Day 327: Origin of the Diaconate (2024)
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Hello everybody, my his father extends, I wanted let you know about a one night only opportunity. We have a new ork jersey on monday, december night. It's right after the start of batman. We're doing an at night of reflection and Q I at the neuk performing art center in monday summer night at seven o'clock. If you're interested and funny out more about this, go to essential impressed that calm slash for the my tour um basically at night of reflection, diving deeply into what IT is that we're preparing for in the season of advance of three inches at all on monday summer night seven o clock newer performing arts center. Go to essential press that com slash father, my tour that's F R M I K E tour got less.

I'm in his father management, and you're listening to the bible in a year podcast where we encounter god's voice and live life to the lens of book ript the bible in bide gis rought to you by ascension using the great adventure rival timing will read all the way from genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation on full and how we fit in at that story. Today IT is day three hundred and twenty seven.

We're reading a short chapter x chapter six, as well as romans chapter nine and ten. We're reading proper chapter twenty seven verses ten through twelve. As always, the bible translation on reading from is the revised start version.

Second category tion. I'm using the great adventure rebel from essential. If you want to download your own bible in the year, rating planning can visit essential press that comes like bible in the year.

You can also subscribed this podcast. I think that was the fastest i've ever gone through this, even trying to cut down the time you guys I know yesterday, last couple days goes l was super long. So who knows, maybe if I raised through that intro then you're like, oh, man, you shaped off seven seconds. This is great. As I said, this is day three hundred and twenty seven reading acts of the apocalypse six, as well as simple as letter to the romney chapters nine and ten and the book of probe set for twenty seven versus ten to twelve.

The acts of the apostles chapter six, seven chosen to serve now, in these days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the hell ist murmured against the hebrews because their windows were neglected in the daily distribution and the twelve, some of the body of the disciples and said, IT is not right that we should give up preaching the word of god to serve tables. Therefore, brethern pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty, but we will devote ourselves to payer into the ministry of the word and what they said, pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the holy spirit, and Philip, and progress and nicko and temoin and prominence, and Nicholas, a prosperity of antioch.

These, they SAT before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of god increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. The arrest of Stephen and Stephen, full of Grace and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue, the freed men, as IT was called, and of the serenities and of the alexandrians, and of those from cell sia and asia are rose and disputed with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

Then they secretly instigated then, who said, we have heard him speak bLassie words against moses and god, and they stood up the people and the elders and describes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council and set up a false witnesses who said, this man never sees to speak words against this holy place in the law, for we have heard him say that this jesus of nurse will destroy this place and will change the customs which moses deliver to us. And gazing at him, all who SAT in the council saw that his face was like the face of an Angel. Same paul's letter to the romans, chapter nine, god's election of israel I am speaking the truth in Christ.

I am not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the holy spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart for I could wish that I myself were a cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my king's men. According to the flesh, they are israelis, and to them belong the sonship, the glory, the convening, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises.

To them belong the patric, and of the race, according to the flesh, is the Christ. Who is god overall, blessed forever he men. But IT is not as though the word of god had failed for not all who are descended from israel belong to, and not all our children of bAbraham, because they are his descendants.

But through isac show, your descendants be named. This means that IT is not the children of the flesh. You are the children of god.

But the children of the promise are reckoned as descendants. For this is what the promise said about this time, I will return, and Sarah shall have a sun. And not only so, but also one.

Rebeca had conceived children by one man or four, father iac, though they were not yet born. And i'd done nothing either good or bad in order that god's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of his call. SHE was told the elder will serve the Younger as IT is written.

Jacob, I loved, but issaa, I hated. What shall we say then is there are injustice on god's part, by no means for he says that to moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So IT depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon god's mercy.

For the scripture, says the hero, I have raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy upon whoever he wants, and he hardens the heart of whom ever he wells, god, raf and mercy, you will say to me then, why does he still find fault for? Who can resist his will? But who are you a man to answer back to god?

Will what is molded, say to its mulder, why have you may be thus? Has the potter no right over the clay to make out of the same lump, one vessel for beauty and another for mini al use? What if got desire to show his rap and to make known his power has endured with much patients, the vessels of raf made for destruction in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for a glory, even us whom he has called not from the juice only, but also from the gentiles.

As indeed he says, in hosea, those who are not my people, I will call my people and her who was not beloved, I will call my beloved. And in the very place where I was said to them, you are not my people, they will be called sons of the living guard. And as a cries out concerning israel, though, the number of the sons of israel as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them, will be saved for the lord executed sentence upon the earth with rigger and dispatch, and as as they are predicted, if the lord of hosts had not left us children, we would have feared like sad m and been made like the israel's lack of faith.

What shall we say then, that gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained IT, that is, righteousness through faith, but that israel, who pursued the righteousness, which is based on law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. why? Because they did not pursue IT through faith, but as if they were based on works, they have stumbled over the stumbling stone.

As IT is written, behold, I am laying in zion a stone that will make men stumble, iraq that will make them fall. And he who believes in him will not be put to shame just to ten brethern my heart's desire and prayer to god for them is that they may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a seal for god.

But IT is not enlightened for being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from god and seeking to establish their own. They did not submit to god's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law that everyone who has faith may be justified.

Salvation is for believers in Christ mois, right? That the man who practices the righteousness, which is based on the law shall live by IT. But the righteous ness based on faith says, do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is to bring Prices down, or who will descend into the abyss, that is, to bring Christ up from the dead.

But what does that say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart. That is the word of faith, which we preach, because if you confess with your lips that jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead, you will be saved for man believes with his heart, and so is justified. And he confesses with his lips and so is saved the scriptures says, no one who believes in him will be put to shame, for there is no distinction between jew and greek. The same lord is lord of all and be to his Richard upon all who call upon him, for everyone who calls upon the name of the lord will be saved.

But how we're men to call upon him in whom they have not believed, and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent as IT is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news? But they have not all heated the gospel for I Z.

A, says lord, who has believed what he has heard from us. So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed, they have, for their voice has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.

Again, I ask, did israel not understand first, moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation with a foolish nation. I will make you angry. Then I, there is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me.

I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me, but if israel, he says, all day long, I have held up my hands to make this obedient and contrary people. The bugle proverb top twenty seven versus ten through twelve your friend and your father's friend do not for sake, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neither who is near than a brother who is far away.

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad that I may answer him. Who approaches me a prudent man seized danger and hide himself, but the simple go on and suffer for IT. Father and heavy, can you praise and thank you always every day? Gosh, lord, we thank you so much.

Thank you for having chosen us to be your beloved. Thank you for choosing us to make us yours. Thank you for sending your spirit that transforms our hearts hand. Thank you for giving us the gift of faith.

We make this parents es, es, name him and in the name of the father of the son and the holy spirit, sometimes you know, you just praying you like, man, I don't know what else to say because there are so many things be thankful for today. And as we we have often said here in this community, it's so big is is such a large community that we know that today could be your worst day. And so we're praying for you, definitely.

And yet at the same time, for every one of us, there is so much, there always is so much to be thankful for. Today we have actually postle. Chap six is short, very short, only fifteen versus long, how we have these seven chosen to serve. So what happened is you have this introduction of the term HEllenists.

So who are the HEllenes? They were basically greek speaking jews from the dispersion. So um IT is a little note in the great adventure viollet says they had their own synagogues and jerusalem, and they're ad the scriptures and greek, and so little different they read the step two agent which is that greek language translation of the old testable um they're kind of separate.

So there's R T this cultural division that's happening. And so you have again, gentle Christians or greek speaking Christians as well as jewish Christians. And they believed that their windows were neglected in the daily distribution, actually doesn't even say that they believe that.

He says they membered against the hebrews because their widows were negative in the daily distribution. So basically here is the the Christian community, and they are taking care of windows and and orphans. But some of these people who are part of a different group, right, different group of Christians were being neglected.

And so let's look at this. This is chapter six of the church. The church begins essentially, you know, jesus city built his church upon the possible Peter on that rock.

And here in chapter two, we have the dependent cost and the birthday of the church right there. Now here we are, four chapters later in chapter six. And already there are issues.

There are people, their factions, on later on in first sequential ts will even more kind of factions that are even greater. In fact, we're going to see that in the X, Y puzzles. But here's the first one. And that first one is some people are being treated different than others, and that is not good.

But IT is not unexpected, if that makes any sense, because while the holy spirit is the soul of the church, so it's divine, the church still is mean up of human beings who can fail, who do fail. And so here we are. So then what happens to twelve of some of the body of the cycles to say, not right, that here we are, the twelve we shouldn't give up programing the word of god to serve tables, although that's really important to take care of the windows and orphans.

So let's choose seven men who are of good faith. One, basically, this is the beginning of the diagonal so the greek word here that look uses is those deserve so A D I or deacon s um where in the catheters we have the can and I know what other churches they have that that role of of deacon and there's some things to know about the role of deacon, but one is that they were annointed, are sorry, ordained very clearly. Inverse six, he says these, they said before the apostles and they prayed they their hands upon them so that sense of here's an actual ordination wasn't like someone just chose themselves instead it'll do IT i'll all serve and they go off and go.

This is actually in order in the early church. So the puzzles knew that they were the a pisca post, right? The pisa boy or the bishops.

They knew that they were the premier oy or the priests, and have this, the economy, or at the dickens. Not only that, but the very next thing says that Stephen, one of those jacono, one of those deepens, who is ordained to serve the table. What's the next thing? The next time they are mentioned, he says that he is full of Grace and power.

He did great wonders and signs among the people. Basically, he goes out, starts preaching and starts healing. And you like way as I can. Bro, you just were dying to serve a table.

But here you are doing this supernatural ministry, which is remarkable and incredible that maybe wasn't what the postles had intended, but IT seems like that was what got had intended. Stephen tomorrow are going to find out what happens to him because he um he gives witness to Christ and he becomes the first mother in the church. Now the church always considers the holy innocence that was, were killed by herd, in some ways, to be no kind of protocols.

Join the patient you have as kind of a protocol as well. But the first Christian marter fully Christian matter is saying, Stephen, who will here about tomorrow. But today we have also romance nine and ten.

And you just imagine this is, you know, same polls begins by saying, i'm speaking the truth, not lying. I have great sorrow and seizing anguish in my heart. why? Because he has so many brethren who are part of the jewry, people who are not responding to jesus as the Christ.

They're not responding to jesus as the filming of everything got IT promised. And he even says, I could, I could wish that I myself were, were, occurred. I could wish that I was caught off from Chris so that they wouldn't be.

I could wish this, that these, my kinswomen accordance to the flesh, would be able to come to, no, jesus Christ. And a, that's a heart of a true follower. Christ, right, is too long for D, B, desperate for those people who don't know Christ.

There's that sense of I would do anything, I would give anything. And I know so many of us who are part of this community. We have people in our lives. We have if your parents maybe have kids who left the faith, maybe your parents don't know who Christ is, maybe every one of us has people in our lives who we love so much who either have never said yes to Christ or have, but then have walked away. And we would say the same thing as as same poll here.

I could wish that I myself were cut off, if they would just come to know who jesus Christ is, if they would just come to know that he establish his church and that they have a home there, that they belong there. He goes on to say that there is relax, right? And to them he goes this whole list that was the beginning universe for and to them belong the sunnis, the glory, the convents, the giving of the law, the worship and the promises.

To then belong the patriarch and of the race, according to the lesh is Christ to his god. This is remarkable. I I want to highlight this just because here we have journey through the entire old testers.

So we know what symbol's talking about. We know and also the things that aren't not written in the old testament, but we're part of jewish life. They're part of jewish culture life, or you want to say culture, I mean like jewish religious life, part of their their spirit al culture.

We know all this to them along the sonship, the glory, the confidence giving of the law, the worship, the promises, all these things that patriarchs, if given so much and yet aren't recognizing jesus. no. At the same time, we already know that thousands and thousands of juice did come to know who he is.

Was, I mean, again, the early church was primarily made up of jewish people who became Christian. Who who saw the jesus is the fulfillment and so that's important for us to remember. But then say, paul goes on to talk about like why is that happening? And essentially, i'm gonna say, he says, I don't know.

Essentially he will say that this is the way things go, that there are those who will come to see the truth about jesus and will respond with their whole hearts. There are those who will come to, they're hear the word of god, and they will respond by surrendering their lives to him. And there also are those who will hear the word of god and will not, and hear in pol makes a major claim when he says in her sixteen, he says, so IT depends not upon man's will or exertion, but upon god's mercy.

Remember, go back to activists for the scripture. As to fero, I raised you up for the very purpose of showing my power in you so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy upon whoever he wants, and he hardens the heart of whoever he wants.

And this is a mystery of, it's the mystery of having faith, or not having faiths is the mystery of some people can hear the word of god and respond, let that soft on their heart remember, or we can hear the word of god, and I can heart in our heart and remember, god never does evil. And so hardening one's heart is not the result of god's choosing to harden one's heart, to drive them away from him. But we choose to heart in our hearts, in the face of god.

But the potter gets to be in control. He is one of those mysteries of gods, rah in mercy, the mystery of of being chosen and called the mystery of predestination. And the mystery of saying is to got, or not saying is to guard.

But I will go on to say here in chapter ten, there is something as so powerful IT says universe nine, because if you can fess with your lips, the jesus is lord and believe in your heart that had raised him from the dead, you will be saved for man believes with his heart, and so is justified. Any confesses with his lips, and so is saved, which is such a the incredible gift that the role of faith in our lives, you know, we are, say, by Grace through faith. Working itself out in love is the kind of the catholic formulation.

We sabeg Grace, a completely free gift through faith, which is our response to that gift, as same policies here, process through the lips to believe your heart. That's faith, right? In fact, in chapter one, same police says the obedience of fake.

So it's not here, even merely profession of lips or believing in heart, but it's actually gets the point of obedience. But we would formulate that we are, say, by Grace, through faith, working its about in love, that we live as we believe that we belong to the lord. Everyone who calls upon the name of the lord will be saved.

Now here's the last part that I just think is important, IT says, but how are men to call upon him? This is the verse fourteen of chapter ten, harm to call upon him and whom they have not believed. And how are they to believe in him, of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher goes on to say so faith, there are seventeen come to what is heard.

What is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. And this is why jesus needs to be talked about. This is why jesus needs to be proclaimed.

And this is one of the reasons why we're doing this bible in year. why? Because it's one thing to read our bibles, super important to read them.

It's another thing. I why wonder if there is not this mysterious power that comes when god's word is heard, not merely read off the page, but actually heard, proclaimed. I think there is something there, because here we are to having journey for three hundred and twenty seven days to this day.

And so many people have reached out and said, there is something different about hearing god's word. Then just me reading IT on the page. No, it's obviously it's got word.

So when I take anything away from that, but we're also gna say, isn't this fascinating that samples litter to the romans? Chapter ten talks about not just the power of god's word, but the power of hearing god's word. I know I think there's something there.

I don't know what that is, but I think it's there anyways. Uh, you guys, as we said, we know that there are many of our friends and family who don't have faith, so we're praying for them and even us. There can be days when we struggle to believe, struggle to submit and surrender our lives to the lord, struggle to profess with our lips and believe in our hearts and to have the obedience.

And so we need purse. We need Grace is completely got free gift, but we can ask for IT. And i'm praying for you that you have that race today. Please pray for me that I have that race today so that we can all be united in saying one giant, yes, to the father who loves us, my nate's father, mike, I cannot wait to see tomorrow. couples.