A Strong Foundation

Big Idea for the Series: In the book of Acts, we see God advancing his Kingdom by his Spirit through his Church.

FCF: The Apostolic office was unique in salvation history, but the unity they displayed in their decision making is a model for us to follow today.

Introduction: Jesus has just ascended into heaven and he has given his disciples their marching orders to make disciples of all nations. First, they’re supposed to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit, then they’re to go from Jerusalem to all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

But, first, they have some housekeeping to take care of, as we’ll see in today’s passage. This passage in Acts 1 is very unique. And so in order to adequately deal with it, I need to walk you through some of the unique things that are happening here. Acts is probably one of the most controversial books in Scripture because of the wide range of interpretations that have been applied to it. And right off the bat, we’re going to run into some of those controversies. So, I need to give you some interpretive skills to put in your tool belt to use as we go through the book of Acts that will help you understand how to interpret and apply this book—and how not to do so! So, that’s going to be the first part of this sermon.

Then, in the second half of the message, we’re going to take a deeper look at v. 14 and we’ll see some things that are really relevant to us today about the importance of unity in the Church.

The Apostles are unique in salvation history.

Meaning of ‘Apostle’

From the Greek apostolos

It was used in the wider Greco-Roman world to refer to a variety of things, like “letter of authorization (relating to shipping),” or “persons who are dispatched for a specific purpose, and the context determines the status or function expressed in such Eng. terms as ‘ambassador, delegate, messenger’”

It’s root word means ‘to send,’ and apostolos simply “one who is sent”

So, this word can be used in a non-technical sense simply to refer to someone who is sent to do something or carry a message, like we see in Phil 2:25 of Epaphroditus. The church at Philippi wanted to send Paul some financial support for his missionary work, but this was before the day of postal services or PayPal, so money had to be physically carried by a messenger. So, Epaphroditus was appointed by his local church to be that messenger.

Philippians 2:25 ESV

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need...

But, there’s a big difference between what is said of Epaphroditus—who is merely a messenger of the church at Philippi tasked with bringing a message and financial gift to Paul—and what is said of the 12 apostles here in Acts 1. And that’s why no major translation translates apostolos here as “apostle,” they just render it “messenger.”

The difference is big enough to warrant us seeing these 12 apostles (and later, Paul) as occupying an office or position in an official capacity.

One of the key differences is that for those occupying this more official office, there are qualifications established and recounted in Scripture.

Qualifications for the office of Apostle

Qualification #1: An Apostle had to be an eyewitness to Jesus’ life and ministry and his death and resurrection.

Acts 1:21–22 ESV

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 be able to testify to what they had seen and heard.

1 John 1:1–3 ESV

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.

This is why Paul’s Damascus Road conversion was so important. He saw with his own eyes the resurrected Jesus. Since he studied under Gamaliel, a member of the Sanhedrin court, he also would have been very familiar with Jesus’ life and ministry, just from the other side of the fence, so to speak.

When certain members of the church at Corinth challenged his apostleship, look how Paul establishes his credibility:

1 Corinthians 9:1 ESV

1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?

Because of the nature of the claims of Christianity—namely, that Jesus claimed to be God and died and rose again—eyewitness accounts were crucial. Lots of people are willing to die for things they believe in, and many of them are wrong or mistaken. But, for someone to be willing to die for something they believe and have personally witnessed gives a much greater level of credibility to their report.

Qualification #2: Personally selected and appointed by Jesus himself.

Each of the original twelve were handpicked by Jesus.

Lk 6:12–16 ESV

12 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles: 14 Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15 and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

John 15:16 ESV

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

What about Matthias here in Acts 1? This is precisely why the Apostles cast lots for this appointment.

Acts 1:24–26 ESV

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.

This is the only instance in the entire New Testament where Christians use lots to determine something. When Paul is deciding where to go on mission trips, when they appoint deacons in Acts 6, when they decide theological matters like in Acts 15—in none of those instances do they rely upon casting lots.

This raises a question—why did they use this method here? Because the appointment of a man to the office of Apostle was a decision that could only be made by Jesus himself. There could be no human choice involved. So, knowing that God controls the roll of the dice just as much as the rising of the sun or the coming in and going out of the tide, they left the decision in his hands.

A few years ago—in 2021, we had a big decision in front of us. We had already been to PNG for our first two year term in 2017-2018, and had come back for me to finish up seminary and linguistic school I had just completed my seminary degree and was almost finished with my linguistics program, and it seemed that our move back to PNG was imminent.

But, there was a bit of a problem. I was deeply torn. My grandpa, a pastor for 63 years, had declined in health and passed away and his church had called me to be their interim. I had made it clear from the beginning that I couldn’t stay on permanently, because we were committed to going back to PNG. But, the truth is that I had fallen in love with the people at that little church, and I had begun to realize that I really enjoyed pastoring, in a way that I did not enjoy linguistics and translation work.

On top of this, we had lived in Cabot for 3 years while I finished my schooling, and that was the longest time we’d ever lived in one place. We had become more rooted back in Arkansas than what we’d intended to be, but it was kind of inevitable.

I prayed, I read, I prayed, I sought godly counsel, but I was still torn. So, one day, in desperation, I decided that if casting lots was good enough for the apostles, surely it couldn’t be wrong?

But, I had this nagging feeling that something about this method wasn’t meant for me. I knew full well that this was the only instance in the NT where it was used, so I had a strong suspicion that this was a descriptive event, not prescriptive. So, I got out a coin and I prayed. I knew full well and believed in my heart that God controls the flip of a coin and the roll of the dice just as completely as he does the rising of the sun or the tides, but I wasn’t so confident as to whether or not he intended us to use such a method to discern his will, when there are so many other passages that seem to point to the importance of prayer, walking with God, reading his word, and using godly wisdom.

So, I gave God an “out.” I decided that if God chose to give me 7 heads in a row, that would be his way of telling us we were definitely to head back to PNG. And if he gave us 7 tails in a row, we would stay. But if there was any other combination of flips, that would mean that God had not chosen to answer me through this method.

I bet you can imagine how that went. I don’t remember what the combination was, but it was seven of one or the other.

My point is simply this: Casting lots isn’t a model for us to follow in our decision making—it’s not prescriptive—it reflects the uniqueness of this event in salvation history. It’s not something to be repeated, any more than Jesus’ crucifixion or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the Day of Pentecost.

If God had meant for us to discern his will by simply rolling the dice, then there would be no need for all the passages in Scripture (like Romans 12:1-2 for example) that speak of the importance of prayer, Bible reading, and being transformed internally to discern the will of God—we could just roll the dice or flip a coin. But, God, in his wisdom, has ordained that the primary way we discern his will come not through a simple flip of the coin, but by desperately seeking his face and being conformed to the image of his Son.

There are some pretty extraordinary events that are recorded in the book of Acts that point to the uniqueness of this time in salvation history. But, we can get ourselves into a lot of trouble by simply trying to repeat everything we see in the book of Acts without taking into consideration the context. (i.e., Snake Handlers, prayer cloths, resurrections)

Some denominations and charismatic leaders will at this point insist that everything that we see in the book of Acts we can experience today if we simply have enough faith.

By that logic, some denominations have snake handling as part of their services, with predictably disastrous results.

By that logic, we ought to be having resurrection services instead of funerals.

By that logic, we’d never need to train our missionaries in language learning because—if they just had enough faith—they could just speak in tongues.

Faith is not an excuse to take Scripture out of context and force it to say what it doesn’t mean. Faith is believing what God has said in his Word and applying it in the way that he intends us to.

The Apostles had no successors.

There are several denominations that would strongly disagree with this: Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and some Pentecostal/Charismatic groups believe that the office of Apostle continued and was passed down.

The Roman Catholic church argues that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the direct successor to the Apostle Peter, and that all bishops in the Catholic church are successors to the Apostolic office. They argue that before their death, they appointed successors. But, there’s several problems with this idea.

While Paul instructs Timothy and others to appoint elders/pastors in the churches,

Neither Paul nor the other Apostles ever instruct anyone else to appoint Apostles past Acts 1.

Scripture carefully guards the title of apostle for a select few.

Outside of the 12, only Paul, Barnabas, and James the brother of Jesus are unambiguously named as Apostles. Some of these denominations that believe in Apostolic succession will argue that Timothy was an Apostle. But, Scripture indicates otherwise. Even when Timothy is a co-author to Paul’s letters he is not called an Apostle, and Paul purposefully distinguishes his title from Timothy’s.

Colossians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

2 Corinthians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

The qualifications for the office preclude its succession.

Because of the nature of the qualifications for the office of Apostle, it could not be passed down. No one who was not a contemporary of Jesus could be appointed as an Apostle.

Systematic Theology Modern Prelates Are Not Apostles

As we have seen, the gifts of the office have not been continued, there is no command to perpetuate the office, no directions to guide the Church in the selection of proper persons to be apostles, no record of their appointment, and no historical evidence of their continuance;

on the contrary, they disappear entirely after the death of the original twelve. It might as well be asserted that the Pharaohs of Egypt, or the twelve Cæsars of Rome have been continued, as that the race of apostles has been perpetuated.

Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine c. Summary

If any in modern times want to take the title “apostle” to themselves, they immediately raise the suspicion that they may be motivated by inappropriate pride and desires for self-exaltation, along with excessive ambition and a desire for much more authority in the church than any one person should rightfully have.

When reading Acts, we need to carefully distinguish between what is prescriptive and what is merely descriptive.

This is really important, because we know that this point in salvation history is extremely unique. A lot is changing. The Old Covenant has been fulfilled and now the New Covenant is being introduced.

The people of God are no longer being defined ethnically but by faith, so Gentiles are going to start to be included. The Church, which never existed before, has now come into existence and is wrestling with how to carry out its mission.

John–Acts Interpretive Challenges

One of the greatest challenges in interpreting the book of Acts, one with which every reader must wrestle, is in determining whether the narrative portions of the book are

So, when we think about the appointment of a twelfth Apostle, a situation that was occasioned by the betrayal and suicide of one of the original 12 apostles, this is quite obviously descriptive. It’s not telling us what to do, it’s merely relaying to us a significant event in salvation history. It’s no more telling us to appoint Apostles than the story of the Exodus tells us that we should carry around a staff just in case we find ourselves stranded on the wrong side of the river. We’re told that Moses parted the waters, but we are nowhere commanded to repeat this miracle. We can learn from it—that God can do all things, that we should have faith, that God cares for his people, etc. Those lessons are prescriptive.

So, does this passage have anything prescriptive for us? Indeed it does!

Unity leads to Growth (1:12-14)

Acts 1:12–14 ESV

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.

One of the themes that we will see throughout the book of Acts is that of unity. Unity means acting as one; having a common purpose and goal, striving together for a common end.

Luke uses this term (homothymadon) to describe the Church four times throughout the book of Acts (Acts 2:46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25), and in each case we see the Church’s unity leading to significant growth in the Church

Acts 2:46–47 ESV

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

We see here that when a church is together—and that word here means not just physically assembled but spiritually united—the church grew.

Acts 4:24 ESV

24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them...

Acts 4:31–32 ESV

31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.

We see here in Acts 4 that as the Church was unified and together, there was a movement of the Holy Spirit and an increase in evangelism.

Acts 5:12 ESV

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.

Acts 5:14 ESV

14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women...

Again, in Acts 5, as the Church is united explosive growth happens.

In Acts 15, the early church had to settle a disagreement over whether or not Gentile converts to Christianity had to be circumcised. As the Church addressed this controversial issue in unity, look what happened:

Acts 15:25 ESV

25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

Acts 15:30–31 ESV

30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

The unity of the church at Jerusalem encouraged this newly planted Gentile congregation. But it did more than just provide encouragement. As Paul and Timothy took the letter around to the other churches, look what happened:

Acts 16:4–5 ESV

4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

A unified church is a growing church.

But what does it mean to be ‘unified’? What produced unity in the Church?

They were united in their mission.

Jesus had commanded them to begin the Great Commission there in Jerusalem.

Acts 1:4 ESV

4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;

The first step towards missions for them was to wait for the Holy Spirit, and that’s exactly what we see them doing.

Acts 1:12–13 ESV

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...

Last week, we talked about the importance of having our mission and purpose clearly defined. The early church had that. They knew what they were about—the glory of God—and how to bring that about—by reaching the lost.

So, they were united in their mission—the Great Commission.

They were united through prayer.

Acts 1:14 ESV

14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

They were devoted to prayer. It was an overriding priority in their lives. They weren’t just praying over meals, they were praying all the time.

What is it about prayer that produces unity?

Well, let’s first ask what the cause of disunity is. We don’t have to think on it very long, because James tells us very clearly:

James 4:1–3 ESV

1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you [lit., ‘in your members’]? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

James says that the root of divisions, fighting, and arguing within a group of people—literally he says, ‘among your members’—is that each person has competing desires/passions.

So what does prayer have to do with this? Remember the Lord’s Prayer?

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Prayer keeps our will submitted to God’s will.

When we pray biblically, not to “spend it on our passions” as James says, we are supposed to be consciously laying down our desires and our passions in favor of God’s. We submit our will to God’s will.

And when an entire church of individuals collectively say, “What I want is less important than what God wants—I’m willingly laying down my desires and pursuing God’s desires,” that produces a powerful unity. The entire church then has one mind—the mind of Christ.

I’ve seen that here at Formosa. I’m told that some years ago the style of music was changed up a bit to be a mix of contemporary and classic hymns. That’s the kind of change that has rocked and split many churches. But, from what I’m told, it was a change that was welcomed—even by those that preferred the old hymns—because they recognized that it would help to reach the younger generation. And likewise, the younger folks didn’t insist on their way or the highway and throw out all the old hymns and disregard what the older folks liked. I applaud you all for that.

That is what unity looks like. Those folks—young and old—said, “Sure, we have our preferences—everyone does—but what matters most is seeing lost people come to Christ. And it isn’t about our preferences, it’s about worshipping Jesus. And we can do that just as well with a drum set as a piano, and vice-versa.” When the people of the church are unified in their purpose and are seeking the Lord in prayer and willingly laying down their desires and preferences in favor of the Lord’s will, that’s a powerful testimony to the grace of God.

But, we have to constantly be on our guard, because putting our desires to death is not a one-and-done proposition. Our desires constantly resurface and have to be dealt with.

So, when you come to church, do you come to see your will be done? Do you come to get recognition? To be served? If so, you are hindering the unity of the church and impeding the progress of the gospel.

I know of people who have left churches because the church didn’t recognize their birthday or throw them a party for some event in their life, or because the pastor or deacons didn’t visit them in the hospital, or because someone forgot their name, or because the music wasn’t the style that they preferred, or because the carpet or paint wasn’t the kind they liked.

The Church does not exist to serve you, recognize you, cater to you. We are the army of God, and we exist to do battle in the spiritual realm and rescue the lost from the clutches of Hell. We exist to serve God first and foremost!

Prayer—biblical prayer, that is!—checks our fleshly, selfish impulses and refocuses us on our mission and our purpose. It requires us to surrender our desires and our little kingdoms and Matthew 6:33 “...seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness...”

In this passage, the 11 apostles had to select someone to fill the 12th slot. There were 120 or so disciples present. No doubt, there were probably a few good candidates, and we see that at least two rose to the top of the list.

If ever there was an opportunity for division and quarrelling, vying for position and recognition, this was it. How many churches have split over lesser appointments? How many have had their feelings hurt that they were overlooked for some position or recognition they thought they deserved? And here we have the most prestigious, honorable position in all of Christian history up for grabs, and there’s not a word about discord or jealousy or arguing. Not a single hint of it. Why?

Acts 1:24–25 ESV

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...”

Because “they prayed.” They prayed, “Not our will, but yours be done.” And they knew that ultimately, it wasn’t about what they wanted or thought, it was ultimately up to Jesus himself.

Aside: The reason that they cast lots here to decide this appointment is because the appointment of a person to the position of Apostle is not something that a person can do. The word apostolos, “Apostle,” literally means “messenger.”

Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church.

Charles Spurgeon