SPEAKER_00: This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
SPEAKER_01: Please take your Bible and open it to the Book of Acts.
SPEAKER_01: Two weeks ago, we began considering the book of Acts by looking at the end of Luke's gospel, being reminded there that Luke wrote two books that continue the same narrative.
SPEAKER_01: Then last Sunday we looked at the beginning of Acts chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: And so this morning we're going to pick up there where we left off in Acts chapter 1 and verse 15.
SPEAKER_01: And our passage for this morning is all about the fulfillment of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Peter explains to us how Judas fulfilled Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And then we see through the rest of the passage, the disciples' faithful obedience to the will of God as a man named Matthias takes Judas's place as one of the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: Again, that's Acts chapter 1, beginning in verse 15, if you'd like to follow along.
SPEAKER_01: It says, In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers, that is, the company of persons was in all about 120, and said, Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.
SPEAKER_01: And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, the field of blood.
SPEAKER_01: For it is written in the book of Psalms, May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it, and let another take his office.
SPEAKER_01: So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: And they put forward two.
SPEAKER_01: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice, and Matthias.
SPEAKER_01: And they prayed and said, You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
SPEAKER_01: And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: This section can get lost pretty quickly between the first part of the chapter that details the commissioning of the disciples and the ascension of the Lord Jesus, and the passage that comes after this, which details the coming of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: But what is recounted here had to happen.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary for the continuation of Jesus' work.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, Luke began this book by telling us that the gospel account was all about what Jesus began to do.
SPEAKER_01: The book of Acts continues what Jesus does while he rules and reigns from his place at the Father's right hand.
SPEAKER_01: And here Peter recognized the necessity of Judas' role as one of the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: His presence was necessary to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: His death was required to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: And his replacement was essential to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: That's a better translation, I think, of the words had to be in the English Standard Version.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 16, the scripture had to be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: It's just one word in Luke's Greek language.
SPEAKER_01: And it carries the sense of our English word must.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, that's how the ESV translates it a few pages over in chapter 3 in verse 21, where there Peter says that heaven had to receive Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things.
SPEAKER_01: Luke used this word, this must, this had to word, it is necessary word, 21 times in the book of Acts, twice in this passage.
SPEAKER_01: And when we find it in the New Testament, it often implies God's sovereign plan.
SPEAKER_01: So from God's vantage point, certain things were absolutely necessary.
SPEAKER_01: Twice in our text, Peter's mind is open to understand specific necessities about Judas' part in the plan of God that factored into the very first days of Jesus' absence and the beginning of the church.
SPEAKER_01: So this morning I want you to think about a theology of Judas.
SPEAKER_01: Why is he here?
SPEAKER_01: What purpose did he have?
SPEAKER_01: If nothing else, I pray that you leave this morning with a renewed understanding of Judas.
SPEAKER_01: His part in the gospel story is not a mistake.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus did not make a mistake in calling a thief to be his disciple.
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples did not make a mistake in considering Judas one of their own.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary.
SPEAKER_01: And because it's necessary, it has implications for your life and for our church.
SPEAKER_01: And all of this occurs in the context of 120 people or so, about 120 people gathered together.
SPEAKER_01: That number may be significant.
SPEAKER_01: The Jewish rabbis taught that 120 men were the minimum required for a legal quorum in any community.
SPEAKER_01: So that 120 number may be a subtle way to establish the integrity and the authority of this meeting and its decisions.
SPEAKER_01: There were 120 people witnessing this event.
SPEAKER_01: That means we aren't dealing with a story concocted by Luke to merely remove Judas's shame from the group of disciples.
SPEAKER_01: It was a genuine and authoritative meeting, but it was shameful.
SPEAKER_01: Everything that Judas did would be shameful in the ancient world.
SPEAKER_01: And it would have been a mark of shame, a continuing mark of shame on the disciples if they continued to be the eleven.
SPEAKER_01: But there's another problem that goes beyond the shame.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the promise that the Lord Jesus made in the upper room on that last night before Judas betrayed him as they were eating supper together.
SPEAKER_01: Luke recounts it with these words from Luke chapter 22.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus said, You are those, speaking of all the twelve, you are those who have stayed with me.
SPEAKER_01: You stayed with me in all my trials, and now I assign to you, as my father has assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table, that is at the king's table, in my kingdom, and that you might sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: Pretty simple, right?
SPEAKER_01: That in that promise the Lord announced a kind of renewed Israel with twelve tribes.
SPEAKER_01: And since that renewed Israel is a part of Christ's kingdom, they belong there because of their faith in him.
SPEAKER_01: In that eternal kingdom, the twelve disciples will rule over the twelve renewed tribes of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: That goal or that end was initiated with the twelve disciples.
SPEAKER_01: They were the beginning of that renewed Israel.
SPEAKER_01: But now Judas has taken his life.
SPEAKER_01: The twelve are no more.
SPEAKER_01: But eleven disciples are problematic when the Lord Jesus Himself has said that there will be twelve disciples on twelve thrones ruling twelve tribes.
SPEAKER_01: So there must be twelve representatives if the disciples represent a renewed Israel that will bless the nations of the world by proclaiming Jesus so that a host of new people will come into Christ's kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: But that's all context.
SPEAKER_01: All of those details merely prepare us for what we find here.
SPEAKER_01: What we find here is all about Judas.
SPEAKER_01: Let's move in a little closer to see the biblical theology of Judas.
SPEAKER_01: And the first thing that we see is that Judas's presence among the disciples was necessary to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Judas represents here the wrong way of the broad road to destruction in contrast to the narrow road.
SPEAKER_01: What the book of Acts will call the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Judas went his own way.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 25 says he turned aside, he went to his own way, to his own place.
SPEAKER_01: Judas took his own way rather than the way of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But he also had a share in the Messiah's ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And so, in some sense, Judas represents those who share in Christ's ministry from age to age, but do not truly belong to him.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, Peter says he was numbered among us.
SPEAKER_01: He's been numbered among us from the beginning, all the way until he took his own life.
SPEAKER_01: He's a part of the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, if you go back to the Gospels, you can see in Matthew chapter 10 that Judas is one of the 12 apostles.
SPEAKER_01: It always has the note, though, describing him as the one who betrayed Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In Matthew chapter 26, verse 14, he's called one of the twelve who went to talk to the chief priests about betraying Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He's called one of the twelve in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he's surrounded by a troop of people carrying clubs and swords to arrest Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: In Luke chapter 23, verse 3, it says, Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the 12.
SPEAKER_01: Now we have eleven.
SPEAKER_01: Judas was allotted a share because he was numbered among the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: The language here is Exodus-like.
SPEAKER_01: Anyone who belonged to the nation of Israel, to the twelve tribes of Israel, coming out of Egypt, participating in the conquering of the promised land, was allotted a share in the inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: In the same way as one of the twelve, Judas is an integral part of Jesus' ministry.
SPEAKER_01: He has a share in that inheritance.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, Judas wasn't a fringe person.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't Peter, James, or John, one of the inner three.
SPEAKER_01: But he's equally and wholly a part of the twelve disciples.
SPEAKER_01: And that ought to remind us at the very least that false disciples may exist within the church at any time and in any place until the Lord returns.
SPEAKER_01: Paul spoke of them in what may be the very earliest letter to the church, the letter to the Galatians.
SPEAKER_01: In his letters, the apostle John spoke of them near the end of the first century, saying that some had already left the church because they were not of us.
SPEAKER_01: Our own versions of Judas today may discourage us, may surprise us, may even knock us off balance for a bit.
SPEAKER_01: But in our discouragement and in our surprise about Judas's, we are instructed here to remind ourselves that this kind of behavior, this kind of pattern of wanting to be a part of something without truly believing is not new.
SPEAKER_01: And if you've ever experienced that, or if you've ever been a part of a church that has experienced that, your reaction is not new.
SPEAKER_01: You're not alone in that.
SPEAKER_01: The very first group with which the Lord started the church experience that.
SPEAKER_01: This must happen to fulfill Scripture and complete God's plan.
SPEAKER_01: And we can find comfort and peace by following the Lord's steps.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord's people have always experienced this.
SPEAKER_01: And we should expect nothing less than what the Lord Jesus experienced.
SPEAKER_01: That first group of people coming out of slavery in Egypt.
SPEAKER_01: All of those people that sacrificed the lamb on the Passover night and painted their doorways with the blood so that the death angel would pass over them.
SPEAKER_01: All of those who saw God's mighty works.
SPEAKER_01: That generation all wandered in the wilderness for forty years and died without receiving the promise.
SPEAKER_01: It happens all through history.
SPEAKER_01: Where some look like they belong, but they don't have genuine faith.
SPEAKER_01: Now we might ask, why couldn't Jesus go forward with 11 disciples?
SPEAKER_01: Why did he?
SPEAKER_01: Why did he need 12?
SPEAKER_01: Why include Judas in the first place?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the answer to that goes back to God's ancient promise, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: He promised to restore Israel with 12 tribes.
SPEAKER_01: 12 apostles will be sitting on 12 thrones one day judging those 12 tribes.
SPEAKER_01: As part of God's program laid out in Scripture, it was necessary to have 12 disciples.
SPEAKER_01: Excuse me.
SPEAKER_01: But then we might ask, why pick someone you know will betray you?
SPEAKER_01: I don't know that I could do that.
SPEAKER_01: Could you?
SPEAKER_01: Why would Jesus choose to have one of the twelve he knew would betray him?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the answer comes in our next section, which begins in verse 18 with Luke's comment.
SPEAKER_01: You'll find that in a parenthetical statement.
SPEAKER_01: Luke interrupts Peter's speech to give us a comment about Judas' death.
SPEAKER_01: And that is the reason why Jesus chose Judas.
SPEAKER_01: Judas's death was necessary to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Luke interrupts Peter's speech to remind his readers what happened to Judas.
SPEAKER_01: He had a chance to follow the way of Jesus, but instead he went his own way.
SPEAKER_01: Now, he says here all of these kind of gory details that describe what happened to Judas.
SPEAKER_01: And if you're an astute reader, you may notice that Luke's recounting sounds different than what we've heard from other recountings, specifically that in Matthew.
SPEAKER_01: And some folks who don't believe in the inspiration of Scripture use this as one of the ways to point out that there are inconsistencies in Scripture, that there are contradictions in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: They use the differences between Matthew's and Luke's accounts to show, oh, the Bible is full of errors.
SPEAKER_01: And we need to admit that there are differences.
SPEAKER_01: For example, Matthew says that Judas hanged himself, while Luke says he fell and burst open.
SPEAKER_01: Those differences are real, aren't they?
SPEAKER_01: But the differences that we find in these accounts aren't differences that can't be explained in some way.
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, Judas could have hanged himself and fallen by the rope breaking or by cutting, somebody cutting the rope.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the most realistic description that I've heard is that, yes, Judas hanged himself and somebody found him there later, all bloated up, and they cut the rope, and you know the rest from what we just read.
SPEAKER_01: Don't worry, it's a while till lunch.
SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
SPEAKER_01: Another difference is that Matthew says that the priests bought the field.
SPEAKER_01: But Luke says that Judas purchased the field.
SPEAKER_01: Now, in some ways, that seems like a bigger deal.
SPEAKER_01: How do we work through that?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the perspective of writing can explain that.
SPEAKER_01: How one author chooses to highlight certain things and a different author chooses to highlight different things.
SPEAKER_01: So, for example, Luke doesn't mention that Judas took the 30 pieces of silver that he had been given for betraying Jesus and he threw them into the temple before he went and took his life.
SPEAKER_01: Luke doesn't tell us that.
SPEAKER_01: Matthew does.
SPEAKER_01: But Matthew relates that the priests took that money and they decided they couldn't keep it and put it in the temple treasury because it was blood money.
SPEAKER_01: They had given that money to pay for somebody's life.
SPEAKER_01: It couldn't belong to them and it couldn't belong to God in the temple anymore.
SPEAKER_01: It had to stay Judas' money.
SPEAKER_01: And so they purchased the field of blood with it.
SPEAKER_01: But the policy that they followed revealed that they believed that it was Judas' money, not their money, not the temple's money, that purchased the field.
SPEAKER_01: So it's perfectly in line with Luke's different perspective on Judas.
SPEAKER_01: Even though Judas wasn't there, his money and his wages of wickedness purchased the field.
SPEAKER_01: Luke wants us to see all about Judas.
SPEAKER_01: So there are some natural ways to explain the apparent inconsistencies.
SPEAKER_01: They're mostly explained by the author's approach to writing their historical accounts.
SPEAKER_01: Luke wants us to see how Judas took a different way than the eleven took.
SPEAKER_01: It's a different way.
SPEAKER_01: But is it all that unique?
SPEAKER_01: Judas says, weigh that that unique and outstanding in a bad way?
SPEAKER_01: I would argue no.
SPEAKER_01: There are enough similarities to what Luke relates here that make us wonder if Luke isn't subtly pointing to a pattern that's found throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: There are multiple patterns.
SPEAKER_01: There are a couple of people in the Old Testament that were found having hung themselves or having been hanged.
SPEAKER_01: But there's also a pattern that we see of buying a piece of property that becomes a field of blood.
SPEAKER_01: For example, in 1 Kings chapter 21, the wicked king Ahab wanted a vineyard.
SPEAKER_01: He wanted a piece of property that a man named Naboth owned.
SPEAKER_01: And Naboth said, No, I'm not going to give you my field for some money.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to do that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to sell my field to the king for some silver.
SPEAKER_01: But Ahab's even more wicked queen, Queen Jezebel, falsely accused and had Naboth killed so that she could give this vineyard to her husband Ahab.
SPEAKER_01: She took possession of it and gave it to him.
SPEAKER_01: And 1 Kings 21:15 says, Take possession of the vineyard which he refused to give you for money.
SPEAKER_01: Interestingly, God sent the prophet Elisha to tell Jezebel and Ahab that Jezebel would be killed for what she did, that she would be killed on that plot of ground that wasn't sold for money, and it would become a field of blood where the dogs would lick her blood.
SPEAKER_01: So in one account, a man refused money for a field, in the other, a man paid money for a field.
SPEAKER_01: Both fields are fields of blood tied to the deaths of innocent men.
SPEAKER_01: As Jezebel wickedly opposed God, Judas wickedly betrayed the Son of God.
SPEAKER_01: And this sets us up for later accounts, specifically, Ananias and Sapphira, who would lie and defy the living God and lose their lives for lying about a field.
SPEAKER_01: Peter didn't need to remind the hundred and twenty about Judas.
SPEAKER_01: That's for us, the readers.
SPEAKER_01: Peter, though, continues in verse 20 with why this was all necessary.
SPEAKER_01: He says, For it is written in the book of Psalms, may his camp be desolate.
SPEAKER_01: Let there be no one to dwell in it.
SPEAKER_01: And in another Psalm, let another take his office.
SPEAKER_01: These are quotations from the Greek translation of the Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: And as we look at this, it's essential to remember that Peter said in verse 16 that it's the Holy Spirit who inspired those Old Testament songs.
SPEAKER_01: It was the Spirit speaking through David concerning Judas.
SPEAKER_01: First, in verse 20, he quotes Psalm 69, verse 25.
SPEAKER_01: And there David wrote a cry for God's help because he was surrounded by his enemies.
SPEAKER_01: He felt oppressed and surrounded, and they were mocking him, they were accusing him, they were reproaching him.
SPEAKER_01: He says in Psalm 69, 12 that there were drunkards making up songs about him.
SPEAKER_01: And so he's full of shame and dishonor as the king.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that?
SPEAKER_01: The glorious man of God reigning over all of Israel, who is surrounded by enemies who are mocking him and who are shaming him and who are dishonoring him.
SPEAKER_01: And so David asks God to exact vengeance on his enemies, including the prayer that says, May their camp be desolate.
SPEAKER_01: Let no one dwell in their tents.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, God do away with them.
SPEAKER_01: So Peter, followed by Luke, recounting this, announces that David's experience typified the ultimate expression of an enemy slandering and shaming an opponent.
SPEAKER_01: In this case, Jesus is the ultimate sufferer.
SPEAKER_01: And Judas is the ultimate human enemy.
SPEAKER_01: Peter announced that it was necessary for Judas to betray the Lord, to lose his inheritance in the king's kingdom, so that Scripture might be fulfilled.
SPEAKER_01: This leads us, I think, to a lesson that we have to return to repeatedly in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And that is that we have to teach ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: We have to speak truth to ourselves so that our hearts and our minds are instructed to rest in God's sovereignty whenever we encounter those disastrous and painful situations.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, Judas not only betrayed Jesus, he betrayed the disciples too.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord had ascended into heaven, and they were abandoned by a brother.
SPEAKER_01: Just as Joshua and Caleb must have been beside themselves as the report of the other ten spies of the promised land became negative, the eleven disciples must have been crushed by Judas' actions.
SPEAKER_01: But here they're surrounding themselves and infusing themselves with Scripture, specifically the divine necessity of Judas's presence, betrayal, and death.
SPEAKER_01: Judas meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.
SPEAKER_01: And whatever Judas's you may encounter in your life, you can be sure that if you belong to God, he will make even that work out for good in your life.
SPEAKER_01: It's a hard thing for us to remember in the midst of pain and agony and disastrous things, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: But here are the disciples, all gathered together, wrestling with the ascension of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He's gone.
SPEAKER_01: He's with them in a different kind of way, but he's not there physically.
SPEAKER_01: He's not physically present with them.
SPEAKER_01: Judas has abandoned them.
SPEAKER_01: He has taken his own life.
SPEAKER_01: All of this is disastrous, but they come back and they rest in God's sovereignty found in Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: At this moment, they they rest in the Holy Spirit's authority in the scriptures and Christ's sovereignty over his kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: And that is what we must do whenever we face disastrous and painful circumstances that threaten to crush us.
SPEAKER_01: And that's not just true of us as individual followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It's true of his church.
SPEAKER_01: We must always come back to what God says, who he is, and what he's doing.
SPEAKER_01: That leads us to our last section here, which reminds us that Judas's replacement was necessary to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: The second quotation, verse 20, comes from Psalm 109, verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: Let another take his office.
SPEAKER_01: This is another of David's psalms, his songs, that's spoken about his enemies.
SPEAKER_01: It's a prayer to God.
SPEAKER_01: The whole Psalm is a prayer to God to act against the wicked people who are surrounding and opposing the king.
SPEAKER_01: And in verse 9 of Psalm 109, David asks that his days be few, may another take his office.
SPEAKER_01: So David's probably thinking about someone specific, where we're not told.
SPEAKER_01: But in the end he's asking, listen, this individual, this enemy, this person, whoever it might be God, would you take him out of the way and put somebody else in there who is not opposed to me?
SPEAKER_01: And Peter contends that while David meant what he said about his own enemies, the Holy Spirit is here intending a greater fulfillment regarding the enemy of the great king, Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Since the twelve disciples represent the beginning of God's work to bring Israel back to him, and because it was necessary that Judas picture the Israelites who died in the wilderness without inheritance or rest, then it's also necessary, according to the scriptures, that Judas be replaced.
SPEAKER_01: Now let's back up for a moment and reframe this issue.
SPEAKER_01: This picture.
SPEAKER_01: If this is Luke's way of saying that there is an official quorum of people to make decisions for a group, then Peter is leading that group to make an official decision.
SPEAKER_01: But there's no need for Judas to discuss whether or not Judas should be replaced.
SPEAKER_01: There's no discussion about that.
SPEAKER_01: The decision will be on who replaces him.
SPEAKER_01: You see, the Lord had opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and in this case, Peter understood the Spirit's intent behind those Psalms.
SPEAKER_01: The Spirit meant for them to point beyond King David to the more excellent King, the Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, they applied them to situations regarding Jesus in Judas' life.
SPEAKER_01: And Peter says, We don't have a choice.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary for these things.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary for Judas to be present, it was necessary for Judas to die, and it is necessary for us to replace him.
SPEAKER_01: There is no question.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to replace him.
SPEAKER_01: With who?
SPEAKER_01: Well, Peter gives two requirements to be met by the person who replaces Judas.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, whoever replaces Judas has to have fit these two primary qualifications.
SPEAKER_01: One of them being he needed to have believed in Jesus from the beginning and stayed with them all the way to that time.
SPEAKER_01: And he must have been with them after the resurrection and the ascension.
SPEAKER_01: In other words, he witnesses Jesus' life and ministry.
SPEAKER_01: He has witnessed his death, his burial, and his resurrection and his ascension.
SPEAKER_01: In short, he says, this witness, this person has to become a witness to his resurrection with us in verse 22.
SPEAKER_01: Friends, this is why there are no apostles today.
SPEAKER_01: Even if you've heard of people claiming to be apostles.
SPEAKER_01: No living person today can fulfill these requirements.
SPEAKER_01: To have been with them from the beginning, heard Jesus' teaching, witnessed his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, and be a witness, therefore, to his resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: No living person today can fulfill those requirements.
SPEAKER_01: These twelve are the apostles.
SPEAKER_01: But someone might say, well, what about Paul?
SPEAKER_01: Wasn't he an apostle?
SPEAKER_01: You've been harping so long about these twelve apostles, but Paul makes 13.
SPEAKER_01: What about Paul?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's not so much Matthias because we don't hear about Matthias.
SPEAKER_01: Again, maybe, maybe Paul is the one who was intended to fill his spot.
SPEAKER_01: Wasn't he an apostle?
SPEAKER_01: Well, yes, he was.
SPEAKER_01: He calls himself an apostle, but he wasn't an apostle in the same way.
SPEAKER_01: Paul himself viewed himself as distinct from the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: For example, in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and in that section where he says, I declared to you what was of first importance.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: He refers there to the twelve, not including himself.
SPEAKER_01: In connection with the gospel message and the confirmation of the resurrection, he doesn't include himself in that number.
SPEAKER_01: A few verses later, in 1 Corinthians 15, 9, Paul refers to himself as the least of the apostles, unworthy to even be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Paul is unique among the apostles as the one to whom grace was given to go to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: He sets himself apart from the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: He doesn't include himself there.
SPEAKER_01: There are these twelve, and that's all.
SPEAKER_01: These are the twelve.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul will not be one of those who sits on the twelve thrones.
SPEAKER_01: Matthias will be there.
SPEAKER_01: The group recommended two.
SPEAKER_01: Joseph, who was called Barsabbas, also called Justice, and Matthias.
SPEAKER_01: Notice what happens here.
SPEAKER_01: We get all focused and caught up on.
SPEAKER_01: Wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: They use some dice to decide?
SPEAKER_01: That seems like gambling.
SPEAKER_01: Why would we do that?
SPEAKER_01: That's just chance.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's look at it a little bit more carefully.
SPEAKER_01: Notice how they started.
SPEAKER_01: They prayed.
SPEAKER_01: That's the first thing that you need to notice.
SPEAKER_01: They prayed.
SPEAKER_01: And to whom did they pray?
SPEAKER_01: There's not agreement across the board in this, but I would argue that they are praying to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: They say, You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these you have chosen to take the place in this ministry.
SPEAKER_01: So who, the question is, is the Lord?
SPEAKER_01: Well, the only thing we really have to answer that is our context.
SPEAKER_01: And if you go back, we can see the answer to that.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 16, we're talking about the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about those, Judas who became a guide who arrested Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: And now we're talking about you, Lord.
SPEAKER_01: In all of this setting, we're talking about the relationship between Christ Himself, His kingdom, His ministry, and the part that Judas plays in that.
SPEAKER_01: Seems odd to me that you would insert God the Father in that, unless you're trying to make a Trinitarian argument that says, oh, we have God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit here.
SPEAKER_01: No, this is the acts of the risen Lord Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who is continuing his work.
SPEAKER_01: He is the one who is directing the choosing of who will be his apostle.
SPEAKER_01: So first they pray.
SPEAKER_01: And they pray, asking, Lord, who is your choice?
SPEAKER_01: The basis of which is you know everybody's hearts, you know the right one to choose.
SPEAKER_01: And then they cast lots.
SPEAKER_01: So they're trusting Jesus' direction of their actions by praying, by addressing him as the Lord of all hearts.
SPEAKER_01: And then, since he's not there to speak to them, they put a maybe a couple of pieces of inscribed clay in a jar and shake it up and see which one comes out.
SPEAKER_01: Now, why would they do that?
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you my reason.
SPEAKER_01: It comes from Proverbs 16, verse 33.
SPEAKER_01: Which says, the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: The disciples here are recognizing Jesus isn't here to answer our questions verbally.
SPEAKER_01: But we are trusting through prayer and through our desire to have his will known that what comes out will be his decision.
SPEAKER_01: That's what's happening here.
SPEAKER_01: The way Luke presents this is that it is through the sovereign direction of the ascended Lord Jesus that Matthias takes Judas' place.
SPEAKER_01: And if we connect it to Proverbs 16, it's in fulfillment of Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Now we have to note here that the disciples specifically considered the Psalms authoritative about the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: When was the last time you read through the Psalms thinking that they're about Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: And it's nice to think that way.
SPEAKER_01: It's a challenge and it's encouraging, it's an exciting study to do.
SPEAKER_01: But notice that they consider the Psalms to be authoritative.
SPEAKER_01: Following the Psalms and what they said about Jesus was unquestioned.
SPEAKER_01: And so if there is a clear point of instruction and application for us, for the church today, it's that we should have no qualms about hearing what the scriptures have to say when there is direct application to us and obeying it.
SPEAKER_01: The first two actions that we see after the Lord's ascension are actions of obedience.
SPEAKER_01: They obeyed the command to remain in Jerusalem, and then they obeyed the scriptures about Judas.
SPEAKER_01: And as we then back away from this, we are left with this overwhelming sense of all of this had to happen.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary.
SPEAKER_01: It was necessary to fulfill Scripture.
SPEAKER_01: The first few moments of the church's beginnings were full of scripture fulfillment, of obedience to scripture and direction from the Lord Jesus from his place of rule in heaven.
SPEAKER_01: And the disciples submitted themselves to that in even a simple decision.
SPEAKER_01: Who's going to take Matthias?
SPEAKER_01: Who Judas's place?
SPEAKER_01: May the Lord be pleased with us by granting that Faith Evangelical Free Church is a place that hears his word and obeys his word without question.
SPEAKER_01: And that we would be people of the same heart and mind.
SPEAKER_01: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_01: Lord Jesus, grant us this grace we ask.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, we we are we are sinners, we recognize that.
SPEAKER_01: We need your cleansing every day.
SPEAKER_01: And you have said that you will forgive us when we confess our sins to you, because you are faithful and just to do so.
SPEAKER_01: Would you be pleased to be gracious to us and open our hearts and minds to understand the scriptures?
SPEAKER_01: So that we would be a people of your way, not people who take our own way or the way of the world, and so end up in Judas's place, but that we would be people who follow the way and listen to your word and your voice day after day, month after month, looking for your return.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.