Principles and Methods • Acts 1:12-26
1:06:37 Teaching begins
Notes
I like what Chris said last week, that the principles of following the Lord never change. How we put those principles into practice might change, but the principles themselves have always been the same.
We have a situation like that today. As the disciples wait for the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, everything they do is according to the principles of following Scripture, following the words of Jesus, seeking to be led by God. But they also do something that we never read of again. If they never do it again, does that make what they did invalid?
To answer that we follow another unchanging principle of following the Lord: in order to understand the Bible you read it very carefully.
I’m reading in Acts 1 from verse 12.
1. Luke shows us people waiting in an upper room.
A. Jesus ate the Passover in a large, furnished upper room. It may be the same room. If so, it’s been about 40 days since Jesus was raised from the dead, and this is their base in which they wait.
B. The apostles are here, verse 13.
C. In verse 14 the women are here. We can guess this refers to a group of women that Luke mentioned before in his gospel. Mary Magdalene, Joanna wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for Him out of their substance. They were wealthy. Others in this group were Mary mother of James, Salome mother of James and John. They met Jesus after He was risen from the dead.
D. Jesus’ mother Mary is here with Jesus’ brothers, who didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah. He appeared to them after His resurrection. They are all believers now.
E. There are about 120 men and women, all believers, in this upper room.
2. They’re obeying Jesus: they’re waiting to be baptised in the Holy Spirit, not many days from now.
A. These are the last few days before God radically changes the way He deals with men. A new era is about to begin. They know it’s going to happen.
B. They wait by focusing and persevering in prayer.
1. They are about to enter a new era in the history of the world, the outpouring of the Spirit, and the promise of Abraham coming to the whole earth.
2. There might be lots of questions, how do we do this? What’s going to happen? What is the baptism of the Spirit like? Please make us ready.
3. There would be praise and worship. O God, You’re so good. Thank You for choosing me, for redeeming me, for loving me.
4. There would be surrender and offering oneself as a living and holy sacrifice. Being aware that Jesus said the time is coming when the one who kills you will think that he is offering God service. O God, make us ready no matter what. Bind up the devil, let us plunder his house. Set people free. Do an amazing work far beyond our understanding. Lead us into Your purposes.
C. Persevering in prayer is not easy.
1. The very verb used shows it takes determination and focus. You have to say “no” to things that are not as important, like food or sleep or entertainment. It takes self-denial.
2. Praying together makes it easier to focus. We’re encouraged by one another’s faith. If you have a hard time praying, pray with another person.
D. This is a principle of following Jesus. If you give yourself to important things you will become significant. You will affect others. If you give yourself to unimportant things you become insignificant, you can do nothing significant.
3. During this intense prayer Peter says we need to fulfil Scripture, because it has already partly been fulfilled.
A. It must have been a shock for the disciples to learn that Judas had betrayed Jesus and themselves. They never suspected him at all. Probably Jesus told them what Judas did.
B. Verses 18-19 tell us what happened to Judas after he betrayed Jesus.
1. The main reference is Matthew 27:3-8 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!” And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself. The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.” And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
2. Judas technically bought the field because the priests bought it with his money. That seems to be the field in which Judas hanged himself. It’s probable that in the hot Middle Eastern climate that his body hanging there decomposed rapidly and just fell apart.
C. A principle of following after Jesus is, if you sin, you come to Jesus to have Him fix it. You don’t go on and try to fix it yourself. Judas is an example of what not to do.
D. It must have been a comfort for the disciples to realise that God knew about Judas and wrote about him a thousand years before, in Psalm 69 and Psalm 109.
E. The principle here is: God knows and understands everything we’re going through. He’s also planned what He will do to help us. We have to remind ourselves that He already knows what He’s going to do. We want to stay in prayer and seek Him.
4. Peter says we need to follow through with Scripture.
A. It’s necessary to replace Judas because Psalm 109 specifically says, “Let another take his office.”
1. Jesus didn’t pick eleven apostles, He picked twelve, knowing Scripture said that one would betray Him. And the Scripture says to replace that apostle.
2. So while we’re waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit it seems like we need to do this in preparation, so we’re ready for when the Spirit comes.
B. Peter sets out requirements for an apostle:
1. This person has to be with us all the time from the baptism of John to Jesus ascending into heaven.
a. He would have experienced John’s baptism himself, as all the other apostles had. He repented and was baptised, and when John said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” he followed Jesus.
b. He would have heard Jesus teach.
c. He would have seen Jesus’ miracles.
d. He would have seen the crucifixion and seen the risen Jesus.
e. He would have been taught by Jesus over forty days after His resurrection.
f. He would have been there on the Mount of Olives and saw Jesus go up into heaven.
2. This person would have to know that he was stepping into danger. Jesus said, “If they hated Me, they’ll hate you.” He would have to know this and say, “I will be faithful unto death.”
3. This person would have to be an early, dedicated disciple. Not a novice, or a nobody.
C. There are two men there, of whom everyone says, they would do a great job. Of course, they would be in the room. If you’re going to choose an apostle, it would be someone who was dedicated, focused on prayer, already in the room.
D. They pray, “You know, O Lord, who it should be.” They cast lots, and the lot falls on Matthias. So they say Matthias is an apostle now.
5. Some people think the apostles made a mistake when they filled Judas’ place with Matthias.
A. They say, “We never hear of Matthias ever again. He was a nobody, they made a mistake, he wasn’t God’s choice. We know that the Twelfth Apostle is really supposed to be Paul.” I’ve read that in commentaries, heard teachers teach that. How do they know this?
B. The real answer is, it’s an opinion.
1. Acts doesn’t tell us anything about most of the other apostles. You only see John a little bit, Peter, and Paul. Philip and Stephen were deacons. The only testimony we have how God worked through the other apostles is church tradition centuries later.
2. Notice the text doesn’t say they did anything wrong. It says what they did right. Peter and the whole group are praying intensely and seeking the Lord. They are acting according to Scripture. They want to be led by God and are seeking His will and guidance.
C. Another objection is the idea of casting lots. That’s a really Old Testament thing to do. Well, it is.
1. God established casting lots. God had Moses make a part of the high priest’s clothing for seeking His will. It was called the Urim and Thummim, Lights and Perfections. The priest could inquire of the Lord and get an answer through the Urim and Thummim. Joshua and Eleazar the priest used the Urim to divide the land to each tribe.
2. There’s a proverb about this in Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. He is sovereign and in charge even though it looks random.
D. The principle is permanent: you seek God’s will, not your own. You want to glorify God.
F. But the casting of lots will be changed in just a few days. We’re about to enter a new era where men are led by the Holy Spirit, which is better.
1. The Spirit is going to say to Philip, “Go down on the Gaza road,” which is desert. “Run up to that chariot.” “Tell the guy what Isaiah 53 means.”
2. They’re going to say, “It seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit.”
3. The Spirit is going to say, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
4. Paul is going to try to preach in Asia, and the Spirit forbids it. He’ll try Bithynia, the Spirit says, “No.” Then Paul has a dream about a Macedonian pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” That’s where the Spirit wants us to go, let’s go!
6. So what?
A. The disciples are focused on prayer, they’re focused on doing what Scripture says, and they’re focused on obeying Jesus’ words. They want to follow the will of God.
B. We want to follow their example and be filled with the Holy Spirit and let Him lead us.
C. We also want to read the Bible carefully and evaluate everything we hear from people by what the Bible says.
Let’s pray.