ACTS 1:12-26 WHILE YOU WAIT FOR THE PROMISE2016 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Acts 1:12-26 While You Wait For The Promise

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2016. And we are going to be in Acts chapter 1 this evening. We'll finish up the chapter, but let's begin looking at Acts chapter 1 by reading verses 12 through 17. Acts chapter 1 verse 12 says,

Verse 14. Verse 14.

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Verse 17.

for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry. Here in Acts chapter 1, we're continuing the account as Luke began. We saw last week he began in the gospel of Luke to tell all that Jesus began to do and teach. And then now in the book of Acts, we're seeing the continuation of that. Last week, we saw the final words of Jesus to his disciples, and then he ascended up into heaven and

And as they were looking there, then the angels or the men appeared to them and said, hey, you know, why are you just standing there looking? He's going to return the same way he went. And so now this is immediately after that. They head back to Jerusalem, and we're going to see some things unfold here in this chapter that are important for us to consider. And so as we look at Acts chapter 1, verses 12 through 26, I've titled the message this evening, While You Wait for the Promise.

While you wait for the promise, the disciples give us a good example of what to do. As we see them waiting for the promise, Jesus, right before he ascended to the Father, said, wait in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 1 verse 4, he says, don't depart from Jerusalem. Wait for the promise of the Father, which you have heard from me. And of course, that promise was the Holy Spirit. And so he said, stay there in Jerusalem, wait there, and then he ascended up into heaven.

Well, that promise from the Father comes 10 days later. And so it's that 10-day period that we're looking at here as we finish off Acts chapter 1 this evening. Now, for the disciples, the promise that was given that they were to wait for was the baptism or the filling of the Holy Spirit.

And as we look at this this evening, that's not something that we have to wait for any longer. That was a one-time thing. They had to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.

And then on the day of Pentecost, we'll see that next week in Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit is poured out, and that changes everything. Now as believers, we don't have to wait to be filled with the Spirit. In fact, the command is in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 18, Paul says, do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. And that

that instruction there, it's a command. It means that you have to be, you must be filled with the Holy Spirit. You are commanded by God to be filled with the Spirit. It's not something we have to wait for any longer. It's something we're commanded to be receiving continually. And so we'll be looking at that a little bit next week and on through the book of Acts as we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a predominant theme throughout this book.

So we don't have to wait for the baptism or the filling of the Holy Spirit any longer as believers. But there are things that we do have to wait for. There's promises that God has given to us that are not yet fulfilled. And so as we look at the disciples in this waiting period for the promise to be fulfilled, it sets for us a good example for the promises that we are waiting to be fulfilled. For example, the promise of the return of Jesus.

I mentioned just a few moments ago, verses 10 and 11 here in Acts chapter 1, where the disciples were watching Jesus ascend to heaven. And then the men came and appeared next to them and said in verse 11, this same Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. And so there is this promise that we're waiting for. And that is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Before that, we're waiting for the promise of the rapture of the church, and I'm not going to get into those details tonight, but the return of Jesus Christ is a promise that we have from God that we are waiting for. And so how are we to behave and what are we to do in between now and the receiving of that promise? Well, the disciples will give us a good example or set for us a good example as we look at Acts chapter 1 this evening.

But there's also some personal promises that maybe you have. Maybe God has spoken to you about something that he wants to do in your life.

And he often does that for us. He gives us insights into what he wants to do, things that seem impossible, things that we don't know how it's going to work out. But he has told us, this is what I want to do in your life. And so maybe it's the salvation of someone that you love, someone that you have been praying for. And maybe God's given you a promise. I'm going to do a work, and they're going to come to know you.

or come to know me. And so there's that promise that's given, but you don't see it now. And while you wait for that promise, what is it that you are to do? Or maybe God's given you a promise and he's spoken to you about your calling.

and the way that he wants you to serve him and be involved in his work. And you have the promise from God, you have that insight from the Lord, but you don't see it happening quite yet. And so what do you do while you wait for that promise to be fulfilled? Or maybe God's promised you some type of position or provision or on and on and on we could go. It's personal to us. As God has been speaking to you, there are some promises you probably have that you are waiting for.

And that's the difficult part, isn't it? Waiting is really hard. And that's why it's good for us to look at the example of the disciples here. Because many times while we're waiting, because it's hard, we start doing things that aren't so good. And we kind of, you know, mess with our walk with the Lord. We mess with the plan that God has. And sometimes we sabotage ourselves in the promise that God has given to us. And if you need an example of that, you can consider Abraham, right?

right? God had promised him a son, and he was waiting for the son, waiting for the son, waiting for the son. Didn't look like it was happening. His wife says, hey, why don't you take my handmaiden and have a son through her, and then that'll, you know, fulfill the promise. And so they did that, but it didn't fulfill the promise. They did have a son, but God said, no, that's not the son I promised you. I'm still going to provide for you a son, just like I promised. And now they have this conflict because, you know, they stepped ahead of the Lord and tried to accomplish it themselves, and

They weren't willing to wait. Waiting is really hard. I remember many, many years ago now when God told me that I would marry Kim. And then I had to wait. I had to wait months, like a couple months. It was like a really long time, right? You know how it is. It feels like forever at the time. And I think it was like our second date. I told her, I love you. And she was like, what? Like, it's kind of early for this. But you know, I'd loved her for a long time already. So it wasn't, you know, that fast for me. But

I couldn't wait. I couldn't wait. And then I was like, when is she going to say I love you back? You know, like that's a big deal for me because waiting is really hard. I was waiting for God to fulfill that promise that I would marry her. And so we have to wait many times. The Lord gives us those insights. He tells us what's to come.

But then what do we do while we wait for that promise? And so there's four points we'll look at here in Acts chapter 1 verses 12 through 26. Four points from the example of the disciples to help us learn how to wait better. The first point found in verse 12, while we wait, we need to keep doing the things Jesus told us to do. Keep doing the last thing that Jesus spoke to you about.

This is really important. This is a really important thing for us to hold on to, that we need to be faithful to obey God while we wait for him to fulfill his promises. Now, for the disciples, the last thing that Jesus commanded them to do is in Acts 1, verse 4, it says, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait. Wait.

And so the thing that he commanded them to do was to wait and to not leave Jerusalem. And so then notice what verse 12 says. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. So they're on the Mount called Olivet or the Mount of Olives with Jesus when he ascended into heaven. And so he's gone. They're just standing there staring. The guys appear to them and say, why are you guys just standing there? Don't you have something to do?

They're like, oh yeah. And so what do they do? They kick into obedience. They go to Jerusalem. They go to Jerusalem and they wait there the 10 days until the promise is received. But they didn't know that it was going to be 10 days. You'll notice that Jesus did not give them a schedule.

Well, on this day, this is going to happen. At this time, here's what's going to happen. I love to have a schedule. I like to have a schedule, but they didn't have the schedule. So they didn't know if they're going to be waiting 10 days or 10 years. And we have no idea, you know, what their expectation was. But I can imagine, you know, after two days, them kind of like looking around like,

When are we going to get this promise? I mean, I thought this was already supposed to happen. Like, what's taking so long? Another couple days pass. Like, what's happening? A week passes, and like, why is this taking so long? We were expecting this promise. And it's easy to get discouraged when the promise is not given at the time that we expect it to be given. But God's promises are not usually fulfilled in the time frame that we think it should be fulfilled. And so in the meantime...

We need to make sure that we stay faithful to keep on obeying what the Lord last told us. And if last he told you to wait, well, then you just need to keep waiting. If last he told you to be focused on something else and not worry about this promise he's called you to be, you know, he's promised to you,

then keep on being faithful to that thing that he's spoken to you. Keep on being faithful in obedience to what he has given to you so that you maintain your faithfulness to the Lord while you wait for the promise to be fulfilled. Consider what Jesus said in the book of Mark chapter 13.

There he gives a parable to make this point. In verse 35, he says, Now, one of the promises that we are waiting for the fulfillment of is the return of Jesus. And regarding that promise, here's what Jesus says.

While you wait for that promise to be fulfilled, what I want you to do is to watch so that you're ready for my return. He says, watch, because you don't know if he's coming in the evening or the morning or the afternoon. You don't know when he's coming exactly. We don't know the time when we will be caught up to meet the Lord.

And he gives us the warning here. He says, you don't want to be caught sleeping when he returns. You don't want to be caught off guard. You need to be watching. You need to be ready. This is the command that God gives us as we wait for the return of Jesus. He wants us to be watching.

And he says in verse 37, what I say to you, I say to all. So it's not just for a specific group of people, but for every believer, we are commanded to watch, to be on the alert, to be looking for the return of Jesus, to be waiting for the return of Jesus. It's to be part of our hopes. It's to be part of our dreams that we get to be caught up with the Lord. Now, in waiting for the return of the Lord, it's easy to get discouraged and

and to fall asleep. And that's the picture here is, you know, when you're not watching, you fall asleep and you don't want to be found sleeping, but you need to awaken yourself. It's high time to awake, Paul says in Romans 13, because our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. And so we need to like stir ourselves up ongoing, continually to be watching, to be looking for the return of Jesus Christ. It's easy to give up and fall asleep or to lose hope and fall asleep.

But as we wait for the promises of the Lord, whether it be about his return or some personal promise that he's given to you,

While you wait, make sure that you keep doing the last thing that he instructed you to do. Don't sabotage yourself with disobedience, with sin. Don't sabotage yourself with disregarding the word of God. Even if the promise tarries, wait for it. And if it tarries for a long time, wait for it. Wait for God's word to be fulfilled and keep being obedient. Keep watching.

Or if the Lord's instructed you to be reading his word, then keep on reading his word. If the Lord's instructed you to keep on working, then keep on working. Or keep on resting, then keep on resting. Or keep on obeying, then keep on obeying. Whatever God has instructed you, keep on being faithful in that while you wait for him to accomplish the things that he has promised you. Well, secondly, as we go on to verse 13 and 14, we see the disciples gather for prayer.

While you wait for the promise, it's really good for you, it's really good for me, to join with other believers in prayer. The disciples began this waiting process by obeying Jesus, but they were not able to

And then they use that time while they're waiting to be spending time with the Father. Check out verse 13 and 14. It says, And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying. And then it lists the names of the disciples. I'm not going to get into that. Verse 14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

And so what we see happening here is as they're waiting, they're waiting together. This is a promise that involved all of them. And so they're waiting together. And as they're waiting together, they begin to pray together. Now, who's at this gathering? Well, we know it's the 11 disciples from verse 13.

It mentions the women in verse 14. So there was always the ladies who were following Jesus and serving alongside Jesus and ministering to Jesus. And so these ladies are now here with this gathering as well. Specifically, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned. And then Jesus's brothers are also mentioned. Now, Jesus's brothers during his ministry did not believe in him. But

But afterwards, after Jesus resurrected, they became believers. And you can see that in the book of Acts later on. We'll see James become a prominent member and leader amongst the church. We see his brother Jude, who later on writes the epistle of Jude. And so these guys...

you know, do turn and follow Jesus afterwards, but they're included in this group. And then in verse 15, we'll see the total number of disciples is about 120 that are gathered here in this upper room. So it's a good size gathering. They've been given this promise to wait. He says, don't leave until you receive this promise. And so they stick together, they gather together, and they are involved in prayer. Verse 14 says, these all continued with one accord,

in prayer and supplication. They continued with one accord. That is, they were in unity together. Now, one way I always like to picture the idea of being in one accord is by thinking about the car, you know, the one accord, right? And so here's a car with our family photo from last year. You know, we're all in the same vehicle. Now, when you're all in one accord, the vehicle, or one Civic, or whatever car you want to be in, right?

What that means is you guys are all going the same direction.

You have the same destination. You're all going together at the same pace, at the same rate. And so you're together in every aspect when you're all in one vehicle, right? And in a similar way, we are to be in one accord. These guys are gathered together in one accord. This promise is for all of them. And they're in one accord together. They're on the same waiting process. You know, they're on the same pace. They're waiting for the same promise. They have the same destination. They're together on this.

And it's a beautiful thing. Luke will be highlighting the unity of the church throughout the book of Acts. And it's something for us to take note of and to consider and to remember that God's called us to be in one accord as we wait for his promises. Well, it says they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.

And so they're praying to God. And the word supplication talks about a specific kind of prayer. And that is where you're praying for something particular, where there's some particular request you have. There's a specific request that you have. Now, as they're gathered together and praying, what do you think their specific request was? Their specific request was most likely prayer.

The promise of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had told them to wait for. When the Lord promises something, it's an occasion for us to pray for that to be fulfilled. Sometimes we get a promise from the Lord or we know, hey, that's what God wants. And so we don't pray for it.

But it's interesting to consider the example of like Daniel. As he read about the prophecy of Jeremiah, he knew the 70 years was about up and God was going to bring Israel back into the promised land. When Daniel read that and he understood that, he began to pray for that. When you see the promises of God, when you know the will of God, it's not an occasion for us to stop praying or to not pray about that.

But it's an occasion for us to join together, to gather together and pray for that promise to be fulfilled. It's a way for us to participate in the work of the kingdom of God. He invites us to be involved in the process and to lift up those promises in prayer that they would be fulfilled.

And so they're in one accord. They're gathered together and they're asking God to fulfill the promise and to pour out the Holy Spirit upon them. It's a good example for us. While you wait for the promise, has God given you some promises? Maybe some things that he's put upon your heart, some things you know he wants to do in your life. Well, first you need to make sure you keep doing the last thing that Jesus told you to do. Stay faithful to do those things that he's instructed you to

But while you wait, you also need to gather together for prayer. And as the disciples gathered together, again, this was a gathering of all those who were involved in this promise that had been given. And so it's appropriate. If it's a promise for your family, don't just pray by yourself, but gather your family together and pray for the promise.

that God has given to you. If it's a promise for the church, then we as a church should be gathering together and praying for the fulfillment of that promise that God has given. We have a couple opportunities here that I just want to remind you about for gathering together specifically for prayer. We have on Monday evenings a group that gathers together here in the sanctuary at 7 p.m.,

And it's a good opportunity for you to gather with other believers and specifically pray for those promises that God has been given to you, that God has shown you, that God has spoken to you about.

On Sunday evenings, we also have the service at 6 p.m. here in the sanctuary, and we devote a portion of the service to prayer as well, and we do prayer requests and praise reports, and we pray for, you know, the connections that are coming in and the different opportunities for ministry that have happened, but it's also an opportunity for you, and I would encourage you, as you wait,

As you are looking for God to fulfill his promises, gather together for prayer. And it doesn't have to be, you know, an official service, but I would encourage you to be involved in some type of gathering together with other believers and lifting up those specific requests, those specific promises, those things that God has put upon your heart. And so while you wait for the promise, keep doing so.

the things that the Lord has told you to do. Gather together for prayer. And then thirdly, verses 15 through 20, believe the scriptures. Now this is going to be an interesting group of verses here. There's a lot of things happening here that we'll be talking about, but let's start by looking again at verses 15 through 17. Here's what it says. And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. Altogether, the number of names was about 120.

And so while they're gathered together, they have the time of prayer. And they're gathered together.

But it's not a constant 24-hour, you know, without any breaks kind of prayer. I mean, they're in one accord. They're going in and out of prayer, having different times of prayer. And in the midst of this, at some point, Peter stands up. Now, it seems like maybe a few days have passed, it says in verse 15, in those days. So somewhere within this 10-day waiting period, Peter stands up. And he says, you know, guys, the scriptures had to be fulfilled. Right?

The Holy Spirit spoke about these things and they had to be fulfilled. What has happened and what's taken place with Judas had to be fulfilled. Now, what I'd like to point out here is notice Peter's view of the word of God. He had a very high view of the word of God. He says that scripture had to be fulfilled. Now, as he's looking at this, he's looking back at the events that unfolded.

And like the saying goes, hindsight is 20-20. And what we need to understand about the Word of God is that will always be the case. Many times we look at the scriptures and we see promises, we see prophecies, we see things that God has declared, and we're not sure how that's all going to really work out or how it's going to unfold or how it's going to happen. But then when we look back after the events have taken place, we can see clearly that

The scriptures had to be fulfilled and the events unfolded and transpired exactly the way that God's word declared. As you look back at events, it shows clearly that God fulfills his word. And what that should do is give us the confidence and remind us that all scripture will be fulfilled. So as we look at how God has fulfilled his word in the past,

We can have extra confidence knowing that the rest of the stuff, the promises that God has given, the prophecies that have been given, the words that God has said, they will be fulfilled exactly the way that he has declared. Jesus pointed out a couple of times that every detail of the word of God is going to be fulfilled. Heaven and earth might pass away, but the word of God will not pass away

Every detail, every little minute detail will be fulfilled exactly the way that God has declared. And so Peter says scripture had to be fulfilled.

Now you can imagine for these disciples, they have just gone through quite an ordeal, right? They've been with Jesus for about three years. Then suddenly there's this traitor amongst them. So they've lived with this guy. They've been brothers with this guy. They've served together. I mean, this is very traumatic for them that one of their own has betrayed Jesus.

But not only that, then they've gone through the process of having Jesus, their hope, their Messiah, be crucified, and all hope is lost. But then later, three days later, resurrected, and it's like, whoa, you know, what's really happening here? And then he's been with them for 40 days, and so they've been through this process, maybe wondering, like, what on earth is going on in some days? You know, like, really trying to get a grasp of

Why did it happen this way? And why did things take place like this? And here Peter is saying, you know what? As I'm looking at the scriptures, I'm realizing it had to happen this way. It had to happen this way because this is what the scriptures foretold. That there would be a traitor, a betrayer who would turn against the Lord, who would turn against the Messiah. And so scriptures had to be fulfilled.

And that is the reality. The word of God will be fulfilled. And when all the events are transpiring in our lives and we're wondering, how does all this fit? And where does all this go? And trying to make sense of it all, we can come back to the word of God and know this is solid and this will be fulfilled. We can trust, we can rest in the word of God because God will be faithful to fulfill his word. And so the first thing to point out about

Peter's high view of Scripture was that it had to be fulfilled. He really trusted that the Word of God would be accomplished. But secondly, he points out here that Scripture was the record of the Holy Spirit speaking. There in verse 16, he says, "...this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David."

The scriptures are the record of the Holy Spirit speaking through men of God. Peter will say later on in 2 Peter 1, verse 21, that prophecy never came by the will of men, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells us, of course, in 2 Timothy chapter 3, that the scriptures, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's God breathed. These are the very words of God. And that's why we are so focused on the word of God here at Living Water. Because we want to focus on the words of God. It's not just good stories. It's not just good morals. It's not just good lessons to learn.

But these are the words of God. The Holy Spirit spoke through these men of God. And so he has a high view of scripture. He believes the scriptures. These are the words of God. They had to be fulfilled. They will be fulfilled just as God has said. Now, was Peter referring to a specific scripture as he's making this declaration about Judas and how this had to take place?

Well, we'll see in verse 20, he quotes from two different Psalms. Verse 20 says this, Now here, Peter is quoting from Psalm chapter 69 and Psalm chapter 109.

And in these two Psalms, these are Psalms of David, and David is dealing with betrayal. He's dealing with his enemies, and he makes these declarations in the midst of the Psalms that he's writing.

And as we see many times throughout the Psalms, there are a lot of Psalms that we refer to as Messianic, where there's kind of a dual thing going on. On the one hand, David's, you know, working through his own life and emotions and the things that he's facing, the events that are happening in his life.

But then God, through his sovereignty, is also orchestrating that it is a picture of the things that would be happening to the Messiah and in the life of Jesus. And so that's what we see unfolding here. There was an enemy. There was one who turned against the Lord. And so let his dwelling place be desolate and let no one live in it. And then let another take his office. In other words, the one who betrayed Jesus.

was going to be replaced. The one who betrayed was going to die. His dwelling place, his home was going to be desolate because he wasn't alive to live there anymore. Now, these are two specific Psalms that he quotes, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109. There's many other passages that Peter could have been referring to also.

Psalm chapter 41 talks about the familiar friend whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me. And that betrayal there being referred to in Psalm chapter 41 verse 9. And it's interesting as it points out the one who ate my bread. And remember, as the disciples were there trying to figure out, is it me? Is it me? Is it me? Who's going to betray you? Jesus said, it's the one who dips his bread into the bowl with me.

The one who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. He could have been referring to Psalm chapter 55. Again, another reference to someone who's close and then betrays and turns against him. And so Peter believes the word of God. He says, look, these scriptures had to be fulfilled. There was going to be that one who was close to the Lord, who turned against the Lord. And this was fulfilled by Judas as he betrayed Jesus with a kiss.

Now, as we go on into verse 18 and 19, Peter pauses for a moment, or actually Luke pauses for a moment to give us some detail about Judas and what happened to him after the betrayal. Look at verse 18 and 19. It says, now this man, talking about Judas, purchased a field with the wages of iniquity and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.

Nice picture, right? Verse 19. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem. So that field is called in their own language, Akeldama, which is field of blood. And so he gives a little bit of detail of what happened to Judas. He purchases a field, he falls headlong, and he dies there in that field. And so it becomes known as the field of blood. Now,

This is really an amazing fulfillment of prophecy. And so I wanted to take a moment and consider the prophecy that's fulfilled here as we talk about believing the scriptures. As Peter says, this had to happen according to what the scriptures say. And then we have these details here about the death of Judas. Well, that's prophesied about in Zechariah chapter 11. And I would ask you to consider with me Zechariah chapter 11 verses 12 and 13. Here's what those verses say.

It says, then I said to them, if it is agreeable to you, give me my wages and if not, refrain. So they weighed out for my wages, 30 pieces of silver. Have you ever heard that number before? That amount of silver, 30 pieces of silver. Verse 13, and the Lord said to me, throw it to the potter. That princely price they set on me. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter.

Now here in Zechariah chapter 11, we have this prophecy about this certain amount of money being weighed out. And the details here are fulfilled in the life of Judas. It's pretty interesting. In verse 12, it says they weighed out the 30 pieces of silver. Well, if you check out later on Matthew chapter 26, you'll see Judas go negotiate with the religious leaders. And he says, what are you willing to give me if I deliver Jesus to you?

And they count out to him 30 pieces of silver. And so you see the connection here between what Judas is doing and the prophecy that's given here in Zechariah chapter 11. Well, then in verse 13 here of Zechariah chapter 11, the Lord speaks and he says, throw those 30 pieces of silver to the potter.

Notice he says, that princely price they set on me. So again, Jesus is betrayed. The 30 pieces of silver is set on Jesus. That's his value to them. If you betray Jesus, then we'll give you 30 pieces of silver. Now take that money, and it says, throw it to the potter. And so what does Zechariah do? It says, I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord. Not into the potter's house, but into the Lord's house. And then it says, for the potter.

Well, after Jesus has been crucified, we find in Matthew chapter 27, Judas begins to feel remorse. And he goes to the religious leaders and he says, take back this money. I don't want this money that you paid me. He's feeling really guilty about what he has done. And the religious leaders say, we don't want that. That's blood money. We don't want that back. We can't use that.

And so it tells us in Matthew chapter 27 verse 5 that Judas threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed. And he went out and hanged himself. And so Judas did exactly what Zechariah chapter 11 verse 13 says. He threw down the pieces of silver in the house of the Lord, fulfilling what God had prophesied about in Zechariah.

But then he threw down these pieces of silver in the house of the Lord. Now, verse 13 of Zechariah chapter 11 says, for the potter there at the end. Now, how was that part fulfilled? Well, again, in Matthew chapter 27, after Judas throws this money down in the temple, the religious leaders pick it up. They say, well, we can't put this in the treasury. This was used, you know, to pay for someone's blood. And so Matthew chapter 27 verse 7 says, they consulted together and

and bought with that money the potter's field to bury strangers in. What did they buy? They bought the potter's field. And so that 30 pieces of silver, which was weighed out for Jesus, taken by the betrayer, thrown down in the temple, was then used to purchase the potter's field, fulfilling Zechariah 11, verses 12 and 13.

And so verse 18 here back in Acts chapter 1 says, now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity. That's the reference to him throwing down the money and then that money being used to purchase the field of the potter. And then in verse 18, it says that he fell headlong and he burst open in the middle. It tells us in Matthew chapter 27 that Judas hung himself.

And so evidently he was at that field or he was around that field or next to that field or above the field. He hung himself. Something happened. A branch broke. They cut him down, whatever. And he fell into the field and he, you know, spilled out there. All these details about this betrayal, about Judas, are fulfilled. And again, the whole point and reason why I'm getting into all this detail here is to say, believe the scriptures. While you wait for

for the promise. While you wait for God to fulfill his word, search the scriptures like Peter did and recognize, look at all of these prophecies. Look at all of these promises that had to be fulfilled and were fulfilled exactly the way that God declared. And it will always be the case because the scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so every detail, every element that

that has been recorded by the Lord in His Word will be fulfilled in the way that He said it would be. We have great reason to have confidence in the Word of God. It's fulfilled to this level of detail and even greater. There's so much more that we don't even know yet, that we haven't even really begun to grasp.

And so we need to believe the scriptures, to read the word of God, to take it seriously, and to seek to live it out and apply it to our lives. Now, I want to take a moment and just go on a little bit of a detour here and talk just a quick side note. I want to encourage you, checking out verses 15 and 18, to make sure that you return to the Lord after you have failed. Check out verse 15. It says, "...and in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples."

And then verse 18, now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle. Notice the contrast between Peter and Judas. And I would ask you to consider in those last moments before Jesus is crucified, you have the one Judas betraying Jesus, leading the army to Jesus, betraying, identifying him with a kiss, and

And then a few moments after that, you have Peter denying Jesus, calling down curses from heaven. I don't know that man. I've never known that man. I don't know who he is. You know, refusing three times to be identified with Jesus. They both denied the Lord. They both failed different ways.

One was planned out and plotted. There's differences, but you get the point. As you look at this, you see similarities. They have both failed in their relationship with the Lord. And the way they handled that failure is really important to consider. Because the result for Peter was he was able to stand up amongst the brethren. The result for Judas was that he fell headlong into the field.

What I want to encourage you to do is to follow the example of Peter and return to Jesus after you failed. Judas, he was sorry. He felt guilty. He showed remorse, but he, instead of returning to Jesus, ran from Jesus. He refused to return. He felt so guilty about what he did that

He lost that opportunity and so he fell headlong. And so many times when we fail in our relationship with the Lord, we feel really guilty about what we have done and we run from the Lord. Don't follow the example of Judas. You'll end up falling headlong to your death. That's what happens when you run from the Lord.

But even though you failed, you can return to Jesus. And like Peter, you can be restored. You can be renewed. You can be forgiven. And you can stand up amongst the brethren. And so I want to encourage you to make sure you return to Jesus after you failed. And even if that's while you're waiting for the promise, while you're waiting for God to fulfill what he's promised you, we don't fall. I mean, we don't aren't perfect, you know, in that time frame. And we do fall short.

And so return to Jesus and receive his forgiveness that you can stand up amongst the brethren. Well, the final point as we look at verses 21 through 26 is to involve God in your decisions. Now, in this passage, in these verses, Peter is suggesting that someone should be chosen to replace Judas Iscariot. Judas has betrayed Jesus.

Originally, there was 12 disciples. Now there's only 11 because Judas has betrayed them. And Peter is suggesting, let's make it 12 again. Now, there's a lot of discussion between scholars and Bible teachers on whether or not this was the right thing to do. And we'll get into that a tiny bit. But first, let's walk through the verses and then consider the possibilities that we can look at here. In verse 21 and 22, it starts by saying this, therefore,

And so here is Peter stands up. He says, look, all this had to be fulfilled with Judas. And now what we need to do is find a replacement for him to fill that spot.

Because now we are only 11 and we need to be 12 because we're the 12 disciples or the 12 apostles. Now, again, he's referring back to what we saw in verse 20 when it says at the end there, let another take his office, which is found in Psalm 109. And so the idea is the office, that official position of that 12th apostle has been vacated.

And so now that needs to be replaced. There needs to be a replacement because it's that official office of the 12 apostles that we're talking about. And so Peter sets forth some criteria. Here's how we need to go about finding the qualified candidates. Two things, essentially, they need. They need to have been with us from the beginning and they need to have stayed with us to the end. Now you can imagine there are a lot of people who were with Jesus at the beginning and

But they walked away as things got hard, as things got difficult. They didn't stay as followers of Jesus the whole time of the ministry of Jesus. And so they had to have been with us from the beginning, ever since the baptism of John the Baptist.

And then they had to have stayed all the way to the end to see that Jesus resurrected from the dead. So they had to, you know, basically be part of this group, the followers of Jesus, for the whole time of the ministry of Jesus. And specifically to be witnesses of the resurrection. So they had to see the resurrected Lord and the return of Jesus to heaven and the ascension of Jesus.

And so this was the criteria that they set. They had to be with us from the beginning and they had to stay with us to the end. That's the criteria Peter suggests. And so these gathering of disciples start the process of elimination. All right, how about this guy? Well, he was here at the beginning, but he...

Wasn't here at the resurrection. He came back after that. And okay, well, this guy was here, but he didn't start following Jesus until later on in the ministry. And so they started going through the process. And then in verse 23, it says, And they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And so they proposed two guys with like four names. But basically it's Barsabbas and Matthias.

Now, the rest of the 120 disciples are part of this process. They're helping Peter. Peter kind of sets the guidelines. What do you guys think? Here we go. Here's the criteria. So they work through the crowd. They work through the disciples. And they come up with two options, two guys who meet this criteria, Barsabbas and Matthias.

And so as they come up with these two guys, verse 24 says, And so after they narrow it down to the two men, they present these men to the Lord and say, Lord, which of these do you want to fill this spot?

We've come up with these two guys. We believe these, you know, your choice is one of these two guys. And so would you show us which one you choose? Verse 26. And they cast their lots and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the 11 apostles. And so as they come up with these two guys, they believe one of these two guys is called to be the replacement for Judas to fill that 12th spot as an apostle of Jesus.

They now cast lots. Now, the way that they would probably do that, there's different ways that they would cast lots, but they would write each of their names on a rock, put it in a jar, and shake it up and keep shaking until a rock fell out. And whichever rock fell out, the name that was on the rock, that was the name of God's choice. And so they're shaking the jar, and Matthias' rock falls out, and they decide, all right, Matthias, he's the one that God has chosen.

So not very much different than, you know, calling heads or tails, you know, of a coin as it's in the air or rolling dice, you know. Hey, if it's a three or lower, it's Matthias. If it's a four or higher, you know, it's Barsabbas. It's not much different than that, right? And so this is the way that they would often find out the will of God all throughout the Old Testament. It's a practice that

God even mentions in the book of Proverbs, he says, you know, the lot is cast, but it's every decision is from the Lord. And so he even gives some indication there. He's involved in that process. And so it, you know, is not just random chance whenever that is happening. Now, again, there's a lot of discussion by scholars and Bible teachers. Was this the right thing to do? One of the reasons why that's questioned is because they cast lots to, you know, help make this decision.

And so they wonder, was Matthias supposed to be the 12th apostle or was that supposed to be reserved for the apostle Paul? Now, why does it matter? What's the big deal? Well, here's one aspect of this to consider. It's Revelation chapter 21, verse 14, talking about heaven and the city of Jerusalem and the heaven that God will create. It says, now the wall of the city had 12 foundations and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb.

So these 12 apostles, their names are inscribed in the eternal Jerusalem. And so the question is, which apostle is named there, Matthias or Paul? And there are good people on both sides who would say, well, I believe it's Paul. Now, why would they say that it's Paul? Well, because

couple reasons. They would look at this account and they would say, well, you know, they really limited it to two guys and say, which of these two as opposed to, Lord, do you want us to do this at all? You know, or maybe God wanted more than just those two as an option for a replacement. And so that's one, uh,

reason why they would question that. Another one is because they cast lots, and we don't see that practice later on in the New Testament. We don't see that encouraged or instructed at all, and so there's a question about whether or not that was the right thing to do. And then the final reason why that they usually mention about, you know, Paul was supposed to be the twelfth apostle and not Matthias, is because Matthias is never mentioned again. Now,

I can argue it both ways, you know, and I can go back and forth, and sometimes I do in my own head, even in fact, you know, preparing for this. I was originally thinking one way, and then came a different way as it came about to it. But what I would suggest to you this evening, anyways, is that this was of the Lord, and that Matthias was chosen. It doesn't take away from the apostleship of Paul, but here's a couple things to consider. First of all, nothing in the Bible hints that this was wrong.

And God's fully capable of doing that. Remember when Peter there on the Mount of Transfiguration says, hey, we should build three tents, you know, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And it tells us in Mark chapter 9 verse 6, he said this because he didn't know what to say. Now, if Peter was standing up here and saying, let's choose a replacement for Judas, and then Luke added the commentary, he said this because he didn't know what to say, well, then that would be a different matter. God's fully capable of saying, hey, we should build three tents.

This is what happened, but this is not what I wanted to happen or what I told them to do. There's nothing in the Bible that hints that this was a wrong decision to make. Now, regarding the idea that Matthias is not mentioned, you should also consider that Matthias is just as absent from the book of Acts as the majority of the apostles. You have a couple mentioned. You have Peter mentioned. You have Paul mentioned, right? But where's Thaddeus?

Where's Simon the Zealot? You ever see him mentioned? He's not mentioned. He's not, he doesn't write any books of the Bible. And so it just because, you know, he's not mentioned doesn't mean that he didn't have an impact or that he didn't fulfill that role.

Now again, one of the problems that people have with it is the casting of lots. And that is true, that it's not taught in the New Testament. And it's not mentioned again after that. And so obviously it's not meant to be an ongoing thing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was the wrong thing to do for them at this time. This, I believe, was probably the leading of God, that they were to make this decision, to make this choice, and

put Matthias in that place, having fulfilled the criteria, and so God chose Matthias between these two. And so with that, I want to make the point to involve God in your decisions. Listen, in your life, you're going to have to make decisions. And a lot of times, you're not going to have all the information you want to have. You're not going to have everything line up the way that you want it to line up. And sometimes, you're going to have to make decisions that

Having done the best that you can to get all the information, to get all the insight, to get all, you know, hear from the Lord as much as you can. But God doesn't often, he doesn't spell out every detail of every decision. Oftentimes, you're going to have to follow the pattern of the disciples here. Notice again what they did as they made this decision. Number one, they gathered together for prayer. And so there's decisions that you're going to need to make while you wait for God to fulfill his promises.

And as you prepare to make those decisions, it's a good idea to be gathering together with other believers for prayer. Secondly, they search the scriptures. And that's what we need to be doing. As we are looking to make decisions, we need to be examining the word of God and looking to apply it to our lives.

They established good criteria. This was reasonable criteria. It made sense for them to set the criteria for these guys. He had to be with us from the beginning all the way to the end. And in a similar way, we need to look at things from God's perspective and have some good criteria for the decisions that we make. And then as we come up with what we think is the best options amongst the choices we have and the decision we have to make, then we pray for God's direction. We pray, God, show us.

Which of these? These seem like the two options that are set before us. And which of these do you want us to take and let God continue to bring revelation? Now, as you do that, listen, there's always going to be people who second guess your decisions. I don't know if you should have done that. I don't know if I would have done it that way. There's always going to be that. Just like there's people who second guessing, you know, Peter and the group here. I don't know if they should have chose Matthias or maybe they should have waited or maybe they weren't supposed to do this at all. There's always going to be that.

But it's also true that we're not always going to have crystal clear clarity on every detail of every decision. Many times God wants us to do our homework, to pray, to read the scriptures, come up with some criteria and ask God for direction. And then we have to make a decision based on all that we've heard, all that we've learned, all that we've been taught. And God wants us to make those decisions and go forward. So don't get caught up on, you know, people second guessing your decisions. Hey, if it's going to happen to Peter, it's going to happen to you, right?

But search the scriptures. Spend time in prayer. Work through those things. Involve God in your decisions is the point. Don't just make decisions about what you think is best, but look into the word of God.

Ask God for help. And Peter, he's not just doing this all by himself. He's involving here the 120 disciples. Hey, here's the criteria. What do you guys think? And they are the ones who propose these two guys. And so there's this exchange, this interaction between them in the group. He's seeking counsel, in other words. And they're in agreement. This is the right thing. This is the leading of the Lord. And as we wait for the promises of God, we need to

involve God in our decision making. We need to involve God in the things that we decide and the choices that we make. And so while you wait for the promise, keep doing the things that Jesus has told you to. Gather together for prayer with other believers. Believe the scriptures, trust in them, and involve God in your decisions. And I want to end with this quote from Dave Guzik because I think it's a good one for us to consider. He says, "'The casting of lots may be an imperfect way "'to discern God's will.'"

but it is much better than the methods many Christians use today, relying on emotions, circumstances, feelings, carnal desires, and so forth. We may, you know, kind of fault these guys for casting lots. How many times have our decisions been made on, you know, much faultier logic or reasons or emotions that have nothing to do, that we haven't involved God in the process. We've just made decisions that we want for whatever reasons, and

No, it's a good idea. It's important for us. Involve God in our decisions. Keep seeking God as we wait for him to fulfill his promises. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would help us to wait for you, to wait patiently, God, to trust in you, knowing that you will fulfill your word and all those promises that you've given to us will be fulfilled. We can count on it. We can rest in it. Lord, it is absolutely secure and sure because you've said it.

And so, Lord, help us to trust you in that and to wait well. Lord, not to sabotage ourselves with disobedience. Lord, not to run away or get discouraged and disregard what you've said. But, Lord, I pray that you would help us to walk with you, to seek you, to spend time in prayer, to search your scriptures, and to involve you in the choices and decisions that we make in this life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.