Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 20, 2008
Last week, I ask this question, if you consider your life as a book, what’s written in your table of content? I shared with you that the verse 8 served like a table of content for the whole book of Acts. The first seven chapters of the book of Acts is about the believers in Jesus Christ being his witnesses in Jerusalem. Chapter 8:1-11:18 covers their witnesses “in all Judea and Samaria.” And, the remainder of the book traces the progress of the gospel until it reached Rome, where it was considered then as the ends of the earth.[1] This early church’s table of content involved going from Jerusalem to their families, friends, co-workers, colleagues, going from Judea and Samaria to crossing the ethnic barrier between the Gentiles and the Jews, and finally going from the ends of the earth to people who’ve never heard the gospel. The question that was asked last week was, “What about us? What’s has been written so far in the table of contents of our lives? What’s being written now? And, what will be written in the near and long term future? Will it be about us growing boldly, passionately and diligently at all cost to become Jesus’ witnesses?
Here is another way of looking at this. If you think of major themes as big rivers running through the contour, the landscape of a book, without any question this theme of being witness of Jesus Christ is the major river that runs and connects through the whole book of Acts. The book began with the promise in verse 8 from Jesus, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” And, you will notice that passages after passages, one way or another it is about the early Christian believers doing their share of testifying about Jesus Christ, being witnesses to his life, his death, his resurrection, his reality. You just cannot miss this huge river that runs through the Acts of the apostles. If we call ourselves Christians and have missed this river that has shaped the landscape of Christianity for the last two millenniums something is seriously wrong with us.
This past week, my wife and I were thinking about this coming summer how we can plan out our family vacation. As we talked about our future family vacation time, Lyn asked something like this, “Will we go camping again?” And, I answered, “Sure, when our Katherine gets two years old, we could go camping.” Maybe, we will have a pop-up camper then. Of all the places, one day we are going to take our children to the Grand Canyon and will camp there. They will ask, I am sure, “How is the Grand Canyon made?” And, I will give them a little geography lesson and will tell them the power of the Colorado River that has shaped the landscape into one of the greatest wonders in the world.
Is there such a river that runs through your life, our life, our church life? Does the Lord’s promise, his certainty for his disciples to be his witnesses, is it being realized in our days? As we journey through the Acts of the apostles we will see together how the landscape of the early Christian lives were shaped to become now one of the greatest religion in the world. As we do so, you and I will need to put our lives under the microscope and carefully examine ourselves to see where we need to change in order to be shaped by the great river of being Jesus’ witnesses.
Today’s passage allows us to see how this great river of being Jesus’ witnesses began. In chapter 2, what we will see is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that is coming of the Holy Spirit. And, last week, we covered 1:1-11 to the moment of Jesus’ ascension. Today’s passage takes place right between these two very important events, Jesus’ ascension and the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. It is a passage that is easy to gloss over, but in a careful reading, you will discover how the mighty river of Christian witness began.
1. The River of Christian witness runs through because prayer flows!
The Lord had spoken very clearly that something was going to happen and that something was going to make difference for their lives. The gift of the Holy Spirit was to be given to them in a few days and they were to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They just witnessed with their eyes the resurrected Jesus ascending to heaven from a placed called the Mount of Olives, a hill near Jerusalem. And, the angels pronounced to them how Jesus will return as he ascended into heaven.
Well, it was not the day of the Holy Spirit. What were they to do? In verse 12 we see them returning to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives where they had the glorious send off service for Jesus. It was a Sabbath day distance from Mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended to Jerusalem where they were staying, little less than ¾ mile distance.
There in the edge of the city of Jerusalem, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. There in the room were the eleven disciples. Among them were the women, all those whose lives were touched and changed by Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus and his brother. All together they were about 120.
There in the upper room, verse 14, “They all joined together constantly in prayer” as is translated in NIV. NAS translates it, “with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer,” and ESV, “with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.” What’s highlighted here is in the manner they prayed.
- They prayed continuously; they were devoted to prayer. Continuously, devoting all try to translate the same Greek verb (proskarterevw); one of its meaning according to Low & Nida is to persist, to persist in the sense “to continue to do something with intense effort, with the possible implication of despite difficulty,” “to devote oneself to, to keep on, to persist in.”
It is the kind of prayer that is described in Isaiah 62:6-7, “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her praise of the earth.” What is prevailing prayer? What is prayer that gets the answer? It is the prayer that persists, gives no rest until God’s will is done.
- Another manner in the way they prayed was they prayed “with one mind,” “with one accord,” or “together” (oJmoqumadovn). Again, according to Low & Nida, it speaks to having the mutual consent or agreement. Another word, to pray with one mind is to pray for the same things, for the common purposes, which were God’s purpose. They weren’t praying random things that just came into their mind. They weren’t scatter in their mind as they prayed. They were gripped with the purpose that was greater than their lives, they were praying for their higher purpose.
What do you think they were praying for? They were just told by Jesus that they would be Jesus’ witnesses. And, in verse 15-26, we see them concern with God’s word being fulfilled about replacing Judas the Iscariot with the new apostle. Why did this matter? Verse 22, Peter said, “For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” Sandwiched between these two accounts, what we can reasonably see is that their prayer was about being Jesus’ witnesses when the Holy Spirit came on them. They persisted in their prayer for God’s purpose, God’s calling upon them, with one mind, with one mutual conviction, to be Jesus’ witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Ajith Fernando calls this kind of prayer as “prevailing prayer” that makes difference. E. M. Bounds wrote, “Only God can move mountain, but faith and prayer move God.” The prevailing prayer, the prayer that moves God is persistent prayer that prays for God’s purpose, God’s calling to be Jesus’ witness in our world.
When you see the river of witness, you cannot miss this persistent and witness driven prayer. The river of Christian witness can run through our lives only when we seriously give ourselves into this kind of persistent, witness driven prayer.
2. The River of Christian witness runs through because their prayer was informed by the divine urgency and necessity in God’s word.
We see this reality in verse 15 -26. I have no doubt that their prevailing prayer was informed by God’s word. The fact that they were praying for effective, bold, and Spirit led and empowered witnessing because what Jesus had told them in Acts 1:8 speaks to this reality that the word of God informed how they were to pray. The scripture informed their prayer life.
As they prayed for the Spirit-led and empowered witness, they were led to consider the passages in the Old Testament that spoke to their situation. They began with the 12 chosen disciples, but along the way one of them Judas had forsaken Jesus.
Peter said in verse 16, “Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas.” And, he quoted from Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8. They were both written by David, but the true author, the voice behind there was the Holy Spirit. Verse 16, “the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas.”
Peter knew the Scripture, the Old Testament that we speak of now, well. And, as he persisted in prayer for God’s witness along with other brothers and sisters in Christ, God highlighted for him these passages from Psalm written by David, inspired by the Spirit, concerning Judas.
Jesus specifically picked twelve disciples. The number is not inconsequential. It connected back to the Old Testament, representing the twelve tribes. It represented now the new era in Jesus Christ. The twelve apostles were now to be the witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. The twelve were to represent the future what is yet to come described in Revelation 21:14, “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Yet, one was lost in his wickedness. The divine urgency and necessity was that another take his place of leadership, so that the witness could continue.
This realization settled in his mind that “the Scripture had to be fulfilled” verse 16. And, verse 21, “Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord went in and out among us… [to] become a witness with us of his resurrection. ” “had to… necessary” both translates the same Greek work, (dei'). God’s purpose is that “which must necessarily take place” (Low & Nida). The Scripture revealed the divine urgency and necessity.
When the Scripture was laid heavily upon them, this urgency and the divine necessity to carry out God’s will according to his word overwhelmed them. What do we see when their hearts were heavy with the urgency and the necessity to carry out God’s will? We see them praying. Verse 24-25, having proposed and selected two men with the qualification to be witness of Jesus’ resurrection, “they prayed.” They prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” And, they followed the tradition of the Old Testament to discern God’s will; casting lot. Proverbs 16:33 says, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” They cast lots and the lot fell to Matthias.
3. The River of Christian witness runs through because each player is the gift of God for witnessing.
Matthias, e is not know anywhere in the Bible besides this passage. Beyond this point, he is never mentioned again in the Acts of the apostles. Does this mean he played an insignificant role in the life of the church? He might not have been a prominent apostle like Peter, James and John were, what is important is for God to choose him to be added onto the eleven apostles.
Have you seen hockey games where a team’s player is missing because of a major penalty? For five minutes, the team needs to play with five team players instead of six players. The goaltender guarding at the goal and the remaining four must struggle to defend in the absence of the player under the major penalty. But, when that buzzer goes off and the five minutes is up, when the sixth fresh player joins in, effective offensive and defensive plays are possible. I am sure those five players who are stretched and overwhelmed uncomfortably and painfully for that five minutes really appreciate the sixth player joining the game.
Matthias means “gift of God.” Until he joined in, the eleven disciples felt the great lost over Judas who was benched in the field of blood for his major wickedness. The person who they thought was a part of them, a part of their ministry, life, he betrayed them, but more than that he betrayed their beloved Savior, their Lord who died for them, who was raised from the dead by God. I could imagine how their confidence was restored now they got their new twelfth back. I could see not only the eleven, but the women, the mother of Mary, the brothers of Jesus all celebrating for the restoration of God’s intended purpose, the twelve apostles who would courageously carry out the gospel at all cost, even to their lives.
This speaks to the reality how important each of us is for the body of Christ to thrive and to carry out God’s purpose. Don’t ever underestimate what you can contribute to the life of church. Don’t ever think, “Well, it just me. I am not really needed or even wanted. Who’s going to miss me if I am not here?” The truth is that each of your presence matters for the life of the church. The truth is that each of you is called to be the gift of God to the body of Christ. You are called as a gift to others, to encourage, to spur on, to sharpen, and to strengthen the witness of Jesus Christ. Matthias, he tells the story of how each of you matter!
Conclusion
Let me recapture. God wants to dig a deep and long path for the river where witness of his Son Jesus Christ can run and spread far and wide. If we don’t want this, he will find some others who want it. But, if we want this, if want the river of witness to run and spread through us far and wide, we got to learn to persistently flow in prayer alone, as well as together. Our prayer alone and together must be contained by the Scripture. When our prayer is contained by the Scripture, then it becomes distilled, focused, and powerful. When our prayer is directed by the Scripture, then you can be assured that you are praying for God’s will. The Scripture informed prayer is the prayer that will get us all on the same page, to be with one mind, to be together on this Christian journey together. Lastly, each of you is very important part of the body of Christ. Each of you is a gift of God to the rest of the body of Christ. The river of witness cannot flow unless you give yourself as a gift of God to the rest.
[1] F. F. Bruce, The New International Commentary of the New Testament: The Book of the Acts (Revised), Grand Raphids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1988, p. 36-37.
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