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September 30, 2001 Acts 1:12-26 -- God’s Building
Blocks for the Church
During an Ecumenical gathering someone
rushed in shouting, "The building is on fire!" Immediately... The METHODISTS gathered in the corner and
prayed, The BAPTISTS cried, "Where is the
water?" The QUAKERS quietly praised God for the
blessing that fire brings, The LUTHERANS posted a notice on the door
declaring that fire was evil, The ROMAN CATHOLICS passed a collection
plate. The EPISCOPALIANS formed a procession and
marched out, The CONGREGATIONALISTS shouted,
"Every man for himself...." The FUNDAMENTALISTS declared, "It's
the vengeance of God!" The JEWS posted symbols on the door
hoping that the fire would pass, The JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES passed out
literature about the fire, The MORMONS ran TV commercials for free
videos of the fire, The CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS agreed among
themselves that there was not a fire,
The PRESBYTERIANS nominated a chairperson who was to appoint a
committee to look
into the matter and make a written report to the voting assembly which
would then
deliberate the next action. Through the ages churches have responded in
their own particular way to both triumph and tragedy. Different denominations
react differently. Yet when fire rages, response is necessary. The key is to
determine what is the best response, not just in the emergency of a fire, but
also in the ongoing life of a church and of those who comprise that body of
believers. In the days following Jesus’ death, burial,
and resurrection he taught his ragged band of disciples that they were to be
the ones on whom God the Father would build the church. With Jesus’ ascension
forty days after the resurrection, the disciples were no longer just
students, but now the leaders of the church. They were to be witnesses of all
they had seen and heard. But in addition to the tremendous triumph they had
witnessed, a tragedy had fallen upon them as well. One of their own number, Judas Iscariot, had
betrayed Christ, which resulted in Jesus’ arrest and eventual execution.
Facing tremendous odds – the departure of their leader, a poor track record
of their own, and one from their ranks committing treason – made their job
appear impossible. How could they build the church that God had commissioned
them to build? Acts 1 gives us not just the historical
account of how the church responded, but the pattern that is to be followed.
The components found in their response teach us how Cornerstone is to be
built today. As a congregation we have seen God at work in this church in
tremendous ways and as we prepare to purchase property and construct a
building, we need to know what are the critical components of the church’s
response. They are not bricks and mortar. Rather God desires churches to be
built on prayer, Scripture, and the Apostles. [READ Acts 1:12-26] The Church is Built on Prayer
[verses 12-14]
Response to Jesus’
Final Command – Obedience
In the concluding verses of Luke’s gospel,
Jesus reminds the disciples that they are to stay in Jerusalem until they are
clothed with power. Acts opens with that same command in verse 4: that they wait in Jerusalem. This they did as we are told
in Acts 1:12. They return to Jerusalem to the upper room. Upper rooms were large meeting rooms on the
second or third story of a residence, often rented out, having access from
the outside. Since it is identified as “the room where they were staying”, it
may be the room where Jesus celebrated the Passover meal, where he appeared
to them when he arose and where believers gathered in Acts 12 to pray for
Peter as he was about to be executed by Herod. If this is the same room, it
was owned by Mary, the mother of John Mark, who accompanied Paul and Barnabas
and wrote the gospel which bears his name.
Luke then lists some of those who gathered.
First the disciples are listed in typical order, beginning with Peter and
then the rest, with one noticeable deletion – Judas. Of the disciples
mentioned here, (including Matthias as Judas' replacement), only Peter,
James, and John appear again in the New Testament. Each of the disciples
mentioned here was faithful to Christ's command to be his witnesses to the
ends of the earth, even if they are not mentioned again in Holy Scripture.
While God did not chose to give us inspired accounts of the "Acts"
of the other apostles, their missionary endeavors are legendary and are among
the most interesting traditions of the early church. With the exception of
John, all are said to have been martyred. There is a small group of
Christians in India, which claims to have their origins in the preaching of
Thomas. Matthew is said to have been martyred in Ethiopia. So while God does
not chose to include them in Acts, we must not forget that they too followed
their Lord's command, taking the gospel to the ends of the earth, and that
they died as martyrs for the savior they loved. Luke mentions “the women” whom he references
in his gospel: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Cuza, who managed Herod's
household, and Susanna, who was apparently affluent. These women supported Jesus and the
disciples financially and followed him to his death, even serving at the tomb
(Luke 24:2). The angels had appeared to them first, telling them about
Christ's resurrection. They too are gathered here worshiping the Ascended and
exalted Lord. Luke also makes the last mention of Mary in
the New Testament. We have no idea what eventually happened to
her. The Roman dogma (canonized in 1950) that she was "assumed"
into heaven without dying simply has no basis in fact. Her last recorded
appearance in the New Testament is here with the others, not being worshiped
or adored, but instead worshiping and adoring her son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus's brothers are
mentioned, which we determine elsewhere as James, Joseph, Jude and Simon. These are the same guys who had previously
thought their brother insane (Mark 6:3). How then, did they happen to be here
in "the room," waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit? Paul tells
us in I Corinthians 15:7 that Jesus appeared to James, the Lord's brother,
and they obviously had been converted just days earlier during the
post-Resurrection ministry of Christ. (the
above taken from Riddlebarger, On the Foundation of the Prophets and the
Apostles) Response to an
Uncertain Future - Prayer
What was it they did when they gathered in
that room? They gathered to pray. The
knee jerk response to what they just endured is prayer. In light of the
ascension of Christ – prayer. In light of the tragedy of treason –
prayer. Notice the unity of this
prayer meeting: all together. In Luke 6:12, just before Jesus chose which
12 among all his followers would be known as the disciples, he spent the
evening in prayer. Now, before they are sent out once again, and before
another is to be added to their number to take the place of Judas, they
prayed. In verse 14 we are told they were constantly
in prayer. There is persistence, or as one translation
states: “they stuck to praying”. This was not just a quick prayer shot up to
ask God to bless them, direct them, and use them. It was ongoing. They knew
they were to wait on God in Jerusalem to pour out the promised Holy Spirit.
So what better way to wait than to pray? But it was not just prayer, but
specifically: the prayer. This suggests the Jewish pattern of worship
centered on written prayer and reading of the Law and Psalms. “The prayer”
may well have included the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear O Israel, the
Lord our God, the Lord is One.” What
takes place in this upper room is not an unstructured, free flowing,
spontaneous prayer meeting. Thus apostolic worship is simple, but liturgical.
Their response here is worship. In verse15 Luke points out that the number
of those present for prayer is 120. The reason for the parenthesis about the
number of disciples is that in Jewish law a minimum of 120 Jewish men was
required to establish a community with its own council; in Jewish terms the
disciples were a body of sufficient size to form a new community. The Fulton Street prayer meeting that
sparked a revival in America in 1858 began with six people. Within six months
there were ten thousand businessmen gathering daily for payer in New York
City, and within two years one million converts were added to the American
church. (Orr 1953:13) A.T. Pierson said, “There has never been a
revival in any country that has not begun in united prayer, and no revival
has ever continued beyond the duration of those prayer meetings. (Orr
1937:47) Quite often our initial response to triumph
is to gloat in the warm feelings of the event, to relive and recount our
exploits – but often not prayer. And our initial response to tragedy often is
paralysis and not prayer. But here we see the right response. The prayer here
has worship as its focus and as we see, it leads them into examining God’s
Word more closely as Peter preaches a sermon. Where there is biblical prayer and worship,
God’s Word will also be expounded. When Luke says Peter "stood up,"
he is using a technical term applied to formal speech in the synagogue. He
does not address the triumphal ascension of Christ, but the tragedy of
treason which had occurred in their midst. Judas’ betrayal created numerous problems.
His defection no doubt cast a shadow on the infant church, forcing them to respond
to such a failure in leadership. But the focus here is on finding a
replacement. What Peter does sets the way we should understand the rest of
Acts. Peter finds hope in the Scripture Notice his high view of God’s Word. The
events regarding Judas’ betrayal were not an accident. The greatest tragedy
of all time, the murder of God incarnate, was a part of God’s plan. Yet having said that, Peter does not
excuse Judas on the ground that what happened to him was prophesied. What he
did was not done because of the prophecy, but through the wickedness of his
own heart. What happened with Judas? He was a part of the inner circle. He shared in this ministry. Literally – he
shared the lot of this ministry. Lot
– the word used of a stone used in casting votes by a deliberative body, is
used again in verse 26. The word – klēron – was later used to refer to
an ecclesiastical office – clergy. Yet it was he who led the temple guard to
Jesus so that he would be arrested. The reason why he did this not entirely
clear. A hint may be in his name. The 'Iscariots' were a band of violent
nationalists, who were prepared to undertake assassination and murder in
their campaign to set Palestine free. Perhaps Judas saw Jesus as the one to
lead Israel to independence, and turned against him when Jesus disowned such
an earthly kingdom. Whatever the reason, when Judas saw his plan to force
Jesus to act go tragically wrong, he committed suicide out of bitter remorse.
Luke gives us an aside in verses 18-19. When
we compare this passage with Matthew’s account we get a fuller picture of
what happened. With his reward he bought a field. This fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah
11:12-13 which points to the amount given and the use. The trouble for some
is that Luke says Judas bought the field with the money and in Matthew 27:6
it is the priests who purchase the land. The apparent conflict is not too
troubling as the priests purchased the land with Judas’ money. How did he die? Matthew’s record states that Judas hanged
himself. Luke here describes his death in a different gruesome manner. How do
we understand this? Matthew’s Jewish audience saw suicide as a
heinous sin and to die on a tree is doubly cursed. Luke, writing to Greeks, did not have the same compunctions
against suicide, but the disemboweling was seen as a judgment. That is not to
say they made up the story. Rather the simple explanation is to focus on
different aspects of the same general event: Judas hung himself, and after he died, his
bloated body was cut down, and when it fell, his intestines spilled out. The name of the place where Judas died was
aptly named: Field of Blood. Blood money bought the field and the land
was cursed due to death which occurred there. Peter sees the prophecy applying to their
situation. First the crime - Ps 69:25 Five times in the New Testament Psalm 69 is
appealed to regarding the hatred of Jesus and his dedication to honor his
Father. In verse 25 we see the prophecy of the removal of Judas. Second passage details the solution - Ps
109:8 Peter understands that Judas’ apostasy
requires that another take his place among the 12. This leads us to our final
point. Not only are there prayer and an appeal to God’s Word. What we see
here is an important aspect of how we are to read the Acts of the Holy Spirit
through the Apostles of Jesus Christ. The Church is
Built on the Apostles [verses 21-26]
Peter’s conclusion, flowing from their
worship and prayer, based on God’s Word, states the necessity that another
man to fill Judas’ place. The criteria are important: one who was with them
and Jesus from his baptism to ascension. The Apostle to fill Judas’ place
needs to be a witness not just of the resurrection, but also to verify all
Jesus said and did. The number of Apostles is important. Judas is replaced not because of death, but
apostasy. When James is martyred in A.D. 44, the disciples do not name a
replacement. The number is fixed – it was to be 12. At the Last Supper in Luke 22, Jesus states
the relationship between the Apostles and the 12 Tribes of Israel. [Read Luke
22:28-30] The issue of continuity here shows the smooth transition from the
people of God in the Old Testament flowing out of the 12 Tribes of Israel and
now after the Ascension, the people of God we call the Church being built on
the 12 Apostles. This connection between the 12 Tribes and Apostles is
pointed out again in Revelation 21:10.
Thus the church is the Israel of God, and is built upon the foundation
of the prophets and the apostles. Filling the vacancy is
not matter of administrative efficiency, but a specific requirement of God’s
purpose for the church as revealed in Scripture. As Peter applies God’s Word
to their situation it is clear that this office is limited and impossible to
fulfill today. There is no succession from then till now. But Christ's Church today does possess
Apostolic authority in fulfillment of Christ's words that the gates of hell
would not prevail against his church. In this case, it is not the office of
apostle which is passed along to subsequent generations of the church, but it
is the doctrine taught by the apostles, as found in their inspired writings,
that serves as the basis for the doctrinal authority of the church. Why is
this important for us? It is vitally important to pray and spend
time in God’s Word. But what Peter illustrates here, and what is repeated
throughout Acts, is that the Christian faith is Apostolic. That is, what we
believe flows from the eyewitnessed report of the 12. We do not fabricate or
second-guess. We do not tolerate new interpretations as to the life, death
and resurrection of Christ. As Paul states in Ephesians 2:20, the Church is
built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Christ Jesus as the
cornerstone. Some preachers and teachers will say that
Peter and the early church were mistaken in this endeavor, and that their
election of Matthias was presumptuous, for God wanted Paul and the early
church trampled on God’s desires. It is important to see how the term apostle
is used in Acts and the rest of the New Testament. The term has a two-tiered
meaning in Acts; it is used more broadly in Acts 14 of Barnabas and Paul.
This does not diminish Paul’s position as the Apostle to the Gentiles, yet it
is clear in his meeting with the Apostles mentioned in Galatians 1-2, that
what he taught was Apostolic; it was in line with the teachings of the 12. The method used points also to the uniqueness
of this situation. Names are put forward; there is input from
the congregation. Once again they go to prayer. Notice what is
prayed. In light of Judas’ secret sin, they acknowledge that they cannot make
the decision on their own. Then they cast lots, a practice which to us
seems rather odd. Proverbs 16:33 may be appealed to here. The
presupposition is that there is no such thing as chance, but that God’s
sovereignty extends to the smallest detail. In making their final choice in this
manner, they show their complete reliance upon the Lord. In such an important situation, the decision
process was seen as the Lord’s hand. From this point on, nothing is as
critical and the method of decision making is the working of the Spirit (who
will soon be poured out) and common reasoning. What can we learn
from this?
On December 2nd we will have an
election for Elders and Deacons. No, we won’t be casting lots. We are not
adding to the apostolate. But we are asking each of you to be in prayer for
those nominated, examined, present and elected. But this passage extends
beyond the election of officers. It also speaks to how we view the means by
which God builds his church. We live in an age that loves invention. We want it new and
improved. With hubris we imagine that we can do it bigger and better than a
generation before. Acts will challenge us to rethink how we do church. It
takes us back to our foundation so that what is built is based on God’s Word.
We must be cautious about that which we believe and constantly seek God’s
face in prayer and in Scripture to see if what we believe is building God’s
Word or on our own inventions. For this, we need to trust in our Lord to lead
us forward. |
