Objectives: To understand the background to the birth of the Church and unique role of the Apostles.
1. The Description of the Early Church
1:12-15
1.1 Their Name 1:15
1.2 Their Number 1:15
1.3 Their Nature 1:14
1.3.1 They prayed
1.3.2 They prayed together
1.3.3 They all prayed together
1.3.4 They prayed constantly
2. The Explanation of the Fate of Judas
1:16-20
3. The Selection of the Twelfth
Man 1:21-26
3.1 The Role of the 12 Apostles
3.1.1 Witness 1:8; 2:32; 26:16
3.1.2 Teaching 2:42
3.1.3 Miraculous Signs 2.43
3.1.4 Leadership 4:37
3.1.5 Discipline 5
3.1.6 Ministry of the Word 6:2
3.1.7 Decision Making 15:6
3.2 The Uniqueness of the 12 Apostles 1:21-22
Introduction
How do you feel after something tremendous or exciting has happened?
The day after your birthday or Christmas, the World Cup or your favourite basketball teams game? Its a bit of an anti climax. Yesterday's victory is history. That's probably how the disciples felt the day after the Ascension. Jesus was really gone. He had blown their minds for forty days appearing to over 500 at one time since his astounding resurrection. But they had seen him ascend into heaven with their own eyes. They had seen and heard the angels telling them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. We know all about Pentecost but they didn't. Even for us like them there can be a sense of anti climax the Sunday after the Ascension and a week before we celebrate Pentecost. And the danger is that we ignore the significance of that first church meeting recorded in Acts 1:12-26. It has much to teach us. Lets turn to it.
There are three parts to the story.
1. The Description of the Early Church 1:12-15
2. The Explanation of the Fate of Judas 1:16-20
3.
The Selection of the Twelfth Man 1:21-26
1. The Description
of the Early Church 1:12-15
These verses afford
us a unique glimpse into this transitional stage for what was a very Jewish
early church before the Holy Spirit had come upon them.
1.1 Their Name 1:15
"Brethren" or Brothers = first name
given to the Christians. Already they saw themselves
as a family, not an organisation. And that is what
we are. The Christian family in this place who happen to be part of a union
of other churches historically known as the Baptist Church or the Church of
England.
The first important principle the early church teaches us is that we are a family. A movements is always in danger of becoming a machine. Over time a machine can easily become a monument which eventually will turn into a mausoleum. May God keep us mindful that we are first and foremost a family, with all the tensions, the joys and privileges that brings. Their Name.
1.2 Their Number 1:15
A group numbering about 120. That was the minimum number
required by Jewish law to establish a new community with its own council. This
represented the entire Christian community in Jerusalem.
There were others in Galilee, but at that moment in time, out of 4 million Jews living in Palestine, the Christians were a tiny, insignificant minority. About one per 30.000 population. If you add together your family members together you come to about the same number of those first Christians in Jerusalem. Just imagine you were the only Christians in the entire world. The next time you feel like you are the only Christian where you live or work, remember the size of the first church in Jerusalem, and what happened to them, what happened through them. If anything ever began from small beginnings the church did. That should not depress you but excite you to what God is going to accomplish in and through you. We are....., a thousand times more numerous in our community than the first church was, so realize what God has done, see what he is doing and pray expectantly of what he can and will do. Their name, their number.
1.3 Their Nature 1:14
They
looked not to the smallness of their number, nor at the size of their mission,
but to the greatness of their God.
1.3.1 They prayed. When all else fails pray! He that is within you is greater than he that is in the world.
1.3.2 They prayed together. Praying is not easy all the time, but I find I have more of a desire when I am with other Christians.
1.3.3 They all prayed together. That is in CCC we try to get back to this approach and away from the one man ministry mentality. House groups are an ideal place for such ministry. We find it so easy to do just about everything else but pray together. We have time for almost everything else but prayer. Yes, we should spend time in worship, yes, most certainly in fellowship, yes most emphatically in studying God's word, but supremely in praying with and for one another. Prayer is simply talking to God. My son Michael is 6. He is at the age where he cannot get the words out quick enough. So he stumbles half way through a sentence so we get the beginning three times before the whole sentence. He is so excited to tell me her news. God must smile when we pray and get the words wrong. It doesn't matter. He is more concerned with our heart attitude. Prayerlessness is a sign of independence and that is what sparked the fall of Satan. God wants us to talk to him about everything. The first principle the early church teaches us is that they were a family. The second principle they teach us is that they prayed, they prayed together, they all prayed and....
1.3.4 They prayed constantly. It was probably the first 24 hour chain of prayer. Even our description of prayer in those terms says something about our preoccupation with time in the West.
Constancy in prayer is a discipline we need to master. Not conscious of the time, not concerned with the time, only with the will of our Father.
I play squash in my spare time. I'm making progress you'll be pleased to know. Its not that I'm winning more games, but that I am able to play for longer. That is a sign that I am getting healthier and fitter. When I began playing half an hour would exhaust me. Now I can cope with an hour and I could play for longer. That is progress for someone as unfit as me. We need the same resolution and perseverance in prayer. If you don't already do so may I suggest you keep a prayer diary?
You will find it helpful as a reminder to you to keep faithful in prayer, but it will also act as a motivation as you see the Lord answer your prayers, sometimes only after months or years, and it will give you a spirit of thankfulness, and the incentive to persevere. The Description of the Early Church. Their name, their number, their nature, they prayed, they prayed together, they prayed constantly.
2. The Explanation
of the Fate of Judas 1:16-20
There
are two possible meanings for Iscariot that may help us understand something
of this man whose name has probably become more infamous than any other apart
from Hitler in our own generation.
Iscariot could mean "Man of Kerioth" which is a town in Judea and therefore the only Apostle not a Galilean. As the odd man out this may have fuelled his bitterness and resentment. A man of great ability, his life ended in tragedy. Perhaps more likely is the fact that the 'Iscariots' were a band of violent nationalists, who were prepared to undertake assassination and murder in their campaign to set Palestine free. Perhaps Judas saw Jesus as the one to lead Israel to independence, and turned against him when Jesus disowned such an earthly kingdom. What ever the reason when Judas saw his plan to force Jesus go tragically wrong, he committed suicide out of bitter remorse.
Peter however correctly perceived the Sovereign hand of God in all this. His probably remembered the way Jesus had shown them a few weeks earlier how his death and resurrection had to be, how it was prophesied long ago. It was the same scriptures that convinced Peter and the others that Judas needed to be replaced.
3. The Selection
of the Twelfth Man 1:21-26
Some commentators think
the Church got it wrong, that they were told to wait in Jerusalem until the
Holy Spirit had been given before thinking of a successor to Judas. Some believe
that Paul was clearly God's man, and I have a lot of sympathy with that. Apart
from Pater, James and John, the other 9 Apostles are rarely mentioned. The more
common line of interpretation is that what we have here is a unique event immediately
preceding Pentecost, in which the selection of the apostle was made according
to recognised Jewish practises. Lets assume they got it right.
3.1 The Role of the 12 Apostles
Why
choose a Successor in the first place? The number 12 had always been very significant.
They had personally been chosen by Jesus.
The function of the twelve was that they be a witness to Jesus as the Messiah. From His baptism to His Ascension. Jesus had promised that the twelve Apostles would rule over the twelve tribes of Israel in the coming age, a theme the Book of Revelation picks up in chapter 21. This is why with Judas gone they needed a replacement. In the Church their specific functions were:
3.1.1 Witness 1:8; 2:32; 26:16
3.1.2 Teaching 2:42
3.1.3 Miraculous Signs 2.43
3.1.4 Leadership 4:37
3.1.5 Discipline 5
3.1.6 Ministry of the Word 6:2
3.1.7 Decision Making 15:6
The Role of the Apostles.
3.2 The Uniqueness of the 12 Apostles 1:21-22
3.2.1 Significance of an Apostle
Not
everyone could be an apostle. In their choice of a successor they looked for
someone "beginning with John's baptism who had been with Jesus until his
ascension" (1:22). Someone who had known Jesus personally, someone who
had heard his teaching first hand. On this criteria there are no apostles today.
Apart from Judas, the other Apostles were never replaced or succeeded by other
Apostles.
3.2.2 The Sign of an Apostle
It
is noticeable within the NT that the Apostles were a clearly defined group of
Christian leaders endued with authority and power. It is no coincidence that
in Acts 2:43, 4:33, 5:12 Luke says that 'signs and wonders' were associated
with the Apostles. It was their purpose in the absence of scripture to bear
witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul writing in 1 Cor 9, and 2 Cor 12
does not see himself as a member of a large and loosely defined band of roving
apostles.
"The things that mark an apostle- signs, wonders, and miracles were done among you with great perseverance". (2 Corinthians 12:12) He speaks cuttingly of their own self appointed "Super apostles".
3.2.3 The Seal of an Apostle
In 1 Cor. 9 Paul speaks of the Corinthian Church as being
a seal of his apostleship. This church had been founded by Paul. The
12 Apostles, together with Paul and Barnabas were unique, marked by Signs and
Wonders, they bore witness to Jesus Christ.
As Paul says in Ephesians 2:20 together with the Prophets they were the Foundation of the Church. A foundation that was laid only once. The Roman Church dreamed up apostolic succession to justify its hold on the leadership of the wider church. This was unnecessary and an error. For Judas was replaced not because he had died but because he had defected. In Acts 12 for example, when James was martyred there was no attempt to replace him to make up the number. The Role of the Apostles, the Uniqueness of the Apostles.
3.3 The Selection of an Apostle 1:23-26
Notice the church did not simply pick a man, nor did they
ask for volunteers. The Church proposed two men. Both had been nominated and
approved. The choice of twelfth man was left to the
Lord, not an ecclesiastical selection conference, or a secular head of State.
Their method of choosing may appear a little like rolling a dice, but in actual
fact this was the normal Jewish method of appointing leaders. All the offices
and duties in the temple were settled in this way. The names of the candidates
were written on stones, the stones were put in a vessel which was shaken until
one stone fell out. The name of the person on that stone was appointed. If this
method of selection is rightly seen as belonging under the Old Covenant and
pre Pentecost, what can we say about the present method of selecting Bishops....
What part Matthais was to play in the expansion of the Early Church or whether Paul was the Lord's twelfth man, we will have to wait until we see the videos in heaven and discover whose sitting on that twelfth throne. And that is where we leave them. The Brethren, 120 in number, praying, together, constantly, as they waited for the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
Mindful of the tragic fall of Judas, one of their very own who had deserted them. They were ready, ready to receive power from on high in order to be Christ's witnesses. We have the same Great Commission.
Unlike them we have the Scriptures to guide us, we have the Holy Spirit so we don't have to hang around waiting, we have 2000 years experience to learn from, and numerically we are in a far stronger position to fulfil God's will here in the Czech and Slovak Republics than they ever had, so lets get down to work. Lets pray.
This seminar draws on material from Warren Wersbie, Be Daring - The Acts of the Apostles, John Stott, The Message of Acts; the Holman Bible Dictionary, the Nelson Bible Dictionary, Unger's Bible Dictionary, the IVP Bible Dictionary and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
IBS Seminar 2 : Questions
Acts 1:12-26 : Apostolic Qualifications
Open:
1. What memories do you have of not being elected or chosen for a team? How do you feel about it now?
Dig:
2. Who are the key people mentioned in 1:13-14? What do you know about each of these individuals? How have Jesus brothers changed over the course of Jesus' ministry? What do you think caused this change?
3. What does Peter's role seem to be in this group? Does this surprise you?
4. Why would it have been necessary for there to be twelve disciples? What do the passages Peter quotes from the Psalms have to do with this?
5. What were the qualifications to be met by the two candidates?
6. How would these qualifications help to fulfil the goal of the Apostle's ministry?
7. What part does prayer play in this process?
Reflect:
8. Who are your spiritual soul mates - brothers and sisters with whom you share a great deal spiritually? How have they encouraged you in the past six months?
9. How would you describe your prayer life? What has the Lord taught you about prayer in the last year?
10. How does your church or CCC choose leaders? How does that compare with the way Matthias was selected? Why the difference? In what ways would you like to improve the process of leadership selection in your church?