartache, misunderstanding, and even conflict that can result when families are divided over matters of faith. But at some point, though we are not told when, the brothers of Jesus came to believe in Him as their Lord and Messiah. The fifth book of the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, records the beginnings of the Christian church under the leadership of the people Jesus had appointed.

Just before Jesus was taken up into heaven, He told the ones He had chosen: We are a part of that ongoing story. The book of Acts describes the faithful witness of Peter, John, Barnabas, Paul, Dorcas, Lydia, and many others during the early days of the church. These ordinary people depended on God to give them strength as they spread His Word and demonstrated His love.

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That story continues through us. As we trust God and obey His direction to make Jesus known, He writes through us new pages in His story of redemption. In some cultures, the title below your name on your business card is very important. It identifies your rank. The way you are treated depends on your title as compared with others around you. What is more amazing is that like the apostle Paul we are all sent out by the King of kings to the world Matt. It is our privilege to represent Him and His eternal truth in word and in deed each day to all around us.

John, do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world? Jobs was the creative genius behind Apple Computer. He knew that the soft-drink executive could help Apple make its mark on the computer world. Sculley accepted the bold challenge. Jesus issued a challenge to three fishermen as they tended their nets.

They did, and with a handful of other ordinary men they changed the world. On the Day of Pentecost the promised Holy Spirit began a new work through them, and 3, were saved Acts 2. One day the King of kings will return and transform the whole world! What happens when we keep to ourselves something that, if shared with others, would enrich their lives? We not only fail to increase their happiness, but we rob ourselves of the joy that generosity brings.

Luigi Tarisio, who loved violins passionately, never learned that lesson. He spent his limited income buying the finest instruments he could find. He owned exquisite violins, which were crammed into every corner of his otherwise barren little house. And they were never played! His obsession prevented those instruments from bringing pleasure and inspiration to other music lovers.

Even more, we should be motivated by grateful obedience to Jesus Christ. And obedience, the Savior assures us, brings joy John As Christians, we have a message that makes the melodies of heaven flood our souls. Our Lord gave us the mandate to share that message with everybody everywhere Mark Are we keeping the heavenly harmonies of saving grace sealed up inside ourselves, or are we obediently letting them ring out through our lips and lives? I felt mechanically illiterate.

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Fortunately, someone saw my plight. I stood there appreciatively as he sized up the situation—and then plugged the power cord into the wall outlet. I was so preoccupied with patch cords and monitors that I overlooked the obvious. I forgot about the power. I join them in sad wonder. How can I forget that the infinite, personal Spirit of Christ lives within me to guide my life and give me power?

The answer is regretfully clear. When I am preoccupied with pleasing myself, I miss the power that comes from a healthy relationship with Christ. His Spirit enables me to do the will of God, to show His attitudes, and to fulfill His purpose. I was talking with a veteran truckdriver about his life on the road.

We discussed interstates, cities, truck stops, engines, and tractors. As he spoke about his huge rig, he referred several times to steering axles and drive axles. I asked him to explain the difference. He told me that the front axle of a truck is the steering axle. The drive axles, located under the rear of the cab, transfer the power that is generated by the diesel engine.

My discussion with that trucker gave me a new appreciation for those wheelers, and it reminded me of a spiritual truth. Just as steering axles and drive axles are essential to a tractor-trailer, so also direction and power are vital to followers of Christ as we travel through life. The Holy Spirit provides us with both.

He was sent to guide us into all truth Jn. We are empowered by the Spirit to witness Acts 1: The next time one of those big semis blows by you on the highway, think about the lesson of the wheeler. Call on the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. Remorse deprives many Christians of the joy that should be theirs. A man in his middle years has withdrawn from the people in his church because he feels so bad about his past infidelity—a sin that broke up his home. An elderly woman needs counseling from time to time because she can't forget an affair she had more than fifty years ago.

A young woman sees a psychiatrist because she can't forgive herself for having had an abortion. Each of these people is now a Christian, but each is paralyzed at times by remorse over the past. If anyone ever had good reason for allowing the memory of a grievous sin to put him on the shelf, it was Peter.

He had been such a coward. He had fled Gethsemane at Christ's arrest, and then denied three times that he knew the Lord Jesus. Later, he felt so bad that he wept bitterly. Yet he did not allow his remorse over past failures to make him ineffective in his service for Christ. He accepted the Lord's forgiveness, and he received new hope from Jesus' commission, "Feed my sheep.

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By taking Jesus' words of forgiveness to heart and by forgiving himself, he put the past under the blood of Christ. As believers, when we confess our sin, we can leave it with Christ and forget it. Then we can move on to find a new way to serve Him. We need never let remorse remove our joy. This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go. The founder of one sect predicted October 22, Another leader set as the end of this age. The dismal record of date-setters has led many to abandon the subject altogether.

After living in Edinburgh for a time and returning to his village, his neighbors asked him how he liked the Edinburgh preachers. But if we watch and pray Mk. Those present heard a roaring sound like a strong driving wind. Many of us wish we could have a similar experience today. But we tend to overlook the fact that the power of Pentecost was given so that we could be witnesses for Christ 1: Since that great day, the Holy Spirit has been transforming lives through the witness of believers.

The testimony of those first-century Christians led thousands to faith in Jesus Christ. Our problem is that we like the spectacular.



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God uses our witness to open the eyes of others to the truth of the gospel. The same Holy Spirit who was revealed in the first century resides in us today. We are now living witnesses of the power displayed on the Day of Pentecost. Praise God for His Pentecostal power! Instead, show the Lord your gratitude by using that power to share the gospel.

Areopagus sermon

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind… And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit Acts 2: In his diary Jim Elliot wrote, "Am I ignitible? The disciples went through emotional burnout.

The trial, the crucifixion, and the burial nearly snuffed out their flame. Then the Holy Spirit came like a mighty wind, and they became human infernos. Since then He has made His home in every believer and makes God's firepower available to us all. The greatest evidence of His work may seem to many the most mundane: He grows spiritual fruit. That does not seem as exciting as starting spiritual fires. But His fruit is characteristic of Christ's life, and so He works at reproducing the best life ever lived in each believer. Like the oil of the olive used in lamps, the juice of this fruit lights the Christian life.

Instead, as a battle commander, He cries, "Fire! I was visiting a friend in a Midwest farming community during harvest season. Huge combines churned through his fields, depositing soybeans into waiting wagons. Despite the worst corn crop in 40 years, the soybeans gave him reason to thank God for a good harvest. Pentecost, which we remember today, has its roots in an agricultural setting.

Centuries later, the Lord chose the Day of Pentecost to celebrate a new harvest. Fifty days from Passover, the Holy Spirit came on a small group of believers and moved through Jerusalem, bringing in a different kind of crop. These firstfruits were men, women, and children added to the church Acts 2: My friend leaped onto one of the wagons to check out his "firstfruits. Pentecost's historical farming connection reminds us that a world of lost souls is ready for harvest John 4: As believers in Christ, we are God's fruit, but we are commanded to be His farmers as well.

I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. When two uniformed men came to my door on Memorial Day afternoon, I thought they were collecting for charity. Instead, they told me that my sister and her husband had been killed in an accident earlier that day.

It brought a wave of peace over my still-aching soul. In labor, Thou art rest; in heat, the tempering; in grief, the consolation. But the Spirit came also as the Comforter promised by Jesus: The Spirit lives within each Christian, bringing the peace of Christ along with encouragement and alleviation of grief.

Pentecost and Memorial Day seldom fall next to each other as they do in In grief, the Spirit is our consolation, the light of our hearts, the giver of everlasting joy. They say that he inserted a cryptogram a message written in code while he translated Psalm In this psalm, the 46th word from the beginning is shake and the 46th word from the end is spear. Furthermore, in , while the King James Bible was being translated, Shakespeare would have been 46 years old. Despite these coincidences, no serious evidence supports this theory. Some people also claim to have found hidden meanings when interpreting the Bible.

Certain cults will cite a verse out of context, only to lead someone into heretical doctrine. Some quote John To interpret a biblical passage accurately, we must always consider the context and compare it with other Scripture. This respects the clear meaning of the Bible without trying to find hidden meaning in it. I will pray the Father, and He will give you another [Comforter], that He may abide with you forever.

A seminary student was writing a term paper about confession of sin. When the paper was returned, the student grinned as he read the marginal note from the professor: Jesus said the Comforter or Helper would come and abide with us forever Jn. Here are some of His comforting activities: He guides us into truth and brings glory to Christ Jn. He helps us pray Rom. He gives us hope Rom.

He teaches us spiritual truths 1 Cor. He equips us to serve other believers 1 Cor. He makes us Christlike 2 Cor. He strengthens us Eph. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Across the United States and around the world, we often experience the dramatic effect of something no one can see. In , for instance, several US cities were devastated by tornadoes that blew apart neighborhoods and business districts.

And during each hurricane season, we are shocked as winds of more than miles an hour threaten to destroy what we have built. All of this is the result of an unseen force.

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It works in mysterious invisibility. In a sense, this is also true of the Holy Spirit. That wind was a tangible demonstration to those early Christians that the unseen Spirit was at work in their lives. And He still works in our lives today! If you are a follower of Christ, be encouraged. The Holy Spirit bears fruit in your life Gal. When I taught in a Christian college, I directed travel-study tours of Europe.

Before I left for the first tour, I was somewhat apprehensive, but I knew that a Christian brother, Sotos Boukis, would be assisting us during the 7 days our group would be in Greece. I was relieved to discover when we arrived at our hotel that he was there waiting for us. His knowledge, guidance, and personal assistance were invaluable. It gave me great peace of mind to have him with me. Jesus instructed, encouraged, and knew His disciples intimately. He was telling them they would have a person like Himself to assist them. So on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came to indwell all believers and gave them the same individual attention, though unseen, that Jesus had given His disciples.

The Holy Spirit is not some mystical force but a personal Being who lives within every follower of Jesus Christ. He is our teacher Jn. Ron Sider, a leading evangelical advocate for the poor, tells about a conversation he had with German theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg. It is a very unusual event, and second, if you believe it happened, you have to change the way you live. If we really believe Jesus rose again, that belief mandates a change of life. Once an impetuous fisherman-disciple who denied even knowing Christ after His arrest, he became a bold witness for Him John Are your goals and priorities different than they were?

Are you kinder, more patient, more forgiving? Ask God what He wants to do in you, and then cooperate with Him in that change. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and … rose again the third day. A young boy stood outside an art store looking intently at a painting of Jesus on the cross. Those people around Him are the soldiers who killed Him.

And that woman who is crying was His mother. The man patted the boy on the head and walked away. He had not gone far when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Jesus is not on that cross anymore. He is alive because He rose again. He is in heaven today. That youngster knew the living Savior who died and rose and lives today. He knew the truth of the gospel. The climax of the gospel is the resurrection. Every sermon preached by the apostles included the news that Jesus is not dead.

Today, no matter how eloquent a sermon may be, it is not the gospel if it leaves Jesus on the cross or in the tomb. A dead man can save no one. Followers of Christ see His crucifixion as the greatest wrong in all of history. Yet they decorate church buildings with the cross, wear it as jewelry, and sing about it. Why would anyone cherish such a terrible symbol of suffering and shame?