Acts Chapter 1:16-26

If a man had looked around the triad to find somebody to start this Bible study to begin this fellowship, you know what? I probably would not have been chosen.

You know, let me go a little stronger. There's no way I'd have been chosen. There's other people that would have been chosen. But God chose me. Why?

I don't know. And I'm okay not knowing. But understand God thinks differently than we think.

Now why is that important? Because God chose you too. Well, I'm not starting a church. Well, I'm not saying He chose you to start a church. But He chose you to serve Him. He chose you to be forgiven. Even now He's whispering in your ear that He wants to forgive you of your sins. If you've been forgiven of your sins, He's speaking, He's whispering in your ear saying, won't you serve me? See, God has told us to go change the world. You understand that?

Every single one of us. A small bunch of people turned the world right side up. They believed God. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina.

We each have different ways of going through life, different ways of thinking about things. But it's important to know that God's way of thinking is much different and much better than ours. Today, Pastor David will explain what this means as we continue in the book of Acts chapter 1.

Here's David McGee with part 2 of his teaching Commitment. Acts chapter 1 verse 16. Men and brethren, this scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And verse 19. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem, so that field is called in their own language Akodama, that is field of blood.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, let his dwelling place be desolate and let no one live in it and let another take his office. Now your attention please. This is interesting. It's an interesting picture that the blood money used to betray Jesus was used to buy this field, this potter's field, and end up using it as a burial ground. It's interesting.

There's kind of a picture in there, isn't there? See, because what did the Lord actually do on the cross? He shed his blood for us so that what? So that our broken lives that have been cast aside, even deemed useless to some, could be put back together so that we who were spiritually dead could be pulled out of there and made alive again. Look at verse 20, the way verse 20 ends, let another take his office.

Man, makes me wonder. What was Judas supposed to do? Oh, I know he ended up betraying the Lord, but it could have been so much better. Even Jesus to the last point there in the garden looked at Judas and said, friend, why have you come? Why have you come? Jesus knew why he was there. What Jesus was saying is, why did you never get it? Why did you never join us in heart and in mind? Why were you a spectator all along?

And then what happened? Well, somebody took Judas' place because that's what happens in the kingdom of God. The Lord wants to do something really special with your life. I promise you, I guarantee you that God has blessed me so much and it's incredible just this adventure of faith. God wants to put you on an adventure of faith, but if you refuse, he's not going to force you. He'll find somebody else to do what he called you to do. Had I refused the call to start this Bible study, God would have found somebody else, no doubt in my mind. I'm glad that I heard and I hope you hear because God has a special plan for you.

He has a special plan. Now, it's interesting, Peter here is quoting from the Bible. What was their Bible at this point? It's the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures, and they were coming to know it more and more. We need to know the Hebrew Scriptures. We need to know our Bibles.

You see, and I say this, but it's not an overstatement. We are in the most scripturally illiterate generation of Christians that has ever existed in the history of the church. We don't know our Bibles. Now, part of that is because our Bibles aren't being taught from the pulpit. I understand that part of that's on the pastor teacher, but the life lesson here is we should know our Bibles. We should know our Bibles.

Sometimes when they'll call and they'll say, hey, well tell me about this. Tell me about your youth ministry or tell me about your children's ministry or tell me about this or tell me about that. Those are all valid questions, but to me the number one criteria of a good, healthy church is do they teach the Bible? Not they occasionally will teach a verse or occasionally teach out of it, but do they have some sort of systematic approach where the people that go there can learn the Bible? So they knew the Bible. We need to know the Bible. Well, we don't need to know the Old Testament after all.

It's old. No, we need to know the whole book. We need to know the whole book. 2 Timothy 3 verse 16 says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. All scripture, not just the New Testament, all scripture. In Matthew chapter 4 verse 4 says, and he answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Every word. We need to know the Bible. There's a saying, the new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.

I love that saying. The new is in the old concealed, meaning the New Testament is in the Old Testament, but it's concealed. The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.

These things play off of each other and it's important. And not only should we know the word of God, but we should also know the God of the word. And if you want to know more about the Lord, know more about the Bible because he's given us a book. Verse 21, therefore of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when he was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. Now, it's interesting the way the book of Acts ties all the gospels in to the book of Acts. You remember Matthew ends with the resurrection, Mark with the ascension, Luke ends with the promise of the Holy Spirit, and John ends with the second coming. All these things are covered in the first chapter of Acts. It's a necessary link to the epistles because if we just started with Romans, you'd think, well, how do we get to Rome?

So here's this thread coming through there. Now, they are setting down requirements of what this twelfth disciple will be. It's kind of interesting to me, but that's what they're doing. They are forming a committee, if you will, to choose this twelfth disciple because Judas, since he had committed suicide, left a hole. They thought, well, we'll replace him.

It's probably a good idea, I guess. Jesus never told them to do this, so I have to wonder. But verse 23, and they proposed to Joseph. Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, You, O Lord, You know the hearts of all. Show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry. An apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. Now, this is interesting because you see what they're doing.

They're saying, Okay, God, these are the two guys. Choose from them, A or B. Have you ever done A or B with God?

Let me encourage you not to do that. See, because you're assuming that you know what A and B are supposed to be. You remember back from school, you know, when you had the multiple choice, frequently there was one down at the bottom that said, All of the above or none of the above. Those are good to include multiple choice if you're going to do that to God. Don't A, B God because, you know, quite frequently God's got like Z in mind.

And when you A, B him, don't be surprised if he doesn't answer A or B as he did in this case. Now, what they're doing is saying, you know, let's form a committee. Let's get somebody else to be a part of ministry. Something.

And again, I think that we need to hear that. We need to know that we need to play a part, an integral part in local church. It maximizes, if you will, the effectiveness of your Christianity.

This is the picture of the body of Christ that Jesus intended. So that was their intention to find somebody else to fill that 12th spot. And that's a good thing. But I don't think they waited long enough to be honest.

I don't think they waited long enough. In the next chapter we're going to talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit. It's going to be a great chapter. A lot of cross references and we're going to explore what God's word has to say about the Holy Spirit. But I think they should have waited until the Holy Spirit came and then chose the man.

Why? They end up, we'll see in the next verse, they chose Matthias. Well, what's wrong with that? Well, not a whole lot other than we never hear of Matthias ever again in the Bible.

I mean, to say he was not very impactful would be an inappropriate statement. They should have waited on the Holy Spirit. Now, some of you are going, what do you mean waiting on the Holy Spirit? Sounds weird. The Holy Spirit is not weird.

You understand that? Now, I've met people who are weird. I've met people who are weird about the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is not weird. When we start talking about the gifts and we're going to be talking about them, a lot of people get really what I call wiggy, freaked out.

There's no need to do that. We'll be right back with more from David McGee on Cross the Bridge. Right now, here's a word from associate pastor D.A.

Brown. We want to take just a couple minutes to pray for some cities in our listening audience, specifically Enka, High Point, Lexington, Mount Olive, Summerfield, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and also Dickinson, North Dakota. Lord, we thank you for everyone who lives in these cities. We pray that your Holy Spirit would draw them unto you even right now, that people would have the faith to say yes with no boundaries on what you're wanting to do in their life. We pray for the leaders in these cities, that you would give them wisdom and discernment, and that they would work together, Father, and that they would look to your Word for answers supernaturally on how to lead where you've called them. Lord, we pray that people would get plugged into churches and begin to serve with the gifts that you've given them, Father, and that they would be a blessing to other people in the same way that you've blessed them.

Lord, we thank you for these cities. We're expecting you to do great things, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, brother. And now, let's get back to David McGee as he continues teaching verse by verse.

Let me tell you one of the most powerful expressions of the Holy Spirit that I've ever experienced in my life. We were out in a Walmart parking lot, and we were doing music. And I was doing some music, and then there was a band, and we went back and forth, and I played with them and different stuff. Well, after a little while, it started to rain.

I had all this gear out on the flatbed, so rain's a bad thing to electronic equipment. So, of course, I started packing everything up, you know. And then my wife Nora calls, and she says, hey, can you come here? And, you know, my back is to her.

I'm unplugging cables and packing stuff up, and I'm thinking, no, no, I can't, you know. But I turned around, and I saw the expression on her face, and I saw that she was standing with a guy with a flat jacket that had been outside the tape, never came in to the group, if you will. And I saw the look on his face, and the Holy Spirit said, you need to go talk to that guy. Now, it wasn't some booming thunderous voice from heaven.

It wasn't some paralyzing fear that gripped me. It was just a prompting to go speak to this guy rather than pack up the equipment. So I walked over, and I said, what's going on? And he looked at me and said, I don't want to go to hell. I thought, this is great.

We've jumped right to the, you know, right to the meat of the matter, and man, we're, this is, you know, we're already there. This won't take but a sec, you know. And so I said, well, you don't have to go to hell, you know. Jesus Christ died for your sins that you could be forgiven.

If you'll ask him to forgive you of your sins, he'll be faithful and just to forgive you of your sins. He goes, no, you don't understand. I said, you're right. I probably don't understand. But Jesus understands. He goes, you don't understand. Again, still small voice, prompting, if you will.

No knock me to the ground experience or anything. But the prompting of the Holy Spirit, you need to share about Paul. I said, have you ever heard of Paul?

The guy said, yeah. I said, do you know the story of Paul? And he goes, well, he wrote part of the Bible or something. And I said, well, he wrote about two-thirds of the New Testament. I said, do you think Paul was a Christian? And he says, yeah.

Yeah. And he wrote part of the Bible. I said, do you know what Paul was doing before he became Christian?

He said, no. I said, Paul was persecuting other Christians for being Christians. As a matter of fact, he took part in at least one execution, probably more, and was stowing people in jail because they were Christians. You think God forgave Paul?

And a switch flipped in him. He said, yeah. I said, God forgave Paul of being part of an execution involving a Christian?

He said, yeah. I said, well, if God can forgive Paul of those things, God can forgive you of whatever you've done. And sometimes as you're laying out the Gospel and sharing the Gospel, you don't see a recognition. There's not a real emotional experience.

There's not a real light shining thing. But, man, this guy's face changed. And I said, will you pray with me? And he said, yeah, I'll pray with you. And I prayed with him to ask the Lord to forgive him of his sins. And after we prayed the press, I said, well, it's still raining. We've got to get this stuff loaded up, and I'm going to do that. And we're going to go get something to eat after this if you're welcome to go with us. And he said, OK, great. So we start loading the gear.

I look over. This guy's got a beer that had been in his flat, Jack, and he's pouring it out. Now, I didn't tell him, you're going to quit dinging, boy. That's part of your problem. I didn't say anything like that. He's pouring a beer out. I was like, that's pretty cool.

I look over there again a couple minutes later. He's got a cigarette, tearing the cigarettes out. I didn't say, you can't smoke and go to heaven.

You know, won't send you to hell, make you smell like you've been there. But you know, I didn't I didn't say any. You've heard all those things.

I didn't say any of those things. I was just watching the Holy Spirit work on this guy. So after we go to we go to restaurant, the guys just man, he's good. He's gotten radically safe. We're in the middle of a sit down restaurant and he's over there and he goes, man, I feel good.

You know, people like I would have been embarrassed if I wasn't so overjoyed for this guy. I was just so tickled, you know. So after we finished the meal, I said, you know, can we drop you off somewhere?

Can we take you somewhere? And he goes, no, I actually have a driver that's assigned to me. So really he says, yeah, I've got like a locator device and all I have to do is like page somebody. And he pulled back the flat jacket and he had this electronic thing and on it it said, Lieutenant Commander Navy Seals. I had no idea who I was talking to. I had no idea that this man's obstacle to receiving the gospel was that he had taken other people's lives. But the Holy Spirit knew. And the Holy Spirit said, tell them about Paul.

Share about Paul with him. And when I did, the light switch went on. See, that's the way the Holy Spirit works.

And you know what? I desire that kind of empowerment. I desire for the Holy Spirit to work through me to minister to other people. That's what the Holy Spirit does. And he's willing to do it in each and every one of our lives. It's not just that God anointed me in that special way that he's not willing to anoint anybody else. No, he's willing to anoint and empower you in such a way. The question is, are you willing?

Are you willing? We're going to get more and more into the Holy Spirit as we go on next week. But the ministry of the Holy Spirit is a powerful, powerful thing.

And my thoughts are that they probably should have waited. Now, hindsight's 20-20, but we see verse 26, and they cast their lots and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the 11 apostles.

Again, this is the last time we see Matthias. Now, who do I think the 12th apostle should have been? I think it should have been Paul. I think it should have been Paul. But the A, B God.

Was it A or is it B? I guess God went, hey. But they really didn't allow the Lord to work. I think they picked the wrong guy.

Now, let me ask you a question. At this point, Paul is about to begin his persecution of the church. Do you think they would have been ready and willing to hear who God's choice was? You know, even if it was God, who is it? He's not ready for this yet. It's the guy that's going to go around and kill some of you. Which one, Lord? But that's what God does. Scripturally, there's a lot of reasons I think it was Paul.

I'll run through several real quick. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 1 says, Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. And so Stathines, our brother. 2 Corinthians 1, 1 says, Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. And Timothy, our brother, under the church of God, which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia. Galatians 1, 1 says, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father raising him from the dead. Ephesians 1, 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints which are at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1, 1. Paul, an apostle by the will of God and Timothy as our brother. 1 Timothy 1, 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. Then 1 Corinthians 15 says this, then last of all he was seen by me also as by one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the apostles who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. The timing thing. I think that's who God chose, but it wasn't time to choose Him. See, sometimes you really have to wait on the Lord for something.

And couldn't you imagine if He told them who His choice was? See, here's the thing, and this is the next life lesson. God thinks differently than we think. God thinks differently than we think. And we have to understand that. We, a lot of times, won't understand things and that's okay. If you're following God, God understands all things. God will lead you.

There is peace and there is comfort in that. If a man had looked around the triad to find somebody to start this Bible study to begin this fellowship, you know what? I probably would not have been chosen.

You know, let me go a little stronger. There's no way I'd have been chosen. There's other people that would have been chosen. But God chose me. Why?

I don't know. And I'm okay not knowing. But understand, God thinks differently than we think.

Now, why is that important? Because God chose you too. Well, I'm not starting a church. Well, I'm not saying He chose you to start a church, but He chose you to serve Him. He chose you to be forgiven. Even now, He's whispering in your ear that He wants to forgive you of your sins. If you've been forgiven of your sins, He's whispering in your ear saying, won't you serve me? See, God has told us to go change the world.

You understand that? Every single one of us. Matthew chapter 28 says, Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this.

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. A small bunch of people turned the world right side up. They believed God. They formed that link and they began to serve Him. So here we see Judas' tragic life ends in tragedy.

He never was a doer of the word. And then we see Peter. They both messed up. Judas betrayed the Lord.

Peter denied the Lord. But what happened after makes all the difference. It's interesting. There's a scripture in the Hebrew scriptures in the Old Testament that says, The righteous man, though he fall seven times, will get back up again. And we look at that and go, what do you mean he's going to fall seven times?

What in the world? You call him righteous and you talk about him falling? Yeah, but notice he gets back up. That's the difference. Did Judas get back up?

No. He wallowed in this self-pity, feeling sorry for himself that his plans had gone awry. Certainly a choice that Peter could have made, but that's not the choice that Peter made. Peter said, you know what? I've messed up. I'm going to own up to it. Whatever happens. And perhaps going into John chapter 21, Peter fully expected Jesus just to blast him with both barrels and say, you're done. I had great plans for you. Can't use you now.

That's not what he did, is it? Do you want to be a Peter or do you want to be a Judas? The choice is up to you. All I can do is present the choices.

Oh man, if I could make the decision for you, I would, but I can't. All I can do is encourage you to make the right choice, to receive the grace of God. I know you've done wrong things. I've done wrong things. And here stands God willing and ready and able to forgive you of everything that you've ever done. Who wouldn't want to do that and see what the Lord has for you rather than risking the life of a Judas and in and up on the rocks. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking him to help you to live for him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that he died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things.

Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit crossthebridge.com to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Or you can write to Cross the Bridge at PO Box 12 515, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 27117, and share how God is working in your life.

The Bible tells us that the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. But it does cost for us to come and bring that message to you and to others in your neighborhood, through radio, through the internet, and through the mobile technologies that God has gifted us to be able to use. So if you'd like to support this ministry, please go to crossthebridge.com, click on the donate button, and ask God how much he would have you give, either on a one-time basis or a continuing basis each month to help ensure that the teaching of God's Word continues to go out through Cross the Bridge. Thank you so much. Well, DA, before we go, what are some ways that we can bless our listeners? Each day you can wake up with encouragement from Pastor David through the Word of God with his email devotional, life lessons to consider, a daily reading plan, and a thought to meditate on throughout your day from the heart of David McGee. Those are terrific, and it's easy and it's free. So folks, sign up today at crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening, and join us next time as David McGee continues teaching verse by verse in the book of Acts.