Resurrection Witnesses

Well, good morning. Please turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 6. We're going to preach on Noah and the flood this morning.

! No, seriously. I want to start this morning with a question. What is God up to you in the world today?

We might have a whole list of things that we wish God were up to.

We wish that wars would end. We wish that poverty would be eradicated. We wish that disease would be cured.

We wish that ungodliness would not run rampant. We wish that sex trafficking and sex crimes would be stopped.

Many, many things that we long for, and these are all good desires that we would have.

There are also things that we wonder about when we think about this. In the church, we wonder, will God return soon?

And if He's not returning soon, what is He up to? What is His work doing?

Well, I believe that these are questions that the early church was asking as well.

As we begin our series in the Book of Acts, actually, this is the second week, so if you weren't here last week,

we're preaching through the Book of Acts this fall, actually this year, we'll be looking through the story of God's work in building His church.

If you didn't get to hear the sermon last week, I really encourage you, go to our website, go back and listen to it again,

because it's a great introduction to the work.

But we're going to preach on the second passage in the Book of Acts.

In your pew Bibles, it's going to be page 855 or so.

We're going to look at Acts 1, verses 12 through 26, and it's a little bit of an odd passage.

Acts 1:12–26

Interestingly, lots of sermon series just skip over this passage.

When they want to preach through the whole Book of Acts, they just skip this one.

But we believe that all of God's words are profitable for us, and so we don't want to set our own agenda by picking all the passages.

We want to preach through God's word as it is written.

And so we're going to preach through this passage and see what God has for us as we think about what is God up to in the world today.

As we get there, we want to set the scene for what's going on in the narrative.

This is after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He appeared to many people over a period of 40 days, and then, as we saw in the first eight verses,

He then ascended into heaven, disappeared from view, miraculously, supernaturally.

He ascended into heaven, and the disciples were left with the instruction,

Go back to Jerusalem and wait.

Wait for what God has next.

Now, can you imagine these men and women?

They had believed in Jesus.

They had left their old faith commitments, their old communities, and said,

We will follow you.

Many of them had left their livelihoods and their homes and even their families to follow Jesus.

And now He's gone.

What happens next?

Well, we're going to pick up the story.

We're going to read, starting in verse 12.

And then we will consider together a few things we can learn about what God is up to.

So, Acts chapter 1, verse 12.

Acts 1:12

Then they, that is the disciples, returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,

which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath-stage journey away.

And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where they were staying,

Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,

James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

All these were, all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary,

the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers in the company of persons, was in all about 120,

and said,

Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas,

who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in the ministry.

Now, this man bought a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle,

and all his bowels gushed out.

And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem,

so that the field was called in their own language,

a keldama, which is field of blood.

For it is written in the book of Psalms,

May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it,

and let another take his office.

So, one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us,

one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.

And they put forward to Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice, and Matthias.

And they prayed and said,

You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen

to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.

And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven disciples.

This is God's Word. Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for your Word.

Thank you for the instruction that you give us,

and the way that you reveal yourself to us through it.

Lord, be with us this morning.

Lord, make our minds alert to understand your Word.

Make our hearts soft to receive your Word.

And may our hands be quick to respond in faithful obedience to it.

Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

What is God up to?

God is fulfilling His promises

to create for Himself a people

who will worship and serve Him forever.

A renewed people.

And what we see in this passage is the beginning of what we're going to see throughout the book of Acts,

which is a picture of what this renewed people of God look like,

which we now call the church.

And the church called it the church back then too.

But this renewed people,

this is what God is up to in the world.

He is making a new people to worship Him,

to glorify Him,

to proclaim Him,

to serve Him in the world.

There are four things that we can learn about

this renewed people of God from this passage.

So that's what we're going to explore this morning,

four of them.

The first one is,

and as we see in the first couple of verses,

God's renewed people

fulfill God's sovereign plan.

Okay?

So, this renewed people is a fulfillment of God's plan.

The disciples return to Jerusalem,

both the apostles,

that is the eleven that are named,

and a lot of others,

as you see there are 120 in verse 15 are mentioned.

And they return back to Jerusalem

in obedience to the command,

go back and wait for what God is going to do next.

Right?

And then in verse 16,

Peter gets up and he says,

we need to replace Judas.

Now, the first question that we should ask is,

why?

Why do we need to replace Judas?

Well, the reason is

because this renewed people of God

is a fulfillment of a pattern

that we see in the Old Testament.

So, we're going to do this really quickly.

Go all the way back to Genesis 12.

God comes to a man named Abram

and He makes a promise.

Abraham, I'm going to make you

the father of a great nation.

Right?

Even though he had no children.

Father, I'm going to make you

the father of a great nation

and I'm going to bless you

and through you,

I'm going to bless the whole world.

This was the beginning of a promise

to make a people for himself.

And Abraham miraculously had a son

and Isaac had two sons

and Jacob was the chosen line

and Jacob had 12 sons.

And Jacob's family was removed to Egypt

because of a famine

and lived there for 400 years

and became a structure of 12 tribes.

12 tribes descended from those 12 sons.

Not perfectly.

We're not going to get into the details of that.

But this structure of 12 tribes,

this picture of completeness,

this is the whole people of God.

And when God miraculously saved them

from slavery in Egypt

and brought them out,

in Exodus 19,

he says,

I will make you my people

and I will be your God

if you keep my commandment.

And then he leads this nation now,

the nation of Israel,

out of Egypt

and towards the promised land.

Now, the whole Old Testament

is now a complicated story

of the people of God

failing to be the people of God

over and over again,

God continuing to be faithful

to his promise

over and over again.

But when we see in the history,

the end of it was

the unfaithfulness became so great

that God judged the people of God

by sending them into exile.

And the 12 tribes

who had taken up residence

in the promised land

that God had given them

were removed from that land

and they never returned

and never were reconstituted.

And when you come to the time of Jesus,

the remnant of the people of God,

the God of Israel,

had returned to Jerusalem

but they saw,

they're wondering too,

God, what are you up to?

What God is doing

is creating a renewed people

for himself.

The 12 disciples of Jesus

became the 12 apostles

who are the foundation of the church.

And this is the pattern

where God is saying,

this is the fulfillment

fulfillment of what I have been up to

from the very beginning.

Now, we want to be careful on this

because Tyler mentioned in his prayer,

but I'll say it again.

The apostles,

the original apostles,

the 12,

were a unique part in history.

Right?

There are no ongoing apostles

with the same role

and the same authority.

Why?

Because they were literally

eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection.

And we can't replace them.

But we also see that in Scripture

that when James the apostle

dies in chapter 12,

they don't replace him then.

So this is the hinge point

of the changing

from the Old Testament people of God

to the New Testament people of God.

And there's this sense of fulfillment

in a renewed people of God

based on now something different.

Not the Old Testament promise

to Abraham or Carl Moses,

but those things are fulfilled

in the person of Christ.

And this new people of God

is based on the resurrected Christ

and his work of redemption for us.

So this is the big picture.

I want to make one more note

before we go on.

Luke is really careful to say

and notice that these,

that this new people of God

led by the 12 apostles

included both men and women.

Now we might think today,

duh, of course,

that must be true.

But in that cultural patriarchal time,

that would have been groundbreaking.

That would have been,

for it to be explicit,

the women were a part of this

from the very beginning.

Because this is a part

of the renewed people of God

in a sense where God

was making sure

that he had the doors open wide

for this people to be

for all peoples everywhere,

men and women

from every tribe

and tongue and nation.

There's so much more to say

about that,

but we'll pick it up

as we go along

because it's going to be

a part of the rest

of the book of Acts.

This is a beautiful thing.

This is what God is doing,

creating the church

as this unique place

where his people

are displaying his glory

in fulfillment

of these Old Testament prophets.

So I want to end this point

by just reading

from Ephesians chapter 3

Ephesians 3:7–12

verses 7 through 12

so you can hear

how the Apostle Paul

talks about this new people of God.

He says this,

of this gospel

I was made a minister

according to the gift

of God's grace

which was given to me

by the working of his power.

To me, though I am

the very least

of all these saints,

this grace was given

to preach to the Gentiles

the unsearchable riches of Christ

and to bring to light

for everyone

what is the plan

of the mystery

hidden for ages in God

who created all things.

Here's the key part.

So that through the church

the manifold wisdom of God

might now be made known

to the rulers and authorities

in the heavenly places.

This was according

to the eternal purpose

that he had realized

in Christ Jesus our Lord

in whom we have boldness

and access with confidence

through our faith in him.

God said this church

from now on

is the place

where I am displaying

my glory in the world.

And the church

hasn't done that perfectly

by far.

But that is still

God's plan A.

Right?

The gathered people of God

as we worship here

this morning

we are a part

of fulfilling this plan

that God has given

to his people.

Not only so that

God would be worshipped

but also so that

he would be made known.

So we proclaim him.

we preach

we share

we live lives

that invite others

to come

and see

who this Jesus is

and what he's done.

This is God's plan A

for the world.

So if you're wondering

today

what's God's plan

for my life?

Well here's one of

God's plans for your life.

He wants you

to be a part of his church.

He wants you to find

your place of service

and worship

in it.

Okay.

Second thing we see

not only is this

God's people

fulfillment

but we also see

that this renewed people

are centered

on God himself.

I just want to pick up

on verse 14

for a second

where what we see

is that

as the people

gathered together

it says two things

about them.

They were with one accord

devoting themselves

to prayer.

Right?

This was not

an ultimate frisbee club

where they came together

because they like to do

the same kind of activity.

Right?

God had gathered them

around himself

and he is in the center.

And so

being of one accord

with people

remember the disciples

weren't all from

the same place.

Matthew was a tax collector.

Peter was a fisherman.

Many of them

were from Galilee

but not all of them.

And God was bringing

them together

and calling them

into a unity.

And again

we'll see this theme

play out

in the book of Acts

but calling them

together

for only one reason

because they followed

Jesus

together.

And friends

I just have to say

one of the things

I love about this church

is that I feel like

we taste that

at least a little bit

because New Haven

is a very diverse city

and when you look

at who comes here

on Sunday morning

like look around.

Do we have things

in common?

Do we cross paths

in everyday life?

Probably not.

Not that much.

But we gather

because of Jesus

and we're so glad

that we have

this kind of community.

And here's my challenge

to you this morning.

How do you want to

how can you be a part

of this church?

Well

one

you can stay

for the potluck afterwards.

Two

you can sit with people

that you don't know

you can sit with your friend

and other people

you don't know

but sit with people

you don't know

and ask them

about their life.

Ask them about

their faith journey.

Ask them about

how God has worked

in their lives.

Spend time this morning

and in the weeks to come

as you have time

in fellowship hour

or however you interact

in small groups

or whatever

find out about

the other people in God

and become in one accord

over the shared faith

in Jesus

that gathers us

as a church.

So that's my encouragement

with you about that.

Not only were they

in one accord

but they were devoted

to prayer.

They seek

they were seeking

for the promised

Holy Spirit to come.

You see at the end

of this passage

they were seeking

God to lead them

in guidance

about who they would

choose to be

this new apostle.

They lived with a picture

of a vibrant

relationship

with a living God

who heard their prayers

and who responded

to them.

Friends, we live

in a world

where we just

so desperately

want to be

self-dependent.

We hate

depending on other people

and we don't really

even like

depending on God.

But the picture

of the people

of God here

is a people

who have embraced

the fact that

of course

we're dependent

on God.

This is what

the gospel tells us

from the very beginning

because we need

Jesus to save us

from sin

that we can't

save ourselves

from.

And if that's

the foundation

of how we know

God,

let's continue

in that.

Let's continue

to be dependent

on God.

And as we depend

on God,

let us also bring

others,

the people of God

into our lives

trusting and believing

that God will use

them

to help us grow

in faith

together.

If you need

help in your

prayer life,

there are lots

of good books

out there,

but I'll just say

one.

Paul Miller's

book,

A Praying Life,

is a wonderful

book.

It's very real,

it's practical,

it will help

you develop

a plan

so that you

can be purposeful

to create

a discipline

of prayer

because the

discipline

of prayer

will help

shape your

heart

in the

spontaneousness

of a real

prayer relationship

with God.

The other thing

I'll say

is in two weeks

there's a

women's conference.

Do you know

what the topic

is going to be?

Prayer.

What a great

thing.

If you're a

woman here,

please sign up

and go.

We'd love for you

to join there.

And finally,

if you're wondering

what do I pray,

well,

I'm going to read

Paul's prayer

from the book

of Ephesians

for you

just as an

example of how

you can pray

for yourself

and for others.

Paul says this

in Ephesians 1

Ephesians 1:16–23

verse 16

through 23.

I do not

cease to give

thanks for you

remembering you

in my prayers

that the God

of our Lord

Jesus Christ,

the Father of

glory,

may give you

the spirit

of wisdom

and of revelation

in the knowledge

of him.

Having the eyes

of your heart

enlightened

that you may

know what

is the hope

to which he

has called you,

what are the

riches of his

glorious inheritance

in the saints,

and what is the

immeasurable greatness

of his power

towards us

who believe

according to

the working

of his great

might that he

worked in Christ

when he raised

him from the dead

and seated him

in his right hand

in the heavenly

places far above

all rule and

authority and power

and dominion

and above every

name that is named

not only in this

age but also

in the one to come

and he put all

things under his

feet and gave him

his head over

all things to the

church which is

his body,

the fullness of

him who fills

all in all.

Friends,

pray this that

you may know

the hope

and the riches

of the inheritance

and the power

of God at work

in you that you

may know Christ

in all of his

exalted glory.

Okay,

so what have we

seen so far?

God's people are

fulfillment of his

promises.

God's people are

centered on Christ.

We move through

the passage in

verses 16 through

20, we see that

God's people are

preserved despite

human sin by God.

God's people are

right?

Look with me again

in verses 16

through 20.

Peter stands up

and he says,

hey, we need to

fulfill, we need to

fill this role that

Judas has abdicated,

right?

He had this role as

an apostle.

He was deeply

involved with us,

right?

He was involved in

our ministry.

He was counted as

our number.

Remember, thinking

back into the

gospels, he was

called by Jesus.

Jesus knew who he

was.

He called him in.

He walked with

him.

He discipled him.

He entrusted

things to him.

Judas was fully

engaged as a

disciple, as a

follower of Christ.

And with his

betrayal, one of the

questions that the

early church had to

ask was, God, can

we trust one

another?

Can we trust you to

do this?

Right?

Because it was a

crisis that one of

Jesus' 12 disciples

had betrayed him and

had led the

authorities so that

they could arrest

him and ultimately

crucify him.

So this is one of

the questions.

Peter's saying, hey,

we need to replace

him.

And then do you

notice in verses

18 and 19, there's

a parenthesis?

This is because it

seems very clear this

was not a part of

Peter's sermon.

Luke, the author of

the Acts, is

interjecting, oh, by

the way, do you

know what happened

to Judas?

In case you're

wondering, because

everyone in

Jerusalem knows

this, he died.

Right?

Now, there are two

different accounts.

There's one in

Matthew 27 and

there's one here.

They emphasize

different details.

I don't think

they're contradictory.

We can get into

that another time if

you want to ask me

about it.

But they emphasize

different details.

But it's very clear

that the end of it

is that his acts

of wickedness led

to his destruction.

Matthew tells us

that he hanged

himself.

Luke here describes

that after hanging

himself, his body

hung there for so

long that it

decomposed and fell

apart.

And that the place

where he died

was an accursed

place because they

knew that this was

a place where

condemnation and

judgment, a just

result for Judas'

betrayal, had

happened.

Peter goes on.

In verse 20, he

says, okay, so

that's what

happened to Judas.

But now, Peter

says, we must

fulfill what God

knew was going to

happen anyway,

right?

Because in verse

20, he ends up

quoting two psalms.

And they're psalms

from the Old

Testament.

They're psalms of

David.

And they're psalms

David crying out

to the Lord about

his enemies, the

people who stood

up against the

anointed king of

Israel.

And he's praying

for God's work,

right?

And the first

one is that

this man, that the

enemy's camp would

be made desolate and

no one would live

there, right?

And then the second

one is that he would

be removed and

replaced.

Christ, okay?

Now, I could have

preached a whole

sermon on the use of

the Old Testament

and the New.

I'm not going to do

that today.

We'll talk about that

a lot throughout the

book of Acts.

But for here, what I

want you to see is

that Peter's saying

God knew that Judas

was going to do what

he was going to do.

Jesus knew that

God was going to,

that Judas was going

to do what Judas

did.

And God

sovereignly

oversaw

the work of

redemption despite

the human sinfulness

that happened,

right?

So rather than

fearing that God

would keep his

promises, Paul

reminds his people

God knew that this

was going to happen

from the very start.

Jesus promised

that God, that he

would build his

church and the

gates of hell would

not stand against

it.

No human sin can

thwart the work of

God.

Now look, as a

church, this never

excuses our human

sinfulness.

We never say, oh,

well, it's okay

because God's

sovereign so it

doesn't matter.

I can sin all I

want.

That is, if you're

thinking that way,

you come see me

afterwards.

We'll talk about it.

But that is so far

from the biblical

picture.

But what it is

saying is that

despite the reality

of human sin,

God is at work

accomplishing his

work of redemption

to redeem a people

for himself.

And so, you'll see

that this is exactly

what Peter says

when he preaches

the gospel in

Pentecost in the

next chapter of

Acts.

So in Acts 2,

22 through 24,

Peter will say

this,

Men of Israel,

hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth,

a man attested

to you by God

with mighty works

and wonders and

signs that God

did through him

in your midst.

As you yourselves

know, this Jesus

delivered up according

to the definite plan

and foreknowledge of

God, you crucified

and killed by the

hands of lawless men.

Do you see that?

Together, God

ordained it and

sovereignly ruled

over it at the same

time that godless

men, lawless men,

did the most unjust

thing that has ever

happened in the

world, the crucifixion

of Jesus Christ.

So this is a part

of what God is doing

through his people,

is accomplishing his

plan even through

human sin.

And friend, again,

isn't this true

because of the gospel

that we believe in?

Right?

That Jesus

Christ was

wronged in his

accusation, in his

judgment, in his

crucifixion.

It was all human

sin.

And yet it was

exactly God's

plan that he would

suffer unjustly so

that he might be our

redeemer.

Because we deserve to

suffer justly.

And Jesus took our

place.

And so if we have a

problem with God

wrestling with, as we

wrestle with, like, how

can God, who is just,

work in an unjust

world, how does he

work this out?

Friends, look to the

cross where justice and

mercy meet.

And wrestle with the

problem of evil based on

that perspective.

And I'd love to talk to

you more about it.

Okay.

Fourth thing.

We've seen God

fulfill this promise.

We've seen God's people

centered on him.

We've seen God

preserving his people, his

church, despite human

sinfulness.

And finally, God's

people are called to be

witnesses to the

resurrected Jesus.

This is what we see in

verses 21 through 26.

We finally get to the

action point.

Peter's preached a

sermon saying, hey, we

have to do this, and

then how are we going to

do this?

Well, what are some

criteria?

They have to have seen

and been with Jesus.

They had to have been

with Jesus from the

start so they knew who

he was, so they'd heard

his teaching and could

represent it again.

They had to be those who

witnessed his

resurrection or witnessed

the resurrection,

resurrected Jesus, so

that they could testify,

as we read earlier in

1 John, what we have

seen with our eyes, what

we have heard, what we

have touched, we know

this is real, right?

So we have to replace

someone because these

apostles were going to

be the foundation of the

new church, right?

They had to represent

Jesus in his teaching.

They had to speak about

his life and death and

resurrection because

their teaching became the

core of the church.

And it was then laid out

in the scriptures for us

so that the New Testament

account that we have is

based on eyewitness accounts

of those who had seen

Jesus, right?

And this is the ongoing

witness then of the church,

right?

I haven't, I didn't see

Jesus physically raised

from the dead, but I can

proclaim this because this

is a trustworthy witness.

And that's what the

apostles were doing.

And that's why it's so

important to have replaced

someone like this.

And so, as, and again,

we're setting up, chapter

two is really exciting in

Acts.

They're great.

God does amazing things,

right?

So this is the setup.

The people are being set up

in place to receive what God

has next for them, right?

So they sought God in prayer.

God, which one are you going

to choose?

Now, they cast lots, right?

And this is a fascinating thing,

but do you notice how they

talked about it?

Casting lots was not like,

oh, this is a game of chance.

I wonder which guy's going to

get picked.

No, because they saw that God

was in the middle of it from

the very beginning.

God, who have you chosen?

Who have you chosen and

selected, right?

They considered men who met

the criteria, and then they

cast lots.

And casting lots literally

is probably like a bunch of

marked stones in a bag, and

they reached in and pulled

one out.

You know, that's probably as

simple as it looked.

But they believed that God

was sovereignly active in

that, and that he had

already prepared someone, and

that Matthias was the one

who was picked, right?

And so, this is how God

works for them to fulfill the

twelve again, so that they

can play their apostolic role.

And you see in verse 25, it

repeats this, right?

To take the place in this

ministry and apostleship from

which Judas turned aside.

This is the role that the

apostles had.

The ministry, that is, they

were going to serve God and

serve his people by teaching

and proclaiming and bearing

witness to the people of God.

And they were apostles, meaning

they were sent ones.

They had a particular role and

a particular job that then

become a pattern for the

church that follows them to

continue in.

That the church is called to be

those who serve one another,

serve God, and serve the world.

We are meant to be sent into

the world as followers of Jesus

to do what?

To proclaim the resurrected

Jesus.

This is what the church is

meant to do, bearing witness to

the life-saving power of the

gospel.

So, friends, let me close with

the words of Peter as he wraps

up some of these things and puts

it in a different language in 1

Peter 2, 9 and 10.

He says this,

But you are a chosen race, a

royal priesthood, a holy nation,

a people for his own possession.

Why?

So that you may proclaim the

excellencies of him who called

you out of darkness into his

marvelous light.

Once you were not a people, but

now you are God's people.

Once you had not received

mercy, but now you have

received mercy.

Friends, what is God doing in

the world?

He's building his church.

What is the church called to

do?

To declare the excellencies of

him who called us out of

darkness into light.

Not because we are great,

because we are nothing, but

because he is great, because

he is everything, and he has

done everything in the

resurrected Christ for us to

know him and to be his people

and to represent him until he

returns.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for your

word.

We pray that you will help us,

help us, Lord, to internalize

your plan for your people,

that it might become our plan for

our lives.

By your Holy Spirit, Lord, fill us.

Lord, if there are those here this

morning who are wondering about

the resurrection of Christ, I

pray that you would help them,

help them to become convinced

and certain that because you

were raised from the dead, Lord,

all of your redemptive work is

real and is for us.

And, Lord, that you would show us

your great love so that we may

come to know that love in faith in

you.

Lord, be with us, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen.