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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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THE
REPLACEMENT OF JUDAS Acts 1:20b-26 (5/2513) Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. SCRIPTURAL DIRECTION ON THE NEW APOSTLE
(20b) A. Peter applied Ps 69:25 to
Judas’ end and now applies Ps 109:8 to the replacement of Judas. Psalm 109 is
another imprecatory Psalm of David against God’s
enemies, namely, those who cursed Him and His anointed king (David).
We can see the prophetic reference revealed to Peter by the Holy Spirit
concerning the fact that Judas betrayed and cursed God and His anointed King
(Christ). B. As Peter begins to organize the new church
and ministry, he began with its leadership and replacement of Judas. He does
this on the basis of Scripture. II. QUALIFICATIONS OF THE NEW APOSTLE (21-22) A. As Peter follows Scripture, it becomes
“necessary” (dei - binding or compulsory)
to add one man to the eleven apostles (21). 1. First Qualification - Peter saw it
necessary that the newly elected apostle had “accompanied” (sunelthontōn - assembled and traveled with)
them with the Lord Jesus the entire time (“all the time” - en panti chronō - lit. in all
the time). 2. This qualification would identify this
particular one as a faithful disciple who embraced Christ, His teaching, as
well as participated in ministry (2Ti 2:2). B. The meaning of the “entire time” is
qualified in vs. 22; “beginning” (aorist participle - archō
- being or start) with the time when Jesus was baptized by John the
Baptist and was confirmed by the Father and the Spirit (Mt 3:13-17 cf. Jn
1:32-34). It would conclude at Jesus’ ascension. The disciples understood
that when Jesus was taken up “from” (apo) them, it was the end of His earthy ministry. 1. Second Qualification - The second
and main qualification of this new apostle or any of the apostles was that
they must have witnessed the resurrected Christ. The word for “witness” is
the Greek word martus, which
carries the main idea of one who is able to give deliberation or testimony
regarding something. 2. In the case of the apostles, they were to testify to the fact
of Christ’s death and resurrection. They were His particular “eye-witnesses”
of the resurrection (Ac 1:8; 2:32; 3:15; 10:39-41) and were to proclaim the
death and resurrection of Christ (Ac 2:24; 5:30; 13:30-37). 3. Obviously, these candidates witnessed
Christ’s resurrection if they were with Christ and the apostles (“with us)
until His ascension. This probably took place at Galilee (Mt 28:10, 16-20 cf.
Mt 26:32 cf. Ac 13:31) when Christ appeared to more than 500 brethren (1Co
15:6). III. CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE (23) A. There were at least
two among them who fit these qualifications. So they were
“put forward” (aorist - histēmi - lit. to
stand, but also place or appoint) as possible candidates. B. The first was Joseph, whom they called
“Barsabbas” (probably “son of Sabbas”). This was not “Barabbas,” the thief who was released instead of
Jesus (Mt 27:16-17). Joseph was also called
Justus. C. The second was Matthias. Eusebias suggests that both men were part of the seventy
disciples that Jesus sent out in Lk 10:1, 17. IV. CHOOSING OF THE NEW APOSTLE (24-26) A. Prayer - It has already been
observed that the early church was a praying church (Ac 1:14). But here we observe that their prayers were practical in
every facet of life, including important decisions for the church (24). 1. The decision between these two good
candidates was handed over in prayer to the Lord, who “knows the hearts” of
all men. Kardiognōstēs is an
interesting Greek word which is made up of the word kardia
for “heart” and gnōstēs for
“one who knows.” Together they show that the Lord is the “Knower of men’s
hearts,” an attribute observed in Jesus (Jn 2:25; 21:17 cf. Lk 16:15). 2. They desired that God would show which of
the two He had chosen (eklegō -
select or choose from among). This is the same divine choice demonstrated
in the initial choosing by Jesus of the twelve original disciples (Jn 15:16,
19; also cf. Ep 1:4), including Judas (Jn 6:70; 17:12). B. Purpose - The purpose for choosing
one of these men was for the office and ministry of an apostle. The outcome
of this decision was extremely important not simply to replace Judas, but to
affect the ministry of the apostles (25). 1. Their ministry was to be authoritative
witnesses of the resurrection of Christ (Ac 1:8), which declared Christ as
the Son of God (Ro 1:4), providing evidence for the truth of Christianity. 2. Apostleship had three prerequisites: 1) witnessed the resurrected Christ (Act 1:21-22; [Paul
- 1Co 9:1]), 2) commissioned by the
resurrected Christ (Luk 6:13; [Paul - Act 9:6, 15]), 3) and empowered by the
resurrected Christ (2Co 12:12, [Paul - Act 28:8-9]). 3. Judas himself “turned aside” (parabainō - step aside or transgress with
relation to wrongdoing) from this apostleship. He did this, not simply in
terms of resigning, but by betraying and handing over Jesus to His enemies,
proving Judas’ unbelief. 4. Because of Judas’ unbelief and atrocity,
he has gone to “his own place.” What is meant by
this term is that Judas has gone to his proper place, namely eternal
punishment (Mt 26:24 cf. Mt 25:41, 46). God must punish unbelievers in their
unrighteousness, but it is due, like Judas, to their “own” volition. C. Predetermination -
Though the drawing of lots may seem puzzling at first glance, it demonstrated
the apostle’s belief in God’s predetermination of the new apostle (26). 1. The OT
contains not only examples of the practice of “casting (or drawing) lots,”
but also God’s approval and instruction of this means of revelation (Le 16:8;
Pr 16:33). a) Before
the complete compilation of God’s written revelation (His Word), God revealed
Himself through other means of Special Revelation. Some of these were the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30;
Deut 33:8), dreams (Gen 20:3, 6, 40), visions (Isa 1:1; Ezek
1:1; Acts 10:10), including lots. These were means, along with His written
Word, by which God would show His will and
predetermination. Once the church possessed the complete written revelation
of God’s Word (through the writing of the apostles), these other means were
no longer necessary. b) The apostles were in between the OT and NT
and in between partial and full revelation of God’s Word. In addition, the
Holy Spirit had not yet come in His permanent ministry to the church.
Therefore, the drawing of lots was still an acceptable means of God’s
revelation and predetermination. 2. That
being the case, the lots fell upon Matthias and he was “counted” (sugkatapsēphizomai - vote or number along
with) with the eleven apostles. The apostles received Matthias on the basis of the predetermination and commission of
God. a) As for
Matthias, very little is known about him. This is
only reference to him in the Scriptures (Ac 1:23, 26). b) There is also very little written about
him in tradition. One testimony states that Matthias first preached the
Gospel in Judea and then preached to barbarians and cannibals in northeastern
Asia Minor. c) That same source stated that Matthias was later crucified. Fox’s Book of Martyrs states, “of
whom less is known than of most of the other disciples, was elected to fill
the vacant place of Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem and then beheaded.” d) Some, on the basis of
silence and the appointment of Paul as an apostle, suggest that Paul, not
Matthias, was God’s appointed twelfth apostle. e) First, an argument on silence is merely a
silent argument. Secondly, the Scriptures say nothing to suggest the apostles
were wrong in their appointment of Matthias. Finally, in light of the fact
that God prophesied the replacement of Judas and that He did reveal His will
through the casting of lots to the apostles, we may conclude that Matthias was indeed predetermined and commissioned by God. V. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Model for Direction from the Scriptures
- The apostles, solely having the OT Scriptures at that point, become a
model for all churches to be characterized as bible churches, not necessarily
in name, but in submitting to the authority of the Scriptures for doctrine,
living, and direction in all practical matters of the church (2Ti 3:16-17). B. Model for Organization and Leadership
- Jesus had chosen twelve apostles and the eleven were compelled to follow
suit in adding another. It was exercised with the guidelines of
qualifications, and Paul reveals further qualifications for elders in the
church (Tit 1:5ff cf. 1Ti 3:1ff). These were godly men, who would take the
living church upon their shoulders by their teaching, example, prayers,and biblical direction. They would position
themselves on the front lines in the face of opposition from the world. C. Model for Ministry - The ministry
outlined by the apostles is fundamental to all ministries. Our ministry is
testify of the death and resurrection of Christ, on the basis of the
authoritative apostles and the divine Scriptures, proclaiming this message to
all people in all endeavors of the church and its missions (Ac 1:8). |
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