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Thank you and God bless. 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. 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 323, once again, a Palindrome day. Three, two, three. We're reading Acts chapter two, Romans chapter two and 3, as well as Proverbs chapter 26, verses 27 and 28. 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. If you want to download your own Bible and a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress. Com/biblein the year. Little-known fact, you know what I'm going to say. You can also subscribe to this podcast and receive daily episodes and daily updates.

If you want. If you.

Don't want, don't do it. It is Day 3:23, we're reading the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2, St.

Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters.

Two and three, as well as Proverbs 26:27-28. The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2: The coming of the Holy Spirit.

When the day of Pentecost had come.

They were all together in one place.

And suddenly a sound came from like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed, and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from.

Every nation under heaven.

And at this sound, the multitude came together, and they were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered saying, Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Meads and Eleomites and residents of Mesifetemia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontes and Asia, Phryia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians. We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. And all were amazed and perplexed.

Saying to one another.

What does this mean? But others, mocking said.

They are.

Filled with new wine. Peter addresses the crowd.

But Peter.

Standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give ear.

To my words.

For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel, And in the last days it shall be.

God declares, that I.

Will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Yes, and on my men-servants and my maidservants in those days, I will pour out my Spirit and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. In it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs, which God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

For David says.

Concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right-hand that I.

May not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart was glad.

And my tongue rejoiced.

Moreover, my flesh will dwell in hope for you will not abandon my soul to Hades nor let your holy ones see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence.

Bretherent, I may say to you confidently of the patriarch David that he both died.

And was buried.

And his tomb is with.

Us to this day.

Being therefore a prophet and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the.

Resurrection of the.

Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus, God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right-hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my lord, 'Sit at my right-hand till I make your enemies a stool for your feet. ' Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

The first converts.

Now, when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? ' Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness.

Of your sins.

And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him. He testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. Those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls, and they held steadfastly to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers, life.

Among the believers. And fear came upon every soul.

And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all as any had need. Day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved.

The letter of St. Paul to the Romans, chapter two.

The righteous.

Judgment of God. Therefore, you.

Have no.

Excuse, O man, whoever you.

Are, when you judge another. For in passing judgment upon him, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.

We know that the.

Judgment of God rightly falls.

Upon those who do such things.

Do you suppose, O man, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man.

According to his works.

To those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and mortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are factsious and.

Do.

Not obey.

The truth.

But obey.

Wickedness.

There will be wrath.

And fury. There will be.

Tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows.

No partiality.

All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous.

Before God.

But the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my Gospel, God judges the secrets of men by.

Christ Jesus.

The.

Jews and the law.

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your revelation to God and know his will and approve what is excellent because you are instructed.

In the law.

And if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit.

Adultery.

Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

For as it is written.

The name of God is blasceemed among the Gentiles because of you. Circumcision indeed is a value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So if a man who is.

Uncircumcised.

Keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For he is not a real Jew who is one outwardly nor is true circumcision something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, spiritual, and not literal. His praise is not from men, but from God.

Chapter three.

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?

Much in every way, to begin with.

The Jews are entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means. Let God be true, though every man be false.

As it is written, that.

You may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged. But if our wickedness serves to show the justice of God, what shall we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? I speak in a human way, by no means. For then how could God judge the world? But if through my falsehood God's truthfulness abounds to His glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? Why not do evil that good may come, as some people slanderously charge.

Us with saying.

Their condemnation is just?

None is righteous.

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For I have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written, none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together, they have gone wrong. No one does good, not even one. The throat is an.

Open grave.

They use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift.

To shed blood.

In their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace, they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know.

That whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Righteousness through faith.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law. Although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there is no distinction. Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as an expiation by His blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, He had passed over former sins. It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded.

On what principle? On the principle of works?

No, but on the.

Principle of faith.

For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law? Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one, and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means.

On the contrary.

We uphold the law. The Book of Proverbs.

Chapter 26:27-28.

He who digs a.

Pit will fall into it.

And a stone will come back.

Upon him who starts it rolling.

A lying tongue.

Hates its victims.

And a flattering mouth works ruin.

Father in heaven, give you praise. We thank you so much. Thank you for your word today. Thank you for your grace that comes to us through Jesus Christ. We thank you for the Holy Spirit that on this birthday of the church, this Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit that has worked miracles and has brought the grace of Jesus Christ down all the way down 2,000 years later to us. Help us to receive this Holy Spirit this day. You're a Holy Spirit this day. Keep us.

Alive in.

Your will.

Keep us.

Close to your heart. Help us to never wander from you in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Yesterday, they were praying for the Holy Spirit, praying for the promise after the ascension, after Jesus ascended into heaven. Here in chapter two of the Acts of the Apostles, we have the coming of the Holy Spirit. They're all gathered together in one place. Here comes this.

Mighty wind that fills.

The whole room and this fire. The Holy Spirit comes upon them like tongues of fire.

It began to.

Speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. One of the things that is so important about this is here's the apostles and the disciples and Mary, they're gathered together, 120 of them. What happens?

They receive the power of the.

Holy Spirit. What do they do? They don't just.

Seek that feeling.

They don't seek the experience. They don't hold on to this, Oh, this is great. Sometimes we can be tempted. We have a religious experience to get into what you might call a holy huddle, that like, let's huddle up. Let's go back to this huddle where we, Wow, this is a powerful moment. This is a great moment. I'm feeling really close to you, feeling really close to God. That is a gift. If that has happened in your life. That is always a gift.

But that's not the end. That's not the goal. The goal is to receive that power of the Holy Spirit so that we can do what.

The apostles do here in chapter two, which is we receive the gift of.

The Holy Spirit.

To go out. That's exactly what they do. They basically break down the door, kick down the door, and get out into the.

World and begin to proclaim Jesus Christ, risen from.

The dead. Here is Peter's speech. I remember reading Peter's speech years and years ago, just thinking, What is it that convicts hearts?

How.

Do you talk about.

Jesus in.

Such a.

Way that 3,000 people.

Are baptized in one day? I wanted the secret sauce to Peter's homeletics, to Peter's preaching. I read through it.

And I remember being underwhelmed, being.

Underwhelmed by Peter's addressing the crowd this sermon on Pentecost Day. We recognize that.

What is it that converts hearts? What is it that convicts hearts?

It is always the Holy Spirit. That it is rarely the preacher's cleverness. It's rarely the preacher's way with words.

It is.

Always the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can instigate conversion. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can convict hearts. That's what happens, is that Peter was given this gift of the Holy Spirit, and he walked in the Holy Spirit. He spoke in the Holy Spirit. He lived in the Holy Spirit.

Because of that.

So many people, they asked the question, What do we do? He says, Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise is for you.

And for your children, for.

All those who are far off.

Repent and.

Be baptized. This is so key, so critical. Jesus had sent them out. Remember he said at the end of Matthew's Gospel, he says, Behold, I'm with you all ways to the end of the age. They go out and baptize. That baptism is something that Jesus had even told them at the end of Matthew's Gospel. Jesus had sent them out and said, Go out to all the nations, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you, behold, I'm with you.

Always until the end.

Of the age.

He told.

Them to go baptize. Here is this first day, this first day of the evangelizing program. They say, What do we do? Peter knows the answer, get baptized, because that's exactly what Jesus had told them to go out and do. But then also, this is so remarkable, in Acts 2:42, it says.

They held.

Steadfastly to the apostles teaching and fellowship.

To the breaking of the bread, and to the prayers.

These four things: the apostles teaching, fellowship.

Breaking of the.

Bread, and prayers are.

These four marks.

Of the Church? They're four marks of the early Church, essentially. They're staying close to the Apostles. In fact, later on, years and years and years later in the first century, you'll hear some of those early Christian writers saying that if you don't stay close to your bishop, bishops being the successor of the apostles, then you're not close to Jesus. If you want to know if you're close to Jesus, are you close to your bishop? Meaning, do you follow what the successors of the apostles teach? First thing, apostles teaching and fellowship, that sense of being able to say, Hey, this is a community that we don't just see each other on Sundays. We actually have this depth of fellowship. We actually, quote-unquote, do life together. That's a really important thing. The question we can ask ourselves is, do I have brotherhood among my fellow Christians? Do I have sisterhood among my fellow Christians? Do I have fellowship? If I don't, there might be an area where God is calling me to have something like this. To the breaking of the bread. That's been code. Breaking of the bread is code for the Mass ever since the beginning.

We heard about it in Luke, Chapter 24, at the end of Luke's Gospel, where Cleopas and they recognized Jesus.

In the.

Breaking of the bread. It wasn't just because he broke a piece of pita bread, it was.

The Eucalyst.

The breaking of the bread. That's what they gathered for, and to the prayers because prayer defined their life. That's such a huge thing. Romans, as.

I said, St.

Paul's letter to the Romans is his masterpiece. It's incredible. The Holy Spirit is his coauthor. That's pretty amazing. But here is St. Paul. Remember yesterday, we talked about how in chapter one, St.

Paul is noting that.

Everyone, even if they have no idea of the law, they have no idea of the Old Testament, everyone knows that God exists just by looking at the world.

Not only that, by.

Using common sense, essentially, you can know what's right and what's wrong simply by looking at the world. In chapter two and three, St. Paul goes on to talk about how here those who are raised Jewish, though.

You are actually raised with God's revelation.

You're not only raised with God's revelation, you're raised with God's promise, this covenant in the Old Testament, to be able to walk with the Lord, to be able to know who he is in the depth of his heart who God is. Yet, just like those people who.

Weren't.

Jewish and should know that God exists and how to worship him.

But didn't, here are the Jews who were given so.

Many more gifts.

And they should have.

Followed God, and they should have worshiped him, and they should have been obedient to.

Him, but they weren't as well.

Two, here's the thing. We have the natural people, and in some ways, supernatural Jewish people, and.

All people are then falling.

That's why I have that section in chapter three about none is righteous. It's all these quotes from the Old Testament talking about none is righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks after God, goes on. There's no.

Fear of God.

Before their eyes.

And their paths are ruin and misery. Their feet are swift to shed blood.

All these are quotes from the Old Testament.

Highlighting the fact that even those who are under the law, even those who are in the Old Covenant, even them...

I mean, you guys, we read almost 300 days of Old Testament, actually over 300 days of Old Testament, and how many people were faithfulful? There were a couple of standouts, but even then we know that the righteous person falls seven times a day. What's the remedy?

What is the answer?

St. Paul says, Here's the answer. It's in Chapter Three, beginning with verse 21.

But now the righteousness of God.

Has been.

Manifested apart from the law. Although the law of the.

Prophets bear witness to it.

The righteousness of God.

Through faith in Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction since all have sinned and fallen short, they're justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption, which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by His blood to be received.

By faith.

This is the key, is that all have fallen short and that we could try all that we want.

We could.

Strive after.

The Lord.

With everything we have and it still wouldn't be enough. So what do we do? Well, the Lord has come to us and he's made of himself a sacrifice.

In that, he's redeemed us.

He's brought us back from the Kingdom of darkness, the power of Satan, and he's.

Brought us into his kingdom.

He's brought us into the light. He's given us mercy. He's given us grace. He's given us this new life. That's why St. Paul goes on to say in verse 27, Then what becomes of our boasting?

It's excluded. There's no room for it at all.

Because the principle of faith. For you hold that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. It's so good. This is incredible. Now, he's going to go on to talk about examples of faith, Abraham and the results of justification later on as we go into tomorrow. But right now, we just recognize here is the gospel, the heart of the gospel, is that no matter how.

Hard we.

Would work, no matter how much we'd strive to be good, it would never be enough. The good news is it doesn't have to be enough because the Father has offered his son and the son has offered himself for your redemption, for my redemption. What we get to do is we get to receive it. We get to receive his grace. We get to receive his redemption. We get to receive his love. That's walking in faith. Having the obedience, as St. Paul says in Romans 1.

The obedience.

Of faith. Now we obey him.

And we belong to him.

Which is pretty phenomenal. It's pretty amazing. I am praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.