Jesus giving instructions through the Holy Spirit and appearing to apostles for forty days after his resurrection
2 until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
3 To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.
Jesus commanding the apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they received the promised gift of the Holy Spirit
4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.
5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Jesus saying the Father alone sets times and seasons, and that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth
7 He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
Jesus taken up into a cloud, and two white-robed men telling the disciples he would return the same way
9 When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,
11 who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
Apostles returning to Jerusalem, gathering in an upper room, constantly united in prayer with Mary and others
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
13 When they had come in, they went up into the upper room, where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
14 All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Peter addressing the 120 believers about Judas fulfilling scripture, his death, and the field of blood
15 In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said,
16 “Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus.
17 For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry.
18 Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness, and falling headlong, his body burst open, and all his intestines gushed out.
19 It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’
20 For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation be made desolate. Let no one dwell therein;’ and, ‘Let another take his office.’
Pastor read verses about being surrounded by enemies and sinking in deep waters to illustrate the imprecatory nature of the psalm
1 Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mark opened the first Sunday of a new series in the book of Acts, walking through the first chapter and drawing a straight line from the 12-steps series the congregation just finished to what it looks like to be the continuing body of Christ in the world. The sermon focused on what the early disciples did in the days between the ascension and Pentecost, and what that pattern might mean for First B today.
What was said
Luke wrote Acts as a second volume addressed to Theophilus, picking up exactly where the Gospel of Luke left off. Pastor Mark noted that almost every commentator agrees the title "Acts of the Apostles" undersells what the book is actually about. Peter Wagner calls it the acts of the Holy Spirit. John Stott calls it the continuing words and deeds of Jesus by his Spirit through his apostles. The point being that Acts is not a record of impressive men doing impressive things on their own. It is what happens when willing, humble, obedient people are moved by God's Spirit.
Before the ascension, Jesus told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait. They kept pressing him on whether the time had come to restore Israel's kingdom and push out the Romans. Jesus did not say that restoration was never coming. He said the Father alone holds that authority, and that was not the thing for them to be focused on. What he did say, plainly, was that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they would be his witnesses starting in Jerusalem and spreading outward to the ends of the earth. Pastor Mark pointed out that this sentence functions almost like a table of contents for the entire book.
After the ascension, the apostles returned to Jerusalem and gathered in an upper room. Luke names everyone present, which Pastor Mark appreciated as the work of a careful historian. What they did there was not complicated. They prayed, they stayed together, and they waited. About 120 believers were gathered, and they were, as the text says, constantly united in prayer.
Peter stood up and addressed the group with a specific concern. The Twelve had always been the Twelve, and now there were eleven. Peter read from two psalms to show that both the vacancy and the need to fill it had been anticipated in scripture. They nominated two men who had been with Jesus from his baptism through the ascension, prayed and asked God to show them which one he had chosen, and then cast lots. Matthias was selected. Pastor Mark noted that this is the last time casting lots appears in scripture, because in chapter two the Holy Spirit arrives and the community no longer needs to determine God's will that way.
Working back through the chapter, Pastor Mark drew out what was actually happening in that upper room as preparation before a great move of the Spirit. Obedience to Jesus' direct instruction. Staying together rather than scattering. Persistent, united prayer. Studying and proclaiming God's word, as Peter did when he applied the psalms to their situation. And prayerfully recognizing and appointing leadership. None of those things schedule a revival, but they make the conditions favorable for one.
Pastor Mark was direct about the fact that some people in a Baptist church get uneasy when the Holy Spirit comes up in conversation. He acknowledged that. But he pushed back on the idea that the Spirit only shows up in dramatic or unsettling ways. The fruit of the Spirit, he said, is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. God also moves by his Spirit to keep mouths shut when they ought to be, and to guard hearts from carrying grudges. That is the same Spirit, doing the same work.
He closed by pointing to what he has been watching happen in the youth group, describing people getting unstuck and set free over recent months. The same conditions the disciples held to in Acts 1, he said, are available to First B right now. The God who moved then is the same God who can move here, in Jackson, and from here outward to the uttermost parts.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Mike described the book of Acts as 'the continuing words and deeds of Jesus by his spirit through his apostles.' What does it mean to you personally that the church is the ongoing body of Christ in the world, and where do you see that happening around you?
Jesus told the disciples that the times and seasons were not for them to know, but that they would receive power to be his witnesses starting right where they were. How do you handle the tension between wanting to know what God has planned and simply being faithful where you are right now?
Speaker 1Well, good morning everybody. How are you? Everybody alright? Would you stand with me? We might sing a few more in from the vestibule.
We're few but far, but here we go. Would you sing with me? I think you'll know this one. I'll fly away. Hymn number seven seventy nine.
Tell you what, when it doesn't come up on the wall, it makes you question your judgment, doesn't it? I thought I I thought I knew that song pretty well. Here we go. The love of God. Do you all know this song?
The love of God. We're gonna sing all the verses that come up but beautiful song on the love of God. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. I have a few announcements.
One of them is Awana. Awana, tomorrow night is fun costume night, tending towards fun and not towards gory. Fun costume night at Awana. Kids club starts at 05:45. In this room right here, they'll gather together first and then spread out all over the whole church.
We're pouring scripture into the minds of the kids and right now, the truth in training third through fifth grade, there are close to 50 students that are coming regularly. Monday night, sitting down and studying the word together and memorizing scripture to get to their hearts. So see you at Awana Kids Club, fun costume night tomorrow night. Boxes are out in the vestibule out there for Operation Christmas Child. It's a ministry of Samaritan's Purse to get Christmas gifts or a shoebox full of Christmas gifts to a child that might not have another, gift at all during the season.
So those go all over the world. There are some instructions inside of the box. You can choose what age child, and if it's boy or if it's girl that you're buying for. Also, they gave a little bit of a record. Hey.
Hey. There she is. I'm saying it right now, but you're you're welcome to say if you want to.
Speaker 2I don't know what you said.
Speaker 1Okay. The boxes
Speaker 2are out in the foyer. All the instructions for what to do are out of foyer. It costs $10 to ship.
Speaker 1That's the part I forgot.
Speaker 2Have packing party this year. You're just gonna buy the things on your own. We have tons of supplies in the office if you need to fill your box with anything else. I think that's it. Just put a check or a $10 bill in the box and we're looking forward to it.
The date to turn everything in is
Speaker 1November 17. Seventeenth. Yeah. That is the date. Thank you very much, KC for that announcement.
That's a fun ministry. Also, the church directory, we are working through getting an updated version of the church directory. And so, I'm gonna pass these around. If you are already in here, would you check the information and make sure that it is correct? If you're not already in here and you'd like to be, would you add your information and then we could take a picture of you or you could send us a horizontal picture to fit the format.
We would love to have you as a part of that. Is there anything else there? After this service today at 12:30 down at the other end of the hall, in the fellowship hall, we're gonna do kind of a celebration of life. It's really an informal gathering celebrating Virgil Boss and down the hall, 12:30, there'll be food provided, just be casual dress right after this. Old Bills Fun Run.
Old Bills Fun Run. You all know what that is. I say this during the giving season every year. You all know what it is. It's Old Bills Fun Run this year for the grand total for First B's Benevolence Fund for us to be able to say yes when someone comes in with an emergency or an unforeseen circumstance, a car repair.
We have a little couple that just delivered a premature baby at 28 and they have had to get back and forth to the NICU over in Idaho Falls. And so to be able to say yes and to be able to help out with that, you all have given to First B's benevolence fund through old bills and the grand total including the match and everything, building suspense, $131,948.72. That is to be able to say yes to people. Y'all are saying yes through Diane and Nick and me, Carl, Mike, all of us who are here often can say yes when people are in need and that's fantastic. So I'm very very thankful this morning.
It caught me off guard in the first service and I cried my way through Also because the needs are so great and so ever present. I found somebody. I found somebody. Somebody found me coming down the hall this morning and she stopped me and she said, is there a prayer request time during the service? And I said, not not not always, but you can say something.
She says, I wanna say it right now. Can you pray for my son who is at a distance and he is not he feels like taking his own life. He's been on heroin. He's been consumed with alcohol and he's getting some advice and some counsel these days that is not good and it's not godly, and it's very difficult, and would you be praying for him? And I said, yes, I'll pray for him right now, and I'll have everybody praying for him too.
So, God, would you help that young man who is struggling? Lord, we as the continuing body of Christ in this valley and on earth, we pray that you would reach him through someone, Lord. One of your humble and obedient servants, someone who carries the hope of the gospel in their own life, that he would see something that would draw him into relationship with you. May we be a part of this man's rescue. Would you allow that?
In Jesus name, we ask you that you'd save him. Lord, from his circumstances, from himself, and from, this world. In Jesus name, I pray that you'd rescue him from the kingdom of darkness and put him into the kingdom of marvelous light. In Jesus name, amen. And now would you stand with me?
We're gonna sing Father God. Is that what or is that what we're singing? We just sang the love of God. Here we go.
Speaker 2Father God, I give all thanks and praise to thee. Father God, my hands I humbly raise to thee. For thy mighty power and father God.
Speaker 1Amen. Alright. Let's go ahead and do the worship through giving. I y'all can have a seat. I'll invite the ushers to come forward.
God, you know what you're doing. I am impressed with the book of Acts, the first chapter of the book of Acts, Lord. There is a a steady sense that the disciples, now apostles trusted you. God, may we trust you. I pray that we would be trusting you to show us the next right step.
I pray lord that individually in our lives who would sense what it is that you have prepared in advance. The steps that you have prepared in advance that we would walk in them. And collectively lord, I pray that you would show us how you want to move in this community and the surrounding area and even to the uttermost parts. Lord, would you use this time of offering, Lord, everything that's placed in these plates whether it's a financial resources or metaphorically, it's our lives, our motivations, our contemplations, our study and meditation, and our time and our conversations. Lord, I pray that you'd use all of that, that you would amplify its effectiveness and that you would by the power of the Holy Spirit reach this lost and dying world.
In Jesus name, amen. Wow. Be still my soul. Beautiful. So y'all who the ones of you who've been here for the past 10 or 12 sermons that I have presented know that we've been in a continuing study on the 12 steps.
Just looking for the biblical basis of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and virtually every recovery organization since the late thirties has used these 12 steps recovery. And we've been in them for few couple months, two two and a half months, three months now. We just finished up last week and with all that I said and then all that Stoney said after that, I felt like afterwards the the twelfth step is the one about continuing to practice these principles that we've learned in all of our affairs. Like in order normal daily life, working out the steps that you know to be true and good and help set you free and to always be ready if someone else is suffering to carry this message forward to them and to me, there is not a better intro to the book of Acts than that. It's like things that we know to be true, things that we have seen in Christ, and the ways that he showed us that we can be set free, and then showing that happening through his willing and obedient, humble servant.
So I think there's a great tie in because it's a day daily walking close to the kind of book. It's really tied closely to the acts of the apostles and I can say introducing acts, the book of acts, we all know it as that. But if you look into any commentary, almost every commentary has a line where it says, it really ought to be called. It really ought to be called. So, the acts of the apostles is kind of the official what it's come to be known as in the early church.
Although, never says that. It didn't have a title page originally, I don't think. The acts of the apostles, Luke's second volume, we'll see that in a minute. After the gospel of Luke, he wrote the Acts of the Apostles. See, Peter Wagner calls it the acts of the Holy Spirit because he's definitely the one that is the that is moving.
Jesus had promised the coming of the Holy Spirit and from the time of Pentecost forward, we can see the Holy Spirit moving in individuals, the acts of the apostles are the acts of the Holy Spirit. James Montgomery Boyce calls it, the acts of the Holy Spirit in the Church of Jesus Christ through God's people. Okay. Seems kind of wordy. John Stott, I don't know why he didn't want to use the word acts.
He calls it the continuing words and deeds. The word of Jesus carries forward in the body of Christ. That's the concept that we hear ourselves called that as the church. We hear, oh, we're the body of Christ but Acts shows that this is God's way forward is to use those who follow Jesus, the way, the truth, the life. When they follow Jesus and go forward, this is the continuing words and deeds of Jesus by his spirit through his apostles.
Now, my personal connection to Acts, I really really loved this guy. It was a professor of mine in seminary. Doctor William J Larkin Junior, Bill Larkin. And he was Tanya's Sunday school teacher. So, I had him for Greek.
I had him for New Testament theology. I had him for understanding cultures and worldviews and a few other classes and when we got to seminary, we did what people do when they're moved to a new place, you try new churches. Sometimes, I just go by myself as the scout going into the land and seeing what it was like and then coming home and reporting back, maybe taking Tanya and Paschal and we bounced for probably a year and a half before we've really found a church home. We had a few that we went to, you know, and we ended up going for the Sunday school teacher. It was this guy and he'd stand up front and he's reading like there are a couple of y'all who do this here.
They've got your Greek New Testament and they're sitting there And Tanya would say, what version is he using? What version is he reading from? I said, he's reading from the Greek and he's just translating it on the fly in Sunday school. And she said, he's got more information than I do. Well, yeah.
His head is full of information. I I always say that this guy is sort of he's passed now. He'd be uncomfortable with me talking so highly of him, but he he's passed now. He's a theological giant that was built like Barney Fife. He's a little bitty guy, barely weighed a hundred pounds.
But if you ask him a question heading down the hall, he'd say, well, when considering baptism, and he'd go into a long almost dissertation like coverage of the entire series. Now, he was asked by the folks who did the New Living Translation which is what Scott I can always use here. It's what Carl used on Monday nights. I typically use in a New American Standard For the book of Acts, I'm gonna use the New Living Translation for Acts. I know this guy and I know him to be a student of God's word.
Know that he had made a commitment to just throw it right down the center of the plate as close as he can to straight down the center of the plate, removing all isms. Now, I mentioned he was a Sunday school teacher at a church. It was an Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church, and Sinclair Ferguson was the pastor. Was first president in Columbia, South Carolina, and most folks who recognize that name and not this one, but I went because of I knew his heart. And his heart was for unity in the body of Christ and he was committed to saying exactly what it said.
So if you're listening and you hear an ism produce pronouncing itself, keep listening because there'll be another ism that balances it in the next week or so, maybe in the same sermon. But he's gonna throw it straight down the center of the plate and that has always been my aim. This is the book that he wrote on Acts and I was looking for it knowing I was starting this series. I've read lots of other commentaries. I've been doing studying this for the last three or four weeks, kind of brushing up on Acts And really excited about it, but I couldn't find this book.
And I've had this a long time, and it's like underlined and I know what it says. And so I was looking for it, looking for it, looking for it, and I couldn't find it. And last night at the house, Tanya was going through Paschal's stuff, and she found this and Paschal's stuff. And I was like, if you find a commentary on the book of Acts in your teenager's bedroom, that's weird. That's the place I had not considered looking for it, but she was she was studying acts and she wanted to get a good straightforward understanding of what it is.
If you look at the very first verse as far as origin of this book, you look at the very first verse of it and it looks like the second volume of a series. In my first book, I told you Theophilus. Theophilus, if you're looking at it means friend of or brotherly love for God. But it's I think it's a real person. He was writing it to Theophilus, but you can take it as he's writing it to me.
I'm a friend of God and I wanna know more about this. In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything that Jesus began to do and to teach. It's about what he began to do. It's still happening. He's still doing it and he's still teaching it but I told you in the first book about all he began to do and to teach and if you look and you recognize the name Theophilus, it might remind you of the first volume's opening.
The first four verses are right here. Many people have set out to write accounts. New Living Translation, like I said again. It sounds very much like just normal speech. Many people set out to write accounts of about the events that have been fulfilled among us.
They used eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples and having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also, Luke, Gentile, physician, historian, and a good one, really good historian. Archaeology keeps on turning up reasons that Luke was right. Places, people, things. Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so that you can be certain of the truth of everything that you were taught. So some of y'all like me were raised every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night in church all the time and you know what it is that you believe because you've been taught it from the cradle.
This book is for you. Luke was for you. Axe is for you. This book is for you and I love what he says, so that you can be certain of the truth of everything that you were taught. In an age where philosophy has gotten us questioning the fact that we even question, questioning absolutely everything to where we can't really stand on anything.
You can know and be certain of the truth that you have been taught from an early age. It's good. That's the way we're starting off in Acts. Everything Jesus began to do and to teach until the day that he was taken up to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit during the forty days after he suffered and died. So, we know that after the resurrection, Jesus was here for forty more days.
Forty days, it says, during those forty days, he appeared to the apostles from time to time. Now, if you have been keeping up with the Matthew, Mark, and Luke series that we did and and even all the way back to John, especially the upper room discourse. Jesus has told them over and over and over again about this promised gift of the Holy Spirit. He's told them that if I go, I will send a comforter. Now, he does and is resurrected and now it says pretty matter of factly.
From time to time, he just show up and appear. Don't you know they love that? To be in the presence of the resurrected Jesus and hearing from him directly. During those forty days, after he suffered not, he appeared to the apostles from time to time. Oh, there's here's Jesus again.
And he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. He showed them many convincing proofs as a good translation of it. There was no doubt about whether or not he was alive. He was alive and they were convinced of it and he talked to them about the kingdom of God. Now, you know, kingdom of God is very important in Matthew.
It's very important in the teachings of Jesus and virtually all of the gospels but the kingdom of God as a concept, I want for you to think, if he is speaking to them about the kingdom of God. The next, I'll get to it in a minute but the the reason this is so important. The kingdom of God, I think the best way to think about the kingdom of God for me today is to think God is the king. No doubt about that. God is king.
Am I a willing, humble, and obedient servant of that king? Am I one of his subjects? And if so, he's the king. He gets to say what goes. He gets to say what what should stay in my life and what should go out of my life.
He talked to them about the kingdom of God and once when he was eating with them, just on one of those time to time occasions when he was there, He commanded them. It's heavy work, command. Don't leave Jerusalem until the father sends you the gift he promised. As I told you before, you remember what I'm talking about? Don't leave Jerusalem until it's happened.
I want for you to be here and together. Don't leave Jerusalem until the father sends you the gift he promised as I told you before. John baptized with water but in just a few days, it won't be long, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And so, when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him. They kept asking him as a continual verb form where it's kind of emphasized.
They kept on saying, Lord, is it now? Has the time come? Is it now? Is it now? Has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?
Do you hear the politics in that question? Do you hear? These Romans are driving us nuts. They've been so bad for so long and we don't deserve this and we want we want them to be kicked out. Do you see that in the question?
It's there. Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel? Can we get all of these oppressors off our back and restore our kingdom? Now, the book of Acts is an answer to this question. Actually, Jesus answers the question.
He replies, the father alone has the authority. If you read King James, it says the power right here which is it's fine. It's a good translation but the power is kind of contrasted with power in the next sentence. The father alone has the authority. That's above your pay grade.
You don't need to know that. The father alone has authority to set those dates and times. They're not for you to know. He does not say it's not going to happen, but he does say it shouldn't be their primary thing that they're thinking about dwelling on. The father alone has authority to set those dates and times.
They're not for you to know. Don't worry about it. But you will receive power. Now, that first power, the authority is when you have the office and you have the the ability because you're the one that's in charge of that area and God has the authority. And this next one is power is dunamis is the word from which we get our word dynamite because it's a power that's just a little thing that is explosive.
It has the power to get things done. You will receive Holy Spirit power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be with absolute certainty. You will be my witnesses. You will be telling people about me everywhere, in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. That's where we get that.
Now, is the New Living Translation. It's a very good It's actually a translation. If you remember the old living Bible never claimed to be a translation, it was a paraphrase, but this one is a translation and it's good. You will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of earth. I'm gonna pull up the NIV.
The NIV here says it this way, there's not a definite article in front of Samaria and so it includes Judea and Samaria in the same lump and I like it for one reason. It feels like this is a kind of a table of contents for the book of Acts. It's in this order. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, that's chapter two, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. If you look at it and take a a very high level view of the book of Acts, there are his witnesses in Jerusalem for the first seven chapters.
There are his witnesses in Judea surrounding Jerusalem and Samaria extended a little further up towards Galilee from chapters eight to 12. And then to the very ends of the earth goes from chapter 13 to the end of the book. And it kind of leaves with a dot dot dot. The close is a close of the book probably about sixty two ish AD, but it feels like that's not the whole story. It's not the whole story.
We are still very much involved in being the body of Christ, being led by the spirit. So you will be witnesses telling people about me everywhere and after saying this, he was taken up. So that's the great commission in the book of acts basically. We get it also at the end of Matthew. The emphasis is geographical starting from right where you are and going out from there to the very outermost parts.
After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud and while they were watching him, they can no longer see him. I I think of like a balloon. You let a balloon go and it floats up into the stratosphere and you can strain and it says, and as they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white robed men suddenly stood among them, feet on the ground, messengers of God. And as they're straining to see Jesus in the distance, these two white robed angels say, men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring up into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he'll return from heaven in the same way you saw him go and Jesus said, don't worry about when.
Right? If not to you to know the times or the seasons. That the father has set and then the apostles returned to Jerusalem for the from the Mount Of Olives. The distance was about half a mile. I use every Easter.
I usually flash up a slide of the Temple Mount and then up from the Temple Mount up higher is the Mount Of Olives. It's about half a mile walk downhill from the Mount Of Olives and then slightly back up to get to the Temple Mount. And when they arrived, they were together and they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were all staying. It says that they were together and an upper room and just here in the just here in the upper room, it takes you back to those four chapters in John where he does the upper room discourse and he lets them know what it's going to be like when he goes away. Now, they're gathered in an upper room.
I think that's a nice tie in. Luke was a great historian. I also wanna say something. I think I might have said it earlier in the first service. You can divorce Buddhism from the Buddha and you still have Buddhism.
It's it is a collection of philosophical teachings. You can divorce a lot of other religions from the founder and you still have the philosophy of that religion, but Christianity, if it is not tied to the actual truth of the actual Christ, the anointed one Jesus, Messiah. Historically, true and present. If you divorce that from him, you lose Christianity. It it fizzles.
It fades. They're great teachings. Don't get me wrong. They're great teachings but that would be all that they were. It would not have any power to save.
When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house when they were where they were staying and here are the names of those who are present. I love a good historian. He just says, this is who was there. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, Simon, the zealot, and Judas not to be confused with Iscariot, the son of James. And they all met together and they were constantly united in prayer.
Along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. And during this time, when about a 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and he addressed them. And he said, brothers, brothers and sisters, the scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas who guided those who arrested Jesus. He saw Judas as what he was, the betrayer and it's an interesting thing the way that Peter goes about this. Brothers, he said, the scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas who guided those who arrested Jesus.
This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit. Nothing catches God by surprise. Speaking through King David, Judas was one of us and he shared in the ministry with us and we recognize he was with us for almost three years For crying out loud, how could we not have seen that? Yet, he was the betrayer. Now, there's a parenthesis here.
I highlighted them in green. When you see parenthesis in the New Living Translation, there's some question as to whether or not this is part of the original text. I think that it was. I'm not gonna argue over it. If you wanna arm wrestle, can do it with somebody else.
It's in there. It's in the text. Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery and fallen head first there. His body split open and spilling out all of his intestines' growth. The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem and they gave the place the Aramaic name Hakodama which means field of blood.
That little explanation aside, Peter continued. This was written in the book of Psalms where it says, let his home become desolate with no one living in it. And it also says, let someone else take his position. So if you're looking at this and you think, that sounds crazy to me. I don't know what Peter was talking about.
He did draw it straight from the book of Psalms and Psalm sixty nine twenty five and Psalm one zero nine eight are the ones that he quoted right there. Now, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I had a buddy who memorized imprecatory Psalms so that when he hit his head with a hammer, hit his hand with a hammer, he would say that instead of cussing. Imprecatory psalms are from a very earthly viewpoint. Often, are psalms of David where he looks and he sees around him enemies, he sees them triumphing, and he is calling out for God who can do more than we can do to smite his enemies. Now, Jesus tells us to love our enemies.
Pray for those who persecute us but when you're surrounded by enemies in the Old Testament, this is the way that he would do this. What's so close to me is I I get to feeling sorry for Judas, honestly. I I just get to feeling sorry for him but Peter didn't feel sorry for him. Peter felt the same way about Judas as David did about the Amalekites and all the people who surround him. They were people that were against God.
Now, God uses people who are against him to accomplish his plan. There's no doubt about that. Psalm 69 starts off, save me, God, for the waters have threatened my life. I've sunk in the deep mud. There's no foothold.
I've come into deep waters. The flood overflows over me. I'm weary with my crying. My throat is parched. My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who would destroy me are powerful. Those who oppose me are with lies. They those who oppose me with lies. What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
God, you know. You know. And he's speaking to a very knowing God. But what he's calling for is retribution. May their table, he's talking about his enemies, may their table before them become a snare.
When they are at peace, may it become a trap and may their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see and may their hips shake continuously. Pour out your indignation on them God and may your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be desolated and may there be none living in their tents and that's what Peter is saying about Judas. He's aggravated with him, but he also is reading scripture and in it, he sees in one zero nine eight, may his days be few and may another take his office and I know there's an election coming and I had no reference in there. I I've seen people mention that recently, but may his days be few and may another take his office is what Peter read and applied it to his own time.
And he said, so now, we must choose a replacement for Judas. I don't know why Jesus chose 12 disciples, but it was always the 12 and Jesus called the 12, the 12, the 12. Now, there are just 11 of us because Judas was a betrayer. I don't know why Jesus chose 12, but we gotta replace Judas. We gotta find somebody from among the men who are with us the entire time that we're traveling with the Lord Jesus from the time that he was baptized by John.
I want somebody who saw that happen until this day he was that he was taken from us. Whoever's chosen will join us as an official witness of Jesus' resurrection. They knew the importance of the resurrection. They knew the importance that they would be his witnesses and they wanted somebody who would be trustworthy to hold that same office that Judas was not able to hold. Right?
So, okay. Whoever's chosen will join us as an official witness as Jesus' resurrection. I I might have I don't know exactly where I said this in the first service. We have elders for this church and we usually have 11. There's not anything that says we have to have 11.
I I don't know why there's 11. But we have had 11. We've had as few as seven, but what we do from time to time in this service and in the first service, there are many many men who fit the qualifications for elder because God has redeemed them and is sanctifying them. There are many, but right now we have officially nine people that are our elders right now. And they're the ones This says they nominated two men, Joseph called Barsabbas also known as Justice and Matthias.
There were two guys who had been with him since the baptism all the way through the ascension and these guys they saw to be trustworthy but they only needed one for this official time. So they all prayed. Oh Lord, you know every heart. Show us which of these men you have chosen. Now, that sounds like a prayer we might pray, doesn't it?
I don't know the way lord but I trust that you know the way. You know the one that you want in this position. You know the one that you want to take the associate pastor position. You know the one that you want lord. Oh Lord, you know every heart.
Show us which of these folks you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry for he has deserted us and he's gone where he belongs. You hear Peter's feelings about Judas is pretty. He ain't feeling sorry for him, is he? As an apostle replaced Judas in his ministry, he's deserted us. He's gone where he belongs and then they cast lots.
Does that sound weird to anybody? Does it sound like, okay, here we go. Doesn't that sound, it sounds like a game of chance, really? You're going to flip a coin? You're going to cast lots?
This seems really odd to me but that's what they did. Now, if you look back in the Old Testament, they did this fairly regularly to determine what the will of God was and everybody was on board with it. Now, David had the Holy Spirit in his life and we see that God was with him and we see when he realizes that he has sinned in his prayers a couple of times at least, maybe more than that that I didn't remember. He would say, lord, please don't remove your Holy Spirit from me. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was not in the heart of everyone who trusted God.
It was present in John the Baptist from his mother's womb and we see that but that was not the norm. It wasn't just everybody. They cast lots. That was a normal thing. We all know the system.
What's the system? We're gonna go by the system. Show us your will, Lord, by what happens right now. Throw the dice. They cast lots.
And Matthias was selected to be become an apostle with the other 11. Justice didn't feel bad about it. God wanted Matthias. He signified it by the casting a lot. Everything's fine.
That's the system they use. When's the last time that we see that in scripture? Now. Now. Thank you very much.
Yay. Yeah. Thank you. Now, right here, this is when we see this happen the last time. You know why?
Because in chapter two, spoiler alert, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, now our task is as we come together to determine what it is that the Holy Spirit is saying. Sometimes it would be easier to cast lots. But the unity of the body of Christ by his spirit, he says that he will lead us into truth by his spirit. So this is the last time we see him casting lots.
They cast lots and Matthias was selected to become an apostle. Now, I'm going to extrapolate. That was the last 26. We did 26 verses already. Now, I want to go back.
If we are preparing for any great move of the spirit or they were preparing for any great move of the spirit, I think it's in Acts one, we can see what happened, the precursor before the coming of the Holy Spirit in chapter two. Preparing for a great move, it's time to obey. That's good. It's a time to be together. That's good.
A time to pray. It's a time to study and I might add study and proclaim. So, that's good. The time to obey. In this passage, we just saw that once when he was eating with him, Jesus said, don't leave Jerusalem until you receive the gift that the Lord promised and he was talking about the Holy Spirit.
He made that clear. And then we see in verse 12, then the apostles returned to Jerusalem. They weren't spreading out from there. They weren't going anywhere else. They're going to stay there and it says that they were together.
So, a time to be together. Here are the names of those who are present. If you want to check facts, you could check with these guys. There were also about a 120, but they all met together. It was important.
Don't forsake it. Keep on getting together. They met together and what they do, they're constantly united in prayer. So it's time to pray. They all met together and were constantly united in prayer.
That reminds me of something else we've been studying recently. What is it that we're supposed to be seeking daily in step 11? I have sought through prayer and meditation to improve my conscious contact with God. That's good. They met together.
They're constantly united in prayer. It's time to study and to proclaim God's word. Now, this one's a weird one to me and actually some commentators when they're reading this, they go, Peter just kinda pulled this one out of the thin air. Well, Peter had this in his heart and Peter is the apostle Peter. God by his Holy Spirit was saying, this is what David meant, although he didn't even know maybe how much his experience was pointing towards the Messiah.
This is what he meant and so he was studying God's word. He had his word hidden in his heart so that he wouldn't sin against him but he also could walk it out in his daily life. This was written in the book of Psalms. This way, that way, and this is how it applies. And then, a time for recognizing and appointing leaders.
This this we do this calendar year wise, but we also have picked up a couple of elders during the year, this year that have been kind of preparing for that role. But I think it's really important to recognize and appoint the folks that God is bringing in and that happens by the Holy Spirit. It said they nominated two men. Thought, hey, nominate committee right there in scripture. They nominated a couple of guys.
We have a couple of guys that we've nominated in Tim Aristorza and Philip Jordan that are considering and will be brought up for a vote later on in the year or in next year. But to recognize and appoint leaders to see what it is that God is doing and see who he's using and recognize that. So now we must choose it says going forward. They nominated the two, you all know that. So what?
Application. You can't schedule a revival. Okay? And now, I'm from the South. We've scheduled a revival every year.
It's usually in August. It's either July or August. Why we did it in the hottest month? I don't know. Maybe a reference to hell.
Not sure. Paper fans with the date on them. I'm not positive why but it's always August. And you can't schedule a revival but you can make the conditions favorable. Right?
And I think that what we've just seen was making the conditions favorable. Do we really wanna see a great move of the Holy Spirit? Now, I said in the first service too, that this is a Baptist church and I know that. And I know that people get nervous when we start talking about the Holy Spirit. We'd rather be father, son, and holy book.
But father, son, and Holy Spirit. God by his spirit is still very active today and I know that when I mentioned that, there's some people are like, oh, I don't want to go there. I don't want to think about speaking in tongues and I don't want to think about all the healing miracles and acts and I don't want to think about that stuff. That's not the way God moves. I I am here to tell you, God also moves by his spirit to keep our mouth shut when we ought to keep them shut.
He also keeps our hearts guarded from being hurt and carrying a grudge. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self control. Right? Goodness. It's in there.
That's the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It's not just the crazy stuff that we're all kind of scared of. Okay? Do we really wanna see a great move of the Holy Spirit? I could say I do.
I wanna see a great move of the Holy Spirit here in Jackson and I want it to have ripples all the way to the very outermost parts. So, if we do want to see a great move, then we need to take the time to be obedient to Jesus' instructions. The list that I gave you in step four of the 12 steps of stuff, right? Those are the things that God wants to remove from our lives. All of that long list of vices and sins and it's possible to walk in victory over those by being obedient to Jesus' instructions by his spirit.
We need to take the time to be obedient, to listen to Jesus' instructions in real time. We need to take the time to fellowship with one another. I cannot overstate this point. You gotta be willing to be vulnerable with other people. For accountability, for encouragement, we are not islands, we are not rocks, we are helpful to one another.
Take time to be together with one another, small group. Take time to unite ourselves in persistent prayer. The lady that I said mentioned her son this morning, as we're walking down the hall, she goes, is there a prayer prayer request time? When I can who do I talk to about this? Where when do when's the appropriate time to do this?
Right now. Can I pray for him? Yes. I'll do that right now and I'll spread the word to as many as I can. We have folks that are moving away for the winter because they winter somewhere else.
We had about five folks come forward this morning and say that. We had a couple that are moving from here to California that have been here for three and a half years, have found a place in this body and now now they're being flung out and they see themselves as missionaries back to their homeland. Right? We've got tons of missionaries but we need to take time to unite ourselves in persistent prayer and like I said about the steps. What are we praying for?
I didn't individualize this one this time. This is collectively. We thought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and the dunamis to carry that out, the power to carry that out. He if he wants it done, he can get it done through willing, humble, obedient servants. So, take time to be studying and proclaiming God's word.
Let's say, study it and apply it to the situation at hand. Allow God to speak to you through his spirit. What he has said is true and good. How does that apply to our life right now? So studying, proclaiming, applying it to our situation, and lastly, we need to take time to prayerfully recognize and appoint leadership.
And I I wanna say thank you by the way for all of you all. First of all, it was the pastor appreciation month thing and I just got goodies all month long. There's been stuff coming in fairly steady stream. I'm very thankful for that. Kind notes and the recognition of this guy that just got appointed to this position.
It's overwhelming and I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful to be sharing that not just this this office but this office with all of y'all. So, to prayerfully recognize and appoint leadership to be in place when God should by his spirit move. We wanna make the conditions favorable for a great move of the Holy Spirit and he is doing it. If you all don't know what God's doing in youth group right now, it is amazing.
It's amazing to see what's happening and he is getting people unstuck and set free and I've been seeing it for months and I'm just filled to the brim with that. Amen. Thank you and I think that's the last slide. How on that note, would y'all stand with me? And I'm gonna ask Judy to come forward and we're gonna sing, I Surrender All.
That's a good revival hymn. It's a great place to start. All of this stuff falls under that. All
Speaker 2to Jesus, I surrender
Speaker 1and now as benediction, Romans fifteen thirteen, and now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. What you have been taught is true. What you've been taught from God's word is true. Christ matters. Now, may the God of hope fill you all with joy and peace in believing that you may all abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God, would you apply the power of the Holy Spirit to the situations of our lives and around us in the lives of people that we would meet. Show us your good way forward and allow us to lead others out. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
