Acts 1:12-26
Dawn Sermons in Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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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.
Comment:
Why did Jesus have to ascend to heaven? Why couldn’t He stay on earth and continue His ministry?
First, Jesus returned to the Father’s side in heaven in order to be our advocate and our intercessor.
14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Second, Jesus had to leave so that the Holy Spirit would come and expand the mission field to the whole world.
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement.
Jesus says that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of righteousness because He goes to the Father.
What does that mean?
Jesus goes to the Father because He is the Son of the Father. He has the perfect relationship with the Father. Full obedience and no sin. And by going to the Father, Jesus is showing us what we can do.
To convict someone of righteousness is to have someone believe that they are truly righteous in God’s eyes. That they have a right standing before God.
So when it says the Holy Spirit convicts us of righteousness, it means that the Holy Spirit gives us conviction that we can truly enter into the Father’s presence as Jesus did when He ascended into heaven.
Can we ascend into heaven? We can, because by faith we are in Christ. And Christ is in heaven. So please believe that although our body is here on earth, Christ our head is in the heavenly place, in the presence of the Father.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
That’s why the Apostle Paul says that our life is hidden with Christ in God.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
And so after witnessing Jesus’ ascension, the disciples wait for the Holy Spirit to come. And it says that in the meantime, they devoted themselves to prayer (Acts 1:14).
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.’
Who were these people that made up the 120?
Jesus’ disciples
The women who supported Jesus’ ministry
Jesus’ mother and brothers
During His earthly ministry, Jesus’ younger siblings didn’t believe in Him. They thought He was crazy. But after His resurrection, they changed their minds and began to pray in Jesus’ name.
All these 120 people had witnessed and seen the resurrected Jesus ascend into heaven. And so they prayed fervently as one group, waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon them.
We should also pray like this. We have a mission given to us by God, and we need the Holy Spirit’s power to come upon us mightily.
And while they were praying, Peter stood up and declared that they needed to replace Judas Iscariot. After betraying Jesus, Judas committed suicide. So now they needed to appoint another person as an apostle.
And this was the criteria.
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.”
They had to have accompanied Jesus’ earthly ministry, beginning from His baptism to the asension. And they must be a witness to Jesus’ resurrection.
So they put forth two men. Joseph/Barsabbas/Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, asking for God to show them which is the one for the role. They cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. So Matthias became the twelfth apostle.
Finally, let us look at their prayer.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen
They didn’t appoint a leader according to anything other than the heart, and the choice of the Lord.
Joseph had two other names. Barsabbas, and Justus. Barsabbas means “son of Sabbath”, and “Justus” was a Roman name, meaning “Just.” Scholars say that this shows us he was known as a man of integrity. He must have been a well-known and respected man, both in the Jewish communities and in the Roman society.
Compared to Joseph, Matthias was probably a nobody. But God chose Matthias for the role. There’s nothing else known about Matthias. We don’t know who he is or what he did. All we know is that he faithfully followed Jesus. But God saw his heart, and God appointed Matthias to the highest position in the church.
We worship a God who sees into our hearts. He doesn’t look on the outside. He knows whether our actions and our devotion is real or fake. He knows whether we do things for Him alone or not.
So as we pray this morning, let us ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon us. Let us ask for the Holy Spirit to truly convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgement. And I’d also like for us to meditate on the fact that our bodies are on earth, but our true head, our true life, is Christ Jesus at the Father’s right hand.
When you are swimming in the ocean, you’re ok so long as your head is above water. Likewise, we are ok because our Christ our head is already in heaven. Amen?
