Acts - Part 2 - Unity and Devotion

Introduction

Good morning! Welcome to CHCC. Last week marked the beginning of a new series—a study through the book of Acts. The book—which is the second of a two-part series written by Luke—begins with a promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gives the command to His followers to remain in Jerusalem and wait for this promise.

While waiting can be difficult, Scripture often calls for God’s followers to wait on Him. And the promise of the Holy Spirit is coming soon (which we will get to next Sunday!).

After that, we read of a scene were the followers of Jesus come together with Jesus just before His ascension. Again, He gives them the promise of the Holy Spirit but also with a calling. He tells them “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (v. 8).

And that call really is the key to the entire book of Acts. In reality, that call is the key to the Church today as well; for we are all called to be witnesses.

What does that mean? The word “witness” in the Greek language is the word martys (mar-toos). Same exact word for “martyr.” So the word has a couple of meanings. To be a “witness” is to see something. We uses “witnesses” in a legal sense; in a court of law. They share what they saw or what they heard.

And we have the meaning to be that of someone who is willing to die for their faith—a martyr. Both of these would encapsulate the meaning of Christ’s call to be witnesses.

And we have to understand that this call was not a temporary call to only the disciples present at Jesus’ ascension. No! This call continues on today to everyone who is a part of Christ’s Church—to every believer.

To be a witness for Christ is—in short—to be salt and light. To reveal Christ to a broken and sinful world. To tell of the hope we have in Him and our need for Him. And we do this both by our word and by our deed. By verbally sharing the gospel message and by living out a life that is Christlike in character.

And after receiving this call, Jesus is taken up into the clouds where He remains on His throne in Heaven until His return. And until then, we—the Church—are on mission.

And that is where we left off. So we open this morning’s passage in chapter one, verse twelve where we read of the apostles finding a replacement for Judas. So if you have your Bibles with you this morning, would you please open with me to Acts 1:12.

PRAY

Acts 1:12–14 ESV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 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. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

One word that could some up the attitude of these believers here is expectancy. During the forty days of post-resurrection, Jesus was preparing His followers; teaching them about the kingdom of God (v. 3). No doubt, moments like the Emmaus road were taking place among the early believers. Jesus appearing to them through locked doors! Their hearts were burning with fire and excitement.

You can almost feel their optimistic tension coming up through the pages as they waited expectantly for the Lord’s promise. Where we left off, Jesus had ascended and they were told by a couple of angels to essentially “get going.” Which is what they do according to verse 12.

Acts 1:12 ESV

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

According to the Mishnah, this journey would have only been 2/3 of a mile because that was all they were allowed to travel during Sabbath. I try picturing this moment. What was it like? Was it subdued silence? Were they overwhelmed by what they just witnessed and trying to make sense of it? Was it pure excitement? Were they running back to the upper room with joyful expectancy? Maybe a little of both. But what a moment! In essence, this was the moment the waiting for the Holy Spirit began and the prelude to the spark that ignited the early church.

And when they get to Jerusalem, they head to the upper room, according to verse 13. We do not know with absolute certainty, but it is generally believed this is the same upper room where they all shared in Communion with Jesus before His arrest. The Greek text says not just an upper room but THE upper room.

Acts 1:13 ESV

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.

I think—if this is the same upper room—it is quite poetic that they would receive the Holy Spirit in the very same room where Jesus promised them this Helper.

John 14:16–18 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

And this upper room must have been pretty spacious because verse 15 tells us there was about 120 people there. And while they were waiting there was one thing they were consistently doing—verse 14…

Acts 1:14 ESV

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

This is the last mention of Jesus’ mother, Mary, in Scripture. But while they were waiting they were praying. And not just praying, but devoted themselves to it. The Greek word here is proskartereō. The root word means strength and it emphasizes persistent action. The very last verse in Luke reads: “…and were continually in the temple blessing God.”

In Luke 11:13 Jesus says, “. . . how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” We must ask, but persistence is the key. Jesus prefaced his statement with the story of the man who went to his neighbor at night to borrow food for an unexpected guest and only received what he wanted by repeatedly banging on the door.

Luke 11:9–10 ESV

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

The verbs used here in the Greek mean continual. Literally means “keep asking” “keep seeking” “keep knocking.”

What a definition! Does our prayer life today reflect persistent action? Does it endure regardless of outcome or answer? This particular Greek word is sometimes translated as constant. I think Paul defined it in 1 Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes. 5:17).

What are the things in our life that we devote ourselves to? Seriously consider this question. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? Our work? Our families? Our health? These are good things. But is prayer something we are devoted to as well? Communication with the Holy Father.

As Warren Wiersbe put it:

Prayer is not something that I do; prayer is something that I am.

Warren W. Wiersbe

In other words, to be so devoted to it that is is just a part of who you are.

I think our culture truly lacks devotion in most things. I think the general attitude of the day is that if we don’t get what we want or attain our goal in an efficient and quick manner, the tendency is to move on. I’m not saying this is true of everyone. But generally speaking.

And I think it has bled into our prayer. Well God didn’t respond yet; I guess my prayers don’t matter.

I think Charles Spurgeon hit the nail on the head. He said:

When you feel disinclined to pray, let it be a sign to you that prayer is doubly necessary! Pray for prayer! The Sealed Hand-A Winter Sermon, Volume 58, Sermon #3289 - Job 37:7

Charles Spurgeon

Martin Luther called prayer the “sweat of the soul.” John Bunyan called prayer the “shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.”

Jesus’ life was the blueprint for us. Everything He did, every decision He made, every time He needed strength, or wisdom, or power—He went to prayer. He began His day in prayer. He ended His day in prayer. He even taught us how to pray. His entire life was encapsulated by prayer, which tells me that our lives should be the same! And perhaps even more so!

And this was the heartbeat of the early church. They were devoted—it was a persistent action of the Church.

And I would contend that the heart of the Church cannot beat if it is not connected to the Father. And it cannot be connected to the Father if it is not praying. And therefore, an un-praying Church is a dead Church.

May that not be us today! The early Church serves as our example; let us be persistent; constant. Let us be expectant.

And so the entire church devoted themselves to prayer, including the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers. I love that Luke has added this little bit of information. Luke took great intentionality to mention the women who walked with Jesus throughout His ministry. Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas, Joanna, Susanna, Mary of Bethany, Martha, and no doubt many more. Then we have Jesus mother and now his siblings (who initially were skeptics!) are there devoting themselves to prayer.

And they continued day after day together. Why? Because they were expectant. They truly believed the Lord would fulfill His promise! They believed that the Holy Spirit was going to come upon them and they were going to receive promised power. They expected the infilling of the Holy Spirit. They had absolutely no doubt about it. No wavering. No discussion.

As one pastor put it, “The sails must be hoisted to catch the winds of the Holy Spirit through expectant belief.”

Another phrase that deserves highlighting in verse 14 is “one accord.” This can be defined as unity! Oh what a word! And what a big deal! Remember these 11 disciples not long ago were having a heated argument about who would get the best seat in heaven. So much so that James and John’s mother even got involved, asking Jesus for her sons to have the best seat!

But these strong-willed men, along with the others were of “one accord”—literally “of one heart and one mind.” How is that so? Because they were all looking up to Christ at the same time for the same thing.

They were united in vision; they were united in hope; they were united in expectancy; they were united in prayer. The Lord desires to pour out His Spirit upon His Church that lives together in unity. We see this in chapter 4.

Acts 4:32–33 ESV

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. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

As R. Kent Hughes explains:

The Holy Spirit refreshes the life of those who dwell in unity—those who through faith in Christ forgive, make restitution, and seek the healing and affirmation of others.

Does this unity mean that the members of the Church agree with every little thing? Of course not. There will be disagreements! We will see this in Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council as the Church debated over whether Gentile converts had to follow Jewish Law.

We see this with the personal conflicts between Paul and Barnabas over whether Mark should join them on their missionary journey.

Acts 6 records for us an internal dispute about what is described as a “neglecting” of the the widows in the food distribution.

But this does not counter the reality that the church was united. We can have disagreements and still be of one heart and one mind. We can all have the same ultimate goal (to see hearts and souls come to Christ) but have a different idea on how to see that goal obtained.

We can have theological differences and still be of one heart and one mind! The enemy would love nothing more than to see God’s Church fractured from the inside-out because of disunity.

If we desire to see God do a mighty work and if we desire to see an explosion of faith like the first century Church experienced then we must be devoted to prayer, believe expectantly, and be fully united.

And when I talk about unity in the Church, don’t misunderstand me. Yes, I do mean unity here at CHCC; that is important. That is key to the work we are doing. But also, the Church means the the entire body of Christ across all churches.

I understand that CHCC may not be the church every person is seeking. I get that. There are many wonderful churches doing a great work. Indian River Baptist across the street here has a wonderful group of believers and a wonderful pastor (with a wonderful name).

Pastor Todd and Living Waters, the Berean Church, Topinabee Community, the Lutheran Church, and many others that I didn’t name. We might have some theological differences; we may have different preferences to our worship; we may approach preaching differently; we may have different visions for outreach. But we all have the same heart that beats to serve Jesus! We are all servants under the same King and Savior.

Unity is necessary in God’s Church.

What is more, the early church here reveals a dependency. Let us continue in our reading; verse15. As we will see, during this time of waiting, an office needed filling. And we see the leadership of Peter (and this most certainly won’t be the last time).

Acts 1:15–26 ESV

In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “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. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (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. 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.) “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.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 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.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

I think Matthias was chosen because he had one name. Do we call this other guy Joseph? Or Barsabbas? Or Justus?

Some have responded in criticism to the disciples here with the use of casting lots to help choose Judas’ replacement. I will say this is a very unique moment in the New Testament church. No other time is it recorded that they used lots to make a decision. And I don’t think this implies that we should cast lots today to make decisions today. However, this was a common way of determining God’s will in Israel.

Proverbs 16:33 ESV

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

This verse tells us that while lots may be cast, where it lands is ultimately determined by the Lord.

But also, we see here that the disciples once more go to prayer to determine the answer. It wasn’t just lots they cast and said, “Okay, Matthias, you win.” No, it tells us they prayed. It even records the prayer. “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship.” Is this not a similar prayer many of us have made when it comes to big decisions? Lord, help me to see if this job is the right one for me and my family.” Father, if this is where you want us, we ask for your wisdom and peace.

What this ultimately reveals to us is absolute and total dependency on the Lord. They didn’t take matters into their own hands; they didn’t huddle together and say, “Well Joseph—you know, he’s an Ohio State fan…I mean should we really even consider him?” Yeah, but Matthias kind of smells funny. I don’t know.

But in all seriousness, we don’t know what reservations the disciples may have had with either of these two. They may not have had any. But if they did, they had to lay them aside and trust God’s will and God’s plan.

And that can be difficult. I so often come back to the statement of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They are about to be thrown into the fiery furnace for their unwillingness to bow before Nebuchadnezzar and they give some remarkable words and the epitome of dependence on the Lord.

Daniel 3:16–18 ESV

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

BUT IF NOT. In other words, they were entirely leaning into the will of God. They trusted His plan even if that meant their life. And I know it’s a different situation here with the disciples choosing someone to take Judas’ place, but it is a similar dependency.

Whatever our personal feelings, whatever our personal thoughts, whatever our preference—we lay them at your feet, Lord, and we trust you in this matter.

And this is exact heart the church must have. No, we don’t cast lots anymore. But we can still learn from their dependency. They didn’t cast lots to accept Paul into the church. In fact, many were against it. But Barnabas’ reference held sway; they leaned upon Holy Spirit wisdom and discernment and made a decision to allow Paul into the band of brothers, even if they were (understandably) hesitant.

How dependent are we today? How often do we go to God for those big decisions? How often do we lean into His Word and His will?

And let us consider God’s plan and God’s will from both perspectives. For Matthias, what an awesome moment! A part of the inner 12 disciples! How exciting! How remarkable! What a testimony to His faith and commitment.

But what about Joseph (called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus)? How did he feel? Was he disappointed? Angry? Bitter? I hope he wasn’t bitter. He may have been disappointed, and that is okay, and certainly understandable. But as a man of faith, as a follower of Christ, certainly He understood this was the will of God. He may not personally like it, and may not personally agree in that moment, but it was God’s will.

And I think about Joseph a lot in this passage because how many of us have faced moments in our lives just like this. It wasn’t our plan or our desire, but it was God’s will. Sometimes it is hard to accept that. Why would this be God’s will? Why would it happen like this?

And I don’t have those answers. All I know is that His ways and thoughts are higher than my ways and thoughts. I don’t always understand the will of God, but I learn and am continually learning to lean into the will of God whatever that may be.

I have learned to trust him even in those moments that don’t make sense because He is good and He love me more than I could ever comprehend and His Word tells me that He is working all things for the good of those who love him.

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

One of my very favorite Charles Spurgeon quotes is this:

I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.

That hurt, that disappointment, that pain, that anguish, that sorrow is the wave and as believers it throws us into the arms of Jesus. Into His Word, into His promises, into His love, into His comfort, into His grace and His mercy. And we draw near to His heart and we walk in His will. Even when we don’t understand it, we trust it because God is good and He loves us and there is purpose for us.

I don’t know what became of Joseph (called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus). Tradition tells us that he became bishop of Eleutheropolis. If that is true, we then see God had another plan for Joseph. Matthias was to be an apostle, but Joseph was to be a bishop and church leader elsewhere. There was a plan and purpose for both, even if that moment in Acts 1 led to one’s excitement and to another’s disappointment.

CLOSING

As we close, again, our challenge this morning is to be a church that is devoted to prayer; a church that is unified; and a church that is fully dependent on the Lord. We will see time and time again throughout our study of Acts that the church displayed this posture and we will see that the result of an explosive and expansive heart for God. And I fully believe that our community and our country could have a similar response today! So let us be prayerful and unified and dependent upon God and let’s see how He will use us for His glory.

PRAY