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1) v. 20b (quote from Ps. 109:8) – “Let another take his office”
A) Jesus didn’t just choose 12 apostles because those were the best candidates for the job. The number 12 has a lot of significance, and it’s very important that Christianity began with 12 apostles.
1) In the OT, God made a promise to Abraham that through him all the nations would be blessed.
(a) Abraham / Isaac / Jacob (Israel) – 12 sons = all of God’s chosen people.
2) God’s promise to Abraham and salvation through Jesus STARTED with the Jews.
(a) Matt. 10:
(i) vv. 1-4 – Jesus appoints the 12 apostles.
(ii) vv. 5-6 – Only go to Israel.
B) But just because God’s plan for having a chosen people STARTED with the Jews doesn’t mean it ENDED with the Jews.
1) Acts 1:8 – The mission.
2) Acts 3:25-26 – Preaching to Jews at the temple.
3) Rom. 1:16 – “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believed, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
4) Later to Samaria, Acts 10 to Cornelius, then Paul to the Gentile territories (ends of the earth).
C) POINT – It’s very important that there are 12 apostles because God is telling us in this number that THESE ARE THE CHOSEN OF PEOPLE OF GOD NOW, not the twelve tribes of Isreal.
1) Lk. 22:28-30
2) Rev. 7:4, 9 – What I was expecting vs spiritual reality.
D) Acts 1:20b – “Let another take his office” = THERE HAS TO BE TWELVE!
2) vv. 21-22 – How are we going to choose who will be Judas’ replacement? MAIN POINT: There are standards.
A) vv. 21-22 – It needs to be someone who has been around the whole time.
B) Others (Don’t just look for the specifically stated things, but other indicators in the text as well.)
1) v. 22 – “One of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”
(a) Is he willing to tell other people about Jesus? Is he able to tell anyone about Jesus?
(b) “witness” = martus, which eventually means martyr. Is he someone who is willing to suffer for the cause, AND die?
2) v. 25 – “ministry” and “apostleship”
(a) “ministry” = diakonia – servant – Is he someone who is willing to serve others?
(b) “apostleship” = A specially commissioned ambassador.
3) One of the churches where I preached this year, and one where I’m going to preach next year had major problems recently with an elder selection process. Both churches ended up losing 30 or 40 people because one man in each of those churches thought HE should be the guy, and when he wasn’t chosen, he took his little crowd of followers and left.
(a) They are called to be a witness for Jesus (in word and deed).
(b) And to participate in the SERVICE of God’s people.
(c) THANK GOD those men were not selected (dodged bullet). That is hindsight confirmation that they 100% were not the right people to serve in God’s family.
C) One of the main points of this Acts study is to ask “Who are we?” and “What are we supposed to be doing?”
1) One of the things God’s people do is obey Jesus. When Jesus says something, we do it. Period.
(a) e.g. 1:4 – Jesus ordered his followers to stay in Jerusalem and wait.
(b) 1:12 – They did it.
2) vv. 21-22 – The disciples were given a standard, and there can be NO deviation from that.
(a) e.g. Well, brother Eliazer hasn’t been with us for the WHOLE time, but he’s a super devoted follower of Jesus and I think he would do a really good job.
(b) e.g. Well, brother Hananiah was there when Jesus was baptized, but he got off track for a little while (v. 21 – “accompanied us during ALL THE TIME…”), but he’s got it all worked out now.
(c) e.g. Well, sister Salome is not “one of the men” but she is way more dedicated that any of the rest of us, and besides that she’s probably the best public speaker in the group.
(d) NO! It’s very important that we do exactly what God said.
3) What about if he has all the qualities in vv. 21-22, but he’s not willing to tell other people (witness) about Jesus? No – being a witness is the primary role. There are a lot of super great Christians who never miss a Sunday who have never told another soul about Jesus…ever.
4) What about if he has all the qualities, but he doesn’t understand what it means to be a servant to other people. No.
D) POINT: We need to learn to be people who take God’s commands and instructions EXTREMELY seriously.
1) e.g. 1 Tim. 3:1-2
2) Can an elder be a woman?
3) Can an elder be a single man?
4) Can an elder be someone who is not able (or willing) to teach?
5) Well…he’s a really good guy. Well…I’ve known him for a really long time.
6) e.g.
(a) In 2017, I preached 11 sermons about elders between Mar. 5 and Oct. 1 (7 months).
(b) We did an elder selection process and someone wrote Mike Gershenson’s name down.
(c) Mike is a really great man, and Christian, and we all love him dearly. But Mike and Sara didn’t get married until March 2020. He wasn’t even married. They weren’t even dating. And he sure didn’t have any kids.
(d) THIS CAN’T HAPPEN! I’m not joking. We cannot hope to be a group of people who care about doing what God said if this is the kind of thing that happens after 11 sermons in 7 months.
E) We are supposed to be the people, and I am wholly committed to this, to being the people who do what the Scripture says.
3) vv. 23-26 – The selection process.
A) v. 23 – “They put forward two.”
1) This is a family operation. There were even apostles present, and it was a function of the whole group of 120 to evaluate the standards and put forward names.
(a) “As God is the real leader of the church, the human leader’s task is to direct people to God’s will, which is most clearly recorded in the Scriptures. In other words, the leader’s primary task is to direct people to God’s Word.”
(b) cf. 6:3 – “Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute.”
2) This is not tee-ball where everybody gets a turn to bat.
(a) Among the 120 in the room, only two names were put forward.
(b) Of those two, only one was chosen to be an apostle.
B) v. 24 – “And they prayed.”
1) “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all.”
(a) We can judge external factors, but not internal.
2) “Show which one of these two you have chosen.” – Pray for God’s will. What is the thing that God wants, not me?
(a) This is especially critical for this context because an apostle is one who is specifically chosen and commissioned by Jesus himself.
(b) There are no such things as apostles anymore today because Jesus doesn’t say, “YOU are the one…go do this work.”
(c) Even so, we should still pray fervently for God’s will.
(d) cf. Acts 13:1-3 – Barnabas and Saul were specially called out by prophets from God, and prayer was still a part of the process.
C) v. 26 – “And they cast lots”
1) KEY: Prov. 16:33 – “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
2) Jesus had not sent the Holy Spirit yet to instruct his people, so without any other direction this seems to be the best they could do.
3) Big important point: We need to know what God wants. They cared about that and they did what they needed to do to understand and do his will.