Acts (2): Three Things: Unity, Prayer, Faith (Acts 1:12-26)

by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung

[iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLD4055A11118985DE&hl=en_US 500px 500px]

The Book of Acts is a history of the Early Church. It records how the gospel spread from Jerusalem, to Samaria, and throughout the entire Roman Empire. Last time we discussed Acts 1:1-11. In these 11 verses, we learned about three voices: first, the voice of the risen Lord, second, the voice of the disciples, and thirdly, the voice of the angels. These three voices brought out some important lessons and truths.

Today, we want to study Acts 1:12-26. In these 15 verses, we see three things:

1. the unity of the church
2. the prayer of the church
3. the faith of the church.

The Church must learn all three.

1. Unity of the Church (Trusting One Another Within the Church) 1:12-15

Verse 12 tells us that after Jesus was taken up into heaven, the disciples returned to Jerusalem, went upstairs to a room where they were staying, and joined together constantly in prayer. This is the first prayer meeting of the Early Church. There were about 20 people who attended that prayer meeting. But verse 15 records a group of about a hundred and twenty. So verse 15 clearly is referring to another prayer meeting, and the number had already multiplied from 20 to 120.

In this 120-people meeting, we find different kinds of people – there were men and women, apostles and ordinary believers, and also Jesus’ family (his mother, his brothers). The Bible says: `they all joined together constantly in prayer.’ Being “all … together” is a sign of the Early Church’s unity. In Acts 1 to 5, the phrase “all…together” appeared 5 times (1:14, 2:1, 44, 46, 4:24, 5:12). These 120 people humbly met together, worshipped the Lord with one heart – what a beautiful picture of unity.

However, if you think about it, it was also a time where it would have been easy for Satan to cause divisions among them. Jesus’ mother and brothers could have asked for special treatment, they could have claimed: `I am Jesus’ mother! We are Jesus’ brothers. Our relationship with Jesus is different from your relationship with him.’ In taking group pictures, Mary, James and Jude could have insisted on sitting in the most important seats. Peter had denied Jesus three times, if only someone would bring it up, how can he become leader of the church. John could even loudly insist: `I was the only one who remained loyal when Jesus was on the cross; the Lord had even delegated the care of his mother to me, only I am qualified to be the leader of the church.’

But praise the Lord, such things didn’t happen. Before Jesus’ crucifixion, the disciples argued more than once on who among them was the greatest, but after Jesus resurrection and ascension, they no longer argued over the matter, they became truly united, because there was trust among them.

Christians, if we are to fulfil the Great Commission, it is not enough to just trust in Jesus, we must learn to trust our fellow Christians. There is not one church or one Christian who can single-handedly fulfil the Great Commission, so, there must be unity and trust between churches and believers. The 120-people group of the Early Church had unity because they trusted one another.

At that time, they no longer asked who was greatest, whose sin was worst, instead, they were concerned only on how they could fulfil the Great Commission. This is the reason for unity in the church – everyone must have the same goal.

Exodus 17:8-16 records the first battle the Israelites faced after they came out of Egypt. The Amalekites attacked the Israelites, but were later defeated by Israel. The Israelites were able to defeat the Amalekites for three reasons: Moses lifted his staff on the hilltop (power of prayer), Aaron and Hur supported Moses (power of support), Joshua fought the battle in the valley (power of action). The combination of these three things resulted in victory for Israel.

On the other hand, imagine if Moses had been unwilling to remain out of the limelight and insisted on leading the battle, because he had once been a prince of Egypt, a general; and what if Aaron and Hur refused to play the supporting roles, and wanted to lift the staff on the hilltop; what if Joshua was not pleased to fight the battle while Moses’ lifted the staff! What if Joshua had argued, ‘You come do the battle, let me lift the staff!’ I am sure they would not have won the battle.

Moses was 80 years old, how could he go into battle? Joshua was only 40, how would people regard a 40- year old sturdy man merely lifting a staff in a time of war? If Aaron and Hur refused to play supporting roles to Moses and insisted on lifting the staff simultaneously with Moses, tiring themselves out, no one would be left to do it till the end. However, they each did their part: Moses lifted the staff, Aaron and Hur supported him, Joshua fought the battle. This was the best method to defeat the Amalekites. They all had the same goal – to defeat the Amalekites and because of this goal, they worked together in unity. O Church, unless we have the same goal, to fulfil the Great Commission, we will not be able to unite. May the Lord help us, we unite not for our own sake, but for the Lord!

2. Prayer of the Church (Praying for One Another Within the Church) 14-15/24-25

Prayer occupies a significant place in the Book of Acts. Almost all of its twenty-eight chapters mention the Church praying. In chapter one, the church waited for the Holy Spirit’s coming by praying. In chapter two, after the Church was born, the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, breaking of bread and to prayer.

In chapter three, they healed a man who was crippled from birth through prayer.
In chapter 4, when the Church was persecuted by the Sanhedrin, they prayed and asked the Lord to give them boldness to continue witnessing for Christ.
In chapter 6, the apostles said: `We will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’
In chapter 7, before Stephen was martyred, he knelt down, prayed aloud and then fell asleep.
In chapter 8, Peter and John prayed for the believers in Samaria, and they received the Holy Spirit.
In chapter 9, after turning to the Lord, Saul prayed.
In chapter 10, the angel of the Lord appeared to Cornelius as he prayed.
In chapter 12, the Church prayed for Peter earnestly when he was imprisoned.
In chapter 13, while the leaders of the Antioch church were fasting and praying, the Lord commissioned Paul and Barnabas to do mission work.
In chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for the churches with prayer and fasting.
In chapter 16, Paul led Lydia to the Lord in a place of prayer and through prayer, the prison doors were opened.
In chapters 17, 18, 19, Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus were covered in prayer- when we study Paul’s epistles, we realize that he always prayed.
In chapter 20, Paul’s prayer brought Eutychus back from the dead.
In chapter 21, when Paul and his co-workers were about to part ways, they knelt down on the beach to pray.
In chapters 22- 26, of course Paul had prayed as he testified of Jesus before the Jews, the Sanhedrin, Felix, & King Agrippa.
In chapter 27, in the face of a storm, Paul prayed.
In chapter 28, after the storm, Paul prayed for a sick man, and the man received healing from the Lord.
Prayer, prayer, prayer! Prayer was a mark of the Early Church. In Acts, we see that when God’s people pray, circumstances changed. May the Lord have mercy on us for we do not pray as much as we should. We must pray more.

Every small group must pray when they meet together. All small group leaders, you must set aside time for prayer among your members. Prayer is a ministry. One day, my wife and I visited an 80-year old sister. This sister lamented that she is not as physically strong as she was in her younger days and added that the only thing she could do now was to pray. She said: `Pastor, I often pray for you.’ Immediately I expressed my deep appreciation for her prayers!

In 1988, when I was about to come to the Philippines, my mother wasn’t keen on the idea due to the uncertain situation in this country. Later on my mother said, “If the Lord is truly calling you to the Philippines, I cannot oppose. I can only pray for you every day.” Now that my mother is gone, I believe there are many people who continue to pray for me. This aged sister is one of them. The Early Church was a church that prayed. How about our church, how is its prayer life? Have you prayed for the church?

3. The Faith of the Church (Trusting the Lord’s Guidance) 16-23/26

The third thing we can learn from the passage is how the Church chose Matthias to take Judas’ place since Judas had killed himself after betraying the Lord Jesus. Some people criticize the way Peter chose Matthias, but I personally believe that what Peter did was right and according to God’s will. Why do I say so? There are four important reasons:

a. Peter was the Leader of the Church then – In Matthew 16, Jesus had clearly identified Peter as the Church’s leader. In fact, whenever the Bible speaks of the twelve apostles, Peter’s name would always appear first. After the Holy Spirit arrived, Peter stood up to speak in behalf of the twelve; Peter was clearly the leader of the Early Church. He can be called the senior pastor of the Early Church. Therefore, when he stood up to speak, he was representing the church authorities. The Bible says there is no authority that does not come from God, we must respect all authorities. Also, when Peter raised up the idea of picking someone to take the place of Judas, he was simply giving a suggestion; if no one agreed, it would not have been carried through at all. But the whole church (120 people) agreed. Therefore, criticising Peter’s manner of picking out a substitute for Judas seems unwarranted. Peter was the church’s leader, it was but right for him to suggest an idea to the church. There is nothing wrong with that.

b. Jesus had already Opened the People’s Minds – Luke 24:45 “Then He (Jesus) opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” This occurred after Jesus’ resurrection – He explained truths in Scripture to his disciples. Peter stood up and used Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8 to confirm how Judas’ life would end. Peter did not think this up on his own, he suggested it according to the moving of the Holy Spirit and the Truth. And, since everyone understood the truths in scripture, no one stood up to object, all the others (120 people) agreed.

c. The Apostles were Witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection – Let us change our perspective a bit, to be appointed an apostle is not like a career advancement, nor is it gaining position and wealth; and so with becoming a pastor. Sometimes, we are influenced by the world; we think that being a pastor is to become exalted in position, that’s why we say `confer’ someone the title of pastor or reverend. But in reality, being a pastor is nothing like that, being an apostle does not carry with it advancement in position or wealth. Being an apostle is simply having an important mission, and that is, to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. During the time of the apostles, to dare witness about Christ’s resurrection (that is He is God’s Son), one must be willing to lose his life; so being an apostle is not gaining wealth or position. If not for the love of the Lord, no one would be willing to be an apostle. Matthias accepted apostleship not because of the fame or the wealth, but for the love of the Lord!

d. The Election Process was in Accordance with the Truth – Three steps were taken in the election process: 1. According to the Truth, they chose a man to take Judas’ place – among the 120, they agreed to abide by one principle and that is that the man must have been with them the whole time (beginning from John’s baptism to when Jesus was taken up form them to heaven). He must have witnessed the Lord’s death and resurrection. According to this principle, they found two people- one was Barsabbas, the other Matthias. Only the two of them were qualified to be apostles. 2. The Church prayed. They did not decide it on their own. 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.” 3. They casted lots – this is the last time casting lots was mentioned as being used in the Bible to resolve an issue.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites did use casting lots to resolve difficult issues. It is recorded in the Book of Joshua that when the Israelites had been defeated by Ai, they inquired of the Lord. The Lord pointed out that it was because Israel has sinned. Joshua employed casting of lots to find the culprit, as a result Achan was found out.

In the Book of Samuel, Israel wanted a king. Samuel cast lots and Saul was picked out. Thus, we see that the Church’ use of lot-casting to pick out Matthias had its basis. However, we must take note that in the first place, there was no problem whether Barsabbas or Matthias gets picked out because they were both qualified. It was under this principle that they casted lots. If any of the two was not qualified, they would not have used casting lots as a means to decide the question.

For example, you want to buy a car and you are choosing between a Japan-made car or a Korean-made car. Unable to decide which one to buy, you cast lots. To that, I will not object. However, if for example the problem is choosing a mate – let’s say three men are courting you – Mr’s. A, B & C. All three are Christians, good-looking, and talented. You are confused as to which one to choose and you would like to cast lot to find out, neither will I object. But I believe that if you come instead to ask me as to which one is the best guy, I think that would be a better method. My point is: The Early Church cast lots to pick out Matthias because they believe that was the best way to find out and most importantly, they could confidently cast lots since both of them were qualified to be apostles. Their faith was grounded on the word of God and prayer.

We saw the unity of the Church, the prayer of the Church, the faith of the Church. Because there was unity, prayer and faith, the 120-member Early Church turned the world upside down.