United From the Start; Acts 1:12-26

Introduction

I believe Thursday was a dark day for our country and that a door has been opened that will never shut

I may say more about this in the future, but for now, it is such a dividing issue in our country

that is scary enough for me, but my real fear is that the church, the believers in Jesus Christ in our country are adding to the division instead of calming things down

my biggest fear is that those who profess the name of Jesus are more than happy to stand and unite around a sinful man, than they are to stand up and profess Jesus

and that goes for either side of the political isle

United From the Start

We have began this journey of the book of acts

last week we went through the introduction

that Jesus told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit as he is ascending to Heaven

Acts 1:12–26 (CSB)

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away.

13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

14 They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters—the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty—and said,

16 “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

17 For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.

19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood).

20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position.

21 “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

23 So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

24 Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen

25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”

26 Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.

PRAY!

Retell the story

Jesus has just ascended leaving the disciples to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit

they go back to the upper room

this is where the last super was held

this is where John Mark is believed to have lived in Jerusalem

about 120 people including women that followed Jesus were there

they all prayed together, lived together and waited for the Holy Spirit to come

During this 10 day period Peter stand s before the group and explains that the scriptures were to be fulfilled, the messiah had to be betrayed, and killed

he explained that scripture also said that man would be replaced

so they determined the qualifications of an apostle

somebody that had been there through the entirety of Jesus’ ministry

somebody that had witnessed not only his death, but also his resurrection

out of the 120 people there, two men were presented

they cast lots

on OT way of determining things that was similar to rolling dice

this was a common practice to determine what God had chosen

not used in the church after the Holy Spirit had come

Matthias is chosen and added to the apostles

this is the only place in scripture that we read about Matthias, and we really do not know anything else about him

We can only be unified in prayer and deed if we are unified in Christ.

United in Prayer

Luke is a great person to write from a historical perspective, he is great with details

they returned to Jerusalem from the mount of olives…

how far is that

who is they

It is easy to get stuck in details and not into what is happening

Acts 1:12–14 (CSB)

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away.

13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.

14 They all were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The entire group comes back to Jerusalem

not just the 11, though they were all there, but Luke makes a special point to list the women, Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers

Luke is making a point from the start that this group is different

you have the women there with the apostles

counted equal as disciples of Jesus - women were not viewed as equal in this society

you have the family of Jesus there with them

we talked briefly last week about the convincing proofs that Jesus had to do

appearing alive when they watched him die, is the best way to convince a sibling that you are God

of course you have the 11 apostles

Did you notice what was missing… the power vacuum

all of these different people were there, that had different things to which they could brag and try to take control

the family could state simply that, we are his family

I was his mother… I was his brother…

imagine being able to walk around saying you were his brother, you had the same mom.

the women could brag about finding the empty tomb, being appeared to first by the risen Christ and being sent back with the task of telling the others the great news that wonderful resurrection Sunday

the apostles were specially sent out by him, that is what the title means… sent one

we were his chosen few

all of these people could have gone the way that we see most people

this is what the disciples were doing on the way to Jerusalem

10 were mad that James and John got their mom to ask if they could sit on the right and the left...

Now united in prayer

prayer is humbling

It is hard for us to begin thinking we are better than everyone else when we are continually seeking God, his will, his power to do the things that we cannot do or control on our own

in prayer I can

seek the power and wisdom of the creator of the universe for the solutions of whatever we are facing today.

exalt my brother or sister above myself, putting your needs before my own

pray for my enemies

as great as that is, it is magnified when we are doing this together

I do not want you to think that they were simply sitting in fear in the upper room shaking in their boots

after the crucifixion, before the resurrection, they were scared and in hiding

after the resurrection, after the ascension, hearing they were going to receive power from God they were bold in the praising of him

Luke 24:52–53 (CSB)

52 After worshiping him, they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

53 And they were continually in the temple praising God.

they praying expectant, excited prayers!

Praying together aligns our hearts to the mission we all share

without corporate prayer we end up tugging on different ends of the rope attempting to get it to go the direction we think it should go

this is not voting however, this is us uniting together as a community of believers

seeking the will of God to be done

seeking for us to know that will

seeking for him to use us in that will

The disciples were united in prayer, not fearful, but rejoicing and anxious for God to move and work through us to further his kingdom

United In Actions

Trevor’s Story

Left a church excited to go to a new church

once he got there he found out that the pastor search team had one criteria that they were working from and the Elders had a different set of criteria

which led to the Pastor getting there and the expectations from the group that brought him in a hired him, were not the same as the group he was leading with

you can imagine the tenure that Pastor had… short and ineffective

Acts 1:15–26 (CSB)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters—the number of people who were together was about a hundred twenty—and said,

16 “Brothers and sisters, it was necessary that the Scripture be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David foretold about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

17 For he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst, his body burst open and his intestines spilled out.

19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood).

20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate; let no one live in it; and Let someone else take his position.

21 “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—

22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

23 So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.

24 Then they prayed, “You, Lord, know everyone’s hearts; show which of these two you have chosen

25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry that Judas left to go where he belongs.”

26 Then they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias and he was added to the eleven apostles.

Unity in Action is not everyone getting a vote on preferences in the church

I believe that one person, one man, who stands in the front should not make all decisions for the church

but the direction of the church, the actions of the church should not be determined by popular vote either

we will see that the early church submitted to the apostles teaching

we could go over horror stories of business meetings and vote determinations

my favorite is a vote that we had at a church and a young man who had been attending for about six months introduced himself to somebody who he had never met

the older gentlemen said, “I am a charter member of this church.” The young man simply replied, “Sorry we haven’t met, I have only been going here for six months.”

preferences are simply that, a preference

something that I like, that suits me well, something that I think the church should do that I may or may not help with, but it is a good idea

the problem that arises is that we put preferences over what we are called to do

meaning we are more worried about our preferences than seeing the gospel go forward

Unity in Action is the body of Christ working together in the gospel

That is not a simple outreach program

do you value the gospel, yes, of course and on Tuesdays we share it with this group of people, in this place as long as it isn’t windy

the gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ

I am a sinful person, there is nothing good in me a part from what God has done

but a perfect God, the creator of all things, clothed himself in flesh and came to this world, lived a perfect life and died for my sins

the grace and forgiveness I have received, I am offer to others

knowing the sin that God has forgiven in my life, how can I hold that over on somebody else

do you see that it is Peter that stood up, of course it is Peter, he always stands up

but he just denied Christ 5 weeks earlier, then he was forgiven on the lake shore when Christ said feed my sheep three times

it is really hard for Peter to stand there condemning anyone else and thinking he knows better than all

it is that understanding that we then as a church, as the body of Christ move forward in the action of the church

to love Jesus and make him known.

the gospel is not something we pray once, receive once, but that we live out and proclaim continually

United in Christ

Sometimes when you write a sermon it flows really easy

you study the text, you read what others wrote, there is clear understanding and you get to the sermon and you just write.

that is not always the case… sometimes you study the text and it is difficult to write

this is one of those weeks.

the reason for that is that there are two camps on this text and I find myself in the minority camp

most believe that Matthias, selected in this passage is the 12th apostle, the one to replace Judas

I do not. I believe that the church was instructed to do something, to wait.

before they were given the Holy Spirit that was to lead them and direct them they chose a list of rules that had to be checked off to be an apostle

chose two guys they thought fit those rules and rolled the dice to determine who God had chosen

I wrestled with this for quite some time, read a lot from those that disagree with me and I would attempt to poke holes in their reasonings.

one book you can look at has the markings in the book

then it finally hit me on Thursday… it doesn’t matter

the man who is the 12th apostle will sit on the 12 thrones that we read about in the book of revelation

it is for God to decide, it is for God’s glory, and we will all find out for sure when we get there

what I realized is that this is exactly the type of thing that Satan loves to distract us with

though I find this type of thing interesting, and could talk about it for a long time, secondary or even farther down the line issues are the type of things we use to divide ourselves instead of uniting in Christ!

We are to unite around the son of God, Jesus Christ, not simply the name, but who he is and what he has done

Jesus was the creator of all things

John 1:1–3 (CSB)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning.

3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

This creator came to this world for us

John 1:14 (CSB)

14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

that is more that enough

he could have said here I am follow me, obey my law or experience my wrath

instead he obeyed the law for us, knowing that we would never meet the requirement to escape the wrath of God

He lived a perfect life

2 Corinthians 5:21 (CSB)

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet he lived without sinning

I used the illustration recently that Jesus had siblings, we see it in this text

yet never once did he retaliate to his younger brother for something he did

never once did he do anything to a sibling in thought or deed because of jealousy

and maybe you’re thinking what did he have to be jealous about, but he did nothing out of pride either

never once when his younger siblings said, “just because you’re older doesn’t mean we have to do what you say.” did he respond, “how about because I am God?”

he was perfect in thought and deed, and hands that perfection over to us, that we might escape the wrath of God due us because of our sin

this is what the cross was about

but showing the power of God over death, he did not stay in the grave

he arose, and is alive today, never to taste death again!

and he has ascended, to sit at the right hand of God, meaning to sit in the place of power to intercede for us

do not miss that part, he is there now, interceding for us

he did not die, rise and then go okay, I did the hard part

This is what we are united by and in

all other things that we argue about in the Bible that a lesser down are things that are simply dividing us

Exalting Jesus in Acts Reflect and Discuss

Reflect and Discuss

1. Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ essential to our faith? How does this passage demonstrate the vital importance of the resurrection?

2. Why did the apostolic number of twelve need to be restored? What relevance does this have to our lives?

3. Why was it important that the candidate for apostle be an individual who had accompanied the other apostles “during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us” (1:21–22)?

4. What action or saying in this upper room meeting sticks out in your mind the most, and why?

5. What does Judas’s story teach about the pitfalls of spiritual leadership? How should we pray for and support our leaders?

6. What are some big life decisions you need to make? How will this passage help you make those decisions?

7. How does Peter use the Old Testament in this chapter? What might this tell us about reading and teaching the Old Testament?

8. Explain the difference between “God’s revealed will” and “God’s concealed will.” How should God’s revealed will help us discern his concealed will?

9. How does the Spirit help us to know God’s will? Is it wrong to cast lots (or flip a coin) to determine God’s will? Explain your answer.

10. Why is it important to make decisions as a member of the Christian community rather than in isolation?