Acts 1:12-26
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· 4 viewsI do not need to try and turn over every stone. Its okay to pick just a few and hone in on it depending on the audience.
Notes
Transcript
Last week we talked through the overview of Acts and the beginning of chapter 1.
Does anyone remember some of the key points that Zac made last week ?
Transition: Last week, we talked through the themes that we will see throughout the book of Acts and first few verses of chapter 1.
If you can remember back to the beginning verses of chapter 1, Jesus promised his disciples that he would soon send his Holy Spirit to empower them for the commission to go into all the world as witnesses of Him. Then, Jesus ascended into heaven, with the promise that he would one day descend in the same manner.
This is where we find our text this morning. The disciples were promised the HS, Jesus has ascended, and now they are waiting for the HS to arrive. Our text this morning will show us what the disciples decide to do in their waiting on the Spirit.
This leads us to our main point for today:
Submit to God in both prayer and action
Would someone read Acts 1:12-26 for us?
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’ 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Submission in Prayer
The disciples have just returned from the mount of Olives, this means that the ascension of Jesus took place here. The mount of Olives is not only mentioned here but also back in Zechariah 14:3-4. This verse says this…
3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
Here, the mount of Olives is being referred to as the apocalyptic place of judgment for the nations. In Acts, we see that the mount of Olives is the commission of the disciples to be a blessing to all the nations through the proclamation of the gospel. God desires that all would come to know him, he wants every person of every nation to receive mercy through the gospel. Yet, God also knows that many will not come to him and his righteous judgment will still need to be poured out on those who do not repent.
So, the mount of Olives is shown as a picture of God’s mercy and justice. God’s mercy and justice are now what the disciples are tasked with proclaiming to the ends of the earth.
However, before they do so, Jesus tells them in verse 4 to stay in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit comes upon them and empowers them for this mission. They submit to his will, and do not try to jump into ministry, but patiently, and submissively wait for the promised Holy Spirit.
As they wait, the followers of Jesus are filled with great joy and expectation.
At the end of the gospel of Luke, this is said of the disciples..
52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.
Right after seeing their Savior and friend ascend to heaven, they are not filled with fear or doubt or worry, rather they are thrilled. They are excited to be given the gift of the Spirit, and take part in the mission of God to bring blessing to all nations. They get to participate in the promise that was given to their father Abraham in Genesis 12.
Our text this morning highlights a different aspect of their waiting for the Spirit. We are told that the followers “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer”. One might expect that the followers of Jesus would maybe return back and immediately start planning how they are going to get the gospel to the ends of the earth.
We might expect them to get back to the upper room and start to practically figure out how they are going to share the gospel with so many people. Or maybe start discussing their church planting strategies or the way they plan to contextualize when they enter into different regions. But, they do not.
They show a confident dependence on the Lord by devoting themselves to prayer alone. They know that it is God who must do the work. They know that it is Jesus who has promised to be with them to the end of the age, to empower them by his Holy Spirit for the work that is set before them. They know that Jesus has come to gather all of his sheep and will not lose even a single one of them. So, in their joy they turn to prayer, rather than pragmatism.
When we are tempted to turn to pragmatism before prayer, let us be confident in the fact that our loyal God will keep the promises that he has set before his children. He will indeed gather all of his people to himself, there will not be one person that is lost amongst the nations. And yet, in his kind sovereignty He has granted his people the role of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. Let us approach this magnificent task of gospel proclamation with confidence, depending on our God in prayer. When we consider sharing the gospel with our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family, let us call upon the God who promised to empower us, and who promised to save all those who are his.
Following their devotion to prayer, the disciples are in need of another as they find themselves down one because of the betrayal and death of Judas. Being at 11, they recognize their need for a 12th to be added.
Submission in Action
Would someone read verses 15 through 20?
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’
Peter, the one in whom Christ will build his church, leads the Christ’ followers to choose another apostle to the Eleven.
Before I comment on his speech, I just found it fascinating that God used 120 of his followers to start and grow his church. What a marvelous thing, God worked through just a few Spirit empowered people to bring about countless people to himself through. What does this say about how he can use the Spirit empowered people of Trinity church to bring about the salvation of many right here in the Belmont community? He can and will use us to bring about his purposes in this community.
The way in which God is choosing to bring about his purposes in the early church even includes the sin of Judas.
The text tells us that the Holy Spirit worked through David to prophesy about the betrayal of Jesus. With this, we have one of the clearest indications that the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intended the words of David to be a direct prophesy of Judas whether David intended that or not. We will talk about these verses in just a moment.
In verse 18, Luke pauses the speech of Peter to make a narrative explanation of what happened to Judas.
In Luke’s explanation, he explains that Judas acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness. We know from the account of Matthew that Judas throw the money back at the chief priests in an expression of remorse, and so Judas was not the one literally buying the field. So, the simple explanation would be to say that Judas’ money bought the field, even though Judas himself may not have.
Judas gave up everything for just a few pieces of silver. The greed in his heart seen all throughout the gospels, continued as he turned Jesus in. And his guilt and grief overwhelmed him so much that he became hardened and instead of repenting of his sin, he chose to kill himself.
In the gospel of John, you can see the sinful desires and heart of Judas way before he chooses to turn Jesus in for money.
4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Judas did not have one decision where he through his whole life and ministry away. He was making decisions all throughout the ministry of Jesus to steal from the moneybag for his own desires. He made decision after decision throughout the ministry of Jesus that led him to that fatal decision of betraying Jesus. Judas continually chose more sin over repentance, and it ultimately led to his death.
Peter further explains that Judas’ predicted betrayal can be seen in both Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8. Psalm 69:25 says
25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.
Psalm 109:8 says
8 May his days be few; may another take his office!
Peter decides to quote from Psalm 69 because the quotation expresses a curse to those who are enemies to the righteousness. Peter is telling his readers that Judas has experienced the judgment that falls on the enemies of God’s righteous people. He has experienced judgment from betraying the Righteous Sufferer.
Peter includes the Psalm 109:8 passage because the psalm is a prayer for vindication and revenge.
One author says this:
Acts (Explanation of the Text)
The psalmist describes one of his enemies, a wicked and deceitful man, and formulates a series of curses against him. The psalmist prays that the wicked man’s days may be few (109:8a), i.e., that his life might be cut short, and that his position of leadership in the community may be given to somebody else (109:8b).
Peter is explaining that this Psalm directly explains not just what happened back in the OT, but also a direct prophecy of what has happened with the death of Judas and soon the replacement of him.
This story of Judas is heartbreaking. We see the effects of sin as clear as day. The wages of sin is death could not have been illustrated with more clarity than with the story of Judas.
Let this be a warning to us to not pursue the fleeting happiness and satisfaction that sin offers us. Sin may look appealing and rewarding on the outside, but let us not forget that enslavement, heartache, and guilt are only what follow. As we submit to God in our actions, we will recognize that there is where true joy is found. The Creator of everything has given us a playbook for how to rightly live and what to avoid, let us follow his guidelines and trust that he knows best even when we are strongly tempted by the evil one.
We can do this by first crying out to God for help. We can ask him to align our desires with his, and to create in us a heart that desires to obey Him because he knows what is best for us. As we grow in our dependence on God in prayer, and our knowledge of him in the Word we will rightly be in awe of Him and trust that His commands are good for us.
Peter shows us his obedience of God’s commands by fulfilling the Scriptures in Psalm 109:8: to appoint another one to complete the 12.
Would someone read Acts 1:21-26?
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Peter now calls for another apostle to be chosen. This Must be a man who has accompanied them during the whole ministry of Jesus, starting with his Baptism, and he must be a witness to his resurrection.
The method for choosing this apostle is first prayer and then casting lots. This was a common practice in the Old Testament, but never appears again after this use in the NT.
8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.
It seems that Peter chooses to fill this office because of Jesus’ words back in Luke 22:30
that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
He recognizes that the first apostles are those who will judge the twelve tribes of Israel one day and filled the vacancy of the apostate Judas with Matthias. Matthias was chosen by God who knows the hearts of all men. God now is about to equip his people with power from the Spirit.
The people of God have patiently waited and prepared and are now ready for the coming of the Spirit And the restoration of the people of God. They have faithfullu submitted themselves to God in prayer and action and will continue to do so throughout the whole book of Acts To bring about God’s redemptive purposes for the nations.
I am going to pray for us quickly and then i am going to have us get in groups and pray for the people of Dayton and the nations as the disciples did.
Pray for the city of Dayton
Pray for the Nations