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uprising and demolition. Therefore the grace of the Spirit exhorts the holy apostles to preach salvation to the gentiles, and to offer to God those who are persuaded. For he calls the apostles sons of God, as they were named brothers of Christ; for he says, "Tell my brothers that I am going before you into Galilee;" but sons of rams, those from the gentiles who have believed, since indeed they were born from irrational fathers. "Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring to the Lord sons of rams. [βʹ] Bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord glory to his name; worship the Lord in his holy court." You, he says, who have been entrusted with the divine preaching, and have been called sons of God, with all eagerness transport the divine preaching everywhere, and make rational those who are nourished in irrationality, and offer these first to God; then through these offer reverence and hymns, honoring the benefactor in the divine houses. These things are also like what was said by the Savior to the holy apostles; "Go and make disciples of all nations, bapti 80.1065 zing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit; for the psalm also, after what was said, immediately made mention of the holy waters. γʹ. "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory has thundered." But the word foretells the voice brought from heaven by the Jordan; "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And he called it thunder, as having run through the holy Gospels to the whole world; thus he called the pair of apostles sons of thunder, because of the preternatural and divine voice of their theology. "The Lord is upon many waters." For not only did the Jordan receive that grace, but in all the earth and sea the mystery of baptism is performed, the divine invocation sanctifying the nature of the waters. From this he foretells the power supplied to the apostles. δʹ. "The voice of the Lord is in strength; the voice of the Lord is in majesty." The history of the Acts also teaches us things in harmony with these. For we learn from there how the Lord Christ, being taken up, instructed his holy disciples, saying: "Remain in this city, until you are clothed with power from on high." And after ten days, on the feast of Pentecost, "There came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting; and there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire, and it sat upon each one of them." And he calls the grace of the Spirit a voice, which filled the apostles with strength and power, and made the lowly majestic. Then he shows what sort of things they achieved, being strengthened by this voice. εʹ. "The voice of the Lord breaking the cedars, and the Lord will break the cedars of Lebanon." And through these words it signifies the destruction of idols. For since the precincts of the idols were anciently high, offering no fruit to the worshippers, he compared them to "the cedars of Lebanon," which are high, but are not by nature able to bear edible fruit. ʹ. "And he will make them fine, like the calf of Lebanon." And he often names Lebanon also Jerusalem; "For open, he says, O Lebanon, your doors, and let fire devour your cedars." But the calf of Lebanon is the one made by them in 80.1068 Horeb. "For they made, he says, a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the graven image." But Moses the lawgiver broke it and made it fine. Therefore he says that in a similar way all the idols of the world will be made fine and will vanish; "And the beloved, as a son of unicorns." But the people who have believed, and have been delivered from that error, and for this reason are called beloved, will be invincible and unconquerable, since indeed they have been delivered from polytheism, and are ambassadors of the one Godhead. ζʹ. "The voice of the Lord dividing the flame of fire." For the choir of the holy apostles, having received the fiery grace of the all-holy Spirit,

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ἐπανάστασις καὶ κατάλυσις. Παρακελεύεται τοίνυν ἡ χάρις τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἀποστόλοις τοῖς ἔθνεσι κηρύξαι τὴν σωτηρίαν, καὶ τοὺς πειθομένους προσ ενεγκεῖν τῷ Θεῷ. Υἱοὺς μὲν γὰρ Θεοῦ τοὺς ἀποστόλους καλεῖ, ὡς ἀδελφοὺς τοῦ Χριστοῦ χρη ματίσαντας· Εἴπατε γὰρ, φησὶν, τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου, ὅτι προάγω ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν· υἱοὺς δὲ κριῶν, τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν πεπιστευκότας, ἅτε δὴ φῦντας ἐξ ἀλόγων πατέρων. "Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ, υἱοὶ Θεοῦ, ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ υἱοὺς κριῶν. [βʹ] Ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν καὶ τιμήν· ἐνέγκατε τῷ Κυρίῳ δόξαν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ· προσκυνήσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν αὐλῇ ἁγίᾳ αὐτοῦ." Ὑμεῖς, φησὶν, οἱ τὸ θεῖον κήρυγμα πι στευθέντες, καὶ υἱοὶ κληθέντες Θεοῦ, μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας τὸ θεῖον πανταχοῦ διαπορθμεύσατε κήρυγμα, καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἀλογίᾳ τρεφομένους λογι κοὺς ἀποφήνατε, καὶ τούτους πρώτους τῷ Θεῷ προσενέγκατε· εἶτα διὰ τούτων τὸ σέβας καὶ τοὺς ὕμνους προσοίσατε, ἐν τοῖς θείοις οἴκοις τὸν εὐερ γέτην γεραίροντες. Ἔοικε ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος εἰρημένοις πρὸς τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀποστόλους· "Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, βαπτί 80.1065 ζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· καὶ ὁ ψαλμὸς γὰρ, μετὰ τὰ εἰρημένα, εὐθὺς τῶν ἱερῶν ὑδάτων ἀνέμνησε. γʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων· ὁ Θεὸς τῆς δόξης ἐβρόντησε." Προλέγει δὲ ὁ λόγος τὴν οὐρανό θεν ἐνεχθεῖσαν παρὰ τὸν Ἰορδάνην φωνήν· "Οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ἐν ᾧ ηὐδό κησα." Βροντὴν δὲ αὐτὴν προσηγόρευσεν, ὡς εἰς ἅπασαν διὰ τῶν ἱερῶν Εὐαγγελίων δραμοῦσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην· οὕτως υἱοὺς βροντῆς τὴν ξυνωρίδα τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐκάλεσε, διὰ τὴν ὑπερφυᾶ καὶ θείαν τῆς θεολογίας φωνήν. "Κύριος ἐπὶ ὑδάτων πολλῶν." Οὐ γὰρ μόνος ὁ Ἰορδάνης ἐκείνην τὴν χάριν ἐδέξατο, ἀλλ' ἐν ἁπάσῃ γῇ καὶ θαλάσσῃ τὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐπιτελεῖται μυστήριον, τῆς θείας ἐπικλήσεως ἁγιαζούσης τῶν ὑδάτων τὴν φύσιν. Ἐντεῦθεν τὴν χορηγηθεῖσαν δύναμιν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις προαγορεύει. δʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου ἐν ἰσχύϊ· φωνὴ Κυρίου ἐν με γαλοπρεπείᾳ." Σύμφωνα τούτοις ἡμᾶς καὶ τῶν Πράξεων ἡ ἱστορία διδάσκει. Μανθάνομεν γὰρ ἐκεῖ θεν, ὅπως ἀναλαμβανόμενος ὁ ∆εσπότης Χριστὸς τοῖς ἁγίοις αὑτοῦ μαθηταῖς παρηγγύησε λέγων· "Προσμείνατε ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, ἕως ἂν ἐνδύ σησθε δύναμιν ἐξ ὕψους." Καὶ μετὰ δέκα ἡμέρας, ἐν τῇ τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς ἑορτῇ, "Ἐγένετο φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας, καὶ ἐπλήρωσε τὸν οἶκον, οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι· καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρὸς, ἐκά θισέ τε ἐφ' ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν." Φωνὴν δὲ λέγει τὴν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, τὴν ἰσχύος καὶ δυνάμεως τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἐμπλήσασαν, καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς τοὺς εὐτελεῖς ἀποφήνασαν. Εἶτα δείκνυσιν, ὁποῖα κατώρθωσαν τῇδε τῇ φωνῇ κρατυνθέντες. εʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου συντρίβοντος κέδρους, καὶ συντρίψει Κύριος τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Λιβάνου." Σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τούτων τῶν λόγων τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων κατάλυσιν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὑψηλὰ ἦν πάλαι τὰ τῶν εἰδώ λων τεμένη, καρπὸν οὐδένα τοῖς σεβομένοις ὀρέγοντα, "ταῖς τοῦ Λιβάνου κέδροις" ἀπείκασε ταῦτα, αἳ ὑψηλαὶ μέν εἰσιν, ἐδώδιμον δὲ καρπὸν οὐ πεφύκασι φέρειν. ʹ. "Καὶ λεπτυνεῖ αὐτὰς, ὡς τὸν μόσχον τοῦ Λιβάνου." Λίβανον δὲ καὶ τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὀνομάζει πολλάκις· "∆ιάνοιξον γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ Λίβανος, τὰς θύρας σου, καὶ καταφαγέτω πῦρ τὰς κέδρους σου." Μόσχος δὲ Λιβάνου, ὁ ὑπ' αὐτῶν γενόμενος 80.1068 ἐν Χωρήβ. "Ἐποίησαν γὰρ, φησὶ, μόσχον ἐν Χωρὴβ, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ γλυπτῷ." Ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνον Μωσῆς ὁ νομοθέτης συνέτριψε καὶ ἐλέπτυνεν. Ἐκείνῳ τοίνυν λέγει παραπλησίως καὶ πάντα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ εἴδωλα λεπτυνθήσεσθαι καὶ φροῦδα γενήσεσθαι· "Καὶ ὁ ἠγαπημένος, ὡς υἱὸς μονο κερώτων." Ὁ δὲ πεπιστευκὼς λαὸς, καὶ τῆς πλάνης ἐκείνης ἀπαλλαγεὶς, καὶ ἀγαπητὸς τούτου χάριν καλούμενος, ἀήττητος ἔσται καὶ ἄμαχος, ἅτε δὴ τῆς πολυθεΐας ἀπηλλαγμένος, καὶ τὴν μίαν πρεσβεύων Θεότητα. ζʹ. "Φωνὴ Κυρίου διακόπτοντος φλόγα πυρός." Πυροειδῆ γὰρ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος τὴν χάριν ὑποδεξάμενος ὁ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀποστόλων χορὸς,