Sermon Tone Analysis

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I want you to look at this text from a few different perspectives.

One they see a need to replace Judas.

Peter saw the need to have 12 disciples in this new church age, and we saw why this was the case.

So Peter Goes and he preaches about God’s providence over Judas betrayal, saying what happened had to be fulfilled.

None of this happened just by chance.

He quotes two different Psalms, each of these Psalms in their original context see the rejection of King David, and he ties that to the rejection of Christ.

He specifically quotes two verses… 1 from each of these Psalms…

When it comes to Judas we see from this that he was not only commited suicide, but when he killed himself he bought this land where he killed himself, and when he died the rope broke after, and he burst open causing his bowels to gush out.

But going back to the replacement of Judas, we see some guidelines for how we are going to choose the next apostle.

They have to be a eyewitness of Jesus life, and resurrection.

This man has to have been apart of this journey with us.

Two men are brought forward… Joseph, and Matthias.

It may seem at first glance that they have a need and they are trying to fill it, but it goes way beyond that…

This is all apart of God’s plan… The church was built on the work of Jesus, but through the apostles, and the prophets… Listen to a few verses in Ephesians…

I read something this week that I believe Peter and the other disciples had in mind when they wanted to replace Judas, We should approach every decision by weighing how each choice will either enhance or hinder gospel advancements…

If they pick the wrong guy here its not going to be good…

Think about that in your own life… Do you do this with every move you make…

We can understand the apostles knew one thing and that was the scriptures… Peter even uses the scripture understanding that Jesus is the fulfillment of it, and so they want to make this important decision with the bible in mind.

They know and we know the revealed will of God by his word.

God’s grand plan is found in the pages of scripture, they had access to the Old Testament Scriptures, and Jesus teachings to them and we can learn his will from the bible.

( we have the full council of God ) They are in this situation trying to use what they know from the scriptures and base their decision on that.

They trusted the bible as authoritative, and they let the bible interpret their life and their choices in life.

What I love about these disciples, and what I loved reading from someone this week was they like us let the scriptures make sense of their world and lives, and we should do that as well.

This understanding of the word leads them to get the apostles back to 12 like the 12 tribes, this 12 would symbolize Israel, scholars believe that this had to happen because if Christianity was going to replace Judaism then it had to represent the true Israel, not only in word and proclamation, but in symbolism.

Jesus himself made it clear that there needed to be 12 disciples, and they will have an important role.

Let me read you a few scriptures to really drive this home Matt 19:28

How do we discern the will of God. ( One man gave me three ideas that I think are extremely helpful.

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We gather all the information.

The disciples did some research… They figured out 2 of these guys have been with us… Let us pick one of them… We we are trying to figure out what God wants from us we need to think seriously about all the information we have.

We need to Pray…

We should never make a decision without going to the Lord in prayer..

I wonder if in my life if I would have just prayer in this situation or that situation if I could have been understood the will of God…

Finally this one is really important and this one hit home for me…

As you trust in God’s sovereignty, make a Decision and Go with it…

The Lot fell on Matthias, but the Lord was the one who cause it to land that way.

Prov 16:33

...In choosing lots, they were following an ancient tradition in the Old Testament involving the use of the Urim and the Thummim.

When Old Testament priests were unable to discern the will of God, they prayerfully cast lots, the outcome of which was determined by the providence of God.

Here, the lot fell upon Matthias, and we hear no more about him afterward.

We have only the record of his selection to apostleship, which completed the Twelve.

James was martyred shortly thereafter, but he was not replaced.

This was the last time they cast lots in the scriptures, because something greater was about to come and help them make important decisions and we will learn more about that soon, and that is the Holy Spirit.

I leave you with this… Learn to trust in God, and trust his sovereignty, do your homework, pray, and do everything with the kingdom of God in mind.

How can Paul be an Apostle.. There’s a reason why Paul’s call to be an Apostle is recited three times in Acts, when Christ directly and immediately called Paul to the role.

Despite that, people today claim that if Paul could become an Apostle while lacking two of the three criteria, then all the criteria aren’t necessary, so people today can be Apostles too.

People claim all the time that they have the credentials of an Apostle today because God called them, or God spoke to them, and God said, “You shall be my Apostle to this generation.”

Paul did not have the first two criteria, so he was instructed to go back to Jerusalem to be confirmed in the apostolic office by those whose credentials were beyond a shadow of a doubt.