And open your Bibles if you would
to Acts chapter 1. Today we'll continue our study
in the book of Acts. The name of the message is One
Accord. One Accord. Now in the body of Christ we
have unity of doctrine, unity of our Savior, unity of our Father,
unity of the one who regenerated us. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. unity in our love for the scriptures,
unity in our love for the gospel. And so it is no wonder that the
scripture proclaims can two walk together except they be agreed.
And again we're continue in our study today in the book of Acts. And Lord willing, we'll finish
up this chapter today. It's all one narrative from verses
12 to 26. So it shows the apostles returning
to Jerusalem and waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit
to be sent to them, which we'll look at that next week, Lord
willing, in chapter two. So let's read verses 12 to 21
of the book of Acts to see our text for today. Then returned
they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is
from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come
in, they went up into an upper room where both Peter and James
and John and Andrew and Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew,
James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotus and Judas the brother
of James. These all continued in, look
at this, one accord. one accord, in prayer and supplication
with the woman and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his
brethren. And in those days, Peter stood
up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names
together were about 120. So there's about 120 people there
together. Men and brethren, this scripture
must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth
of David spake concerning Judas, which was guide to them that
took Jesus. Now I'm going to say something
quick. I remember when I was in religion, I was always taught
that they made a mistake when they went and cast lots, that
they were working in their own flesh. And I believed that, because
that's what I'd been taught. But we see here in the scripture
that this was prophesied. It wasn't a mistake, beloved. Scripture talks about the casting
of the lot comes about by the Lord. So remember this as we're reading
this, that this is all part of God's eternal plan being worked
out before us. It wasn't a mistake. Look at
this. I'll read that verse again. Men
and brethren, the scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which
the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning
Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered
with us, he was with them, preaching the gospel, and had obtained
part of this ministry. Now this man purchased the field
with the reward of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst
asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it
was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, insomuch as that
field is called, in the proper tongue, a comeda, that is to
say, the field of blood. For it is written in the Psalms,
let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell therein
and his bishopric let another take, his office, his office
let another take. Wherefore, These men, which have
accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and
out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until that
same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained
to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed
two, Joseph, called Barbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias.
Now look at this. If they did it in the flesh,
why were they praying? Look at this, and they prayed.
They sought God, and said, Thou Lord, Thou Lord, knowest the
hearts of all men. Show whither of these two men
Thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this
ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth
their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered
with the 11 apostles. Look at verses four and five,
and we see in verses four and five that our Lord commanded
the apostles and all those folks to go back to Jerusalem. He said,
and being assembled together with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the
Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Not many
days hence. And also in verse eight, before the Lord Jesus
Christ ascension up to glory, we see him again telling them
that the Holy Spirit will come. And now remember, in the book
of John, he promised that he'd send the comforter, didn't he?
He promised he'd send the comforter. And the comforter must come or
else we won't be born again. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
you must be born again, remember? You must be born again. And without
the Holy Spirit coming, we will never have faith in Christ, because
he gives us faith to trust and rest in the crucified one, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his precious blood for us at Calvary's
Cross, redeeming our eternal souls. So if the Holy Spirit
doesn't come, we will never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says in verse 8, but ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses. See,
all of us, all of God's people, we're witnesses. We're witnesses
to the great things God done for us. Isn't that wonderful?
It's wonderful. You shall be witnesses unto me,
both in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost
part of the earth. Well, even Elmott, right? Here
we are. Witnesses in this area, right?
Isn't it wonderful? It's wonderful. So the outermost
parts of the earth, they're a long way from Israel here, isn't it?
Isn't that amazing? God's gospel's going forth all
over the world. Now with Sermon Audio too, it's
going all over the place, isn't it? It's going all over the place. My oh my. Now in verse 12 to
14 we see that they obeyed that command. The Lord commanded that
they return up to glory and after his ascension, after, remember
they were standing there with their jaws hitting the floor.
There he goes. We would too, right? We would
have done the same thing. Gazing, the angels asked, why
are you gazing up to heaven? David, you and I, we go, oh my
goodness, what did we just see? Right? That's how they were,
I bet you. They were amazed. And the Lord
just ascended right up to heaven. My, oh my. It was amazing. Then they returned
unto Jerusalem, verse 12, we'll read verses 12 to 14, then they
returned unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which
is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they
were come in, they went up into the upper room where both Peter
and James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew,
James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelatos, and Judas, the
brother of James. And what did they do? They all
continued with one accord, in prayer, in supplication, with
the woman and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Now think about what they'd just
seen. They'd just seen the Lord ascend up to glory. And then
God, before that, he commanded them, you know, you go back to
Jerusalem. You go back to Jerusalem. And they hastened back to Jerusalem,
didn't they? Turn if you would to Luke chapter
24. We're going to see they hastened back to Jerusalem from the mountain. They just lost sight of Jesus
in the cloud. He ascended up to heaven. Two
angels told him, what did the two angels say? Why stand ye
gazing up to heaven? This same Jesus shall. He's coming
back. He's going to return. And he
will, won't he? He shall come again in like manner. My, oh,
my. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 24,
we see here our risen Lord talking to his disciples about his death
and the reason for it. And also take note that we see
after that they had learned about his death, and then when they
had saw Christ's ascension, do you know what they were filled
with? Great joy. It don't hurt for us to be filled
with joy, does it? Oh, we love it, don't we? The preacher of the gospel fills
us with great joy, doesn't it? It's wonderful. And the preachers
don't have to say, you gotta have joy! No, the preachers don't
have to tell God's people that, because we got joy, don't we?
True joy. True joy in our hearts. True
joy in our hearts from Jesus Christ our Lord. My oh my. Take note, though, after they
saw Christ's ascension, they were filled with great joy. Oh,
may we be filled with that great joy, too. We'd be filled with joy when
we think of our precious Redeemer, our great Redeemer, saving our
eternal souls on Calvary's cross by the shedding of His blood
and then rising again. There He goes. Look at this,
Luke chapter 24, we're starting verse 44. And He said unto them,
These are the words which I speak unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled. So he had to go and
he had to die on Calvary's cross. Which were written in the Law
of Moses and the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me.
See, the Old Testament concerns Christ. It's all about Christ. Now look at this. Remember I
said that to know Christ has to be a revelation of God in
Sunday School this morning? Look at this. Then opened he
their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
That's what he does for us, beloved. That's what he does for us. He
opens up the scriptures that we might understand them. Otherwise,
we don't have no clue. Isn't it wonderful? So give God
all the glory for everything you know and everything you've
learned about Christ. Give him all the glory because it's he
who opens up our understanding. And said unto them, thus it is
written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day. So he's telling them about his
death. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached
in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Repent. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Turn from your sins and turn
to Christ Jesus. Oh my. And ye are witnesses of
these things. And behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you. Now he's speaking about sending
the Holy Spirit. But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
you be endured with power from on high. And then look at, here's
the ascension of Christ. And he led them out as far as
Bethany. He lifted up his hands and blessed
them. And they came to pass while he blessed them. He was parted
from them and carried up into the heavens. He just went right
up. So you say, I can't believe that. You will if God gives you
faith. You won't if God don't give you
faith, but if God gives you faith, you say, oh, amen, there goes
my Savior. He's going up to glory. He's
going up to glory. And where He is, I'm going to
be too one day. Praise His mighty name. Amen. Hallelujah. Oh, my. Amen. And look at this. And it came to pass, well, He
blessed him. He was parted. from them and
entered and carried up into heaven and they worshiped him. Look
at that. What did they do? They're praising his name, beloved. They're
worshiping him. They're praising his name. Oh,
there goes our king. There goes our forerunner. He's
going to glory ahead of us. And they returned to Jerusalem
with what? Some joy? A little joy? Great joy. Amen, brother. Great joy. They
were, they were They were almost shouting Baptist. Oh my, isn't
that wonderful? They returned with great joy. Great joy. Oh, how the gospel
fills us with great joy. Oh, how Christ's ascension fills
us with great joy. He was raised for our justification,
beloved. And where he is, we will be soon. He said, I go and
what? Prepare a place for you. That's
what he's done. Our time is just what we're here
on this earth. And what happens when we breathe our last breath
as believers? We go right up to glory. Isn't that wonderful? That's absolutely wonderful.
Oh, and then what? Look at this. And they were continually
in the temple, what? Praising and blessing God, amen. Oh, they were just giving him
all the glory. They were giving him all the glory for what he'd
done. My. It was wonderful. You talk about
a revival. Now remember this, too. Remember
this. Here's Peter. He had denied the
Lord three times. And the Lord said, Peter, do
you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And Peter's shouting
for joy, isn't he? Peter's filled with joy. Peter's
praising God. And I love that. The Lord didn't
chastise him. Why? Because all his sins were
already wiped away, beloved. Washed under the precious blood
of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? And that's
what the believer has. A full pardon, full forgiveness
of all our sins. It's wonderful in Christ. My. And again in verse 52 it says,
in Luke 24 there, it says, and they worshipped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy. Oh, they praise the wonderful
Savior for what He's done. They praise the Lord Jesus Christ
for what He had done. The finished, complete work. He'd risen from the grave. He
was declared to be the Son of God by the Father. And they're
praising Him for His ascension up into glory. And remember,
the disciples were scattered at His crucifixion. They were
scattered. They went all different ways, didn't they? John was the only one that came
back over there to the cross. All the others scattered. They
went their own way. You imagine the shame Peter felt? My, oh
my. Now, now they were born of Chord! Oh, now they're filled with joy! Now they're praising God for
the great things he'd done for them. And they knew salvations
of the Lord. They knew salvation didn't include
anything that they did. They knew that their salvation
was completely in Christ and Christ alone. And that they were
redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy. He has saved us and washed us by the regenerating
power of God the Holy Spirit, beloved. My, oh, my. And they called upon Christ and
they ascribed all the blessings and all the honor and all the
glory to He who is their Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's
been made the object of their reverence, eh? He's the only
object of God-given faith, isn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ. We
don't look to self. We look outside ourselves and
to another, the Lord Jesus Christ. Scott Richardson used to say,
we look out and up to Christ. It's true. Oh my. And we're going to see, we're
going to see as we study this book, they didn't just stay in
Jerusalem. Man, they went out and preached
the gospel. And they faced persecution and
trials and troubles. And Peter and John said, well,
we count this all joy. We count it all joy. My, oh, my. Why? Because they're
redeemed. They're saved. They're born again
by the God of the Holy Spirit. And God's given them a message,
hasn't he? And you know what? Like we all say, you can't keep
a preacher's mouth shut. We're going to talk about Christ,
aren't we? And for a believer, it's going to leak out, isn't
it? What we believe. Oh, it will. It will. My oh my. So they called upon Christ. They
praised His mighty name. They called upon Him, praising
Him and preaching Christ and Him crucified as the only hope
for sinners. There is no other hope outside
of Christ. And they were filled with great joy. Great joy. That's that joy that just bubbles
up inside us that maybe no one sees until, you know, you get
together with your brethren or you get together with another
believer and you start talking and you remember the heart burns
within you. You ever felt that? Your heart
starts burning within you and you're so full of joy and you're
praising God for the great things He's done for you. I get that
every time I meet with one of you all. Man, we start talking
about the Lord, I get all fired up. It's wonderful, isn't it?
It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. So even
though our Lord departed from them, they were filled with great
joy. They were filled with great joy over what Christ had done
for them. Joy came upon them. And how does that joy come? Well,
it's one of the fruits of the Spirit. It comes from the Holy
Spirit of God. Only He can work that joy in
us, can't He? We can't muster it up ourselves. He has to do
that for us. My! What was the source of their
joy? Well, He was entering into heaven.
The source of their joy was Christ. He's entering into heaven as
their mediator. Scripture says there's only one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
Himself a ransom for all. There's only one mediator. And
that's the Lord Jesus Christ. People go to a priest. I used
to go to a priest. Just throw that stuff away. It's
not even worth nothing. A man can't help another man.
Only Christ Jesus, the God-man, can save a sinner. That's all. He's the only one. He's the only
one. So they're excited. He's entering
into heaven to make intercession for them. He told them, and he's
going to prepare a place for them, like he said in John chapter
14, so I'll go prepare a place for you. Wow, isn't that wonderful?
That's wonderful, isn't it? So now we see the return in Jerusalem
with great, great cheerfulness and full hope in Jesus Christ
and the expectation of his return. Because the angels told him he
shall come, he's gonna come back. Well, they're filled with joy
about that. My, and shortly they're going to receive the promise
of the Father, the Holy Spirit shall come upon them and they're
being endowed with power from on high to preach the gospel. And the Holy Spirit's going to
teach them all things about Christ. Not, they won't learn, none of
us ever learn all things, but he will lead us. The only thing
the Holy Spirit will do will teach us about Christ. That's
what he does. You hear someone saying, well,
the Lord told me to do this, and the Lord told me to do that. Is it in the scriptures? God leads us through his word,
doesn't he? These false preachers, well,
the Lord told me I need a new jet. The Lord didn't tell you
that. Nope. No, but they use that. They use
the name of the Lord for gain. The name of the Lord is to be
preached to sinners. And we save sinners love hearing
it every Sunday, don't we? And every Wednesday. We love
it. Oh, keep preaching to me. That's why I listen to messages
all through the week. I'm a sheep too. I need to hear
about my Savior. It's wonderful. Wonderful, isn't
it? My. So now let's read verses
15 to 26. Now again, here we're going to
see the working out, the outworking of God's eternal plan. This is
all part of God's eternal plan. We know because Peter is going
to quote David. And he's going to say, this has
been prophesied and it comes to pass now. So it's all part
of God's eternal plan. See, I realize now I was taught
wrong before. Does God make mistakes? God don't make mistakes, does
he? And this is part of his plan.
Oh my, look at this, verse 15. And in those days, Peter stood
up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names
together were about 120. Men and brethren, this scripture
must needs have been fulfilled. Look at this, which the Holy
Ghost by the mouth of David, right? Inspired words before
concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus for he
was numbered with us. and had obtained part of this
ministry. And now this man purchased a field with the reward of his
iniquity. Remember, he got 30 pieces of silver, so he bought
a field. Falling headlong, he burst asunder
in the midst and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known
unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem, insomuch that the field is called,
in their proper tongue, a Kelmedah. That is to say, the field of
blood. For it is written in the, here we go, in the book of Psalms,
let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein.
And his barest prick let another take. Again, I'll read the Psalm
later where it says, another shall take his office. That just
means somebody will take his office. Wherefore, if these men
have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus
went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until
the same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained
to be a witness with us of his resurrection? And they appointed
two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justice, and
Matthias. Now, the key for me is the next verse right here.
And John Gill and Robert Hawker, I read what they said, and they
said, this is what they said, and this is why I believe I was
corrected about this. Because I started looking through
many of the old preachers, and they all believed this was just
part of God's plan. Not one of them mentioned it was a mistake. My oh my. Look at this. And they
prayed. What do we do? What do we do
when we're going to do something as believers? What should we
do? We don't always do it. But what should we do? We should
pray. So they did that which a believer
should do. We should pray. We should say,
Lord, please guide us and direct us. And that's just what we should
do. And it says here, and they prayed and said, Thou Lord, which
knoweth, look at this, see man, we don't know the hearts of man,
do we? Look at this statement. They're admitting that they don't
know the hearts of man. Look at this. Thou, Lord, which
knowest the hearts of all men, show us whither of these two
thou hast chosen. Now, John Gill said Joseph is
the first one mentioned. He seems to have the higher appeal,
maybe, right? Maybe, well, yeah, he's real
faithful. And then Matthias is the second
one. Look at this, and that part there, which knows the hearts
of all men. Show whither of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this
ministry and apostleship from Judas, by transgression fell,
that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth the lots,
and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the
eleven apostles. Now, granted you don't hear anything about
him again. How many saints of God have went
through this world that we've never heard of? Or maybe mentioned one time in
something and never hear of them again. Show us which one of these you've
chosen, Lord. And their lots fell upon Matthias. My, oh my. Now let us remember again that
nothing catches God by surprise, does it? Absolutely nothing catches
God by surprise. So what we have just read is
all according to God's eternal purpose and plan. That's what
it is. It's all according to His purpose and plan. In verses
16 to 20 we see Peter speaking of Judas Iscariot, of who it
was prophesied by David through the Holy Spirit that he would
betray the Messiah. And this all occurs, now this
is all occurring, what we just read, from when they went to
Jerusalem to currently what we just finished reading is all
occurring within a 10 day period. So from the ascension of Christ
to the Holy Spirit coming is within a 10 day period. And it all happens according
to God's providence and his plan. The Holy Spirit was to be sent
by the Father, and God the Holy Ghost was going to make an open
manifestation of himself. As we see, we're seeing chapter
two next week. God the Father is the one who
chose the church in Christ, was the founder, Jesus Christ, the
great shepherd is the shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep,
watching over them, caring for them. And the Holy Spirit, he's
the great applicator, isn't he? He applies the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving us faith to believe, and we're
born again. It's already been shed for us.
Redemption's already complete, but that which took place 2,000
years ago now is brought to our attention by the regenerating
power of God the Holy Spirit. Isn't it wonderful? God the Father
chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. The
Lord Jesus Christ again, the great shepherd came and shed
his precious blood, redeeming us. And then the Holy Spirit
regenerates us. What's that tell us? Salvations
of the Lord. Right? It's all his doing, isn't
it? From beginning to end. My, oh my. Now here's something
to ponder too, in the text. Sin is sin, right? Sin is sin. But sometimes the Lord overrules
sin to come to pass for his divine glory. Scripture says even the
wrath of man praises God. Does his bidding. Does his bidding. You've heard me speak about the
Roman Empire, right? They conquered Greece. They went even further than the
Greeks did. And all that was set up for the
gospel to go forth. They built roads, paved roads
for their legions to go from one place to the other. And God's
setting all that up. So the gospel will be written
in Greek, which the Romans kept the Greek language, all through
their empire. And this was a vast empire. It
was from Carthage, right, all the way over to India. Huge swath up to Britain and
down into the promised land. Huge swaths of land. And that
gospel went forth, beloved, just like wildfire. Didn't it? Oh my. See? It's amazing. It's amazing what God does. And
look here, ponder this. Judas, he was one of the apostles Look at what it says in verse
17, for he was numbered with us. Acts 1.17, for he was numbered
with us and had obtained part of this ministry. My oh my. So Judas went out and
preached with the other eleven. Now these things are placed before
us for our remembrance of the mercy of God to us. The mercy
of God to us. God has his people, but he had
Judas there too, a part of his ministry. He was numbered with
the apostles, but there had not been an act of grace done upon
him. He went out with them and preached, but he had no grace. He had no
part in Christ. He was a counterfeit. My, and we can know that he was
numbered with the apostles, but his name was never in the book
of life. He was never numbered among God's
people. So Jesus stands forth as an everlasting
monument in the church of the Lord Jesus to never, ever, ever
judge a man from the outside. Only God knows the inside, right?
Only God knows our hearts, doesn't he? There can be people come
to church for years. Right? You have no idea. My oh my. My oh my. Turn if you would to Luke chapter
10. Luke chapter 10. Beloved of God, the only well-grounded
cause for our joy is the fact that Christ has saved us and
that our names are in the book of life. Imagine that, Dave? Written down,
one hymn writer said, with indelible grace, indelible ink. My, look at this in Luke chapter
10, this is incredible. So here they come, they come
back. Lord had sent out 70 of them. And Judas was probably
among them, right? He sent out 70 of them. Out they
go, preaching the gospel. Send them out. Look at this,
Luke chapter 10, verse 17. In the seventies, he returned
again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to
us through thy name. We're casting out demons. The devils are even subject to
us. That's what it says, right? And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan and his lightning falling from heaven. Behold, I give you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions. And over all the power
of the enemy, nothing shall by any means hurt you." Now some
people, I'm going to put a warning up here. Some people take that
and say, look at that, you can handle serpents. That's not what
that's saying. That's not. This is spiritual warfare God's
talking about. This is spiritual warfare He's
talking about. He crushed the head of the serpent, didn't He?
He crushed the head of Satan at the cross. Now look at this.
Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not. Don't rejoice that you're
casting out demons. Don't rejoice in that. This is what you should rejoice
in. Nevertheless, rejoice not that
the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because
your names are written, where? In heaven. In the book of life,
sister. My, that causes us to rejoice,
doesn't it? And when were our names written
in the book of life? From before the foundation of
the world. Chosen in Christ. Chosen in Christ
from before the foundation of the world. Names written in the
book of life. My, it's wonderful. Now listen to this. Remember
in Acts 20 it says, For it is written in the Psalms, Acts 1
20, For it is written in the Psalms, Let his habitation be
desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and let his bishopric
let another take. In Psalm 109a that says this,
this is what David's talking about. He prophesizes, he uses
what David prophesized and applies it to Judah by the Holy Spirit
of God too, remember? Who's the true author of these
words. He said, let his days be few and let another take his
office. My, oh my. You know, and some
people, they get a little squirrely because they cast lots. Now listen
to this. Proverbs, chapter 16, verse 33. If you want to write
it down. Proverbs, chapter 16, verse 33. The lot is cast into the lap.
So that means if we, Charlie, you, me, and Dave, and Kevin,
and Zane, and Jim, and Dan all had a bunch of lots, and we cast
them. Listen to this. We made the decision
to cast them, right? But listen to this. The lot, Proverbs 16.33, the
lot is cast in the lap, but the whole disposing there is of Jehovah. Look at that. It came out in Matthias, because
that's who God wanted to be there. Isn't that incredible? My oh my. Judas was the treasurer. And he took that position for
gain, for greed. And it was taken away from him,
wasn't it? It says in Psalms, let his days be few and let another
take his office. My oh my. And who did that lot
fall upon? Matthias. And all this happened according
to the will and purpose of God. Either we believe in the sovereignty
of God or we don't, right? Oh my. So let us glorify God,
who works all things for our good and for His glory. We don't
see it all the time, do we? Sometimes we think, I don't see
any good in that, Lord. But it's for His glory and for
our good. Now let's read verses 21 to 26,
and we see God's plan come to pass. Wherefore, of these men
which accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus
went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto
that same day, that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained
to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And he appointed
two. Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justice
and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Lord,
thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether
of these two thou hast chosen. And note again, they sought the
Lord in prayer. They sought the Lord in prayer. And we know they
were of one accord, because further up it said they were of one accord. Just as we should before moving
forward in any decision in our life, we should always seek the
Lord. And in verse 25 and 26, that he may take part of the
ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place. Now there's a whole
message by itself, that he might go to his own place. My, oh my. And they gave forth the lots,
and the lot fell upon Matthias. Remember what we said, the casting
of the lot in the lap? Who's disposing of it? The Lord,
right? And the lot fell upon Matthias,
just as the Lord ordained. And he was numbered with the
11 apostles. Now let's go back and look at verse 14. Verse 14. Spend a few minutes here looking
at this verse here. They were of one accord. They
were united, beloved. They had just seen the ascension
of the Lord. They probably came back. The apostle came back,
told all the rest of the folks. Man, they were of one accord.
They were in unity. They were in unity. They were
rejoicing together in the Lord, praying together. It says here, in verse 14, these
all continued with one accord, in prayer and supplication, with
the woman of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Again, we're going to be going
to that book in our studies after our study of Galatians. And in
the Greek, do you know what the word one accord means in the
Greek? It's all one word. It means, it means, I just lost
it just like that. My goodness. It means with one
mind. With one mind. It also means
with one accord, and also in the Greek it means unanimously.
There was no fight. They were unanimous in what they
were waiting for. They were waiting for the Holy
Spirit of God. Unity. Blessed unity, which I
believe we have here. Blessed unity, beloved. Oh my. Look at this in Philippians chapter
2. We see that believers, we're going to see believers are to
have the mind of Christ, which is unity, unity in Christ. Look at this Philippians chapter
two, verses one and two. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, if there any comfort of love, if any fellowship of
the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill you my joy that
you be what? Like-minded. Look at that. You
be one. You be one. Having the same love, being of
one accord. There it is again. One accord,
unity. of one mind. And this, if you
read Philippians 2, it's an exhortation to the spirit of unity for the
believers. And we're united in Christ. We're united in the fact
that He shed His blood for us. We're united in the fact that
He's our Savior. We're united in the fact that all our sins
are forgiven in Him and through Him. For every believer in Christ,
this is the truth. We're absolutely united in Him.
And we're to have lowliness of mind. Do you know we're to esteem
each other better than ourselves? See, the world says it's all
about you. But when you're born again of the Holy Spirit of God,
you esteem your brethren better than yourself. My oh my. And we have real concern and
real love for one another, don't we? Our master said this to his disciples,
if you love me, keep my commandments. John said, if they had been of
us, they would no doubt have continued with us. Paul uses
the same argument in these verses. He says, if there's any comfort,
any confidence in Christ, that is, if you have genuine reason
for hope in Christ, founded on person, on His person,
on His righteousness, on His death. Let that be our comfort,
beloved. Let us rest in Him, in Him alone,
as He is our great Savior. If there be any comfort and strength
in love, the love of the Father, we learned in our study in John
17, the everlasting love of God that He has for His people in
Christ. And Christ says to His people, the Father loves you
as He loves me. We can't even comprehend that.
It's the truth though. The Master spoke it. My, so we have genuine reason
for hope and it's in Christ and Him alone. If there be any comfort and strength
and love, again the love of the Father, the everlasting love
of the Father, the everlasting love of the Son, the everlasting
love of God the Holy Spirit. Our comforter, the love of the
brethren. It's so delightful to be able
to come to church and to have people who love you for who you
are. A safe sinner. It's wonderful, isn't it? If there be any fellowship in
the spirit, that's the only way we can have fellowship, eh? Through
the spirit, right? It's wonderful. Oneness of heart,
a union of our spirits. A oneness of heart, a communion
with one another in Christ is what we have. If there's any
bowels and mercy, a real depth to our affection. That's what
Paul's bringing forth here. Real depth to our affection,
a real love for one another. A genuine love, a genuine care
for one another. And that comes from the Holy
Spirit of God. It's wonderful. I tell you all the time, you're
my family. My family, and it's just the way it is, when I started
preaching the gospel, when the Lord saved me, they just basically
didn't want nothing to do with me. Now the relationship's getting
better, but it's still nothing near what I have with you all.
And it never will be. I love my brothers, they're wonderful.
But they want nothing to do with my Savior and he's everything
to me. He's everything to me. Oh my. Then look at verses three
and four of Philippians chapter two. It says, let nothing be
done through strife or vainglory. Don't do things for recognition. Oh my. But in lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves. So Paul's saying,
brethren, Don't do things to glorify yourself. Because that's
just vain glory. We're to glorify the Lord, aren't
we? For the wonderful things he's done for us. And we're to
esteem our brothers and sisters in Christ better than ourselves. My. And then it says this, look not
every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. So we don't do things in strife.
We don't do things in quarreling. In contention and division, that's
all. That's the works of the flesh.
That's not of God. That's not of God. My oh my, bitter camps will lead
to division amongst the bodies, the body of Christ, and it's
not the spirit of Christ. So in humility and sincerity,
let us regard the other brother as spiritually superior to ourselves. Just as Paul said, what did Paul
say? I'm the least of all saints. That's why we say from our hearts
too, we're the chief of sinners, aren't we? I'm the worst of the worst. Praise
God, He saved me. Saved my soul. My oh my. Then look at verses
5 to 8 of Philippians chapter 2. Let this mind be in you. You
see, one accord. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, He's
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. He's the God
man. But made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant. Look at that. He came to this world, beloved,
in complete submission to the Father's will. Why did he come? To save his people from their
sins. And he was in full submission.
He said, I'm not here to do my will. Remember in the Garden
of Gethsemane, he's dropping drops of blood. And he says,
he says, Oh, Father, if it be your will, take this cup from
me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. My, he's a servant, beloved.
That weight of our sin was starting to be placed upon him. He says, my soul is He's suffering. He's suffering
on the cross. Sorrowful unto death, He said.
And yet there He hangs. And there He continues to hang. And there His blood is shed for
the redemption of our souls. And what do we say? Praise His
mighty name, right? Oh, what a Savior. My oh my. So here they are. They're all
gathered together, the apostles, after his ascension. They were
scattered before the cross. Now they're all together. Oh, and the joy. We saw the joy.
The great joy has been shed abroad in their hearts, hasn't it? They're
not moping around. Well, yeah, the Lord's gone. They're not doing that, are they?
Oh, that I could praise God he's in glory. He's risen. He's risen. I'm going to be there
soon with him when this life ends. My, oh, my. They're in great joy. It's been
shed abroad in their hearts. He's gone to heaven. Prepare
a place for them. They're so full of joy. And marvel
at this, beloved of God. It is the Lord who has inclined
their hearts to be waiting in prayer and unity. The unity that
we have is from God. Isn't that wonderful? It's not
something we can muster up. None of us have tried to muster
it up. It's of God. Isn't that wonderful? The love
that we have for one another in this body, it's of God. It's all Him. Isn't it wonderful? Because you know what? In our
natural state, we had no love for God's people. We can testify
of that, brother. No love for the gospel. Just all about Mr. Me, right?
Yeah. But now, now we esteem others
better than ourselves. What a flip. What a flip, Brother
Charlie, eh? What a change. God's done. Amen. Hallelujah's right, eh? Because we couldn't change ourselves,
but God changed us, didn't he? We're new creatures in Christ
now. Yeah, amen. Oh my. And so here they are,
they're waiting earnestly. They're waiting earnestly, beloved,
for the coming of the God, the Holy Spirit. Robert Hawker said
this, it is always a sure sign of some coming blessing, whensoever
the Lord sets his people a-praying for it. for it is a prayer brings
the promise and the God of promise together. So Hawker says when
God's people start praying about something that the Lord put on
their heart, right? A promise of God, like when we
start praying the promises of God, it's like God's, what God
said, that promise and God comes together. That's what he's saying
there. He said, I'll read it again.
Because it's kind of confusing there. For it is as prayer brings
the promise and the God of promise together, they come together.
Isn't that wonderful? And it's God who puts that on
our hearts. Who puts on our hearts to pray for one another? Who
puts on our hearts to pray for the preaching of the gospel?
Who puts on our heart to come together? The Holy Spirit of
God, amen. It's all Him, beloved. He gets all the glory and all
the honor and praise. So we can say, wonderful the
matchless grace of Jesus, which brings people of all standing
alive. Look at this, all standing alive.
Two of us Canadians, right, sister? Two Canadians amongst, with you
Americans here, right? And he's knit our hearts together
in love. We come from all different places, all different standings
of life, right? And yet we have one accord now.
We're here for the glory of God. We're here for the furtherance
of the gospel, aren't we? And it's wonderful, isn't it?
It's wonderful. It's all the work of God. God,
the Holy Spirit, by his regenerating power, he's brought us into unity.
He brought us into unity. All according, now let's never
forget this, all according to God's plan and God's purpose
for eternity. from eternity. Here we are. Our hearts are knit together
in love, all because God planned it from eternity. Glory be to God. Glory be to
our great and glorious God. Isn't he wonderful? He's absolutely
amazing. Brother Dave, you want to close
us in prayer?