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Episode: Day 322: The Ascension (2024)

Author: Ascension
Duration: 00:19:17

Episode Shownotes

Today, we begin the age of the church, transitioning from the Gospel of Luke to the beginning of the book of Acts. Fr. Mike draws our attention to the Ascension of Jesus and encourages us to respond to Christ’s call to participate in his mission. He invites us to be

part of his story and not be ashamed of the Gospel. Today’s readings are Acts 1, Romans 1, and Proverbs 26:24-26. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_01
Hey everyone, before we get started today, I want to let you know the Bible in a year has brought the Word of God to so many people. As you know, you're part of this community, changing lives in so many incredible ways.

00:00:09 Speaker_01
We're humbled to play this role in God's plan and consider it our ongoing mission to keep bringing the Word of God to as many people as possible. So what I'm saying is the end of this year is not going to be the end of Bible in a year.

00:00:21 Speaker_01
So far, Ascension has been able to add the podcast to YouTube. You might have found it that way. Maybe you're watching right now on YouTube.

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And also, we're working on translating it into different languages so you could have the Bible in a year in other languages than English.

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But of course, this takes a significant investment to bring projects like these, you know, free of cost to our listening communities.

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And we want to keep them free of cost to all those people who participate because we want to get the Word of God out there.

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And because of that, we have to rely on generous contributions from listeners like you to help defray these costs and to enable us to continually provide new audiences with this life-changing content.

00:00:54 Speaker_01
So if you would like to help support the Bible in a year mission, you can go to ascensionpress.com support. That's ascensionpress.com support.

00:01:09 Speaker_01
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension.

00:01:17 Speaker_01
Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day one of the church and it's day 322.

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We're reading Acts of the Apostles, chapter one. We're reading the letters of St. Paul to the Romans, chapter one, as well as Proverbs 26 verses 24 to 26.

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As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the revised standard version, second Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension.

00:01:42 Speaker_01
If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year, because then you would know that today's day 322 and we're reading Acts one, Romans one, Proverbs 26.

00:01:52 Speaker_01
You can also subscribe to this podcast. if you're so inclined to do this on the home stretch. Because that's kind of where we are. This is kind of the beginning of the home stretch. I don't know.

00:02:03 Speaker_01
I don't want to talk about it as if it's over yet because we still have a bunch of days left. You've done so well. By the way, this might not be day 322 in a row for you, which is phenomenal. That's not a problem.

00:02:15 Speaker_01
That's not even a beginning of a problem. It's only an imaginary problem. When people say that, oh, I need to be right on top of things every day. I mean, if you are doing that, great job, well done. But if you haven't done that,

00:02:26 Speaker_01
That is an imaginary problem. That's not even a real thing. You showed up today and that's all you need to do. On day 322, reading Acts chapter 1, Romans chapter 1, Proverbs 26, verses 24 through 26. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1.

00:02:42 Speaker_01
The promise of the Holy Spirit. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

00:02:54 Speaker_01
To them he presented himself alive after his passion by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking of the kingdom of God.

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And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said, You heard from me. For John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

00:03:16 Speaker_01
the ascension of Jesus. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

00:03:24 Speaker_01
He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons, which the father has fixed by his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

00:03:40 Speaker_01
And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

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And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

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This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Matthias chosen to replace Judas.

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Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.

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And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John, and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas the son of James.

00:04:24 Speaker_01
All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

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In those days Peter stood up among the brethren, the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty, and said, Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who arrested Jesus.

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For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.

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And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their language, Akildama, that is, field of blood.

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For it is written in the book of Psalms, let his habitation become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it. and his office let another take.

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So, one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.

00:05:27 Speaker_01
And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Lord, you know the hearts of all men.

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Show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.

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And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.

00:05:56 Speaker_01
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.

00:06:18 Speaker_01
Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of His name among all the nations, including yourselves, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

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To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer of Thanksgiving.

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First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

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For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son, that without ceasing, I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

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For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

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I want you to know, brethren, that I have often intended to come to you, but thus far have been prevented, in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

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I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. The power of the gospel. For I am not ashamed of the gospel.

00:07:34 Speaker_01
It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith, as it is written, he who through faith is righteous shall live.

00:07:50 Speaker_01
God's wrath against man's wickedness. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.

00:08:00 Speaker_01
For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature, namely his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.

00:08:13 Speaker_01
So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds were darkened.

00:08:24 Speaker_01
Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles.

00:08:33 Speaker_01
Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.

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because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions.

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Their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penalty for their error.

00:09:07 Speaker_01
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity.

00:09:23 Speaker_01
They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

00:09:36 Speaker_01
Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but approve those who practice them. He who hates dissembles with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart.

00:09:57 Speaker_01
When he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart.

00:10:03 Speaker_00
Though his hatred be covered with guile, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Father in heaven, we thank you so much.

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We give you praise.

00:10:14 Speaker_01
Thank you for not only for this new day, thank you for this new age, this new step we're taking in the age of the church, the age in which we're living currently, that we're hearing described in these first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, in this first chapter of the letter of St.

00:10:27 Speaker_01
Paul to the Romans. We thank you, Lord God, not only for your son and for salvation, we thank you for the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us and enables us not only to pray, but also to hear your word and let it transform our hearts.

00:10:39 Speaker_01
We ask you, Lord, to please come and fill us with your Holy Spirit, just like the apostles gathered together, united with each other and united with Mary.

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We ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon us this day, that we can be filled with your Spirit so we can bring your gospel and bring you, you, we want to bring you, Lord, to the world. We make this prayer in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

00:11:01 Speaker_01
Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Gosh, you guys, this is so good. Oh my gosh. Okay, so here we are in the Acts of the Apostles, and this is the age of the church, as we noted before.

00:11:13 Speaker_01
The Acts of the Apostles, written by Luke himself. And so this is just an extension, as Jeff pointed out, I think at the very beginning of the Gospel of Luke, he pointed out that Luke and Acts, at one point, were all one, just complete.

00:11:25 Speaker_01
First book, second book. And we've separated them, of course, because it makes sense. But they're still here. And so what do we have? Well, a couple things. We have the ascension of Jesus.

00:11:34 Speaker_01
Now, at the end of Luke's gospel, he talks about the ascension a bit. And in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, Luke talks about it again. He gives us different details.

00:11:43 Speaker_01
Here's one detail that I love highlighting because it's just, it's remarkable. I just, I think it's phenomenal. And it's this, is that here they are, Jesus leads them after the resurrection. They've been with him 40 days.

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And Jesus leads them outside the city of Jerusalem and they know who he is now. They know that he is the Messiah. They know that he is the king who has come to establish the kingdom of God.

00:12:02 Speaker_01
And so they ask him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? This is what they've been praying for. He is the promised one, right? He is the king, the Messiah. You guys, we know the whole story already.

00:12:13 Speaker_01
We know that God had promised he was going to establish a kingdom on the earth and that this kingdom would never end and that through this kingdom he would bless the entire world.

00:12:24 Speaker_01
So, the apostles, knowing that Jesus is who he says he is, they ask the big question, the $25,000 question. When are you going to do it? When will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? And Jesus answers very cryptically.

00:12:37 Speaker_01
He says, basically, it's not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father has appointed. So basically, I'm not telling, but the next thing he says is, he says, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

00:12:49 Speaker_01
and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Basically, Jesus, are you gonna restore the kingdom to Israel? And Jesus says, mm, you are. Jesus, you're the Messiah.

00:13:01 Speaker_01
Are you gonna restore the kingdom? Mm, you are. You're gonna restore the kingdom. The Holy Spirit will come upon you. Remember, the Holy Spirit will come upon you in power.

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That word for power in verse eight of chapter one, you shall receive power is the Greek word dynamis or dynamis, right? It's where we get the word dynamite.

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And this is the power of the Holy Spirit, the kind of power that can blast holes in the Rocky Mountains and carve roads through mountains, right? So this is the kind of dynamite power that Jesus promises. Now, that's chapter 2. That might be tomorrow.

00:13:30 Speaker_01
We'll see. We'll see if we read that tomorrow. Of course we're gonna. But Jesus is promising the dynamite power of the Holy Spirit. Not little fun snaps, you know, like little kind of firecrackers, but dynamite power.

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and you'll receive dynamite power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And then you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem." Here in town, right? Here in the city, in all Judea and Samaria, we know where those places are, and to the ends of the earth.

00:13:52 Speaker_01
It's so important for us to understand this. The word witness is the word, Greek word, martis, or martyr, right? It's the word, where we get the word martyr from. You'll be my witnesses. You'll be my martyrs.

00:14:03 Speaker_01
You'll be the ones who bear witness to my life, death, and resurrection. You'll bear witness to mercy triumphing over evil. You'll be the ones bearing witness to grace triumphing over having triumph, having victory over disgrace.

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You're the ones who will bring hope where there is no hope. Now, this is the remarkable thing. We've been reading the Bible for 322 days. Whether that's been 322 consecutive days or not, it doesn't matter.

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But what matters is the Lord has led us to this moment where we know who the Lord is. We know who God is. We know the story. We know that we're part of the story. And here's Jesus making, you know, that intro we always do every single day.

00:14:40 Speaker_01
We point out how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. That's what we say every single day when we do this. The truth of the matter is, this is where we fit. Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom?

00:14:54 Speaker_01
No, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will. I cannot emphasize this enough.

00:15:02 Speaker_01
We, for 300 plus days, have allowed the Lord to shape our hearts, to shape the way we look at the world, the way we look at ourselves, the way we look at each other and at Him.

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And now, He is calling us to not only know His mission, but to join His mission. Now he's not only calling us to have knowledge of, here's what God has done, but to be a part of what God is doing. My friends, this is incredible.

00:15:30 Speaker_01
This is an invitation that is just like Jesus walking along the shores of the Sea of Galilee and seeing Simon and Andrew say, hey, come follow me. Seeing James and Johns, come follow me.

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Walking up to Matthew, the tax collector, and saying, come follow me. Jesus today is saying, you know the story, you know who I am, you know you can trust me, now come and follow me. And this is so important.

00:15:52 Speaker_01
So it's so critical and it's so massively unnecessary for every single one of us. Now, quickly, when it comes to the St. Paul's letter to the Romans, this is, it's St. Paul's masterpiece. And when I talk to any scripture scholar, they basically say St.

00:16:05 Speaker_01
Paul's letter to the Romans or the letter to the Hebrews can be some of their favorite things to read at all, completely. Paul's writing to the Romans. He's never been there yet. He hasn't ever been to this community. He didn't found this community.

00:16:17 Speaker_01
He wants to come see them. He wants to visit them. He wants to help them, wants to sustain them. And also he wants them to sustain him and to encourage him. He's even says that in chapter one, verse 12.

00:16:27 Speaker_01
But he also talks about how he's not ashamed of the gospel. I love this. Such a powerful, powerful line. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. This is verse 16 in chapter one.

00:16:35 Speaker_01
It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now this is one of the issues that's happening in Rome.

00:16:41 Speaker_01
is that there is a Christian community made up of both of Jewish Christians and of Gentile Christians, right? So those who were not raised Jewish.

00:16:50 Speaker_01
And what's happened is right before this, leading up to this, there has been a kind of a split in that community. And there's a number of circumstances that led to that kind of split.

00:17:00 Speaker_01
And so they're not necessarily seeing each other as they should see each other. And they're not really seeing the role of the Old Testament and the fulfillment of God's promises in the Old Testament as they should right now.

00:17:11 Speaker_01
And so that's what Paul's going to be, some of the things Paul's going to be addressing as he unpacks the heart of the gospel throughout the course of this letter to the Romans.

00:17:20 Speaker_01
And he begins by talking about how in chapter one, here are people who do not know who God is, but they should, the Gentiles, right? So there are Gentiles, Romans, here are people who were not raised Jewish.

00:17:31 Speaker_01
They didn't have the law, but that's not an excuse for them because they could look around the world and they could see that God exists. They can see the beauty of creation and say, wait, there was a creator here. Nonetheless, they are exchanging.

00:17:44 Speaker_01
God himself for an image. They're exchanging the creator for a creature. And that exchange leads them to commit, as Paul describes, very serious sins. In verses 26, he begins to describe them, and these are sexual sins. doesn't limit that.

00:18:03 Speaker_01
He goes on in verse 29 to talk about all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, even says disobedience to parents is being part of this whole thing.

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Because one of the things we know to be true is when we turn away from God, our intellect is darkened even further.

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When we turn away from God, the human heart almost knows no boundaries when it comes to the evil that we can devise and the evil that we can choose.

00:18:25 Speaker_01
And so here is Paul beginning by talking about how those Gentiles, those who weren't raised Jewish, they need the Lord, they need the gospel, and actually they need to have the obedience of faith because they have no excuse.

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They would know, you should know, that some of these things you ought to never do. In chapter two, he's gonna go on to talk about how the Jews should have known better as well. But that's for tomorrow.

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Okay, we just started today, and ah, what a gift, what an incredible beginning today. I know that there's also the episode with Jeff and I introducing this last age, this age of the church right now.

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If you haven't checked that out already, please check that out. I am praying for you, I promise, and please pray for me. My name's Father Mike, I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.