TRV
Apostolic Constitutions
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500
326 passages across 48 books of the Bible · Who was this?
Commentary
20 of 326-
Isaiah 53:1
Due to their exceedingly great wickedness, they would not believe in him, as the Lord shows in these words, “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” And afterward, “Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive, for the heart of this people has become desensitized.” Therefore, knowledge was taken from them, because when they saw, they overlooked, and when they heard, they heard nothing at all.
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Isaiah 53:4
[To bishops.] For as yours is the burden, so you receive as your fruit the supply of food and other necessities. For you imitate Christ the Lord; and as he “bore the sins of us all on the tree” at his crucifixion, the innocent for those who deserved punishment, so also you ought to bear the sins of the people your own. For concerning our Savior it is said in Isaiah, “He bears our sins and is afflicted for us.” … For do not you imagine that the office of a bishop is an easy or light burden.
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Isaiah 53:11
If the Lord of heaven and earth underwent all his sufferings for us, how then do you make a difficulty to minister to such as are in want, who ought to imitate him who underwent servitude, and want, and stripes and the cross for us? We ought therefore also to serve the brethren, in imitation of Christ. For says he, “He who will be great among you, let him be your minister; and he who will be first among you, let him be your servant.” For so did he really, and not in word only, fulfill the prediction of “serving many faithfully.”
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Isaiah 57:19
It is our duty to be at peace in our own minds, for the person who does not find any disorder in himself will not quarrel with another but will be peaceable, friendly, gathering the Lord’s people and a fellow worker with him, in order to increase the number of those who shall be saved in unanimity. For those who contrive enmities, and strifes, and contests and lawsuits are wicked and aliens from God.
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James 4:6
We add, in the next place, that neither is every one that prophesies holy, nor every one that casts out devils religious: for even Balaam the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy, though he was himself ungodly; as also did Caiaphas, the falsely-named high priest... For neither is a wicked king any longer a king, but a tyrant; nor is a bishop oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition a bishop, but falsely so called, being not one sent out by God, but by men... We say these things, not in contempt of true prophecies, for we know that they are wrought in holy men by the inspiration of God, but to put a stop to the boldness of vainglorious men; and add this withal, that from such as these God takes away His grace: for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [1 Peter 5:5, James 4:6, Proverbs 3:34]
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Jeremiah 7:21-23
You are blessed who are delivered from the curse. Christ, the Son of God, by his coming has confirmed and completed the law but has taken away the additional precepts, although not all of them, yet at least the more grievous ones. He confirmed the former and abolished the latter, and he has again set the free will of humankind at liberty. He does not subject them to the penalty of a temporal death but gives laws to them according to another constitution. For this reason, he says, “If anyone will come after me, let him come.” And again, “Will you also go away?” And besides, before his coming he refused the sacrifices of the people, while they frequently offered them, when they sinned against him and thought he was to be appeased by sacrifices but not by repentance.
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Jeremiah 17:12
He has taken away from the ungodly the Holy Spirit and the prophetic rain and has replenished his church with spiritual grace, as the “river of Egypt in the time of firstfruits,” and has advanced the same as a house on a hill or as a high mountain, as a mountain fruitful for milk and fatness, where God is pleased to dwell. “For the Lord will dwell there to the end.” And he says in Jeremiah: “A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” And he says in Isaiah: “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord shall be glorious, and the house of the Lord shall be on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills.”
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Jeremiah 29:22
Not everyone who prophesies is holy, nor is everyone who casts out devils religious. Even Balaam the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy, though he was himself ungodly, as also did Caiaphas, the falsely named high priest. No, the devil foretells many things, and the demons, about Christ. Yet for all that, there is not a spark of piety in them. They are oppressed with ignorance, by reason of their voluntary wickedness. It is clear, therefore, that the ungodly, although they prophesy, do not by their prophesying cover their own impiety. Nor will those who cast out demons be sanctified by the demons being made subject to them. They only mock one another, as they do who play childish tricks for mirth, and destroy those who give heed to them. For neither is a wicked king any longer a king but a tyrant. Nor is a bishop oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition a bishop, but he is called so falsely. He is not one sent out by God but by people, as Ananiah and Samoeah in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah and Achiah the false prophets in Babylon. Indeed, Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted…
Not everyone who prophesies is holy, nor is everyone who casts out devils religious. Even Balaam the son of Beor the prophet did prophesy, though he was himself ungodly, as also did Caiaphas, the falsely named high priest. No, the devil foretells many things, and the demons, about Christ. Yet for all that, there is not a spark of piety in them. They are oppressed with ignorance, by reason of their voluntary wickedness. It is clear, therefore, that the ungodly, although they prophesy, do not by their prophesying cover their own impiety. Nor will those who cast out demons be sanctified by the demons being made subject to them. They only mock one another, as they do who play childish tricks for mirth, and destroy those who give heed to them. For neither is a wicked king any longer a king but a tyrant. Nor is a bishop oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition a bishop, but he is called so falsely. He is not one sent out by God but by people, as Ananiah and Samoeah in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah and Achiah the false prophets in Babylon. Indeed, Balaam the prophet, when he had corrupted Israel by Baalpeor, suffered punishment. Caiaphas at last was his own murderer. The sons of Sceva, endeavoring to cast out demons, were wounded by them and fled away in an undignified way. The kings of Israel and of Judah, when they became impious, suffered all sorts of punishments. It is therefore evident how bishops and elders, also called so falsely, will not escape the judgment of God. For it will be said to them even now, “O priests that despise my name, I will deliver you up to the slaughter, as I did Zedekiah and Achiah, whom the king of Babylon fried in a frying pan,” as says Jeremiah the prophet. We say these things, not in contempt of true prophecies, for we know that they are wrought in holy people by the inspiration of God, but to put a stop to the boldness of conceited people, and add this, that from such as these God takes away his grace. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” -
Joel 2:28-29
Since, therefore, he has forsaken his people, he has also left his temple desolate, and rent the veil of the temple, and took from them the Holy Spirit, for says he, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” And he has bestowed upon you, the converted of the Gentiles, spiritual grace, as he says by Joel: “ ‘And it shall come to pass after these things,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons shall prophesy, and your daughters shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.’ ” For God has taken away all the power and efficacy of his Word and such like visitations from that people, and he has transferred it to you, the converted of the Gentiles. For on this account the devil himself is very angry with the holy church of God. He is removed to you and has raised against you adversities, seditions, and reproaches, schisms and heresies.
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John 1:9
For you are translated from your former vain and tedious mode of life and have contemned the lifeless idols, and despised the demons, which are in darkness, and have run to the "true light," [John 1:9] and by it have "known the one and only true God and Father," [John 17:3] and so are owned to be heirs of His kingdom. For since you have "been baptized into the Lord's death," [Romans 6:3] and into His resurrection, as "new-born babes," [1 Peter 2:2] you ought to be wholly free from all sinful actions; "for you are not your own, but His that bought you" [1 Corinthians 6:19-20] with His own blood.
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John 1:18
After this he comes to the water, and blesses and glorifies the Lord God Almighty, the Father of the only begotten God;
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John 3:5
For the Lord says: "Except a man be baptized of water and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven."
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John 3:36
By believing in Him you shall live, but by disbelieving you shall be punished. For "he that is disobedient to the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."
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John 4:44
And if a presbyter comes from another parish, let him be received to communion by the presbyters; if a deacon, by the deacons; if a bishop, let him sit with the bishop, and be allowed the same honour with himself; and thou, O bishop, shalt desire him to speak to the people words of instruction: for the exhortation and admonition of strangers is very acceptable, and exceeding profitable. For, as the Scripture says, "no prophet is accepted in his own country."
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John 5:25
The one who made the body of Adam out of the earth will raise up the bodies of the rest, and that of the first man, after their decay … He, therefore, who brings about that decay will himself bring about the resurrection. And he who said, “The Lord took dust from the ground, and formed man and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul,” added after humanity’s disobedience, “Earth you are, and to earth you shall return.” This same one promised us resurrection afterwards, for he says, “All that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those that hear shall live.”
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John 5:39
Let him he patient and gentle in his admonitions, well instructed himself, meditating in and diligently studying the Lord's books, and reading them frequently, that so he may be able carefully to interpret the Scriptures, expounding the Gospel in correspondence with the prophets and with the law; and let the expositions from the law and the prophets correspond to the Gospel. For the Lord Jesus says: "Search the Scriptures; for they are those which testify of me."
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John 5:46
And again: "For Moses wrote of me."
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John 6:27
Follow therefore your trades as by the by, for your maintenance, but make the worship of God your main business; as also our Lord said: "Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life."
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John 6:29
And again: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent."
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John 6:45
Let him that teaches, although he be one of the laity, yet, if he be skilful in the word and grave in his manners, teach; for "they shall be all taught of God."