WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:04.290 I'm going to invite you this morning to Acts chapter one is where we're going to be together today. 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:05.540 Acts chapter one. 00:00:05.600 --> 00:00:07.020 Those weren't all the announcements, by the way. 00:00:07.020 --> 00:00:09.700 You need to check out the announcements if you want to know more. 00:00:09.760 --> 00:00:16.920 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 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:19.330 we're hoping sooner than later we begin our building project. 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:25.730 And as we think about that new season for us as a church, we can look back and be thankful for what God's done. 00:00:25.900 --> 00:00:29.900 God has certainly been doing a beautiful work here at ABC even this past week. 00:00:29.900 --> 00:00:31.370 We on Sunday celebrated baptisms. 00:00:31.680 --> 00:00:34.930 Of those that followed after the Lord and believer's baptism, I think we had ten people baptized. 00:00:35.980 --> 00:00:39.110 And then this past Friday night we had a newcomers dinner. 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:46.880 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. 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:54.480 It's beautiful to see God's story being written on the hearts of his people, as we just see a wonderful family being made known here in Christ. 00:00:54.620 --> 00:00:56.620 And so it's exciting to see. 00:00:56.620 --> 00:01:03.680 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 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:06.120 project and all that's going to happen there. 00:01:06.440 --> 00:01:13.600 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 the church and 00:01:13.600 --> 00:01:15.660 seeing how God moved in their lives. 00:01:15.660 --> 00:01:17.160 And the same God is at work today. 00:01:17.460 --> 00:01:24.520 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 00:01:24.520 --> 00:01:27.840 time of Jesus's resurrection for the next 30 years. 00:01:27.860 --> 00:01:30.640 We're discovering what happened in God's people. 00:01:30.700 --> 00:01:33.160 In fact, we kind of described Acts this way. 00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:38.650 It's how the Spirit of God moved in the people of God to accomplish the will of God throughout the world. 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:46.160 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 00:01:46.160 --> 00:01:53.300 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 00:01:53.300 --> 00:01:53.800 the earth. 00:01:54.220 --> 00:01:58.690 And so we're really discovering how the church begins in Jerusalem, and it goes throughout the known world. 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:06.000 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. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.940 He has reached the city of Rome. 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:10.300 And then all of a sudden the book ends abruptly. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:12.460 And it's kind of frustrating, right? 00:02:12.460 --> 00:02:16.340 When you go through that reading a book, you want to get to some kind of conclusion, right? 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:21.920 But really, you discover and seeing that probably the reason this is this is speculative on my part. 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:24.190 And don't take this as gospel, but this is me speculating. 00:02:25.020 --> 00:02:32.160 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 00:02:32.160 --> 00:02:36.280 in the people of God to accomplish the will of God in the first century is the way God works today. 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:42.600 And so he's still writing his story of how the church called on mission in this world is making a difference. 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:49.740 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 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:52.640 known in your life and through your life. 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.590 And so we get to look at the book of Acts as a model for us. 00:02:56.040 --> 00:03:03.080 And when you see the early church and the first seven chapters of the book of Acts, you discover here they are 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:05.740 in Jerusalem and they're proclaiming the gospel. 00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:07.160 They're seeing lives transformed. 00:03:07.220 --> 00:03:10.540 And then when you get to chapter eight, you have this persecution that breaks out. 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:11.310 And so the church scatters. 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:18.730 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. 00:03:18.860 --> 00:03:23.640 That's what you discover in this book, that as persecution broke out, they went to Judea and Samaria. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:31.180 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. 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:34.830 It goes to the uttermost parts of the earth, or at least the known earth at the time. 00:03:35.420 --> 00:03:37.340 And God does an incredible thing through them. 00:03:37.340 --> 00:03:44.340 I mean, you think in the in chapter one here we're discovering the resurrection of Jesus and these disciples that walked 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:45.520 with Jesus. 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:48.850 And as Jesus was being crucified, like they ran away as cowards. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:56.820 But then at the resurrection of Jesus, he spent 40 days with his followers on earth, teaching them and connecting them of how the 00:03:56.820 --> 00:04:00.800 story of redemption has been told that God has fulfilled his promises. 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:01.330 He's been faithful. 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:06.160 He's showing him through the Old Testament how God has fulfilled what he's promised to his people. 00:04:06.620 --> 00:04:09.620 And so for these 40 days, he's connecting all that with them. 00:04:09.660 --> 00:04:16.680 And they're seeing this beautiful thing, and Jesus resurrected, and they go from people who were cowards to now they're passionate about 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:23.800 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 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:26.880 ultimately stop them because they know where their destiny is. 00:04:26.880 --> 00:04:30.880 It's secure in Christ forever, and they can live for his glory because of that. 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:37.320 So there's this passion within them to now proclaim the beauty of Christ, that others may discover him too. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:45.540 But with that passion, God now in this section of the book of Acts tells them, wait, 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:54.120 wait, and could you imagine that in the moment you're spent 40 days with the resurrected Jesus, and you're 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:58.260 discovering what all that means for you and for God's people. 00:04:58.260 --> 00:05:01.000 And now God's inviting others to belong to him. 00:05:01.060 --> 00:05:02.660 And he wants you to participate in that. 00:05:02.660 --> 00:05:06.080 And all the excitement surrounding that, what you thought had come to an end. 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:11.280 It was just the beginning of this incredible story of what Jesus has accomplished for us. 00:05:11.440 --> 00:05:13.900 And then the next thing God says is, wait. 00:05:14.760 --> 00:05:18.510 I mean, one of the most difficult things we have to do as people is wait. 00:05:19.720 --> 00:05:23.880 And so what is it that God would desire for us in those seasons? 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:26.360 As we look at verse 12 to verse 26 today? 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:33.720 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 wait, 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:38.000 waiting for the Lord as we know something new is about to begin. 00:05:39.140 --> 00:05:40.880 How do we respond to that? 00:05:40.960 --> 00:05:48.020 It reminds me of a famous missionary named Adoniram Judson, who was a missionary to Burma, which is now referred to as 00:05:48.020 --> 00:05:50.890 Myanmar and Adoniram Judson. 00:05:51.420 --> 00:05:55.770 History tells us that for the first six years of ministry in Myanmar. 00:05:56.540 --> 00:06:03.240 He only saw one convert six years and he labored away and he went through an incredibly difficult time. 00:06:03.280 --> 00:06:04.130 The passing of his wife. 00:06:04.460 --> 00:06:06.520 He was thrown in prison for 17 months. 00:06:06.880 --> 00:06:10.380 All these reasons that he should just quit, give up and walk away. 00:06:11.280 --> 00:06:16.700 But he continued on and during those six years, somebody wrote to him and asked him, how are you able to do this? 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:20.060 And he said, my future is as bright as the promises of God. 00:06:21.320 --> 00:06:26.000 You know, he remained faithful to the Lord and in remaining faithful to the Lord. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:31.630 At the end of his life, he saw some 100 plus churches planted, and thousands of people come to know Jesus. 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:37.400 And sometimes in our life, we get to see those things in seasons of waiting. 00:06:37.460 --> 00:06:42.080 We just remain faithful with anticipation and hope what God might do. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:47.950 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. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:56.580 And in that faithfulness, Adoniram Judson got to see the hands of that fruit come to fruition in this earthly 00:06:56.580 --> 00:06:57.120 life. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:06:58.020 Not not necessarily. 00:06:58.020 --> 00:07:00.200 He saw more, I'm sure, when he entered into eternity. 00:07:00.400 --> 00:07:02.120 But, for us, sometimes that could be the case. 00:07:02.200 --> 00:07:03.720 We just walk faithfully with the Lord. 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:07.540 But the magnitude of the fruit we may not fully realize until we're with Jesus face to face. 00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:14.740 But what does that look like for us to wait as we see God leading us to into something new? 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:16.410 I'm going to give you two points this morning. 00:07:16.440 --> 00:07:21.600 I'm going to let you know that I'm really going to frontload these, which is the opposite of how I typically do this. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:26.880 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. 00:07:26.940 --> 00:07:28.660 But today I want to give you the first two points fast. 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:31.180 And then we're going to we're going to talk about what this means for us. 00:07:31.180 --> 00:07:31.850 But let me give you number one. 00:07:32.940 --> 00:07:37.960 Number one is this obey what God says and seek his face. 00:07:39.740 --> 00:07:43.200 Obey what God says and seek his face and seasons of waiting. 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:44.860 What does God desire for us? 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:50.600 It is to obey what he says and seek his face in a world of quick decisions. 00:07:52.540 --> 00:07:59.350 The early church's first act was to wait and to pray. 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.340 And the waiting is really obeying what God says. 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:09.840 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 00:08:09.840 --> 00:08:14.860 they were waiting for the Spirit of God to empower them to accomplish what God called them to in this world. 00:08:15.800 --> 00:08:17.660 But nonetheless, Jesus called them to wait. 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:20.280 And so they were obeying the Word of God. 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.360 And in verse, verse 12 to 14, you'll see this here. 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:24.950 Let me give us a click. 00:08:24.980 --> 00:08:25.640 It says. 00:08:25.640 --> 00:08:32.020 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:39.320 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were saying what they were saying to Peter and John, and James, and Andrew, 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:46.480 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 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:47.080 of James. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:51.710 All these with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer together. 00:08:55.560 --> 00:08:56.040 And the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. 00:08:56.040 --> 00:08:59.240 Next verse tells us there was about 120 in total. 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.700 But here in this passage, what we're discovering is they're obeying what Jesus said. 00:09:03.700 --> 00:09:04.800 Jesus gave him a word. 00:09:05.020 --> 00:09:07.130 That word was to go back and to wait. 00:09:07.640 --> 00:09:08.980 And so here they are. 00:09:09.300 --> 00:09:10.880 They're there seeking God's face. 00:09:10.880 --> 00:09:12.000 They're obeying his Word. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:13.380 They're doing what God told them to. 00:09:13.540 --> 00:09:20.880 And when they're looking at this is a pretty incredible moment, because we're discovering in verse 13, the disciples are all together again, the 00:09:20.880 --> 00:09:25.960 early church, the 12 apostles they become and here they are in this moment. 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:30.860 And they're not only with just the 12, but also there's some other individuals with Jesus. 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:37.160 And it's an incredible moment of unity with that intimate group of people, especially when you consider who these disciples are. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:44.610 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. 00:09:44.800 --> 00:09:51.560 Some of them would have had a natural connection because they were blue collar individuals and they were in the fishing industry. 00:09:51.560 --> 00:09:54.810 And so because of that, they had a unified friendship through that kind of an identity. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:56.680 But some of them weren't that way. 00:09:56.680 --> 00:09:57.660 They were more white collar. 00:09:57.800 --> 00:10:03.040 They were more more educated individuals and individuals like Matthew. 00:10:03.040 --> 00:10:10.140 He would have cited completely different with the political culture of that day versus someone like Simon Peter, who was referred to as 00:10:10.140 --> 00:10:10.730 a zealot. 00:10:11.020 --> 00:10:15.850 I mean, that's the Bible's way of saying Simon was the kind of person that would punch you first, ask questions later. 00:10:15.940 --> 00:10:16.120 Right. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:20.360 And he would have been an enemy to Matthew and everything that he stood for. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:25.540 But here, in these moments, regardless of politics, they find themselves united in a greater purpose in Jesus. 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:33.260 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 00:10:33.260 --> 00:10:34.750 is Jesus's brothers. 00:10:35.520 --> 00:10:35.640 Right. 00:10:35.660 --> 00:10:40.360 And you gotta think, like, for you to call your maybe one of your siblings God. 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:40.500 Right. 00:10:40.680 --> 00:10:42.860 That's going to take a lot in life, right? 00:10:42.860 --> 00:10:49.900 Because I can in my household, I know that's nearly an impossibility to do that, or an absolute impossibility to do that, because I already know I'm 00:10:49.900 --> 00:10:50.600 the best sibling. 00:10:50.820 --> 00:10:53.640 So that is not even that isn't even going to happen. 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:53.880 Right? 00:10:53.880 --> 00:10:57.760 So you can imagine growing up with Jesus in your home, how difficult that might be. 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:01.080 It's probably he's tattling, tattling on you over everything in life. 00:11:01.140 --> 00:11:01.520 Right. 00:11:01.640 --> 00:11:08.700 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 00:11:08.700 --> 00:11:15.760 know, or half brothers, we should say they know that Jesus has created quite a stir in the 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:16.040 community. 00:11:16.040 --> 00:11:20.200 And there are some people that hate him, and they're to the point they're so frustrated by him. 00:11:20.200 --> 00:11:22.840 They're like, hey, Jesus, you know that town where those people hate you? 00:11:22.940 --> 00:11:24.640 You should probably go visit it, right? 00:11:24.640 --> 00:11:29.440 And it's not because they think Jesus is going to go there and change everyone's minds. 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:32.500 They know if Jesus goes there, it's going to spell trouble for him. 00:11:32.540 --> 00:11:34.650 So they're trying to encourage him further into trouble. 00:11:35.180 --> 00:11:39.230 And they go from that to now all of a sudden they're with Jesus and even James. 00:11:39.640 --> 00:11:44.490 James, Jesus's half brother, is the one who authors the book of James in your Bible. 00:11:44.520 --> 00:11:51.520 He takes on the leadership of the church in Jerusalem after the original James is martyred in Acts chapter 12. 00:11:52.680 --> 00:11:54.730 And so here they are as a group of people. 00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:57.240 And they're seeking God's face. 00:11:58.280 --> 00:11:59.490 They're obeying what God says. 00:12:00.760 --> 00:12:04.260 And guys, can I tell you, it's the same for us in seasons of waiting. 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:09.940 Like it becomes an opportunity for us to prepare our hearts for what God might have for us next. 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:17.700 Not to wait for those things to happen, but to be thankful in that moment of solitude that you've got an opportunity to grow 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:21.020 in the Lord, for him to prepare you for whatever those next steps might be. 00:12:21.020 --> 00:12:28.120 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 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:28.500 by it. 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:32.760 But even in those moments to recognize seasons of life, they change. 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:37.280 And so I want to be in a place to receive that next season for what God calls me to. 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:41.380 So I want to take those opportunities to grow in the Lord, to hear from God. 00:12:41.620 --> 00:12:48.660 And so we're not saying this morning the way that looks is you just need to go sit in your room and wait for some audible voice to say things to you. 00:12:49.180 --> 00:12:49.320 Right. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:56.520 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 00:12:56.520 --> 00:12:58.230 this is from the Bible. 00:12:59.020 --> 00:13:04.840 And so for us, we should have those moments in our day regularly where we're going to our, quote, upper room. 00:13:05.420 --> 00:13:11.190 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. 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:12.000 Prayerfully. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:19.300 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 00:13:19.300 --> 00:13:20.560 you desire for my life? 00:13:20.560 --> 00:13:22.940 And where is it you desire to guide me? 00:13:22.940 --> 00:13:27.280 And how is it God, I can honor you and what you want to do in my life? 00:13:27.900 --> 00:13:28.180 Right. 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:29.040 It's me. 00:13:29.040 --> 00:13:31.140 Surrender to his call in my life. 00:13:31.140 --> 00:13:34.200 Not him being invited to surrender to my call for his life. 00:13:35.560 --> 00:13:41.940 And so obeying and seeking his face is Critical for our lives. 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:47.620 And in addition to that, number two is establish godly leadership. 00:13:49.800 --> 00:13:51.060 Establish godly leadership. 00:13:51.860 --> 00:13:54.160 So we want to we definitely want to obey and seek God's face. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:58.680 But also there's a there's an important place to recognize the significance of leadership. 00:13:58.680 --> 00:14:01.590 And when we talk about this, I want to think about it in a couple of ways. 00:14:02.160 --> 00:14:05.360 One, I want to think about it in communally as a group of people. 00:14:06.180 --> 00:14:06.400 Right. 00:14:06.400 --> 00:14:09.070 Even as a body of Christ, there's a place for leadership. 00:14:09.400 --> 00:14:12.200 But we want to we want that to be healthy, right? 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.780 We don't just lay hands quickly on people. 00:14:14.780 --> 00:14:18.540 We don't appoint leaders just to appoint leaders because, well, the Bible says you should have them. 00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:26.380 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. 00:14:27.080 --> 00:14:29.100 It's very harmful to God's people. 00:14:29.660 --> 00:14:34.860 And it's you know, we recognize that, like, as people, we all are broken. 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:36.470 We all have sin struggles. 00:14:36.580 --> 00:14:38.560 And so not everyone's going to be perfect all the time. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:46.700 But there's a way in God's community where establishing leadership in a healthy way is important, but then also personally, to 00:14:46.700 --> 00:14:50.360 realize when God is doing a work in me, he desires to work through me. 00:14:50.520 --> 00:14:53.200 And God then uses me in order to lead. 00:14:54.160 --> 00:14:55.970 And we talk in terms of leadership. 00:14:56.560 --> 00:14:58.300 We want to do that in healthy ways. 00:14:59.140 --> 00:15:00.040 Let me give you an example. 00:15:00.300 --> 00:15:03.840 Like sometimes as a church, we'll say it like this. 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:04.760 Or at least I'll say it like this. 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:11.440 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. 00:15:14.140 --> 00:15:14.140 Towels. 00:15:14.140 --> 00:15:16.680 I feel like I'm saying a little bit like a kid from the Appalachian Hills. 00:15:17.260 --> 00:15:18.500 Towels. 00:15:18.520 --> 00:15:19.760 Not titles. 00:15:20.660 --> 00:15:22.840 And that sounds a little bit weird, right? 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:23.000 But. 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:27.820 But when it comes to titles, just having a title is not necessarily what makes you a leader. 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:35.360 And titles certainly have a place, but I grew leery of individuals who pursue titles like give me a title 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:41.540 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. 00:15:42.280 --> 00:15:47.040 In fact, there are lots of people in life that have titles and nobody's following, right? 00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:52.300 But I think titles in Scripture is a better model of what leadership is about. 00:15:52.840 --> 00:16:00.100 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 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:03.140 even though he was the greatest leader of all time. 00:16:03.780 --> 00:16:04.880 He continued to serve. 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:08.220 He gave his life for the benefit of others. 00:16:08.960 --> 00:16:16.060 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 00:16:16.060 --> 00:16:17.820 towel and washing the feet of his disciples. 00:16:17.880 --> 00:16:18.290 Here he is. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:20.080 And the final moments of his life. 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:24.920 And he takes the lowest form of a servant, teaching us what true leadership is about. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.840 In fact, in Matthew chapter 20 and verse 25 to 28, Jesus Jesus taught us that. 00:16:29.900 --> 00:16:37.000 He said, don't act like a leader the way that the Gentiles do, who seek the position to lord over you, but rather 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:40.820 he who wants to be first must be last in the kingdom of God. 00:16:41.980 --> 00:16:49.060 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 00:16:49.060 --> 00:16:50.980 get this in this world. 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:58.020 The reason I think people are often prone to seek titles and power and wealth and position is because they look at those things 00:16:58.020 --> 00:16:59.400 to validate who they are. 00:17:00.160 --> 00:17:02.440 They think those things are what make them important. 00:17:03.260 --> 00:17:10.579 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 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:13.260 therefore don't need the things of this world to validate us. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:15.060 Doesn't mean those things don't have a place. 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:16.260 It doesn't mean that they're not important. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:21.680 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. 00:17:22.540 --> 00:17:25.810 Now, when we think in terms of leadership, here's what I want you to know. 00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:31.020 When you when you think about yourself personally as a leader, and I want to look at three examples here in a minute. 00:17:32.260 --> 00:17:33.860 What makes you a leader is not a title. 00:17:34.820 --> 00:17:34.840 All. 00:17:34.840 --> 00:17:37.640 What makes you a good leader is your ability to influence. 00:17:38.360 --> 00:17:40.670 And you can do that without, with or without titles. 00:17:41.540 --> 00:17:43.360 Great leaders are great influencers. 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:44.600 I mean, you think in terms of Jesus. 00:17:44.780 --> 00:17:46.080 He never held a political office. 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:47.620 The man never wrote a book, led an army. 00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:51.100 But yet here we are, still talking about him today. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:53.660 An incredible influence. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.360 And that's really what great leadership is made about. 00:17:57.400 --> 00:18:04.480 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 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.510 make a difference through your influence. 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:07.600 How do you do that? 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:08.260 In a healthy way? 00:18:09.260 --> 00:18:12.080 And so for the rest of this passage, I really want us to see this. 00:18:12.080 --> 00:18:15.580 And we're going to do this fairly quickly, but I want us to see this through three examples. 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:22.750 One is through the Apostle Peter, the other is through Judas, which is a bad example, and the last is through Matthias. 00:18:23.400 --> 00:18:25.210 So we're going to see a sandwich. 00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:25.560 Right. 00:18:25.620 --> 00:18:27.270 You got a good example, bad example, a good example. 00:18:27.620 --> 00:18:30.600 We're talking in terms of leadership and what God has for us. 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:32.250 But here it is with the Apostle Peter. 00:18:32.380 --> 00:18:39.400 It says, in those days, Peter stood up among those the company of persons wasn't all about 120 and said, get this. 00:18:39.400 --> 00:18:44.420 When Peter said this, I didn't realize this, but he is the original Hulk Hogan because he starts off like this. 00:18:44.780 --> 00:18:45.740 Brothers, right? 00:18:45.760 --> 00:18:50.220 So it just reads different when you see it that way, right? 00:18:50.220 --> 00:18:57.300 The Scripture had to be fulfilled with the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide 00:18:57.300 --> 00:18:58.910 to those who arrested Jesus. 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.840 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:10.380 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 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:10.580 out. 00:19:10.660 --> 00:19:10.940 There you go. 00:19:10.980 --> 00:19:12.280 It's a beautiful verse for you. 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:13.420 Verse 19. 00:19:13.420 --> 00:19:20.640 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 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:23.320 of blood, for it is written in the Book of Psalms. 00:19:23.520 --> 00:19:30.540 May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it, and let another take his 00:19:30.540 --> 00:19:36.780 office here in this passage, Peter is showing a wonderful leadership. 00:19:36.780 --> 00:19:37.870 And you see it in a couple of ways. 00:19:38.700 --> 00:19:45.800 Number one is that Peter is stepping into a position of influence and refusing to stay passive. 00:19:46.080 --> 00:19:52.920 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. 00:19:53.360 --> 00:19:57.580 Now, sometimes passivity could look like actively sitting back, right? 00:19:57.580 --> 00:20:00.560 Because you can't be there and do everything hand over hand for people. 00:20:00.560 --> 00:20:02.420 You got to give them the opportunity to learn and grow themselves. 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:08.640 But one of the things Peter is refusing to do in this moment is just to let things sit where they are. 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:13.500 They're even though they're in this upper room, they're still talking about Scripture together. 00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:14.600 They're still growing in the Lord. 00:20:14.600 --> 00:20:17.620 They're still planning for the future of what God has for them. 00:20:18.060 --> 00:20:21.090 When the Spirit of God begins to work in their lives. 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:26.700 And so Peter, rather than being a passive leader, he's stepping into a place of influence. 00:20:27.300 --> 00:20:29.800 And I would say it's the same, same thing is important for you and for me. 00:20:29.860 --> 00:20:33.250 One of the greatest sins that we have to deal with is the sin of passivity. 00:20:33.820 --> 00:20:36.920 I mean, you see this from the beginning of Scripture with Adam and Eve. 00:20:36.940 --> 00:20:44.200 When Eve is tempted by the serpent, it tells you that Eve or excuse me, Adam is standing next to Eve while he's watching 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:46.660 Eve take the fall that's going to destroy her life. 00:20:47.760 --> 00:20:49.340 Passivity wrecked them. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:51.740 And it's the same for you and for me. 00:20:52.660 --> 00:20:59.980 And God's got you in a place in this world to not only know him, walk with him in relationship, but through that relationship that it would that 00:20:59.980 --> 00:21:02.680 it would strengthen your life to make a difference in this world. 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:07.300 God has you in a place for a reason and to use that influence for his glory. 00:21:08.100 --> 00:21:15.300 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 00:21:15.300 --> 00:21:16.180 to do. 00:21:16.780 --> 00:21:20.770 He wants to put people's eyes on Jesus and what God's called them to as a community. 00:21:21.340 --> 00:21:27.820 It's very critical for a leader health of a leadership to see, not by, not by looking at me, but by pointing to him. 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:30.450 The glory of God made known its about him. 00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:35.180 And not only do we see that, but we also see that Peter is willing to share position. 00:21:36.080 --> 00:21:41.790 Meaning he's not saying make me the center focus of everything, but rather recognizing we need more people in order to do this. 00:21:42.300 --> 00:21:46.850 And so in order to do this, let's let's look to appoint someone to take the position of Judas. 00:21:47.220 --> 00:21:49.490 And so he's leading them in that he's sharing leadership. 00:21:50.860 --> 00:21:53.540 But then at the same time, we learn something about the life of Judas. 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:57.300 And Judas was an individual. 00:21:57.340 --> 00:22:04.580 Interesting his story, because he spent three years walking in ministry with Christ and 00:22:04.580 --> 00:22:05.420 yet betrayed him. 00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:10.640 And some years ago, my grandfather passed away and I got to go back east and conduct his funeral. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:18.300 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. 00:22:18.300 --> 00:22:25.500 And I went to my grandmother, my grandfather's bedroom and in his bedroom, he had a he had a particular notebook 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:26.490 that he had saved. 00:22:27.300 --> 00:22:34.580 Eight, and I started to thumb through that notebook and I realized these are all the notes that he had taken as a teacher in his church 00:22:34.580 --> 00:22:35.400 where he lived. 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:42.780 He had faithfully taught every Sunday at his church for many decades, and he had written it all down in this notebook, those lessons 00:22:42.780 --> 00:22:43.460 that he taught. 00:22:43.520 --> 00:22:46.440 And I just asked my grandmother if I could have that, and she gave it to me. 00:22:46.500 --> 00:22:52.010 And I remember sitting down, one of the first lessons I turned to was the final moments of Jesus's life on the cross. 00:22:53.140 --> 00:23:00.260 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 00:23:00.260 --> 00:23:01.520 so far from Christ? 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:04.820 And it's the same for the life of Judas. 00:23:06.660 --> 00:23:09.260 If proximity doesn't equate transformation. 00:23:11.120 --> 00:23:14.290 And honestly, when I think about it, guys, that could even be true for this room. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:20.520 I have a lot of people who know a lot of things about Jesus, but still not have Jesus. 00:23:22.040 --> 00:23:29.080 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. 00:23:29.080 --> 00:23:29.960 His life for you. 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:32.520 And maybe it begs the question we could ask. 00:23:32.520 --> 00:23:36.540 Well, what was it that motivated Judas if he didn't want Jesus? 00:23:37.140 --> 00:23:39.540 And really, you find that answer in the Gospel of John. 00:23:39.540 --> 00:23:46.660 It says this he, Judas, said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and having charge of 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:50.100 the money bag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 00:23:52.040 --> 00:23:54.720 Judas motivation, honestly, was about himself. 00:23:56.200 --> 00:24:03.080 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. 00:24:03.080 --> 00:24:07.080 I mean, what better position of power can I have and access to resources? 00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:08.770 This is going to go really well for me. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:16.700 Judas reason for seeking Jesus was just for Judas, not because of Jesus, because it can be the same 00:24:16.700 --> 00:24:17.400 for us. 00:24:18.560 --> 00:24:24.440 Like we could seek Jesus for good things, but not necessarily because of who Jesus is. 00:24:25.220 --> 00:24:32.280 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 00:24:32.280 --> 00:24:33.320 about those things. 00:24:34.800 --> 00:24:37.860 But more than that, what Jesus wants is your life given over to him. 00:24:38.740 --> 00:24:44.190 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. 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:52.680 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 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:53.660 can gain from it. 00:24:53.660 --> 00:24:57.360 That power, that recognition, that fame, that wealth. 00:24:58.280 --> 00:25:02.980 It was about him, not about what Christ was desiring to do through him. 00:25:03.940 --> 00:25:05.740 So you have you have Peter as his example. 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:07.620 You have Judas as this example. 00:25:07.620 --> 00:25:14.800 And can I can I just tell you as a church one of the things that we 00:25:14.800 --> 00:25:21.840 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 00:25:21.840 --> 00:25:26.200 we look after as a church that we qualify leadership in. 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:33.240 It's these five C's are areas that we have found just critical for the life of an individual who will, in 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:37.560 coming into a body of Christ, seek to help the body, not take advantage of the body. 00:25:38.460 --> 00:25:38.660 Right. 00:25:38.660 --> 00:25:43.060 To honor God and bless people rather than themselves and hurt others. 00:25:43.580 --> 00:25:45.640 And those five C's, they work like this. 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:52.860 There's character, there's competency, there's clarity, there's 00:25:52.860 --> 00:25:55.920 commitment and there's chemistry. 00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:57.600 Those are the five C's we look for. 00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:05.020 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 preeminent over all 00:26:05.020 --> 00:26:06.510 things in terms of leadership. 00:26:06.840 --> 00:26:13.490 Like if you were to read first Timothy three or Titus chapter one, those are the qualifications for elders or pastors in the church. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:14.930 First Timothy three. 00:26:15.260 --> 00:26:20.150 In Titus chapter one, if you were to concentrate on those, what you'll discover is the primary focus is all about character. 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:21.620 And we say it like this. 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:22.860 That character is king. 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:24.960 So you want to see the consistency of character. 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:31.580 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. 00:26:32.080 --> 00:26:37.250 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. 00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:40.160 But charisma without character leads to an implosion. 00:26:41.020 --> 00:26:43.700 So character is critical. 00:26:43.880 --> 00:26:45.070 Second, we want to see competency. 00:26:46.100 --> 00:26:48.560 And that doesn't mean you need to know everything, right? 00:26:48.840 --> 00:26:53.280 But as you're bend carried with a hunger towards God's word. 00:26:53.540 --> 00:26:53.860 Right. 00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:57.040 And are you committed to being a lifelong learner in your in your life? 00:26:57.480 --> 00:26:59.000 Do you want to continue to learn and grow in Jesus? 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.540 Do you see that pattern where you're just seeking God's face through His Word? 00:27:03.100 --> 00:27:04.030 We want someone with character. 00:27:04.060 --> 00:27:05.100 We want someone with competency. 00:27:05.840 --> 00:27:06.880 We want someone with clarity. 00:27:07.600 --> 00:27:09.380 They understand who they are in Christ. 00:27:09.520 --> 00:27:12.010 They understand the purpose of the church which God has created. 00:27:12.300 --> 00:27:14.680 So we have clarity in living that mission as a community. 00:27:15.520 --> 00:27:17.920 We want to think bigger than ourselves, right? 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:20.080 Because God's called the church to live on mission. 00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:27.800 So we want that clarity and that heart for community, the not just the intimacy of this community, but the greater community around us 00:27:27.800 --> 00:27:28.400 that's lost. 00:27:28.480 --> 00:27:33.120 And without Jesus, we want to carry, carry that heart, and then we want to see commitment, right? 00:27:33.140 --> 00:27:34.820 Sometimes we compare it to these two animals. 00:27:34.820 --> 00:27:37.480 We say, ask the question, are you a chicken or a pig? 00:27:37.540 --> 00:27:40.180 Which sounds insulting to be either, really. 00:27:40.180 --> 00:27:41.740 But are you a chicken and pig? 00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:45.480 And you think about the difference between those two types of animals, right? 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:48.000 A chicken, a chicken just lays an egg and can move on. 00:27:49.080 --> 00:27:56.640 But the pig pig's got to give its life and you can do ministry with chickens, but 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.980 you build ministry on pigs. 00:27:59.380 --> 00:28:03.650 You need people willing to lay their life down for the glory of God to the benefit of others. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:07.980 That illustration works really well in everywhere but Muslim countries, right? 00:28:07.980 --> 00:28:08.420 So. 00:28:08.780 --> 00:28:10.020 But we'll take that. 00:28:10.020 --> 00:28:10.940 That's a good question for you. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:11.960 Am I a chicken or a pig? 00:28:12.780 --> 00:28:14.240 Have I really laid my life down for the Lord? 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:19.360 And then chemistry to understand that what we do in Jesus is considered It's a team sport. 00:28:19.360 --> 00:28:20.130 It's not about an individual. 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:27.960 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. 00:28:28.660 --> 00:28:33.880 And sometimes that might mean we can't always do things the best way the first time, because we're learning and growing. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:40.810 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. 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:43.480 First Corinthians 1031 do it all for the glory of God. 00:28:44.420 --> 00:28:49.380 But to understand, we're also learning in how to do that and what God's more interested in. 00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:55.460 And then a perfect task being accomplished is how well we're growing in him as a community as we do it together. 00:28:56.460 --> 00:29:01.240 And so how do you work together with people to accomplish what God has called us to do as a community? 00:29:02.340 --> 00:29:08.040 So those five C's we find are critical to determine how healthy are we as a group of people? 00:29:08.040 --> 00:29:09.520 Sometimes we think about that informally. 00:29:09.620 --> 00:29:14.620 Other times we work through that formally depending on what kind of role we're talking about here in the church. 00:29:14.960 --> 00:29:16.960 But those are sort of our targets that we think about. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:19.550 So you're aware how we do that as a community. 00:29:19.980 --> 00:29:23.040 But then we get to this last example I got 11 minutes. 00:29:23.060 --> 00:29:24.380 So that's about enough time. 00:29:24.680 --> 00:29:26.860 But this last example then we're dealing with Mathias. 00:29:28.360 --> 00:29:33.500 And I want to take a minute to talk about this section, because this is where Mathias is appointed as an apostle. 00:29:34.260 --> 00:29:40.860 And I'll just tell you up front that some people may disagree with my position in this section of Scripture. 00:29:41.080 --> 00:29:42.670 And I want you to know there is a right position. 00:29:43.080 --> 00:29:48.360 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. 00:29:48.360 --> 00:29:53.800 Okay, but Mathias is appointed as an apostle, and Peter is. 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:55.170 He's laying out for us why? 00:29:55.520 --> 00:29:56.040 He's. 00:29:56.040 --> 00:29:58.070 This is happening and this is what he said. 00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:05.740 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 00:30:05.740 --> 00:30:11.150 day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:16.400 And they put forward two Joseph called I'll tell you why. 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:17.360 Corinthians is there in a minute. 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:21.720 Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called justice, and Matthias. 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:24.780 And they prayed and said, you, Lord, you know the hearts of all. 00:30:24.800 --> 00:30:31.820 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 go 00:30:31.820 --> 00:30:33.080 to his own place. 00:30:33.340 --> 00:30:34.780 And they cast lots for them. 00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:38.690 And the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. 00:30:40.280 --> 00:30:44.840 Now when it comes to this position of apostle, this is important to talk about. 00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:46.400 For let me give you a broad reason. 00:30:46.520 --> 00:30:53.760 One is I would love for us to move forward in the rest of our time on earth under healthy 00:30:53.760 --> 00:31:00.920 leadership or being healthy leaders, but to also be mindful of the fact that sometimes people will take positions 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:06.660 and titles in this world to leverage over you and use them to abuse you and take advantage of you. 00:31:07.800 --> 00:31:15.000 And I want to talk about that in terms of the title of apostle, because my biblical view is 00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.740 the office of apostle does not exist today. 00:31:19.080 --> 00:31:24.640 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. 00:31:25.540 --> 00:31:31.100 Now, in saying that, I know people disagree with that and I'm completely okay with that. 00:31:31.140 --> 00:31:32.390 And again, one of us is wrong. 00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:35.610 I want you to see where I get that from in Scripture. 00:31:36.040 --> 00:31:36.220 Right. 00:31:36.220 --> 00:31:37.920 Not so you can go out of here and argue with people. 00:31:38.760 --> 00:31:44.170 I do, I do want you to know there are positions of leadership that the Bible talks about, and those are important. 00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:51.390 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. 00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:54.850 And I just want to have a biblical view to leadership in general. 00:31:55.500 --> 00:32:02.540 So when it comes to the idea of apostles, the reason I would say you could ask, well, why would Peter be appointing of apostle if it wasn't to 00:32:02.540 --> 00:32:03.090 continue? 00:32:03.300 --> 00:32:05.440 And I would say it's for couple reasons. 00:32:05.500 --> 00:32:12.520 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 00:32:12.520 --> 00:32:19.660 beginning, one of the things that represents the hand of God is for the Jewish people to recognize that God has pursued them 00:32:19.660 --> 00:32:23.720 by appointing one apostle for every tribe of Israel. 00:32:23.840 --> 00:32:28.220 And so there are these 12 apostles representing the 12 tribes as this new movement begins. 00:32:28.920 --> 00:32:32.500 And Peter gives us a prescriptive reason why they're appointing the next apostle. 00:32:33.240 --> 00:32:38.640 And that's because the Scripture has declared that specifically Judas would be replaced. 00:32:38.680 --> 00:32:43.920 And he quotes from I think it's Psalm 69 and Psalm 103 as to the reason for this, right. 00:32:44.020 --> 00:32:49.070 This doesn't become prescriptive, prescriptive now for everyone to be replaced as they die. 00:32:49.160 --> 00:32:54.930 But he's specifically saying because of Judas, this is okay, because this has already been prophetically declared that this should happen. 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:57.680 So here it comes, that one apostle is about to be replaced. 00:32:58.300 --> 00:33:02.620 Now then, I would argue from what Peter is saying here, that doesn't mean every apostle needs replaced. 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:09.720 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 00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:10.180 apostle? 00:33:10.200 --> 00:33:11.700 Like what qualifies you? 00:33:11.860 --> 00:33:12.970 Peter says it like this. 00:33:13.240 --> 00:33:15.800 You are a witness to the resurrection of Jesus. 00:33:16.600 --> 00:33:16.740 Right. 00:33:16.740 --> 00:33:21.400 Which for everyone in this room and all of planet Earth automatically disqualifies you, right? 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:22.340 Like you do not. 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:24.940 You did not walk the Earth during the resurrection of Jesus. 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:32.200 In fact, when the Apostle Paul, who's called an apostle, he acknowledges in one Corinthians nine one that he also saw the resurrected 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:33.100 Jesus. 00:33:33.300 --> 00:33:35.060 Now let me distinguish something for you. 00:33:35.140 --> 00:33:40.560 I think in the Bible there is a difference between a capital, a apostle and a lowercase a apostle. 00:33:41.020 --> 00:33:43.020 Capital a apostle is the office of apostle. 00:33:43.060 --> 00:33:45.380 That's what I'm arguing doesn't exist today. 00:33:45.460 --> 00:33:50.810 However, there is a term for lowercase apostle, and the way that we use it today is we just use the word missionary. 00:33:51.760 --> 00:33:53.790 The word apostle literally just means one sent forth. 00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:57.480 And so when they would send people out, when you read the book of Acts, you'll see they'll call them apostles. 00:33:58.020 --> 00:34:02.840 And what they're saying is there's missionaries, not the office of apostle, but they're going out as missionaries into this world. 00:34:03.600 --> 00:34:10.800 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 00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:17.940 chapter two verse 20, it tells you that the apostles were established for laying down the foundation prophets as well, laying down the foundation. 00:34:18.760 --> 00:34:21.139 So it was the essential building block to where everything else would come. 00:34:21.420 --> 00:34:24.800 And so when you build a house, how many times you lay a foundation once. 00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:26.739 Right? 00:34:26.820 --> 00:34:28.909 And so the apostles, their role was to lay that foundation. 00:34:29.840 --> 00:34:37.139 And you can even use the idea of anecdotally looking at Scripture to think, okay, well, if what Nathaniel's saying is true or not true, like, 00:34:37.139 --> 00:34:38.840 how can I look at Scripture to determine this? 00:34:38.840 --> 00:34:46.219 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 00:34:46.219 --> 00:34:51.320 than Acts chapter one, at some other point someone would have laid down a prescription. 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:58.760 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 00:34:58.760 --> 00:34:59.720 them, right? 00:34:59.740 --> 00:35:06.780 You don't find that anywhere in the New Testament, leading us to conclude that the Bible was never calling us to continue 00:35:06.780 --> 00:35:09.260 to perpetuate the office of Apostle that it was temporary. 00:35:09.620 --> 00:35:13.920 But what you do discover is that there are several passages and how to appoint leaders. 00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:22.020 In fact, in first Timothy three Titus chapter one, first Peter five, these are the qualifications for appointing elders, pastors, deacons. 00:35:22.140 --> 00:35:26.980 And so you see the idea of leadership being perpetuated in the church, but not the office of apostle. 00:35:27.600 --> 00:35:29.020 First Corinthians 15. 00:35:29.540 --> 00:35:31.380 This is where Paul's listing the apostles. 00:35:31.380 --> 00:35:37.000 He says he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born. 00:35:37.000 --> 00:35:38.000 He appeared to me. 00:35:38.080 --> 00:35:38.870 For I am the least of the apostles. 00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:41.280 And Peter is saying, look, I was the apostle. 00:35:41.580 --> 00:35:42.620 I was the one no one expected. 00:35:42.940 --> 00:35:44.050 I was the surprise baby. 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:45.320 That's really what he's saying. 00:35:45.780 --> 00:35:48.970 Like, as if to recognize that it came to an end and he was the last one. 00:35:49.640 --> 00:35:55.740 And then in revelation, it goes on to describe just the 12 apostles and what they represent for the church. 00:35:55.840 --> 00:35:58.580 Now, I gave you these verses in your notes. 00:35:58.640 --> 00:36:00.820 I had several more, but I'm like, I'm going to run out of time. 00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:03.000 So these are just the big picture for you. 00:36:03.260 --> 00:36:08.380 And to this point, if you disagree with me and you think, well, no, it still exists today. 00:36:09.380 --> 00:36:10.330 Here's what I want you to know. 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:17.440 And just take these last two thoughts away and consider when it comes to the idea of apostle or leadership, I want you 00:36:17.440 --> 00:36:20.240 to recognize just how the apostles lived their lives. 00:36:21.180 --> 00:36:21.320 Right. 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:28.600 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 00:36:28.600 --> 00:36:30.430 works, talking about the office of Apostle. 00:36:31.140 --> 00:36:32.140 They would perform these. 00:36:32.780 --> 00:36:39.860 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. 00:36:41.300 --> 00:36:45.300 And so when they would go around, they would meet people just begging and hoping for a miracle. 00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:47.750 And the apostles, they would see these miracles take place. 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.440 And I would just pose for anyone that holds that position today. 00:36:52.280 --> 00:36:59.360 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 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:03.070 Fork Hospital, or over here to the other new hospital here in Lehi. 00:37:04.120 --> 00:37:11.220 I mean, the office of Apostle signs followed that, and not ones you could look at skeptically real miraculous 00:37:11.220 --> 00:37:11.770 signs. 00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:20.220 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 00:37:20.220 --> 00:37:25.220 last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. 00:37:25.380 --> 00:37:26.800 We are fools for Christ's sake. 00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:27.600 For you are wise. 00:37:27.600 --> 00:37:29.330 In Christ we are weak, but you are strong. 00:37:29.560 --> 00:37:32.300 You are held in honor, but we are in disrepute to the present hour. 00:37:32.420 --> 00:37:35.840 We're hungry, thirsty, poor, distressed, buffeted, homeless. 00:37:35.840 --> 00:37:39.860 We have become and are still like the scum of the world and the refuse of all things. 00:37:41.200 --> 00:37:44.620 Paul's acknowledging something about the lifestyle of an apostle in the first century. 00:37:45.600 --> 00:37:50.140 They didn't they didn't live on ivory towers with the world praising their name. 00:37:50.140 --> 00:37:54.240 They went to the ends of the earth and lived in poverty, facing martyrdom. 00:37:55.320 --> 00:37:58.200 And I often find people that might try to carry that title today. 00:37:58.540 --> 00:38:05.330 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. 00:38:06.720 --> 00:38:13.940 And so, even if you believe that title exists, just thinking about the lifestyle that people live, wearing those titles 00:38:14.580 --> 00:38:15.300 becomes important. 00:38:16.220 --> 00:38:23.560 Because when you look at the apostles of the first century, they lived very difficult lives for the sake of Christ at the front lines of 00:38:23.560 --> 00:38:29.140 helping people meet Jesus for the first time and all these things. 00:38:29.200 --> 00:38:36.420 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 00:38:36.420 --> 00:38:38.500 you and for me, ultimately is really Jesus. 00:38:39.600 --> 00:38:42.040 And the Bible tells us that he is our final apostle. 00:38:42.280 --> 00:38:43.210 He is our final prophet. 00:38:43.680 --> 00:38:44.500 He is our final priest. 00:38:44.620 --> 00:38:45.550 He's even our chief shepherd. 00:38:46.420 --> 00:38:52.040 In fact, in Hebrews one it says long ago, at many times, in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. 00:38:52.040 --> 00:38:54.880 But in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son. 00:38:54.900 --> 00:39:02.140 So Jesus the final prophet, and in chapter three, verse one, therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider 00:39:02.140 --> 00:39:05.160 Jesus the apostle and high priest of our confession. 00:39:06.260 --> 00:39:13.640 And he's recognizing not not putting people in these positions between me and Christ, but to realize I 00:39:13.640 --> 00:39:16.400 get access to Jesus for him to lead me. 00:39:16.440 --> 00:39:18.990 How critical that is for you and for me. 00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:27.120 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 00:39:27.120 --> 00:39:30.970 because I thought, man, if guy's in ministry, when you get older, can start to look like your grandma. 00:39:31.340 --> 00:39:33.280 You guys need to warn me if that's happening to me. 00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:33.880 Okay. 00:39:33.980 --> 00:39:36.200 I don't want to walk that road, but. 00:39:36.480 --> 00:39:43.580 But, John Wesley you know, when he first he first started to minister, he tried in Savannah, Georgia, to establish 00:39:43.580 --> 00:39:48.040 churches, and he really left, went back to England with his tail between his legs. 00:39:48.920 --> 00:39:50.260 He was a difficult time for him. 00:39:51.200 --> 00:39:51.700 And he. 00:39:51.820 --> 00:39:54.060 I think he actually became a believer once he left. 00:39:54.120 --> 00:39:58.200 But then he came back to the United States and he saw a tremendous movement of God. 00:39:59.220 --> 00:40:00.620 And this is what he said in his life. 00:40:00.620 --> 00:40:06.480 He said this give me 100 believers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God. 00:40:07.120 --> 00:40:09.620 Such alone will shake the gates of hell. 00:40:10.660 --> 00:40:11.820 Can I just propose to you? 00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:18.480 That's exactly what happened in the first century, given their life over to Jesus, seeking his face with their lives. 00:40:19.020 --> 00:40:23.540 God did an incredible work, not because they were pursuing titles, but they were willing to pick up towels. 00:40:24.520 --> 00:40:26.940 And in so doing, God just blessed that tremendously. 00:40:27.740 --> 00:40:28.760 It's the same in this room. 00:40:28.780 --> 00:40:31.870 We're probably, I don't know, around 100 or so people, maybe a little over. 00:40:32.300 --> 00:40:34.230 Caleb's counting even now. 00:40:35.710 --> 00:40:42.980 But when you think about giving over to God, the difference that can make in the hearts of people around us, if 00:40:42.980 --> 00:40:51.040 we're willing to seek his face and surrender to his call.