“The Church Begins” Part II

Acts 1:12-26 MDBC 10/18/09

Introduction:  Last week we began the book of Acts and we saw that the church started with the Risen Christ, the Great Commission, and the Ascended Lord.  This week in part two of the series, ‘The Church Begins’ we will see two more elements that the church started with as we look at the subjects of prayer and God-ordained leadership.

1. Commitment to Prayer (12-14, 24)

v. 12-14, 24 “¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. ¹³ And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. ¹⁴ These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers… ²⁴  And they prayed and said, ‘You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen”

We see this morning that the church began with a commitment to prayer. The disciples obeyed Jesus in not going very far away. “A Sabbath day’s journey was the maximum distance one was permitted to travel on the Sabbath under rabbinic law.  It was fixed at 2,000 cubits, or about one half to three quarters of a mile.” (John MacArthur) Why is it that prayer, which was an integral part of the early church and has been an integral part of every major movement of God ever recorded, is so lacking in our churches now?  I do not believe it stems from people’s inability to pray but rather from a lack of making it a priority. We, at MDBC, will not thrive nor survive as the church that is being obedient to Christ by only having the handful of people who pray on Wednesday evening.  So, what does this mean?  It means that the ones who cannot or will not gather for prayer at that time had better be doing it at other times during the week.  Why in the world should we be so arrogant to think that we need not pray? I’ve heard it said on numerous occasions that the greatest single act of arrogance is prayerlessness.  To think that we can do anything apart from God is foolish! These early believers gathered in ‘one accord’, “…a term [one accord] that points to the fundamental unity within the church at key moments.” (Darrell Bock) The people were united in their calling upon the Lord. “In almost every chapter in Acts you find a reference to prayer, and the book makes it very clear that something happens when God’s people pray.” (Warren Wiersbe) No doubt, at this earliest of times they desired the Holy Spirit which Christ had promised, and perhaps they were already praying for Christ’s return as well.  Not only were they praying for these things but they were praying for new leaders as well, which leads us to our next point.

2.  Commitment to God-Ordained Leadership

(15-23, 25-26)

v. 15-23, 25-26 “¹⁵ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, ¹⁶ “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; ¹⁷ for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.” ¹⁸ (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. ¹⁹ And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰ “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘ Let his dwelling place be desolate,  And let no one live in it’; and, ‘ Let another take his office.’ ²¹ “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²² beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” ²³ And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias…²⁵ to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” ²⁶ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”

 The church also began with God-appointed leadership.  We see listed in verse 13 the remaining 11 disciples.  However, there is still room for 1 to take Judas’ spot.  Peter steps forward after this unified prayer meeting and begins doing what came naturally to Peter – that is to lead.  Peter begins in verse 16 by telling everyone that the Scriptures ‘had to be fulfilled.’  In other words, God was in complete control even throughout Judas’ betrayal of Christ.  What a sovereign God we have!  He is still just as sovereign today as He was then! Truly, there could be some of you here today who have never heard the good news that Jesus, God’s Son, died for your sins.  And since He died for you He has offered the opportunity for you to live for Him now and with Him forever by repenting of your sins and trusting in Him by faith for salvation. God knew you would be here and need to hear that this morning!  That is how sovereign He is! “Peter is using the most compelling proof, Scripture, to reassure his hearers that Judas’ defection, and their choice of replacement, were all part of God’s plan.” (MacArthur)

The account in Acts referring to Judas does not run in contradiction to the account in Matthew 27:3-10 but instead adds some more details to it.  Judas felt remorse over betraying Jesus and took the money and returned it to the chief priests and the elders; then he went and hung himself.  The priests were not going to keep the ‘blood money’ in the temple treasury [Matt. 27:6] so they bought a field to be a burial place.  Judas’ body, after being hung, eventually fell after either the branch that he was hung on broke or the rope snapped.  Either way, both would have led to his body falling and bursting open.  Certainly this would have been a very grotesque picture.  This field then came to be known as the field of blood.  Verse 20 goes back to Peter’s statement in verse 16 about the Scripture being fulfilled as he cites 2 different psalms.  First, he quotes Psalm 69:25, ‘Let his dwelling place/homestead/habitation be desolate and let no one live in it.’  This is one of the Psalms of David and was initially referring to David’s enemies who were coming up against him.  What Peter is doing is looking in the Bible they had available at the time, the Old Testament, for answers.  The next part of verse 20 says, ‘Let another take his office/bishoprick’.  This is from Psalm 109:8 and is another Psalm of David.  In this Psalm David is pleading with God for Him to judge the false accusers who were coming against him. 

After expressing the need for Judas to be replaced at this time, Peter begins in verse 21-23 detailing the criteria which these men would need to meet.  The replacement would need to be someone who had followed Jesus from the beginning of His ministry and had seen the resurrected Christ.  Verse 15 tells us that there were 120 followers and out of that number there are 2 that fit the criteria. The two men’s names were Joseph Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. In verse 24-25 the disciples acknowledged that the Lord knows the hearts of all and prayed for God to reveal which one He had chosen to take Judas’ place.  Then they cast lots to see which one would be chosen.  We must understand this is a cultural action.  As a matter of fact, “This is the last occurrence in Scripture of this practice, since the coming of the Spirit rendered it unnecessary.” (MacArthur) “Lots were seen in Proverbs 18:18 as an arbiter of disputes-a way for God’s plan to be revealed.” (Bock) Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Regarding the casting of lots in this context, the only thing we should read into it is that the disciples acted in full obedience to what they had known up until this point in time. Shortly, the Spirit would come and would ‘guide them into all truth.’  They responded based on what they knew.  You today will be responsible for what you hear.  You may not know Christ yet, but you know you don’t have Him.  You know that you are a sinner and Christ is the Savior.  You then are held responsible for that knowledge, just like the disciples were held responsible in selecting a replacement for Judas. What we need as prescriptive churches now is the commitment to seek out God for His appointed leaders and know that they will meet His appointed standards. We must make God’s calling and biblical criteria the standard for seeking out leaders of the church.  This is the practice in the first church and this should still be the practice in the church today.  “The call to preach is still not a matter of human recruitment but of divine appointment…Far too many in our day claim the right to ascend the place of preaching, yet have never been called by Him.  They are like the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day, of whom the Lord said, ‘I did not send these prophets, but they ran, I did not speak to them but they prophesied.’ [Jeremiah 23:21, 23:32, 29:31]” (MacArthur)  The characteristics mentioned in 1 Timothy 3 for a pastor and a deacon are not up for debate! They are to be heeded by the church when it comes to whom they place in leadership. 

Conclusion:  We’ve seen today two more elements that the early church had as part of their foundation.  They were committed to prayer and to God-ordained leadership.  Today I want to challenge you on two fronts.  First, many of us need to make prayer a priority in our lives, not just for God to answer what we want Him to answer, but for us to desire intimacy with Him through prayer.  Secondly, perhaps there is someone whom God has been calling either to vocational ministry or missions or possibly just leading more here at MDBC.  Today, maybe you need to let the church know that you are sensing God’s call or perhaps just commit it to prayer even more.  Take it from the prophet Jonah – you can’t outrun God’s calling.  So today respond unto the Lord and surrender unto Him.