IN THE MEANTIME

 

Acts 1:12-26

The famous words! The Doctor will be with you shortly…. Please Hold, while you wait in another room for another extended period of time.

 

It here we see there are times in life when we are asked to wait that are much more…. 

Waiting for that special someone to come into our life.

Waiting for employment doors to open up for you.

Waiting for direction in a life decision, whether single or married.

Waiting for the test results to say, “You’re pregnant!”

Waiting for God to heal and comfort you in your illness.

Waiting for God to meet a financial need or burden.

Waiting to see whether there will be peace or war in the coming days.

 

Here the beginning of the church is told to wait patiently for the coming of the Holy Spirit and now we see they are 10 days since Jesus’ ascension. We read very clearly that the duty of the apostles and those with them were to wait. We are told that all them went into Jerusalem and met in an upper room, apparently, it was a large room because in (v15) says there was a 120 people in total. It is quite possible that this was the same upper room where they had the Last Supper with Jesus and where Jesus first appeared to all of them together after the resurrection. The upperoom is where Jesus said to the disciples they would have a Helper, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17. This is what they are waiting for as Jesus promised, as He reminds them before He ascended into the Heavens. (V5) And while they wait, we see the fall of Judas explained, and his replacement for apostleship. (v15-v26)

But, there is an underlining question that draws my attention

in the remainder of this chapter.

 

How far gone does a person need to be to be

completely lost for all eternity?

First, Judas is a prime example of someone who was beyond the saving grace of God because of the wickedness of his own heart. But secondly, this is what sparks my question about how far gone does one need to be, to be, completely lost. There are some people in the upperoom that we can’t ignore, and that is the last people mentioned in (v14). “his brothers” this is referring to James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. Don’t you find it a little strange that they are present, because before His death while He walked amongst them, they mocked Him. “After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” For not even his brothers believed in him.” John 7:1-5

Jesus' brothers mocked Him by sarcastically urging Him to go to the Judean festival to perform miracles publicly, rather than in secret. They doubted His messianic claims and did not believe He was performing genuine miracles, viewing His actions as a desperate search for fame. And now they are among the only ones who truly believed; and two of His brothers went on to write an epistle each in the New Testament…..James and Jude.

This is amazing and sad, all rolled up into one.

 

Why is this sad? Do we remember all the followers that Jesus had after feeding the five thousand, plus women and children. The masses followed Jesus everywhere it was possible, the same crowds that sang “Hosanna, Hosanna” when He entered into the city for His last time, and all we have is 120 people waiting for the coming Holy Spirit. This shouldn’t shock us I guess, considering what we read in John’s gospel when Jesus was explaining that He is the Bread of Life. “But there are some of you who do not believe“….After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.…” 

John 6:60-71

Jesus was mocked and deserted by His followers and even His own brothers, at least that what we thought. And, here they are in the upperoom, redeemed by the blood of Lamb, awaiting the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Waiting, as they have tasted the grace of God, to see their brother, as the Christ, who came to save sinners, who came to save them from eternal destruction. This is good news for those who have denied or mocked Christ previously, its only those who are truly lost, will truly find, the Saviour. A person can be lost and seem to live galaxies apart, but by His grace they can be brought near by the blood of the Lamb as we see with His brothers.

 

Is their hope for me you ask?

 

Yes, there is hope for you! But you must submit yourself under His might hand to seek His grace and the forgiveness of sins through genuine repentance and faith. No, if your life is like Judas, a person who doesn’t believe they need saving, because he loved himself way too much to deny himself and pick up his cross. Only 120 people willing to take up their cross for the sake of Christ, because they truly believed Christ fully. It’s here the spread of the gospel would take off like a wild fire throughout the Roman Empire. Despite the repeated attempts to stamp it out by the religious officials. This ministry obviously didn’t happen until the Spirit indwelled the believer, permanently, so they persevered by waiting patiently as Jesus told them to.

 

We learn two important things about how the church

behaved in its first week of existence.

 

The were devoted to prayer and walking together with one accord. “Devoted” gives the idea that they were persistent, which means they were fixed in prayer, they were committed to praying. We are not told what they were praying about but I am sure there was many things to praying for as they waited for this promise that Lord had told them. Prayer is….. something that we have as a privilege, it’s not a right, it’s a blessing that has been freely given to us by a holy God through the finishing work founded in the gospel. Prayer is….. a command, it’s recognizing who is our God, a genuine desire through the work of the Spirit, and its exalting God because we desperately need Him for everything.

 

Prayer is an exercise of our faith.

Prayer is a bonding time in relationship with God.

Prayer is vital for one another, in the church and outside the church.

Prayer is our way of communicating with a holy, a truly loving God.

Prayer is an act of the will out of obedience.

 

R C Sproul, “When we pray, we must remember who we are and whom we are addressing.”

 

We know that sometimes they were in the temple, and sometimes they were in the upper room, but they were persistent together. As Luke wrote at the end of his gospel. “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them. While He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.” Luke 24:50-53. The person who wants his sail to flow fully by the breeze of the Spirit, must have such perseverance in prayer. Perseverance is the consistent, steadfast, and patient practice of bringing requests before God, regardless of immediate results, distractions, or feelings of discouragement. We must ask, but being persistent is the key… as Jesus tells a story about man who knocked on his neighbor’s door when it was late. “And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  Luke 11:5-10

Persistence conveys the idea of “urgency, earnestness, boldness and relentless”

It’s the idea of someone begging on the streets for food or money.

Jesus, always taught a healthy prayer life

is persistent and specific.

They prayed persistently, but they did this unified, “All these with one accord” , they devoted themselves to prayer.

 

We have to pause here, and be amazed right now! Why? Eleven of these men, are strong willed, earlier they would argue among themselves who was going to be the greatest or get the best seats in the kingdom of God. And these same men refused to wash each others feet; then you have four brothers who rejected Jesus’ messiahship previously. And the women having to sit among these thick-headed strong-willed men, probably wasn’t an easy task. But we read they were “one accord” this literally means that all of them were of one mind, literally “one heart and mind” How is this possible? Because they were all looking up to Christ at the same time, for the same thing. This is what makes the church unique; because the only way take a room full of sinners to be unified, this has to be the power of God for this to happen and mature. When we get to chapter four, we are told that the church is what?” Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.” Acts 4:32-33

Again, how is possible? what did they have in common to say that? Well, they…

Worshipping together

Visiting together

Eating together

Praying together

Sharing together

Studying God’s Word together

Caring and living life together

Proclaiming the gospel with excitement together.

The church walking together for the glory of God.

Doing these things together is what the gospel confession produces through the Holy Spirit, this is what was common for the early church believers. Doing these things together is a something that is vital for a healthy church, and a healthy family. We cannot stand alone, we need each other, we need the support of the fellowship, the mutual encouragement, the strength and the prayers of the community in which we are involved. And…. Despite the repeated attempts to shut them down and to physically destroy them, as we will see in the coming months, these people remained faithful as an encouragement for us to do the same. Walking in unity and persistent in prayer for one another as we look to the same Christ for the same reasons. A genuine love for Jesus produces a profound love for the church, and you cannot love God’s church apart from loving God’s people in the church.

His glory and the union of the Godhead is to be exemplified

in our lives for the sake of the gospel.

But I would wrong to say this fellowship didn’t have some sad news, as Peter explains the fall of Judas that this had to happen according to the Scriptures. (v15-v20) Peter, explains the tragic hypocrisy and suicide of Judas the betrayer. A man that was with them for three years doing exactly what they were doing, while Jesus was with them. This was a problem for the apostles, because Jesus promised the twelve would have a seat in the throne room of Heaven. “Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matt 19:28. Why is this a problem? They are down to eleven apostles with Judas now gone in accordance with the Scriptures as Peter declares in (v16). It’s here we witness that the early church recognized the Old Testament as the inspired Word of God, but also its full authority.

“Had to be fulfilled” (v15) God’s Word is true and all things must come to pass. Through the fall of Judas, God’s Word was being fulfilled to find his replacement. Judas’s betrayal was, in fact a crucial plan of our sovereign God in redemption in Jesus’ arrest. We know Judas was never really saved that is evident in John’s gospel. “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.” John 6:70-71. John MacArthur wrote, “Judas represents the greatest example of wasted opportunity in all of history.”

 

Think about it! He had the rare privilege given to only twelve men, who walked, lived, and ministered alongside Jesus, the Christ. Judas witnessed on many occasions of Jesus performing the miracles, that we only get to read about. He was present seeing the sadness of many turning to joy, as Jesus ministered and cared for the lost in this world. All this opportunity was wasted when he took his own life, a tragic end to a lost soul. King David was the first to expose Judas the one who would betray the Messiah. David said “Even My own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate My bread, Has lifted up his heel against Me.” Psalm 41:9. The figure here is taken from a horse that turns and kicks the one who just fed him. Judas is an warning to the unsaved world, the complacent professing Christian, about the evil of darkness and the potential of spiritual carelessness. It’s here we have seen the unceasing love, and patience of God, and results of squandered opportunities to be unwilling to receive His mercy and grace. Judas is the poster child of what wrong choices, sinful lusts, and a hardened heart leads too. Judas was a man who took his own life because his personal weight of sin, not his love for Christ, was to much for him to bear.

 

Judas wasn’t a man who was coerced

into doing what he did.

 

There was no invisible hand forcing him to betray Christ, he acted freely without any external compulsion, which makes him responsible for his own actions and sin. Judas, had a free will, it wasn’t a good will, like you and before the gospel took hold of your life. See, Judas’s heart was evil; which is a reminder to all of us, about the natural man and woman of any generation who are dead in their trespasses and sin. What a clear reminder for us as God’s children. Scripture is very clear in salvation, it’s the power and prompting of God to remove the deaf ears, give sight to the blind, and resurrect the dead. Judas demonstrates to us the natural man who wants nothing to do Christ! Why? He hates the gospel and most of all the God, of the gospel. A person can go… through the motions, attend church services, attend bible studies, and never truly be converted by the power of God. We can easily to play Christian, fooling our parents, our friends, to make them think you’re saved; so they get off your back; so you can live secretly the way you want. We can even deceive ourselves in thinking I’ve accepted Jesus, but it’s like I’ve said before! “You may think you know Jesus, but does Jesus know you?” Everything ended for Judas, when he took his own life, and the rulers even named a field after him, “Field of Blood” (v19)

 

Since it was purchased with the blood money that he received, Judas, had worldly remorse, so he threw it back at them, they refused to take it back but purchased a field in its place. David spoke about this and Peter quoted him in reference to Judas, “May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.” Psalm 69:25 The removal from office was predicted by David, and Peter says the “Scriptures had to be fulfilled” (v16) Judas’ replacement was also predicted in the Psalms by David. “May his days be few; may another take his office!” Psalm 109:8. Peter quotes this Old Testament and now they have to find another apostle. (v21-v26) A couple of things to notice, the qualifications to be an apostle is they must see physically the resurrected Christ, and they must be chosen by God. How did Matthias get chosen by God? (v26) the dice fell towards Matthias, this no coincidence or lucky draw. Remember what we read in the Book of Proverbs, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” Prov 16:33. This was God’s providential plan in choosing the twelfth apostle. Just as Peter said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled.” (v16)

 

The early church demonstrates for us the importance of prayer and being of one mind as we wait heaven, by serving and love others, with the gospel confession. Trusting the Scriptures, trusting the authority of the Scriptures that they are sufficient and final. We are urged to search the Scriptures and to know, what is, the will of the Lord for my life. Trusting the Scriptures to interpret your life, submitting your circumstances to Him and seeking the fellowship of the church each and every day. Viewing each other through the lenses of the gospel; and seeing each other though whom Christ died, and in whom the Son of God lives. Knowing that we are of one family should cause us to honor and love one another. Sharing truths about God, bind Christians together in the truest and deepest kind of unity. We first do this how? By…. Waiting, praying, serving, and loving the church, with all your heart, with one accord with the supply of grace that He gives you every day.