Fire & Reign Studies in Acts
Acts 1:12-26
Hurry up…and wait.
It's an expression long associated with life in the armed forces: the endless lines, the delays while an assignment is being readied, the long night before a major battle, and finally, the anticipation of final orders. For some who serve during war, the sounds of battle remain tantalizingly distant, as they are left waiting stateside for the duration. I remember when Trish’s son, Tom, came home after basic training for the Marine Corps. He was so worried that the war would end before he would get a chance to get in it. Four years, and multiple trips to the war zone have changed that tune. But waiting was hard.
Hurry up…and wait.
From my own son, Andrew, who is in the Navy ROTC Unit at UW Madison, I heard the same worry. While a number of his friends, including Tom, were volunteering in the armed forces, and heading over to the war zone, he was in school, training to be an officer. On a number of occasions he talked about dropping out, enlisting and going to Afghanistan or Iraq. He could do that, I said, as many fine young men and women did. But while the work and sacrifice of each of those was important, it was equally important that there were trained officers to lead them, and that training took time.
Hurry up…and wait.
Whether an enlisted person or a commissioned officer, the period of training can often times feel like time wasted. Young recruits will say, “We have a job to do – let’s just get at it! What does it matter that I can march in a straight line, recite core values, or shine boots?” But anyone who has been through it will confirm that the discipline, camaraderie, and skills learned are absolutely vital. No army ever marched into battle successfully without first spending time in preparation.
At the end of His life on this earth, Jesus gave marching orders to His followers. He commissioned them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. He instructed them to “go and make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” There is urgency in His command. People who do not hear and believe are condemned to eternal death – the stakes could not be any higher!
It might be surprising, then, to see what Jesus said just before He gave those orders to His followers. In Acts, chapter 1, verse 4, we read, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Don’t leave…but wait.
Before they could ever hope to accomplish the mission they had been given, there were things that had to happen. Now our first inclination is to say, “of course, they had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come,” and jump immediately to Acts chapter 2, and study the events of the day of Pentecost. But between chapter 1, verse 11, and chapter 2, verse 1, there was preparatory work to be done. During that period of time, those followers of Christ engaged in five activities that prepared them for the task before them.
Turn with me to Acts chapter 1, we are going to read from verse 12-26. When we left the disciples last week, you might remember, they were standing on the Mount of Olives, staring into the sky, with their chins on their chest. They had jus seen Jesus ascend into heaven right in front of them! As they are standing there, two angels came to them and asked, “Why are standing here looking into the sky?” We said last week that these angels had come to kind of “nudge” them along – they had been told what to do by Jesus, so get to it! Now, picking up in verse 12:
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-- 17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry." 18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' 20 and, "'May another take his place of leadership.' 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection." 23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs." 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
In this passage, I see Five Basic Training Activities that prepared the early church for mission achievement:
1. Obedience
Verses 12-14 tell us that the disciples left the Mount of Olives, returned to Jerusalem, and went to the upstairs room where they were staying. In Luke’s first book, chapter 24, verse 52, he tells us that they returned to Jerusalem “with great joy.” They were excited about what they had experienced – all that they had seen and heard during that last 40 days since the day of the resurrection. The appearances of Jesus to them, the trip to Galilee, breakfast along the sea with Him, His ongoing teaching and the proofs of His resurrection from the dead had made for an amazing 6 weeks! And now, returning to Jerusalem, they are excited and anxious about what was to come. Jesus had just left – He had left His mission – the continuation of His saving work – in their hands! WOW!
How easy it would have been to have just run roughshod ahead – simply charging ahead in enthusiasm and zeal, and maybe recklessly – but they did not – the first thing they did was obey. They went into Jerusalem and waited – just like He had told them to. There’s no use thinking that we can accomplish God’s work unless we are prepared to be obedient to God’s word.
2. Fellowship
The second training they did was in fellowship. We read that this was a pretty amazing group of people. There were men and women, apostles and ordinary people. There were even members of Jesus’ earthly family there! Mary, His mother was there, praying and worshiping with the others, but so were Jesus’ brothers. We are told that there were 120 of them gathered together. They had one thing in common – they were drawn together in common love for and devotion to Jesus.
It would have been so easy for someone to bring division to this group. Jesus family members could have claimed some special honor. Some could have condemned Peter for his failure at Jesus trial. Peter could have blamed John for bringing him to the High Priests house that night. John could have been arrogant about the fact that he alone had been at the cross, and that Jesus had placed His own mother in his care. None of that occurred, however. Instead, we read that they were “joined together.” (Verse 14) In the King James Version, this phrase is translated “in one accord.” Which is a great translation, because the original Greek phrase had musical overtones. Just as a chord is made up of individual notes, each one distinct and important, when they are played together they make up one harmonious chord. Such was the early church. That same phrase is found six times in the book of Acts. Could they have had division? Yes. Could they have found fault with one another? Absolutely! And legitimately! But they ignored what separated them, and they lived in harmony with one another.
3. Prayer
In that same verse (14) we find the third element of their basic training – They were in constant prayer. Prayer plays a significant role in the story of the church as recorded in the Book of Acts.
Warren Wiersbe writes:
The believers prayed for guidance in making decisions (Acts 1:15-26) and for courage to witness for Christ (Acts 4:23-31). In fact, prayer was a normal part of their daily ministry (Acts 2:42-47; 3:1; 6:4). Stephen prayed as he was being stoned (Acts 7:55-60). Peter and John prayed for the Samaritans (Acts 8:14-17), and Saul of Tarsus prayed after his conversion (Acts 9:11). Peter prayed before he raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-43). Cornelius prayed that God would show him how to be saved (Acts 10:1-4), and Peter was on the housetop praying when God told him how to be the answer to Cornelius’ prayers (Acts 10:9).
The believers in John Mark’s house prayed for Peter when he was in prison, and the Lord delivered him both from prison and from death (Acts 12:1-11). The church at Antioch fasted and prayed before sending out Barnabas and Paul (Acts 13:1-3; and note 14:23). It was at a prayer meeting in Philippi that God opened Lydia’s heart (Acts 16:13), and another prayer meeting in Philippi opened the prison doors (Acts 16:25ff). Paul prayed for his friends before leaving them (Acts 20:36; 21:5). In the midst of a storm, he prayed for God’s blessing (Acts 27:35), and after a storm, he prayed that God would heal a sick man (Acts 28:8). In almost every chapter in Acts you find a reference to prayer, and the book makes it very clear that something happens when God’s people pray.
This is certainly a good lesson for the church today. Prayer is both the thermometer and the thermostat of the local church; for the “spiritual temperature” either goes up or down, depending on how God’s people pray.
4. Study.
Jesus was no longer with the disciples, but they were not left without a source of direction. They turned to the written word of God in the absence of the living Word. It’s remarkable to me that as soon as Peter rises to speak to the group, he points to the Scriptures. The opening words of verse 15 read, “In those days...” In my “sanctified imagination” (to use Dr. Dwight Perry’s phrase!), I can imagine that during the course of those days, in that upper room, gathered together in fellowship, worship and prayer, that Peter and some of the others would slip off to a corner, with a copy of the word of God, if they had one, or perhaps sitting in small groups discussing the Law and Prophets from their teaching as Jewish children. Whatever the source, the Holy Spirit is able to bring to their attention the word of Scripture that they needed for that particular time.
He used the Word as a source for understanding – to help them deal with the circumstances of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. But he also used the Word for direction – it told them that they needed to select someone new to take the place of Judas. In any church, there are going to be times of confusion and drift. We are human, and we are going to make mistakes and errors in judgment. Those are the times when we turn back to our true north – the one source of absolute values – and we adjust our course to run in line with the Word of God. It will calm the storms of disappointment and confusion, and it will shed light on the dim path ahead.
5. Faith.
When it came time to select that leader, the early church employed what I believe to be a powerful demonstration of faith and trust in the Lord. They saw from the Scriptures that they needed to appoint another person to take Judas’ place of leadership, and they found a perfect balance of responsibility and faith. Their responsibility was to outline the requirements, and to carefully select men who fit those requirements. They selected two.
They demonstrated faith by the final selection of who would fill the role. Look at their prayer in verse 24:
“Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen…”
Can you hear the simple faith in that prayer? It’s not about personality, or elect ability, or charisma! The leader was selected based upon the Lord’s revealing it to them. They were so totally reliant on Him and His direction that they acted in simple, but great faith.
In case you were not aware of it, we employ this same method for selecting elders for Gateway Community Church. We do our part, making sure each candidate meets biblical qualifications, and is of good report among the people, but in the final analysis, we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal who will serve. I call this the “BIG GOD – tiny church” method. We do our part, but the final outcome is in God’s hands.
In our text, Joseph Barsabbus was chosen, and Matthias. Matthias was selected, and added to the apostles. He, along with the other 11, and the rest of the 120 followers of Jesus continued to wait, in eager anticipation, for the next step in their mission achievement. All they could do was wait in obedience, gather in fellowship, pray, study the Word of God, and trust in Him. By the way, like all basic training – it was not “wasted time.” As we study this book, we will see that these disciplines served the young church well as they moved toward mission achievement – and they will likewise serve us well as we work to achieve that same mission – reaching the world with the Good News of Jesus.
During that training time, they could reminisce about the events of the recent past; they could encourage on another; they could study and pray, but they need the power of the Holy Spirit to impact the world for Christ. For that they had to wait.
But the wait was not long. As we leave the text today, the first feint glow of a new day is appearing on the eastern sky – the day of Pentecost is about to dawn!
Prayer.
Lord Jesus,
You have called us to the same mission as those first 120 believers who made up the totality of the church. Help us Lord, to be faithful in our preparation, so that we might be effective in accomplishing our mission.
Ø Help us to be obedient to your leading
Ø Help us to be joined together in fellowship
Ø May we be faithful in prayer,
Ø And serious in the study of Your word,
Ø Keep us, Lord, from self-reliance, rather help us to place our faith and our future fully in Your hands.
Amen.