I. Introduction
-- turn
in Bibles to Acts 1:12-26
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill
called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[a] 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 and
sisters,[b] the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke
long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who
arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the payment he received 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,’
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 was living 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 nominated 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.
-- here
we are on the cusp of our next presidential election in America -- and, without
a doubt, this has been the most polarizing and the most agonizing election
season that we have endured -- America is deeply divided and deeply conflicted
when it comes to who should be selected on Tuesday to lead our nation for the
next four years
-- but
out of this contentious election, one unified theme has been raised by both
major political parties that we always hear at this time -- get out and vote --
a call from both parties and both candidates for their followers to get out at
the polls and cast their ballot on election day
-- at
the same time, a counter voice is usually heard from those being petitioned for
their vote -- why bother? -- what does it matter? -- what can I do?
-- some
think that because of the electoral college, their vote doesn’t count, so why
go? -- others have the same reasoning simply because of the great numbers of
voters who will turn out on election day -- what does one more vote matter? --
what does my little vote really count for in an election? -- does one vote
matter?
-- in the presidential election of
1824, there were four candidates for president -- John Quincy Adams, Andrew
Jackson, William Crawford, and Henry Clay
-- after the election was over and
the electoral votes were counted, they found that General Jackson had got the
most electoral votes with 99 -- but he needed 134 to win a majority -- John
Quincy Adams came in second, and William Crawford came in third
-- because none of the candidates
received enough electoral votes or won a majority of the popular vote, the
decision went to the House of Representatives to select from among the top
three candidates
-- on the morning of February 9th, 1825,
Congress met to elect a president -- each of the 24 states had one vote and the
candidate had to receive 13 votes to be elected president
-- the congressmen of each state
would vote for their candidate for president, and then the winner of the
majority would receive that state's vote
-- even though Jackson had won the
most electoral votes, he did not have the support of the Congress -- John
Quincy Adams had the promised vote of 12 states, but needed one more state to
win the presidency -- it came down to the state of New York
-- there were 34 congressmen in New
York -- 17 were for Adams and 17 were opposed to him -- in order to be
president, Adams needed to get one of his opponents in New York to support him
-- One of those New Yorkers who was
opposed to Adams was a rich old man, Stephen van Rensselaer -- he became the
swing vote for the presidential election -- supporters for both sides came to
see him -- they told him that his vote was the most important vote in the whole
Congress -- in effect, one man -- Stephen van Rensselaer would decide who would
be president
-- when the time came for him to
vote, he still was not sure who to vote for -- he put his head down on his desk
and asked God to help him make the right choice -- after this short prayer, he
opened his eyes and saw on the floor at his feet a piece of paper with Adams'
name on it -- Van Rensselaer picked it up and put it in the ballot box as his
vote -- this gave Adams the vote of the state of New York and made him
president of the United States
-- the vote of just one person had
changed history forever
-- this
morning, as we prepare for this upcoming presidential election, I want us to
consider the question, “What does it matter if I vote? -- I am only one person
-- What can I do?”
II. Scripture Lesson (Acts 1:12-26)
-- in this
passage from the Book of Acts, we find ourselves following the story of the
disciples of Jesus following His ascension on the Mount of Olives -- as all of
us know -- in fact, it’s the reason we’re gathered here -- Jesus was crucified
on Calvary in our place -- He suffered and died for us and the forgiveness of
our sins -- and He rose from the dead on the third day
-- after
His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples over a period of forty days
and taught them about the kingdom of God -- He opened their minds and their
hearts to the scriptures, and revealed to them the meaning of the prophecies
concerning His ministry and His purpose for coming
-- at the
end of those forty days, Jesus led the disciples out to the Mount of Olives,
where He ascended into a cloud before their eyes
-- as the
disciples were standing there looking into heaven, two angels appeared to them
and asked why they were standing there looking into the sky -- the angels
reminded them of what Jesus had said concerning His second coming and that He
would come again in the same way He had gone to heaven
--
basically, what the angels were saying to the disciples was to quit staring
into heaven and start getting about the business and ministry to which Jesus
had called them
-- which
brings us to verse 12 and the beginning of our passage this morning
-- verse 12
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill
called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[a] 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 and
sisters,[b] the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke
long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who
arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the payment he received 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,’
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 was living 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.”
-- so we
find the disciples gathered together after their walk back from the Mount of
Olives to Jerusalem -- there were about a hundred and twenty believers in total
-- all gathered together praying and worshiping God and reflecting on all that
had happened
-- as we
begin to look at this passage, I think it's important to note that while
everyone who is a Christian is a disciple -- a follower of Christ -- some in
the body of Christ -- some in the church -- have been set apart and called to
specialized ministry
-- in
Ephesians 4:11 we read that Christ himself gifted the church with individuals
called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers -- and while
these are positions of leadership, as Steven Cole points out, these positions
are not meant to serve as a base for power or prestige -- they are recognized
in the New Testament as specialized ministries1 -- as specialized
giftings and callings by some individuals to serve specific functions in the
church
-- in
other words these men and women called to this positions were called as
ministers -- as servants -- in the church
-- we see
that here in this passage -- out of the 120 believers mentioned in verse 15,
there was a core group of people called by Jesus Himself to be the leaders and
shepherds of all the others -- these are the men that Jesus selected to be His
closest followers -- the apostles -- who Jesus chose after a night of prayer
alone with the Father
-- in order
to be an apostle, a person had to be called and appointed to their position by
the risen Christ Himself -- the person had to have seen Jesus in person after
the resurrection and had to have been called by Him at that point into this
special ministry
-- the main purpose of an apostle was to witness to the
resurrected Christ and to plant churches -- to spread the gospel message
throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the entire world, so that other
communities of faith would spring up and grow under their oversight
-- Jesus
appointed 12 men to be His apostles and the leaders of His church, presumably
as a counterpart to the 12 patriarchs of Israel -- where the 12 patriarchs
served to represent the old covenant of the Law through Israel, Christ
appointed 12 men to serve as apostles to represent the new covenant established
through His death and resurrection -- at the time that Peter stands up here and
addresses the believers, there are only 11 apostles within the church
-- so Peter
suggests that another apostle be selected to replace Judas, who had betrayed
Jesus to the hands of the chief priests and the Romans in order to bring the
number of apostles back up to 12 again
-- it was
decided the man they selected to be an apostle had to meet certain spiritual
qualifications -- first, he had to be a follower of Christ -- he had to have
been with the group of disciples from the beginning -- from the time of Jesus'
baptism by John in the Jordan River up to the moment when Jesus ascended from
heaven on the Mount of Olives -- and, secondly, he had to be known as a witness
of the faith -- someone who was gifted at sharing the gospel and sharing his
faith with others
-- verse
23
23 So they nominated 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.
-- so Peter and the group of a
hundred and twenty disciples looked at each other and asked themselves the
question, "Who fits these qualifications? -- Who best meets the requirements
of being an apostle?"
-- and as they looked at the talents
and the gifts of those around them -- as they considered who had always been
there with them -- they came up with the names of two men -- Joseph, who was
also called Barsabbas or Justus -- and Matthias
-- and after they prayed to God for
guidance, they cast lots to let God make the decision for them
-- now let’s talk about what the
Bible means when it says they cast lots -- casting lots was a common practice
in the Old Testament -- and it continued on until the giving of the Holy Spirit
at Pentecost -- without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to lead them
and guide them, the disciples didn't have any other way to decide God's will in
matters like this
-- after they had prayed and
searched the scriptures for answers, they would ask God to make the decision
through lots -- or, as we read in the story of Gideon in the Book of Judges --
by making the fleece wet or dry -- that was just the best they could do
-- there were a few ways that lots
were cast -- either the names of the people being proposed for selection were
written on a small tablet or there were pebbles or rocks of different colors
used to identify the particular person -- these were put into a bag or a jar to
be mixed up
-- the people would pray for God’s
decision to be made clear to them -- and then the jar or bag was shaken until
one lot fell out -- the lot that was cast out reflected the person God had
chosen -- and this was accepted by the group
-- we don’t know how this was
handled in the case of selecting a new apostle in the church -- we don’t know
if all of the 120 believers were given a tablet on which to write their choice
-- or whether just the two names -- Barsabbas and Matthias -- were written down
on two tablets and put in the jar in the presence of all the people
-- regardless, the casting of the
lots and the decision to appoint Matthias as the twelfth apostle was made in
the presence of all the believers so there could be no question or doubt as to
which person was selected
III. Application and Closing
-- okay, so what can we learn from
this passage in regards to our question concerning the upcoming presidential
election -- “What does it matter if I vote? -- I am only one person -- What can
I do?”
-- first, we see that it is God’s
plan for us to have authorities over us -- to lead us in accordance with His
will -- to guide us -- to protect us -- to shepherd us -- originally, this
authority was invested in the prophets and priests as God’s representatives
before the people
-- later, this authority was shared
between the prophets and priests and kings, who were selected to be the
political leaders of the nation of Israel -- this was not God’s original plan,
and the nation of Israel suffered the consequences of their demand for an
earthly king as many of the leaders of Israel proved corrupt and incompetent
and actually led the people away from the worship of God
-- here in this passage we saw that God
had raised up and called spiritual leaders from within the church to serve as
His shepherds to the believers -- God still intends for there to be authorities
about us for orderly worship and administration in the church -- as Paul wrote
in Romans 13:1, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities -- for all
authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed
there by God”
-- which brings us to our second
principle from this passage
-- before the disciples selected
someone to replace Judas, the first thing they did was to pray -- the very
first thing they did was to ask God for wisdom and guidance and that He would
reveal to them who He selected to be the twelfth apostle
-- if you do nothing else on
election day, you need to pray -- you need to ask God for wisdom and guidance
for this nation -- you need to ask God to move this nation to put the person
into office that He wants in that position of authority
-- it is not up to us to choose who
takes that position of authority -- it is up to God -- and we should pray that
His will be done and that we would choose the right person
-- in regards to that, just one
comment on the practice of casting lots -- this is the only place in the entire
New Testament where we see the disciples casting lots to make a decision -- and
I think it is important to note that this instance occurred prior to Pentecost
-- it occurred prior to the sending of the Holy Spirit to indwell believers
-- now that we have the indwelling
presence of the Holy Spirit with us, we should not be casting lots to make
decisions, but instead relying on God's presence and His Spirit to guide us
into decisions in the church and in our individual lives
-- this is just from me, but I think
Peter and the other disciples were wrong in their timing in the selection of
the twelfth apostle -- they did what they thought was best -- they used the
only means at their disposal -- casting lots -- but I don’t think it was time
yet for the appointment of a new apostle and I don’t think this was the way God
intended for the new apostle to be appointed
-- I believe that the true twelfth
apostle was Paul -- and that his appointment as the twelfth apostle came when
he encountered Christ on the road to Damascus -- I think this was God’s
original intent, and just like the Israelites erred in asking for a political
king, I think Peter and the other disciples erred by rushing to appoint an
apostle prior to God’s timing and the sending of the Holy Spirit
-- obviously, God still used Matthias
in a leadership role in the new church -- God brings good from all things --
but I don’t think Matthias was ever a true apostle as we understand the
definition
-- third principle -- the disciples
determined who to propose to be the twelfth apostle based on specific criteria
-- as we said before, it was decided the man they selected to be an apostle had
to meet certain spiritual qualifications -- first, he had to be a follower of
Christ -- he had to have been with the group of disciples from the beginning --
from the time of Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan River up to the moment
when Jesus ascended from heaven on the Mount of Olives -- and, secondly, he had
to be known as a witness of the faith -- someone who was gifted at sharing the
gospel and sharing his faith with others
-- when it comes to selecting
leaders for our country or leaders to represent us in Government, we need to
look at more than their political affiliations and leanings -- we need to look
at their spiritual qualifications -- we need to look at their character -- we
need to see if they are bound under the authority of Christ and stand for God’s
word
-- in this day and age, you cannot
trust in the political platform of any candidate or party -- most of the time,
they are not going to do what they say -- we know this -- they say what they
think needs to be said to get elected or they are saying what their political
party tells them to say -- rarely will a candidate actually do what they say
they are going to do once they are elected
-- but one thing stands firm in the
shifting winds of politics, and that’s character -- a person’s character does
not change apart from the transforming work of Jesus Christ -- the character of
a person is the most important facet in an election -- because this will tell
you who they are in their heart -- and a person’s heart leads their actions
regardless of what their lips might say
-- our fourth and final principle --
all the people should participate in the decision -- even though there was a
core group of spiritual leaders in the new church in Jerusalem, this core group
did not make the decision on who should be the next apostle
-- instead, they carried the
decision to the entire group of 120 believers -- they all gathered in one place
for the decision -- they all prayed together as one for God’s will to be done
-- they all had a part in the names that were proposed for leadership as the
new apostle -- and they all watched as the process of casting lots was
completed
-- we have a unique opportunity that
has been given to us in America by God to select our governing leaders -- we
have a responsibility, as Christians and as Americans, to exercise our
God-given right and vote for the candidate we feel God has selected to lead us
-- whether that’s for President or for dog-catcher
-- we are to pray about it -- we are
to ask God for wisdom and guidance -- we are to trust the Holy Spirit’s
promptings -- and we are to participate by voting
-- if you are able to vote on
Tuesday, I believe you should -- vote your conscience -- vote based on who you
believe God wants in office -- but vote
-- your vote matters -- it affirms
your position as a citizen of this country -- it affirms the rights that God
has given you -- it is important
-- and, as I pointed out in the
opening illustration, just one vote can make the difference in an election
-- so let us close in prayer for
this country and for this election and for God’s will to be done -- and don’t
forget to vote on Tuesday
-- let us pray
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