We should turn back to Acts 1. I've entitled this message, The
First Act of the Apostles. I'd like to read beginning in
verse 15 and read down through the end of this chapter. The
first act of the apostles. 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, 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 and he had obtained part
of this ministry. Now, this man purchased a field
with the reward of his iniquity. And falling headlong, he burst
asunder in the midst of, and all his bowels gushed out. And
it was known unto all the dwellers of Jerusalem in so much that
the field was called in their proper tongue, a Keldima, that
is to say the field of blood. For it's written in the book
of Psalms, let his habitation be desolate and let no man dwell
therein. And his bishopric, 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 and to 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, the apostles. They appointed two, Joseph called
Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed
and said, Thou, Lord, which knoweth the hearts of all men, show whither
of these two 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 eleven apostles." Now, here we read of the first act
of the apostles. How many apostles were there? Well, there were 12. There were 12. Only 12? Only
12. As a matter of fact, it says
in Revelation 21, 14, in glory and the wall of the city, the
new Jerusalem had 12 foundations and in them the names of the
12 apostles of the land. There were only 12 apostles. And if Matthias really was an
apostle, that would make it 13. Now, here we have an example
of the very first act of the apostles being a wrong act. Now, somebody may be thinking,
how are you going to preach the gospel from this? And how do
you know this is so? I know it's so because there were only 12
apostles, not 13. There are only 12. And even in
glory in heaven, we're going to have the names of the 12 apostles,
not 13, the 12 apostles. And by the Lord's grace, I'm
going to preach the gospel from this passage of scripture. I
hope we'll learn more of the gospel. Now look in Mark chapter
three for just a moment. You'll notice. that they took
it upon themselves to vote. They picked out two men and said,
show us which one you've chosen. They didn't choose either one
of them. They didn't choose either one of them. You know, what I
think of, it's kind of like, I felt like they tried to put,
kind of like our election. We're giving two people to vote
for. Maybe we don't want to vote for either one of them, and we're
saying, We're told, make your choice, but vote. Well, they
did that with the Lord. Here's our two. Here's the two
we think would be most fit. You make your choice. What was
his answer? Neither. He'd already chosen
the apostle Paul as the 12th apostle. But look what the Lord
said in Mark chapter three, verse 13. And he goeth up into a mountain
and calleth unto him whom he would. I love that. That's the way he did this. He
called whom he would. He didn't consult with anybody.
He didn't ask anybody about what they thought about what he did.
He called whom he would. And they came unto him and he
ordained, how many? 12. That they should be with
him and that he might send them forth to preach. And you can
go on and read in that passage of scripture where the names
of the twelve apostles are given. He ordained twelve. Now, I need to say this. The
acts of the apostles are not infallible. The writings of the
apostles are infallible. The scriptures are infallible.
But the acts of the apostles are not infallible because they're
men, sinful men, weak men, just like me and you. And I think
of Peter. Do you remember when Peter, in
Galatians chapter 2, he compromised the gospel? He saw these people
from the church of Jerusalem coming and he thought, They're
gonna be upset with me for sitting here at these Gentile tables. So he got up and walked over
and sat down with the Jews, not ever saying anything. But by
that action, he was saying, you're a little bit more pleasing to
God, you're a little bit more saved if you're over here with
the Jews and not with the Gentiles. And Paul publicly rebuked him
and said that the truth of the gospel was not gonna remain through
that action. Can you imagine how embarrassing
that must have been to Peter? But Paul felt it. necessary to
rebuke him publicly. Now this is the Apostle Peter.
Peter compromised the gospel. You know who else did? Paul did.
In Acts chapter 21, he got so tired of the conflict. There
was constant conflict with the Jews. And James said, here's
what you need to do. You need to take the vow of the
Nazarite, shave your head. After seven days, there's going
to be a blood sacrifice, sacrifice for you. And this will take care
of all that contention where people are saying, you don't
have any respect for the law. And Paul agreed to do it. He
agreed to let an animal sacrifice take place after the Lord had
already offered up himself and all that was done away with,
but Paul was so tired of conflict, he said, okay, I'll do it. And
you go on reading that passage of scripture. On the seventh
day, he was supposed to offer up a blood sacrifice and the
Lord had him arrested before it could take place. Aren't you
thankful for grace that prevents you from doing what you most
certainly would do if he didn't prevent it? Or tell him what
would have happened to Paul if Paul would have gone through
with that, but he didn't. He didn't. He, by the grace of God,
was arrested, so he couldn't participate in that. So that's
an example, two examples, Peter and Paul, of how the acts of
the apostles were not infallible. They were sinful men, they were
weak men, just like me and you, but they were men that God ordained
to be apostles. And their writings were scripture,
were infallible. But were these men themselves
infallible? No. How sinful are you? That's how sinful they were.
How weak are you? That's how weak they were. They
were just men. So here they get together to
elect another apostle. Verse 15, in those days, Peter
stood up in the midst of the disciples. It doesn't say he
was raised up. It said he stood up. This seems
to be upon his initiative. Now he blamed the Lord. He said,
well, the Lord is leading me to do this. He felt that way.
And a lot of times people blame the Lord on the things they do.
Peter stood up. He wasn't raised up by the Lord.
He stood up on his own initiative in the midst of the disciples
and said, the number of names together were about 120. Men and brethren, verse 16, this
scripture must needs have been fulfilled. He was right here.
which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning
Judas, which was guide to them that took him. For he was numbered
with us and had obtained part of this ministry." Now, he knew
from the Psalms that Judas would be raised up to betray Christ.
There's several Psalms, Psalm 41, Psalm 69, where this was
prophesied. He said this was necessary for
this to happen. No doubt about it. For he was
numbered with us, verse 17, and he had obtained part of this
ministry. We didn't know that he wasn't real. Now, verse 18,
this man purchased a field with the reward of his iniquity. You
remember when he was given 30 pieces of silver to betray the
Lord? And he comes back at the end
and said, I betrayed innocent blood, and he threw that silver
back to them. And they said, what's that to
us? This is what you did. And he went out and hanged himself.
He was so overcome with guilt. And I know this is something
that is, of course he's guilty. He was the traitor of the Lord.
But if he would have come to the Lord and asked for mercy,
you know what? The Lord would have given it to him. Isn't he
the child of perdition? Yes, he's the child of perdition.
Ordained to this condemnation. But if he would have come to
the Lord for mercy, I have no doubt that the Lord would have
given him mercy. You see, there's never been anyone who ever came
for mercy that the Lord turned away. So he went back to the
priest. He went the wrong place, didn't
he? He went back to the priest, the law, threw down the silver,
and they took the money. They said, we can't have this
blood money. We're going to use it to buy potter's field to bury
strangers, poor people in. That's what they did, just as
the scripture said would take place. It was foretold that he
would betray the Lord for 30 pieces of silver and was foretold
that that money would be used to buy a graveyard. And that's
exactly what took place. Verse 18, Now this man purchased
a 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 of Jerusalem, insomuch
that the field is called in the proper tongue, akeldama, that
is to say, the field of blood. Now he quotes the scriptures,
for it's written in the book of Psalms, let his habitation
be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopry let
another take, Psalm 41, Psalm 69. Wherefore, of these men which
have accompanied with us, verse 21, wherefore, of these men which
have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus
Christ went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism
of John and to that same day that he was taken up from us,
must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Now, turn back to Matthew chapter 19. I think this is relevant. Verse 27. Then answered Peter
and said unto him, behold, we've forsaken all and followed thee.
What shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, you that have followed me in the regeneration,
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, you
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel. Now, that's what the Lord told
them. And I guarantee you Peter had this on his mind. We need
to get Judas out of the picture, get the person to fulfill him.
So we can sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.
He still was looking at this in a fleshly way. He had this
promise from the Lord. He didn't understand. And he
thought, I want to sit on those thrones and let's get this taken
care of. We're in a hurry to get this done. Verse 22, verse
23, I mean, and they appointed, God didn't appoint these men.
They appointed Two, and I dare say that these were the best
men they could find. I bet these were outstanding
men, both of these men. Fine followers of the Lord Jesus
Christ, both of these men. And they appointed these two
thinking, well, it's one of these two. Now the Lord never consults
with anybody about who he's gonna choose for what purpose. They
were taking on something that they had no business taking on.
You see, the Lord had already chosen Paul as the 12th apostle,
but they were doing their thing. Show us which one of these you
have chosen. We want to get this done as soon
as possible. Now. Verse 23. And they appointed
to Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias.
And they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts
of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen. Now, remember
this about an apostle. An apostle was someone who'd
seen the Lord Jesus and been commissioned directly by him
to be an apostle. These men had not been commissioned
directly by the Lord Jesus Christ to be his apostles, not at all.
No doubt there were men who everybody was impressed with. They're probably
the two men we would have chosen. And he looked at these two men
and said, Lord, show us which one of these two you've chosen.
But the answer was neither. Neither. Verse 25. that he might take part of this
ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place. And he's talking about
hell. That's where Judas belonged. And they gave forth their lots
to determine which one the Lord chose. Casting lots. Now, where
in the Bible are we ever commanded to do that to determine the Lord's
will? Well, I don't know what the Lord's
will is, so I'm going to cast lots, and I'm going to determine
the lot that's the smallest. That's what the Lord's will is.
And there's some people that actually promote that, and they
think this is a good thing to do, to cast lots. But there's
that one scripture that says the lot is cast into the lap
if the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. I love that scripture.
He's in control of everything, and he would control where the
lot fell. But we're nowhere told in the Bible to cast lots to
determine God's will. had never consulted with Peter
or anybody else about who he was going to choose to be the
12th apostle. And Peter was in a place that
he should not have been. And they gave forth their lots
and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered. The word
is literally he was voted in. That's the only time this word
is used in the New Testament. He was voted in. And I'm sure that Peter was confident
that they were doing the right thing, but it wasn't. This man was not God's choice,
and you never hear his name mentioned again after this. Not one time
in the New Testament is he ever mentioned. The apostle Paul was
God's choice as the 12th apostle. Now let's go to another scene.
Turn with me to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, verse 17. Now this happened a year or two before what we read
about took place in Acts chapter 1. The Lord had not yet died,
obviously. Verse 17, and when he was gone
forth into the way, there came one Running. This man was in dead earnest.
He was running. He was running to the Lord. He
was in dead earnest. He was dead serious. Just the
picture of this young man running toward the Lord. He wanted to
get at his feet and ask him something. And he kneeled to him. What respect
he showed. He kneeled to him, he came running,
and he got down on his knees before the Lord. He was impressed
with the Lord Jesus Christ. And look what he said. He said,
good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? Now this man obviously had no
understanding of the gospel. What good thing can I do? that I might inherit eternal
life. But salvation by works is all
it is. He seemed to show respect. He seemed to show earnestness,
but he was utterly ignorant of the gospel. He had no understanding
of the gospel. What good thing Have you ever
learned that you've got no good things to bring and the only
way you can be saved is by God doing something for you? By Christ
doing something for you? By salvation being all of grace?
That's the only way you can inherit eternal life is if the Lord does
something for you. But this man had no understanding
of this. What good thing may I do that I might inherit eternal
life? What shall I do? Verse 18, and
Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? Now he rebuked
him. Why are you calling me good? Now why does the Lord ask this
man this question? Because the Lord is good. And
yet he rebukes this man for calling him good. Why are you calling
me good? There's none good but one. That
is God. He's the only one who's good.
None of you guys are. The Lord rebukes this man because he realized
that this man was coming to him as a good man and nothing more. He didn't know he was God's Christ.
He didn't know he was the son of God. He didn't know he was
the eternal second person of the blessed Trinity. He didn't
know he was the creator of the universe. He didn't know he was
the sovereign controller of providence. He didn't know that salvation
was utterly and completely in his hands. Young man, so earnest,
comes up to the Lord. Good master, what can I do to
inherit eternal life? I want to reach your level of
goodness. You're a really good man. What can I do to reach your
level of goodness? Why are you calling me good?
There's none good but one. That is God. But now he meets him on the ground
he came. What shall I do? And you know
the Lord will always meet you on the ground you come. You come
on the footing of works. He'll meet you on the footing
of works. You come on the footing of grace. He'll meet you on the
footing of grace. But he meets this man where he
comes. Thou knowest the commandments. And he doesn't mention the commandments
with regard to God. Don't put anything before God.
Don't commit idolatry. Don't take his name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Those are the first
four commandments there. It's the table regarding our
relationship with God. But he mentions the six commandments
with regard to man. Look what he says. Now notice
the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Defraud not. Honor thy father
and mother. He names the six commandments
of the second table with regard to our relationship with men. And notice he changes the wording
of thou shalt not covet with Defraud not. Defraud not. Now the Lord has
the liberty to do that. I wouldn't try changing something.
But the Lord wasn't changing the meaning of it. But he's giving
the true meaning. This man did not know he was
eaten up with covetous. And he says defraud not. When you covet, you're defrauding
that person when you're coveting. what they have wanting it to
be yours. It's called being defrauded.
And he says to this man, defraud not. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not
kill. Do not steal. Do not bear false
witness. Defraud not. Honor thy father and mother.
And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I
kept, have I observed. from my youth. I've kept every one of them. Now, how would you do with that? This man sincerely thought he
had kept every single one of these commandments. Verse 21, Now this is a detail Mark gives
that neither Matthew nor Luke give in this passage of scripture.
Then Jesus beholding him, what? He loved him. He loved him. Now Matthew's account
doesn't say that. Luke's account doesn't say that.
But Mark gives us this bit of information. Jesus beholding
him loved him. And I don't have any doubt that
that means the Lord loved him. It means exactly what it says.
He knew this is one of my elect. This is one of the people I've
come to save. He loved him. You see, everybody
the Lord loves, he saves. There's no such thing as the
Lord loving somebody and then ending up perishing in hell.
Anybody he loves, he saves. And it's pointed out that the
Lord beheld this man and loved him. So we know for sure, I have
no doubt that although this man went away, as we're gonna go
on reading, he'd end up coming back. He didn't end up coming
back because the Lord loved him. The Lord's not gonna let anybody
he loves perish. Jesus beholding him loved him
and said unto him, one thing thou lackest. You think you've kept every commandment? One thing thou lackest. Go thy
way, sell whatsoever thou hast. Now remember he was a rich young
ruler. He had a whole lot of money. He had a whole lot of goods.
He had a whole lot of prestige. He was a rich young ruler. And
the Lord says, Go sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor,
and thou shalt have treasure in heaven. And come, take up
thy cross, and follow me. You know, the Lord never said
this to anybody where they didn't do it. If he says to you, come,
Take up your cross and follow me. You know what you're going
to do? You're going to come, you're going to take up your
cross, and you're going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
never said this to somebody where they said, no, I'm not going
to do it. Now, look at his reaction. Verse 22. And he was sad at that
saying and went away grieved for he had great possessions. He was very disturbed that the
Lord called upon him to do this. And he went away very sad, very
grieved because he had great possessions. Verse 23, and Jesus
looked round about and saith unto his disciples, how hardly,
with what difficulty shall they that have riches enter into the
kingdom of God? Now he goes on to say, how greatly
difficult it is for them to trust in riches. There were a lot of
rich men who were saved, Job, Abraham, David, Solomon, but
they didn't trust their riches. This man was a man who was eaten
up with covetousness. He didn't care about people,
he didn't love people, he thought he did, but he was a man who
was absolutely under the control of covetousness, under riches,
and he could not give up his money. And he went away sad,
and the Lord looked at him and said to his disciples, How hardly
shall they that have riches enter in the kingdom of God. And the
disciples were astonished at his words. This is the finest
specimen of a man we've ever seen. He could claim to have
kept the law, and you're sending him away? Verse 24, and the disciples
were astonished at his words, but Jesus answered again, and
saith unto them, children, how hard is it for them that trust
in riches to enter into the kingdom of heaven, of God? It's easier
for a camel to go through the eye of an eagle than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God. I've read so many different
things. They say the eye of a needle
is talking about these real low places in the walls of Jerusalem.
It's called the eye of a needle, where the camels had to bend
way down and just scrunch through. It was with great difficulty. What the Lord is talking about
is the eye of a needle, not something that would be very difficult.
He's talking about something that's impossible. The eye of
a needle. It's impossible for a camel.
to get through the eye of a needle. Just flat out impossible. It
can't be done. Verse 25, it's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. In other words, it's impossible.
And they, verse 26, were astonished out of measure, saying among
themselves, who then can be saved? If this man can't be saved, this
is the best man we've ever seen. If he can't be saved, who then
can be saved? Look at the Lord's answer. And
Jesus looking upon them, saith with men, it, salvation, is what? Impossible. Now you listen to
me real carefully. If God leaves you to yourself,
That's all he's got to do. If God leaves you to yourself,
your salvation is impossible. You will not be saved. You cannot
be saved. If God doesn't reach down and
intervene and do something for you, you cannot be saved. With men, salvation is impossible. Now that strong language is true
language. With men, salvation is impossible. You won't be saved. Now take,
take this to heart. If God doesn't do something for
you, you'll go to hell. That's what that means. If Christ
doesn't do something for you. If he doesn't pay for your sins,
if he doesn't give you a righteousness, if he doesn't make you acceptable
before God, if he doesn't do something for you, you will go
to hell. Now, that's just the truth. You
know, people talk about, well, can I do this? Can I? No, you
can't. You can't. You'll go to hell
if Christ doesn't do something for you. With men, salvation
is impossible. But the statement is not over,
but not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. Salvation is impossible with
men, but not with God. With God, all things are possible.
Now, specifically, this man did not understand he was a sinner. He didn't understand that he
had broken every commandment every time. He thought he'd kept
them. He said, all these that I've kept from my youth up. Yet
the Bible says if you break one, you've broken them all, doesn't
it? Every single one of them. And
this man didn't know that he was a lawbreaker. He didn't know
how evil he was. He thought he's a pretty good
man. And he thought he was coming to Christ. And what can I do
to reach your level of goodness? There's nothing you can do to
reach my level of goodness, he's saying. He was teaching this
man that salvation was by the sovereign grace of God. He was
in God's hands. For him to do with him whatsoever,
he was pleased to do. Now, while salvation is impossible
with men, it's not impossible with God. You see? God can take somebody like this
man eaten up with covetousness or this man who's nothing but
a lawbreaker in and of himself, nothing but guilt, nothing but
sin. God can make me to be without guilt, sinless, where he looks
at me and he sees no sin because there's no sin there. It's what
the Bible calls justification. God is able in a way that honors
his justice and his righteousness. It's real, it's true. He's able
to make somebody like me without guilt and sinless, perfect in
his sight. Now this rich young ruler went
away sad, and I dare say that that being sad, turned him into
being mad. He thought he kept the law and
the Lord was messing up everything he'd ever believed. And he became
opposed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I can't prove this. I can't
prove this, but I believe the rich young ruler was the apostle
Paul. I think that he heard what the
Lord said. He became angry and he became
convinced that he wanted to stamp out the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ because of what Christ had said to him. He was upset.
He was upset. Now, you've got to admit, Paul
hated Christ with no common hatred. I mean, he wanted to stamp out
his name. Turn with me to Acts chapter
7. Now, before I read these passages
of Scripture, the rich young ruler was a rich young ruler.
Paul was a rich young ruler. The rich young ruler thought
he kept the law. There's only two people like
that in the Bible. The rich young ruler said, all
these have I observed from my youth up. Paul said, regarding
himself, touching the righteousness which is in the law, I was blameless. The rich young ruler was eaten
up with covetousness, and he didn't even know it. What did
Paul say? I've not known sin except the
law had said thou shalt not covet. He found out that he was completely
dominated by the sin of covetousness and thus a breaker of the whole
law. Now was the rich young ruler
the apostle Paul? We don't know that for sure but
I know this he was somebody like Paul. And I know because the
Lord revealed to us that he loved him. I know he was somebody the
Lord ended up saving. So let's look at Acts chapter
7. This is when Stephen was being
stoned. Verse 58, they cast him out of
the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their
clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. Saul said,
I'll keep your coats while you throw the stones at him. Saul
wanted this man dead. And he hated everyone who stood
for the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 8, verse 1. And Saul
was consenting unto his death. He was in complete agreement.
Stephen needs to be stoned. Verse 3 of chapter 8. As for
Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering into every house and
hailing men and women and committed them to prison. Look in chapter
9. Verse 1, And Saul, yet breathing
out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to
Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this
way, the way of grace, the way of Christ, the way of the gospel,
whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto
Jerusalem. Now this man was opposed to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse three, and as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. And we know from the other account
that he gives of it, it was a light that was brighter than the sun. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I'm Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It's hard
for thee to kick against the bricks. And he trembling and
astonished said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And the Lord
said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told
thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no man. I think it's interesting. He
was blinded when he saw the light, and not until then. When he saw
the light, he was made blind. And if you ever see the light
of who Jesus Christ is, you'll know you can't see. You'll be
blinded. But they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three days without
sight, neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple
of Damascus named Ananias. And to him said the Lord in a
vision, Ananias, and said, behold, I'm here, Lord. And the Lord
said unto him, arise, go into the street, which is called straight
and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus.
For behold, he prayeth. He never had done that before.
He thought he had, but the Lord took note for the first time.
Behold, he prayeth. And he has seen in a vision a
man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that
he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord,
I've heard by many of this man how much evil he hath done to
thy sage at Jerusalem, and here he hath authority from the chief
priest to bind all that call upon thy name. But the Lord said
unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel to me. to
bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children
of Israel, for I'll show him how great things he must suffer
for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way and
entered into the house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother
Saul, Brother Saul. If you look in Paul's account
of this in Acts chapter 22, when he's giving his defense, he said,
and Ananias came up to him and said, the God of our fathers
hath chosen me. He chose you to salvation, and
he chose you to the apostleship. The God of our fathers has chosen
me. You see, the Lord never consulted with Peter about who the next
apostle was going to be, did he? The God of our fathers hath
chosen thee, that thou mightest know his will. hear his voice
and see that just one, for thou shalt be his witness to all men
of what you've seen and what you've heard. So we see that
Paul, whether or not Paul was the rich young ruler, I don't
know, I think he was. And if he's not, that's okay
too. If he was somebody just like the rich young ruler, you
know that. And we see that Paul was the one Christ chose to be
the 12th apostle to take Judas' place. Now, There's a couple
of things that strike me about this. Number one, we can mess
things up and it's not going to mess up God's plan at all
or his purpose. I wonder how many times somebody
has thought, I don't agree with what Todd did. Well, I probably
was wrong. You're probably right. But it's
not going to mess up anything. The Lord's purpose is going to
be done. And salvation, apostleship, everything
else, whatever you want to talk about, it's according to the
sovereign will of God. And I'm glad it's that way. So
I want to take, like we said this morning, that leper, Lord,
if you will, you could make me clean. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you would bless this word for your glory. and for our good,
and Lord, deliver us from pushing ourselves, deliver us from standing
up and saying what we think, and cause us rather to only seek
your face and wait on you to show what your will is and not
what our will is. Lord, teach us to really believe
not my will but thine, and Lord, how we thank you for your love
to the rich young ruler, how you would not let him go, though
he was so blinded. And Lord, we ask that you would
do for us what you did for him. In his name we pray. Amen. We're
going to observe the Lord's table now, if you all would.