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I’m going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter one is where we’re going to be together today. Acts chapter one. Those weren’t all the announcements, by the way. You need to check out the announcements if you want to know more. But Acts chapter one is where we’re at together, and we started a new series last week at a, I think, a beautiful time for us as a church where we’re hoping sooner than later we begin our building project. And and as we think about that, that new season for us as a church, you know, we can look back and be thankful for what God’s done. God has certainly been doing a beautiful work here at ABC even this past week. We on Sunday celebrated baptisms. Of those that followed after the Lord and believer’s baptism, I think we had ten people baptized. And then this past Friday night we had a newcomers dinner. We had a lot of new families that were a part of that, and we’re just seeing the hand of God moving in the hearts of our church and then particularly in the hearts of individuals. It’s beautiful to see God’s story being written on the hearts of his people, as we just see a a wonderful family being made known here in Christ. And so it’s exciting to see. And so we look at our past and we’re just thankful for seeing God move and we just know are the best days are still ahead of us as we think of a new building project and all that’s that’s going to happen there.
And as we come to the book of Acts, we’re being mindful of that, because when you look at the book of Acts, you realize this is really the beginning of of the church and seeing how God moved in their lives. And the same God is at work today. In fact, when you look at the book of Acts, the book of Acts is a narrative, and it’s really a history of the early church from the from the time of Jesus’s resurrection for the next 30 years. We’re discovering what happened in God’s people. In fact, we kind of described Acts this way. It’s it’s how the Spirit of God moved in the people of God to accomplish the will of God throughout the world. And in fact, we looked at the theme verse of Acts last week, which is Acts chapter one, verse eight, where Jesus after his resurrection, he appears to his disciples for 40 days, and he says to him, to them, you’re going to be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, to the uttermost parts of the earth. And so we’re really discovering how the church begins in Jerusalem, and it goes throughout the known world. And really, as you look at the book of Acts, when you come to the end of the chapter, you find that the Apostle Paul has finally reached the capital of the Roman people.
He has reached the city of Rome. And then all of a sudden the book ends abruptly. And it’s kind of frustrating, right? When you go through that reading a book, you want to get to some kind of conclusion, right? But but really, you discover and seeing that, that probably the reason this is this is speculative on my part. And don’t take this as gospel, but this is me speculating. I think the reason that the book of Acts doesn’t have an ending is because the story is still being written, because the same spirit that moved in the people of God to accomplish the will of God in the first century is the way God works today. And so he’s still writing his story of how the church called on mission in this world is making a difference. And so here we are, in our day, in our time, and God’s got you in a particular place, not by accident, but in order to see his glory made known in your life and through your life. And so we get to look at the book of Acts as a model for us. And when you see the the early church and the the first seven chapters of the book of Acts, you discover here they are in Jerusalem and they’re proclaiming the gospel. They’re seeing lives transformed. And then when you get to chapter eight, you have this persecution that breaks out.
And so the church scatters. And so just like Acts chapter one verse eight says, you’ll be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. That’s what you discover in this book, that as persecution broke out, they went to Judea and Samaria. And then when you get to Acts chapter 12, that’s where James is martyred, and persecution breaks out again and the church spreads even further. It goes to the uttermost parts of the earth, or at least the known earth at the time. And God does an incredible thing through them. I mean, you think in the in chapter one here we’re discovering the resurrection of Jesus and these disciples that walked with Jesus. And and as Jesus was being crucified, like they ran away as cowards. But then at the resurrection of Jesus, he spent 40 days with his followers on earth, teaching them and connecting them of how the the story of redemption has been told that God has fulfilled his promises. He’s been faithful. He’s showing him through the Old Testament how God has fulfilled what he’s promised to his people. And and so for these 40 days, he’s connecting all that with them. And and they’re seeing this beautiful thing, and Jesus resurrected, and they go from people who were cowards to now they’re passionate about this resurrection because they know that as Jesus lives so they can live too, and nothing this world’s going to throw at them can ultimately stop them because they know where their destiny is.
It’s secure in Christ forever, and they can live for his glory because of that. So there’s this passion within them to now proclaim the beauty of Christ, that others may discover him too. But with that passion, God now in this section of the book of Acts tells them, wait, wait, and could you imagine that in the moment you’re you’re spent 40 days with the resurrected Jesus, and you’re discovering what all that means for you and and for God’s people. And now God’s inviting others to to belong to him. And he wants you to participate in that. And all the excitement surrounding that, what you thought had come to an end. It was just the beginning of this incredible story of what Jesus has accomplished for us. And then the next thing God says is, wait. I mean, one of the most difficult things we have to do as people is, is wait. And so what is it that God would desire for us in those seasons? As we look at verse 12 to verse 26 today? That’s what we’re going to talk about, is what what’s what’s God leading us to do in the seasons where he’s called us to to wait, waiting for the Lord as we know something new is about to begin. How do we respond to that? It reminds me of a a famous missionary named Adoniram Judson, who was a missionary to to Burma, which is now referred to as Myanmar and Adoniram Judson.
History tells us that for the first six years of ministry in in Myanmar. He he only saw one convert six years and he labored away and he went through an incredibly difficult time. The passing of his wife. He was thrown in prison for 17 months. All these reasons that he should just quit, give up and walk away. But he continued on and and during those six years, somebody wrote to him and asked him, how are you able to do this? And he said, my future is as bright as the promises of God. You know, he remained faithful to the Lord and and in remaining faithful to the Lord. At the end of his life, he saw some 100 plus churches planted, and thousands of people come to know Jesus. And sometimes in our life, we we get to see those things in seasons of waiting. We just remain faithful with with anticipation and hope what God might do. And sometimes in life, we may not always see the fruit, but we know the one thing that God calls us to do is to be faithful. And in that faithfulness, Adoniram Judson got to see the hands of that fruit come to fruition in this earthly life. Not not necessarily. He saw more, I’m sure, when he entered into eternity.
But, you know, for us, sometimes that could be the case. We just walk faithfully with the Lord. But the magnitude of the fruit we may not fully realize until we’re with Jesus face to face. But what does that look like for us to to wait as as we see God leading us to into something new? I’m going to give you two points this morning. I’m going to let you know that I’m really going to frontload these, which is the opposite of of how I typically do this. Usually I give you point number one and then I’m like, oh man, we got to get these other points real quick here in the end. But today I want to give you the first two points fast. And then we’re going to we’re going to talk about what this means for us. But let me give you number one. Number one is this obey what God says and seek his face. Obey what God says and seek his face and seasons of waiting. What does God desire for us? It is to obey what he says and seek his face in a world of quick decisions. The early church’s first act was to wait and to pray. And the waiting is really obeying what God says. Because as we read in the first 12 verses last week in the book of Acts, Jesus told them to go on and wait, and they were waiting for the Spirit of God to empower them to accomplish what God called them to in this world.
But nonetheless, Jesus called them to wait. And so they were obeying the Word of God. And in verse, verse 12 to 14, you’ll see this here. Let me give us a click. It says. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were saying what they were saying to to Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, and Philip and Thomas, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the son of Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer together. And the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. Next verse tells us there was about 120 in total. But here in this passage, what we’re discovering is they’re obeying what Jesus said. Jesus gave him a word. That word was to go back and to wait. And so here they are. They’re there seeking God’s face. They’re obeying his Word. They’re doing what God told them to. And when they’re looking at this, this is a pretty incredible moment, because we’re discovering in verse 13, the disciples are all together again, the early church, the 12 apostles they become and and here they are in this moment.
And they’re they’re not only with just the 12, but also there’s some other individuals with Jesus. And it’s an incredible moment of unity with that intimate group of people, especially when you consider who these disciples are. You know, they have such an eclectic group of people that I would think apart from Jesus, many of them would not have been friends with each other. Some of them would have had a natural connection because they were blue collar individuals and they they were in the fishing industry. And so because of that, they had a unified friendship through that kind of an identity. But but some of them weren’t that way. They were more white collar. They were more more educated individuals and and individuals like Matthew. He would have cited completely different with the political culture of that day versus someone like like Simon Peter, who was referred to as a zealot. I mean, that’s the Bible’s way of saying Simon was the kind of person that would punch you first, ask questions later. Right. And and he would have been an enemy to, to Matthew and everything that he stood for. But here, in these moments, regardless of politics, they find themselves united in a greater purpose in Jesus. And even more than that, it tells you in verse 14 that one of the people that have now joined the group in accompaniment are one of the one of the groups of people that have joined is Jesus’s brothers.
Right. And you gotta think, like, for you to call your maybe one of your siblings God. Right. That’s going to take a lot in life, right? Because I can in my household, I know that’s nearly an impossibility to to do that, or an absolute impossibility to do that, because I already know I’m the best sibling. So that is not even that isn’t even going to happen. Right? So you can imagine growing up with Jesus in your home, how difficult that might be. It’s probably he’s tattling, tattling on you over everything in life. Right. And and when you read in John chapter seven, there’s even a story at the beginning of John seven, the first five verses where Jesus’s brothers know, or half brothers, we should say they they know that Jesus has has created quite a stir in the community. And there are some people that hate him, and they’re to the point they’re so frustrated by him. They’re like, hey, Jesus, you know that town where those people hate you? You should probably go visit it, right? And and it’s not because they think Jesus is going to go there and change everyone’s minds. They know if Jesus goes there, it’s going to spell trouble for him. So they’re trying to encourage him further into trouble. And they go from that to now all of a sudden they’re with Jesus and even James.
James, Jesus’s half brother, is the one who authors the book of James in your Bible. He takes on the the leadership of the church in Jerusalem after the original James is martyred in Acts chapter 12. And so here they are as a group of people. And they’re they’re seeking God’s face. They’re obeying what God says. And guys, can I tell you, it’s it’s the same for us in seasons of waiting. Like it becomes an opportunity for us to prepare our hearts for what God might have for us next. Not to wait for those things to happen, but to be thankful in that moment of solitude that you’ve got an opportunity to to to grow in the Lord, for him to prepare you for whatever those next steps might be. Because we know that sometimes we might get in the routine of life, and we just kind of get familiar with it and sometimes can even get bored by it. But even in those moments to recognize seasons of life, they change. And so I want to be in a place to receive that next season for what God calls me to. So I want to take those opportunities to grow in the Lord, to hear from God. And so we’re not saying this morning the way that that looks is, is you just need to go sit in your room and wait for some audible voice to say things to you.
Right. What we’re saying is the disciples got a word from Jesus, and today you’ve got a word from Jesus and the place you get that word get this is from from the Bible. And so for us, we should have those moments in our day regularly where we’re going to our, quote, upper room. We’re going to that place where we meet with Jesus to hear from Jesus and to seek his face, and in seeking his face. Prayerfully. It’s not about God aligning with my mission, but rather it’s an opportunity for me to surrender to his kingdom and saying, God, what is it you desire for my life? And where is it you desire to to guide me? And how is it God, I can honor you and what you want to do in my life? Right. It’s me. Surrender to his call in my life. Not him being invited to surrender to my call for his life. And so obeying and seeking his face is Critical for, for our lives. And and in addition to that, number two is establish godly leadership. Establish godly leadership. So we want to we definitely want to obey and seek God’s face. But also there’s a there’s an important place to to recognize the significance of leadership. And and when we talk about this, I want to think about it in a couple of ways. One, I want to think about it in communally as a group of people.
Right. Even as a body of Christ, there’s a place for leadership. But but we want to we want that to be healthy, right? We don’t just lay hands quickly on people. We don’t appoint leaders just to appoint leaders because, well, the Bible says you should have them. But but to understand really the point of what leadership is about, because if you lay hands too quickly, it can be catastrophic to the body of Christ. It’s very harmful to God’s people. And it’s it’s you know, we recognize that, like, as people, we we all are broken. We all have sin struggles. And so not everyone’s going to be perfect all the time. But there’s a way in God’s community where establishing leadership in a healthy way is important, but then also personally, to realize when God is doing a work in me, he desires to work through me. And God then uses me in order to to lead. And we talk in terms of leadership. We want to do that in healthy ways. Let me give you an example. Like sometimes as a church, we’ll say it like this. Or at least I’ll say it like this. I don’t I don’t know how many other people say it like this, but we’re more interested in people that seek towels, not titles. Towels. I feel like I’m saying a little bit like a kid from the Appalachian Hills. Towels. Not titles. And that sounds a little bit weird, right? But.
But when it comes to titles, just having a title is not necessarily what makes you a leader. And titles certainly have a place, but I grew leery of individuals who pursue titles like give me a title that makes me feel important, and There’s certainly a place you can have titles, but just because you have a title doesn’t make you a leader. In fact, there are lots of people in life that have titles and nobody’s following, right? But, but I think titles in Scripture is a better model of what leadership is about. And what I mean by that is, if you think about the end of Jesus’s life in John chapter 13, the end of his life, he continued to serve even though he was the greatest leader of all time. He continued to serve. He he gave his life for the benefit of others. And so in John chapter 13, we discover in Jesus he takes the form of a servant, not just any servant, the lowest of servants, by taking a basin and a towel and washing the feet of his disciples. Here he is. And the final moments of his life. And he takes the lowest form of a servant, teaching us what true leadership is about. In fact, in Matthew chapter 20 and verse 25 to 28, Jesus Jesus taught us that. He said, don’t act like a leader the way that the Gentiles do, who seek the position to lord over you, but rather he who wants to be first must be last in the kingdom of God.
He teaches us that the kingdom of God is a is a bottom up approach, where God’s people are willing to become servants for the benefit of others and get this in this world. The reason I think people are often prone to seek titles and power and wealth and and position is because they look at those things to validate who they are. They think those things are what make them important. The reason God’s people are willing and able to take a position of a servant is because we already know who we are in Jesus, and therefore don’t need the things of this world to validate us. Doesn’t mean those things don’t have a place. It doesn’t mean that they’re not important. But what it means is it helps us put those things into perspective according to the way that we’re called to follow after Christ. Now, when we think in terms of leadership, here’s what I want you to know. When you when you think about yourself personally as a leader, and I want to look at three examples here in a minute. What makes you a leader is not a title. All. What makes you a good leader is your ability to influence. And you can do that without, with or without titles. Great leaders are great influencers.
I mean, you think in terms of Jesus. He never held a political office. The man never wrote a book, led an army. But yet here we are, still talking about him today. An incredible influence. And that’s really what great leadership is made about. It’s not just pursuing a position, but living out who you are in Christ and knowing God’s got you in a place in this world to make a difference through your influence. How do you do that? In a healthy way? And so for the rest of this, this passage, I really want us to see this. And we’re going to do this fairly quickly, but I want us to see this through three examples. One is through the Apostle Peter, the other is through Judas, which is a bad example, and the last is through Matthias. So we’re going to see a sandwich. Right. You got a good example, bad example, a good example. We’re talking in terms of leadership and what God has for us. But here it is with the Apostle Peter. It says, in those days, Peter stood up among those the company of of persons wasn’t all about 120 and said, get this. When Peter said this, I didn’t realize this, but he is the original Hulk Hogan because he starts off like this. Brothers, right? So it just reads different when you see it that way, right? The Scripture had to be fulfilled with 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 this ministry. Now this man acquitted a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. There you go. It’s a beautiful verse for you. Verse 19. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language, Akeldama, which that 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 here in this this passage, Peter is showing a wonderful leadership. And you see it in a couple of ways. Number one is that Peter is stepping into a position of influence and refusing to stay passive. And one of the best things you can recognize about what Jesus is doing in you, and seeing that Jesus wants to work through you is refuse to take a role of passivity. Now, sometimes passivity could look like actively sitting back, right? Because you can’t be there and do everything hand over hand for people. You got to give them the opportunity to learn and grow themselves. But one of the things Peter is refusing to do in this moment is, is just to let things sit where they are.
They’re even though they’re in this upper room, they’re they’re still talking about Scripture together. They’re still growing in the Lord. They’re still planning for the future of what God has for them. When when the Spirit of God begins to work in their lives. And so Peter, rather than being a passive leader, he’s stepping into a place of influence. And I would say it’s the same, same thing is important for you and for me. One of the greatest sins that we have to deal with is the sin of passivity. I mean, you see this from the beginning of Scripture with Adam and Eve. When Eve is tempted by the the serpent, it tells you that that Eve or excuse me, Adam is standing next to Eve while he’s watching Eve take the fall that’s going to destroy her life. Passivity wrecked them. And it’s the same for you and for me. And God’s got you in a place in this world to to not only know him, walk with him in relationship, but through that relationship that it would that it would strengthen your life to make a difference in this world. God has you in a place for a reason and to use that influence for his glory. Furthermore, you see this in the way that Peter is doing this because as soon as he begins to open his mouth, the thing that he points to is not himself, but what the Lord desires to do.
He wants to put people’s eyes on Jesus and what God’s called them to as a community. It’s very critical for for a leader health of a leadership to see, not by, not by looking at me, but by by pointing to him. The glory of God made known its about him. And not only do we see that, but we also see that that Peter is willing to share position. Meaning he’s not saying make me the center focus of everything, but rather recognizing we need more people in order to do this. And so in order to do this, let’s let’s look to appoint someone to take the position of Judas. And so he’s leading them in that he’s sharing leadership. But then at the same time, we learn something about the life of Judas. And Judas was an individual. Interesting his story, because he spent three years walking in ministry with Christ and yet betrayed him. And some years ago, my grandfather passed away and I got to go back east and conduct his funeral. And I remember after the funeral, we went back to my grandmother’s house, and we were all spending time together, fellowshipping over a meal and sharing stories together. And, and I went to my grandmother, my, my grandfather’s bedroom and, and in his bedroom, he had a he had a particular notebook that he had saved. Eight, and I started to thumb through that notebook and I realized these are all the notes that he had taken as as a teacher in his church where he lived.
He had faithfully taught every Sunday at his church for many decades, and he had written it all down in this notebook, those lessons that he taught. And I just asked my grandmother if I could have that, and she gave it to me. And I remember sitting down, one of the first lessons I turned to was was the final moments of Jesus’s life on the cross. And one of the things he wrote about the soldiers at the cross, he said, how can you be so close to the cross, but so far from Christ? And it’s the same for the life of Judas. If proximity doesn’t equate transformation. And honestly, when I think about it, guys, that could even be true for this room. I have a lot of people who know a lot of things about Jesus, but still not have Jesus. And really, you don’t find Jesus in your life until you’re willing to surrender to him, giving your life to him as he’s given your life. His life for you. And maybe it begs the question we could ask. Well, what was it that motivated Judas if he didn’t want Jesus? And really, you find that answer in the Gospel of John. It says this he, Judas, said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Judas motivation, honestly, was about himself. His reason come to Jesus, he thought, well, Jesus is going to set up a geopolitical kingdom and I can be his right hand man handling all the money. I mean, what better position of power can I have and and access to resources? This is going to go really well for me. Judas reason for seeking Jesus was just for Judas, not because of Jesus, because it can be the same for us. Like we could seek Jesus for good things, but not necessarily because of who Jesus is. We come in this morning carrying a heavy heart because a lot of broken things in our life and saying, God, I want you to fix this and this and this, and God cares about those things. But more than that, what Jesus wants is your life given over to him. And until the value of Jesus takes precedent for us, all we’re going to ever do is treat him like a tool, which is what Judas did. And so in terms of leadership, we would call this poor leadership, because the reason he’s seeking, he’s seeking Jesus is because of what he can gain from it. That that that power, that recognition, that fame, that wealth. It was about him, not about what Christ was desiring to do through him.
So you have you have Peter as his example. You have Judas as this example. And can I can I just tell you as a church one of the things that we really desire as God’s people, we think in terms of leadership, there are four keys that we look after, or five, excuse me, five keys that we look after as a church that we qualify leadership in. It’s these five C’s are areas that we have found just critical for the life of an individual who who will, in coming into a body of Christ, seek to help the body, not take advantage of the body. Right. To honor God and bless people rather than themselves and hurt others. And those five C’s, they work like this. There’s character, there’s there’s competency, there’s clarity, there’s commitment and there’s chemistry. Those are the five C’s we look for. If I if I just explain just a little bit more to you when it when it comes to the idea of character, the Bible puts that as, as preeminent over all things in terms of leadership. Like if you were to read first Timothy three or Titus chapter one, those are the qualifications for elders or pastors in the church. First Timothy three. In Titus chapter one, if you were to concentrate on those, what you’ll discover is the primary focus is all about character. And we say it like this. That character is king.
So you want to see the consistency of character. You don’t want to lay hands on someone too quickly, but you want to see the consistency of character play itself out in good times and difficult times. And we have this way in our culture, and I don’t think it’s exclusive to our culture, but we tend to put charisma over all things. But charisma without character leads to an implosion. So, so character is critical. Second, we want to see competency. And that doesn’t mean you need to know everything, right? But but as you’re bend carried with a hunger towards God’s word. Right. And are you committed to being a lifelong learner in your in your life? Do you want to continue to learn and grow in Jesus? Do you see that pattern where you’re just seeking God’s face through His Word? We want someone with character. We want someone with with competency. We want someone with clarity. They understand who they are in Christ. They understand the purpose of the church which God has created. So we have clarity in living that mission as a community. We want to think bigger than ourselves, right? Because God’s called the church to live on mission. So we want that that clarity and that heart for community, the not just the intimacy of this community, but the greater community around us that’s lost. And without Jesus, we want to carry, carry that heart, and then we want to see commitment, right? Sometimes we compare it to these two animals.
We say, ask the question, are you a chicken or a pig? Which which sounds insulting to be either, really. But but are you a chicken and pig? And you think about the difference between those two types of animals, right? A chicken, a chicken just lays an egg and can move on. But the pig pig’s got to give its life and you can do ministry with chickens, but you build ministry on pigs. You need people willing to lay their life down for the glory of God to the benefit of others. That illustration works really well in everywhere but Muslim countries, right? So. But but we’ll take that. That’s a good question for you. Am I a chicken or a pig? Have I really laid my life down for the Lord? And then chemistry to understand that what we do in Jesus is considered It’s a team sport. It’s not about an individual. And so what God’s more interested in is not primarily about accomplishing tasks, but about seeing how our hearts are growing together in him. And sometimes that might mean we can’t always do things the best way the first time, because we’re learning and growing. That’s not an excuse to do things poorly, because the Bible tells us that we’re to do everything for the glory of God, whether you eat or drink. First Corinthians 1031 do it all for the glory of God.
But to understand, we’re also learning in how to do that and what God’s more interested in. And then a perfect task being accomplished is how well we’re growing in him as a community as we do it together. And so how do you work together with people to accomplish what God has called us to do as a community? So, so those five C’s we find are critical to determine how healthy are we as a group of people? Sometimes we think about that informally. Other times we work through that formally depending on what kind of role we’re talking about here in the church. But those are sort of our targets that we think about. So you’re aware how we do that as a community. But then we get to this last example I got 11 minutes. So that’s about enough time. But this last example then we’re dealing with Mathias. And I want to take a minute to talk about this section, because this is where Mathias is appointed as an apostle. And I’ll just tell you up front that some people may disagree with my position in this section of Scripture. And I want you to know there is a right position. So one of us is right, one of us is wrong, and it’s not me, but we can still be friends if you disagree with me. Okay, but Mathias is appointed as an apostle, and and Peter is.
He’s laying out for us why? He’s. This is happening and this is what he said. 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 two Joseph called I’ll tell you why. Corinthians is there in a minute. Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, you, Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry, and the apostleship for which Judas turned aside to to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them. And the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. Now when it comes to this, this position of apostle, this is important to talk about. For let me give you a broad reason. One is I would love for us to move forward in the rest of, of our time on earth under healthy leadership or being healthy leaders, but to also be mindful of the fact that sometimes people will take positions and titles in this world to leverage over you and use them to abuse you and take advantage of you. And and I want to talk about that in terms of the title of apostle, because my, my biblical view is the office of apostle does not exist today.
I’m going to give you reasons for that, but I don’t think it’s a position that was intended to continue on past the first century. Now, in saying that, I know people disagree with that and I’m completely okay with that. And again, one of us is wrong. I want you to see where I get that from in Scripture. Right. Not so you can go out of here and argue with people. I do, I do want you to know there are positions of leadership that the Bible talks about, and those are important. It’s important to Revere those, but at the same time, understand there are people in this world that power grab for titles in order to take advantage. And I just want to have a biblical view to leadership in general. So when it comes to the idea of apostles, the reason I would say you could ask, well, why why would Peter be appointing of apostle if it wasn’t to continue? And I would say it’s for couple reasons. One is, as the early church is starting there in Jerusalem and they’re ministering to the Jewish people, and as the church is now beginning, one of the things that represents the hand of God is for the Jewish people to recognize that God has pursued them by appointing one apostle for every tribe of Israel.
And so there are these 12 apostles representing the 12 tribes as this new movement begins. And Peter gives us a prescriptive reason why they’re appointing the next apostle. And that’s because the Scripture has declared that specifically Judas would be replaced. And he quotes from I think it’s Psalm 69 and Psalm 103 as to the reason for this, right. This doesn’t become prescriptive, prescriptive now for everyone to be replaced as they die. But he’s specifically saying because of Judas, this is okay, because this has already been prophetically declared that this should happen. So here it comes, that one apostle is about to be replaced. Now then, I would argue from what Peter is saying here, that that doesn’t mean every apostle needs replaced. And the reason for that is exactly what’s highlighted there in the middle of this verse, that when Peter is laying out for us, how do we know who can fit the office of apostle? Like what qualifies you? Peter says it like this. You are a witness to the resurrection of Jesus. Right. Which for everyone in this room and all of planet Earth automatically disqualifies you, right? Like you do not. You did not walk the Earth during the resurrection of Jesus. In fact, when the Apostle Paul, who’s called an apostle, he acknowledges in one Corinthians nine one that he also saw the resurrected Jesus. Now let me distinguish something for you.
I think in the Bible there is a difference between a capital, a apostle and a lowercase a apostle. Capital a apostle is the office of apostle. That’s what I’m arguing doesn’t exist today. However, there is a term for lowercase apostle, and the way that we use it today is we just use the word missionary. The word apostle literally just means one sent forth. And so when they would send people out, when you read the book of Acts, you’ll see they’ll call them apostles. And what they’re saying is there’s missionaries, not the office of apostle, but they’re going out as missionaries into this world. And so when you consider the rest of Scripture, what I, what I just laid out for you, I think you find repeated what I mean is, when you look in Ephesians chapter two verse 20, it tells you that the apostles were established for laying down the foundation prophets as well, laying down the foundation. So it was the essential building block to where everything else would come. And so when you build a house, how many times you lay a foundation once. Right? And so the apostles, their role was to lay that foundation. And you can even use the, the idea of anecdotally looking at Scripture to think, okay, well, if what Nathaniel’s saying is, is true or not true, like, how can I look at Scripture to determine this? Well, I would just pose to you if the Bible is really interested in the office of apostle continuing at some point in the New Testament other than Acts chapter one, at some other point someone would have laid down a prescription.
If this is how you discover who an apostle is, or how you appoint an apostle, or someone would just said, hey, apostles are dying, we should probably replace them, right? You don’t find that anywhere in the New Testament, leading us to conclude that the the Bible was never calling us to continue to perpetuate the office of Apostle that it was temporary. But what you do discover is that there are several passages and how to appoint leaders. In fact, in first Timothy three Titus chapter one, first Peter five, these are the qualifications for appointing elders, pastors, deacons. And so you see the idea of leadership being perpetuated in the church, but not the office of apostle. First Corinthians 15. This is where Paul’s listing the apostles. He says he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as as to one untimely born. He appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles. And Peter is saying, look, I was the apostle. I was the one no one expected. I was the surprise baby. That’s really what he’s saying. Like, as if to recognize that it came to an end and he was the last one. And then in revelation, it goes on to describe just the 12 apostles and what they represent for, for the church.
Now, I gave you these verses in your notes. I had several more, but I’m like, I’m going to run out of time. So these are just the big picture for you. And to this point, if you disagree with me and you think, well, no, it still exists today. Here’s what I want you to know. And just take these last two thoughts away and consider when it comes to the idea of apostle or leadership, I want you to recognize just how the apostles lived their lives. Right. In Second Corinthians chapter 12, at the very last verse here that I’ve quoted for you, it says, and they performed signs and wonders and mighty, mighty works, talking about the office of Apostle. They would perform these. Now this is in a first century when there really wasn’t hospitals, but when they would go around, there were places where people could be treated, but not like we have hospitals today. And so when they would go around, they would meet people just begging and hoping for a miracle. And the apostles, they would see these miracles take place. And I would just pose for anyone that holds that position today. Like, man, I would as quickly as possible want to load you up in my car and just run up to Primary Children’s, or down here to American Fork Hospital, or or over here to the other new hospital here in Lehi.
I mean, the office of Apostle signs followed that, and not ones you could look at skeptically real miraculous signs. And in addition to that, in First Corinthians chapter four, the apostle Paul describes in his life, he says this for I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake. For you are wise. In Christ we are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute to the present hour. We’re hungry, thirsty, poor, distressed, buffeted, homeless. We have become and are still like the scum of the world and the refuse of all things. Paul’s acknowledging something about the the lifestyle of an apostle in the first century. They didn’t they didn’t live on ivory towers with the world praising their name. They went to the ends of the earth and lived in poverty, facing martyrdom. And I often find people that might try to carry that title today. The way that they present themselves in the world looks very different from the first century apostle who would go to the ends of the earth for the sake of the lost. And so, even if you believe that that title exists, just thinking about the lifestyle that people live, wearing those titles becomes important.
Because when you look at the apostles of the first century, they they lived very difficult lives for the sake of Christ at the front lines of helping people meet Jesus for the first time and all these things. Guys, can I can I just tell you, the most important thing in all of this is that we find true leadership and true leadership for you and for me, ultimately is really Jesus. And the Bible tells us that he is our final apostle. He is our final prophet. He is our final priest. He’s even our chief shepherd. In fact, in Hebrews one it says long ago, at many times, in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. So Jesus the final prophet, and in chapter three, verse one, therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession. And he’s he’s recognizing not not putting people in these positions between me and Christ, but to realize I get access to Jesus for him to lead me. How critical that is for you and for me. And the 1700s, right up to the end of the 1700s, there was a man by the name of John Wesley, which, to be honest, looking at his picture freaked me out because I thought, man, if guy’s in ministry, when you get older, can start to look like your grandma.
You guys need to warn me if that’s happening to me. Okay. I don’t want to walk that road, but. But, John Wesley you know, when he first he first started to minister, he tried in Savannah, Georgia, to establish churches, and he he really left, went back to England with his tail between his legs. He was a difficult time for him. And he. I think he actually became a believer once he left. But then he came back to the United States and he saw a tremendous movement of God. And this is what he said in his life. He said this give me 100 believers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. Such alone will shake the gates of hell. Can I just propose to you? That’s exactly what happened in the first century, given their life over to Jesus, seeking his face with their lives. God did an incredible work, not because they were pursuing titles, but they were willing to pick up towels. And in so doing, God just blessed that tremendously. It’s the same in this room. We’re probably, I don’t know, around 100 or so people, maybe a little over. Caleb’s counting even now. But when you think about giving over to God, the difference that that can make in the hearts of people around us, if we’re willing to seek his face and surrender to his call.