Jesus had ascended. What to do now?
What would you have done?
What they do, is that they return to Jerusalem, to the house where they were staying.
Luke tells us a little of what happened over the next 10 days.
We are focusing on Acts 1 if you are following in your bibles.
At the end of his Gospel – he says ‘ they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.’
And here in Acts, ‘they all joined together constantly in prayer.’
A healthy combination – continuous praise in the temple, and continuous prayer in the home.
It was a 10 day prayer and praise meeting – but you know, Jesus had never told them how long to wait for – so they started and it is suggested, they would keep on going until the Spirit came…
Unity, Prayer and Guidance we are going to consider… and more…
For the glasses wearers among us. Have you ever thought your glasses were clean and they were totally not? How many times do I think my glasses are clean – then I take them off and I go, wow where did all that come from. I clean them and suddenly – clearer. Acts can be like that. We get used to how things are. That is how church is.
But we meditate and think about this early community and we like get our glasses clean – that is how a church community can be…
So we allow these reflections on the church community to inspire and shape us afresh about what church is like and about…
1. Unity.
It says, v14, ‘joined together’ – the Greek word used here, means ‘with a single mind’ or ‘united in heart and mind’.
It isn’t only here, that we see unity. We see this theme – like a golden thread in Acts.
Acts 4 – ‘All the believers were one in heart and mind, no one claimed that any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had.’
Unity, and unity which led into practical action.
When the next layer of leadership is appointed – the 7 – in Acts 6, ‘this proposal pleased the whole group.’
And in Acts 15:25, at the Jerusalem Council when the gospel and the message of mission is discussed,,
‘’So we all agreed’’
Unity, and Unity in decision making.
And there is Unity in Prayer.
After Peter and John were arrested, questioned and then released, the church gathers with them in Acts 4: Whey they heard the report, they raised their voices in prayer together in prayer to God.’ Unity, and unity in prayer.
Jesus prayer in John 17 – that these disciples would be one – is already being worked out in Acts… and unity wasn’t just a nice feeling, it was showed itself in practical ways: care, decision making, and prayer.
2. Prayer
They prayed together. We learn how they prayed. It says ‘joined … constantly’ – proskartereo – it means to be persistent, or continually devoting yourself.
This commitment to prayer is another thread through Acts.
Prayer is mentioned 31 times in Acts and it appears in 20 of its chapters. For example in these early chapters of Acts – Acts 1 we have already seen; Acts 2, the new church is committed to prayer, Acts 3 – Peter and John on the way to the temple to pray, Acts 4 the church pray together, Acts 6 – the apostles appoint others to allow them to concentrate on prayer and also when they appoint these deacons, it is done in and prayer.
What were they praying for? Could it have been for the Spirit to come? Were they praying for the Lord’s return – your kingdom come? What shapes our intercessions?
Four ideas to shape our intercessions –
1. get informed – know really really know what you are praying for.
2. get passionate – we have been regularly using the psalms in our services for about 18 months. When we read the psalms we see how these things matter to the people praying – do not be silent as we heard – prayer is not bringing a shopping list to him of things we don’t really care that much about, deep down. Get passionate about the things you are bringing in prayer.
3. get in sync – praying with others (while our personal prayers are important, praying together has been a regular part of church life since church began as we just saw)
4. get engaged – get engaged with God’s word. C18th American pastor, preacher, Jonathan Edwards wrote:
‘’That which God makes abundantly clear the subject of his promises, God’s people should abundantly make the subject of their prayers.’’
&
“That our prayer times are not only bringing our needs but we also take God’s promises, his agenda and praying them for individuals and situations.’’
Writer and minister Matthew Henry – said that when God wants to do something special in the world, he first gets his people to start praying.
Testimony. In the 1850s, for example, the United States was in a weak spiritual state, as people were preoccupied with concern for material things. In 1857 a quiet forty-six-year-old businessman, Jeremiah Lanphier, felt led to start a noon-time weekly prayer meeting in New York City, in which business people could meet for prayer. Anyone could attend, for a few minutes or for the entire hour. On the first day Lanphier prayed alone for half an hour. But by the end of the hour six men from at least four denominational backgrounds had joined him. Twenty came the next week and forty the week after.
Soon they decided to meet daily, and the group swelled to over one hundred. Pastors who came started morning prayer meetings in their own churches. Soon similar meetings were being held all over America. Within six months there were more than ten thousand meeting daily in New York City alone. This was the start of what is now termed “The Great Awakening” in North America. It is estimated that in a two-year period (1857–1859), two million people were led to Christ (out of a population of thirty million).
What we see, that the prayer life that took place in Jerusalem was united and persistent.1
3. Guidance.
V15. ‘In those days Peter stood up among the believers’. He shares the need for a new apostle to replace Judas. Where did the idea come from?
Grant Osborne writes: ‘’It is clear that he was led to do so by the Lord as a result of the deep prayers of the faithful.2 It is possible to read this chapter and suggest, this was simply the plan all along.
One question would be – why did Jesus not appoint a new apostle over those 40 days? It does not appear to have been an item of discussion.
So was this always an idea, or did something grow in Peter over those days of prayer?
This is a reminder. That prayer gatherings are not at times, simply about making our plans and asking God to bless them. We can be sensitive to what God is doing in us as we pray, individually or corporately.
What is he shaping in us, through our praying?
Someone said – go where your best prayers lead you – what are you passionately praying for, is the Lord inviting you also to be part of that answer?
Sometimes an idea clearly comes to mind and that is it.
Other times, it grows, it takes shape over days weeks of pray…
I suggest that is what is going on with Peter.
In these following verses I think we can see 6 elements to guidance. Circumstantial Signs. Commanding Scripture, Common Sense. Counsel of the Saints. Clear Prayer. Compelling Spirit.
Circumstantial Signs. Or you could call this events. Through what happened with Judas the number of the apostles is now one less. There is a painful absence among them – you can hear that in the words – ‘’he was one of our number and shared in this ministry’’. Three years they were together. Ate food. Laughed. Were amazed at what Jesus was doing. He was sent out as one of the 12 ahead of Jesus and so on. And he didn’t just swop sides. He betrayed the person they were following.
This event – this circumstance – may have been what was going on in Peter’s minds and the minds of others. A circumstance can be start of a process and God can use to guide.
Peter then points to commanding scripture. He tells the story.
He goes to Psalm 69. This psalm expresses what has happened he feels. Let the one who persecutes- may he lose his place.
Secondly. Psalm 109 – another enemy is mentioned in that psalm and he should be gone, but also be replaced.
Scripture gives the guidance and they see in it, prophecy through David by the Spirit, of what happened with Judas and what is to happen next.
Direction is given through the word.
Common Sense. Peter uses it. If Judas is to be replaced, if this replacement is to have the same apostolic ministry as Peter etc, then he must also have the same qualifications. He needs to have been with them since John the Baptist and until the events from a few days before of Jesus ascension. This is sound deductive reasoning.
Counsel of the saints. The community – it is 120 present – they listen to the idea.
They are in agreement we see – there needs to be a replacement.
They agree with the words of Peter.
They agree to his discernment in God’s word, what God has said and what he is speaking now.
They agree with the categories needed – the qualifications.
And they propose two people – Joseph and Matthias.
Decisions can involve other believers in discerning with us – are things correct, is the goal right but process wrong etc.
Clear Prayer. They have two great candidates. But as the Lord Jesus had appointed his first apostles, so they ask the Lord again to do so. They choose an OT method – lots – but they clearly know that humanly they cannot choose, the Lord knows the heart, the core of who they are and who is right for this role – as Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing his twelve apostles (Luke 6:12–13). In Luke-Acts, as Robert Stein points out, “prayer preceded
every major decision or crisis in the life of Jesus and the early church.”3 They seek God’s direction.
Finally Compelling Spirit. The Spirit has not been poured out. Yet we see his work.
Scripture he helped form. The Spirit takes the revelation and then gives illumination, inspiration as to what it means for today. And the original idea for a new apostle – where did it come from? As we proceed through Acts, we see more openly how the Spirit pushes, guides, prevents. Acts 8 Philip told to go near the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch. Acts 10 – after the vision from heaven, Peter told to go with the Roman soldiers and the Gentiles receive the baptism of the Spirit. Acts 13, Antioch told – in prayer and worship – to set aside Paul and Barnabas and so begins the missionary journeys; Acts 16 the Spirit who stops Paul and the team preaching in two parts of Turkey, until the Macedonia vision is given and the mission moves into Greece.
Guidance.
We see a number of factors which contributed to the discovery of God’s will.
There was the circumstance – one apostles is gone;
commanding scripture – a replacement should be made;
common sense as to the qualifications to replace him for someone like them;
counsel of the saints – the plan, proposal discerned and agreed and then two individuals proposed;
clear prayer – Jesus was gone but he was till accessible to them by prayer, and they sought his appointment.
And compelling Spirit – quietly at work in the prayer gathering, to illuminate scripture and probably having worked in the hearts of the community as well, to shape this process.
Six elements which are individual ways the Lord may guide, and often he may well use a few of these ways, when significant decisions or guidance is being sought.
Unity, Prayer, Guidance.
It is the Sunday before Pentecost.
To finish with words from John Stott.
‘’The stage is now set for the Day of Pentecost. The apostles have received Christ’s commission and seen his ascension. The apostolic team is complete again, ready to be his chosen witnesses.
Only one thing is missing – the Spirit has not yet come to them individually.
Though the place left vacant by Judas has been filled by Matthias,
the place left vacant by Jesus has not yet been filled by the Spirit.
So we leave Luke’s first chapter of the Acts with the 120 waiting in Jerusalem,
persevering in prayer with one heart and mind, poised, ready to fulfil Christ’s command,
just as soon as he has fulfilled his promise.’’ John Stott Acts p59.
Prayer… We join our prayers with others for the Spirit to come…
God of power,
May your Spirit continue to build unity among us,
May your Spirit continue to teach us how to pray,
And may the boldness of your Spirit transform us,
may the gentleness of your Spirit lead us,
may the gifts of your Spirit equip us
to serve and worship you now and always.
Come, Holy Spirit, renew your wonders in this our day—as it was on that day of Pentecost.
Amen.
Footnotes:
1 Fernando, A. (1998). Acts (pp. 80–81). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
2 Osborne, G. R. (2019). Acts: Verse by Verse (p. 30). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
3 Fernando, A. (1998). Acts (p. 80). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.