Apostalic Succession and Biblical Authority

Introduction:

As we work our way through the book of Acts, there are going to be some sections that seem to be just historical information, but I don’t want us to make the mistake of thinking it has nothing to do with our lives today. Let me ask you a question and you just think about the answer. Why are we Baptists? Why not Presbyterians? Why not Methodist? Why not Pentecostals? why not Catholic? You might have some answers to those questions but a lot of the time, people are whatever denomination they find themselves in either because it is what they grew up or there are programs they like in the church. Baptist churches are known for certain distinctives which we usually use the acronym Baptist to represent:

Biblical Authority

Autonomy of the local church

Priesthood of the Believers

Two offices: pastors and deacons

Individual Soul Liberty

Saved and Baptism Membership only

Two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper

Separation of Church and State

Today we will be dealing with the first of these Biblical Authority.

Well, let me ask you this: Who determines what we believe and practice in the church? Jesus, ok but when was the last time you had a face to face conversation with Him. What about the Pope? should he have something to say about what we believe and do in the church? I mean he is the descendent of Peter right? How do we know? Who has the authority?

How do you know that you shouldn’t give money to get your loved one’s out of purgatory?

How do you know that we won’t become gods someday and rule over our own little planets?

This story is important to those questions because clearly Jesus was that authority? but when he went to heaven what happened? That authority was granted to the apostles as His representatives.

The account we are looking at this morning deals with the replacement of Judas as an apostle and you might be tempted to think it has nothing to do with you. I mean are you an apostle? Do we have apostles in our church? Unless you are using apostle in a different sense than what is intended here, your answer was probably “no.” So what does this have to do with me?

I. The Need for a replacement vs 16-17

We are going to work our way through the text to make sure we aren’t missing anything before I bring it to its application. and in those days- the days between when Jesus ascended to heaven and when the Spirit came at Pentecost. Peter as is typical stood up and led the way. Peter’s primary concern was that God would be glorified by the fulfillment of scripture.

A. Scripture needs to be fulfilled

Psalm 69:25 “Let their habitation be desolate; And let none dwell in their tents.” desolate- land that no one would live in anymore. Because Judas had hanged himself there, the land was defiled and became a burial place instead of a place to build houses.

Psalm 109:8 “Let his days be few; And let another take his office.” Bishoprick- refers to an official office of someone who is in charge and has oversight of something

B. Judas was part of the Twelve- why Twelve? By calling twelve apostles, Jesus was signalling that He was calling out a new people of God. To the Jews this number was significant because the founding fathers of Israel were the twelve sons of Jacob.

C. He had a part in the apostolic ministry- Originally, Judas was intended to be a witness of the resurrection of Jesus. With his fall into sin, and death; he could no longer fulfill this apostolic ministry. It is interesting that the word for “part” is the same word as “lot” in vs 26.

II. The details of Judas’ death vs 18-19

Luke interjects here with an explanation of what happened to Judas. Compare with Matthew 27:3-10 “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.”

The audience of the book is most likely Gentile or non-Hebrew speakers since Luke felt the need to translate Aceldama.

Liberals have tried to discount the veracity of the gospel accounts by pointing out seeming discrepancies between Luke and Matthew’s accounts of Judas’ death. In Matthew’s account, Judas seems to have repented and brought the money back to the priests who refuse to let Jesus go. After which Judas casts the money at their feet and then goes and hangs himself. There are two seeming discrepancies between these accounts. The first deals with who purchased the field. Luke who is only focused on Judas’ acts says that Judas purchased it while Matthew who has a axe to grind with the religious rulers of his day says that the priests purchased the field. I believe a resolution is rather simple here. In Matthew’s account, the priests acknowledge that it is unlawful for them to take the money into their own treasury so they purchase the field. Because the money was not theirs, they make this purchase on Judas’ behalf. The field just so happens to be the same place where he killed himself. The second seeming discrepancy is the matter of how Judas died. In Matthew, he hanged himself while in Luke it merely says that he fell headlong and burst asunder. It is possible for both to be true. Possibly, he fell from the rope. It didn’t hold. Or after having hung himself, the rope rotted and the body fell headlong and he burst asunder. Either are rational harmonizations of the facts of the two books.

III. Qualifications of an Apostle vs 21-23

Saw Jesus face to face

Witness of the resurrection

chosen by God

IV. The Decision vs 23-26

Some have argued that Paul was supposed to be the 12th apostle and that this decision was not the Lord’s will. They will claim that the disciples were told to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came so they should not have been doing anything else. They also argue that Matthias is not named anywhere else in scripture.

Here are my thoughts on why it was God’s will for Matthias to be chose.

They prayed before they made this decision vs 24

The command to wait in Jerusalem did not mean to do nothing. In fact, they were gathering and praying while they waited.

3. The casting of a lot is not sinful Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.”

4. Barnabas was also considered an apostle in Acts 14:4 “But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.” The term itself just means a sent one; so that in some passages it refers to The Apostles and in others just those who are sent out.

V. Apostolic succession and the word of God

The catholic church will point to this text as their main text to support Apostolic succession, the idea that the apostles authority was passed down to other bishops throughout church history. Peter being the most important apostle passed his authority to Linus. Iraneaus attests to the fact that the apostles handed over the episkopate to him; however, studying scripture we see that episcopate (bishop), elder and pastor are all used interchangeably. Linus in mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:21 “Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.” Paul had written this letter while Paul was being arrested the second time.

The issue of succession is important because Jesus had given special authority to the apostles:

Matthew 16:13-20 “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.”

1 Cor 14:37 “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.”

The teachings of the apostles were considered to be from the Lord. Paul’s defense of his teachings was often based on the fact that he was an apostle. In almost all of his books, Paul begins with a statement of his apostleship. Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:” Col 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,” Paul even spends an entire chapter defending his apostleship and rights to the Corinthians in 1 Cor 9.

The question is does this passage prove that the apostles passed on their apostleship:

Replacing Judas does not show continual succession; rather it shows that Judas had fallen from his position and needed to be replaced. Judas was called the son of perdition indicating that he never was saved. There is also reason to believe that Judas never made it to the resurrection because he killed himself first.

Nowhere in scripture do we see any commands, examples, or even statements anticipating passing on the mantle of apostleship to someone else. (you would expect that as Peter and Paul were dying they would have given word about who was supposed to take over for them) In Acts 12:2 “And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” we do not read any record of a replacement for James being sought and instituted.

The ministry of the apostles was foundational in nature. Ephesians 2:20 “And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;” 1 Cor 3:10-11 “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

The message of the apostles was given once for all and did not need to be added to. Jude 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” This is important because the Catholic church teaches that there was an oral tradition not found in scripture that needed to be passed down through the pope. Acts 20:32 “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” The word of God was to be central to the life of the Church. Acts 17:10-12 “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.” The scriptures are what we should compare all things to. 2 Tim 3:16-17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” The scriptures are sufficient to produce holiness in the lives of believers and are profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction.

The authority of the apostles was passed down not through an office but through the teachings of the apostles. 2 Tim 2:1-3 “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Conclusion:

As Baptist’s we have traditionally help to what we call Biblical Authority. Protestants call this sola scriptura. Our authority for everything we believe and practice comes from the word of God and not from some man or tradition of the church. This belief is based on the fact that the authority of the Apostles was passed down not through an office of bishops or popes, but through the scriptures. It is one thing to believe that the scriptures should determine what we believe in practice, but are you living. Is the word of God your authority? Does it determine what you think and do, or do you make all your decisions based on what feels right? You can say the scriptures are your only authority for faith and practice, but do you live like it.

What about the way the church should be run? Do we make decisions because they make good business sense? do we make decisions because other churches are doing it and they seem to be successful, or do we make our decisions because the bible says so and we want to be faithful to God’s word. Who is our authority?

My feelings?

Culture?

Other Churches?

Logic?

Business models?

Other people’s opinions?

Who is our authority?