The world is kind of tired of followers of Jesus saying what we believe and not doing what we believe. They're looking for the stuff. They're looking for the goods. They're looking for action behind our faith.
And so what we want to do is help people to get engaged in action. So, you know, I asked this, I think, was it last week? I can't remember. But what good is your Christianity doing people around you? That should be an easy question to answer.
If it's not, then there may be questions about you being fully engaged. See, we engage in Bible study here, Bible teaching, but that should be leading to Bible doing. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. And at the bridge, he's raised up some associate pastors to help in the ministry. Today, we have one of those, D.A.
Brown, on the program with us. Welcome, brother. Bob, this is an exciting book to be in with Pastor David. If you continue to listen, you're going to be blessed today.
There's no doubt about it. We all have questions about what Christianity really is and how Christianity affects us and those around us. Pastor David is going to answer those questions specifically today, Bob. I'm excited about hearing Pastor David teach on being a doer of the Word in his teaching commitment.
So let's listen in. So we're in Acts, chapter 1, and we left off with verse 16, but let's pick it up with verse 16 for context's sake. 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.
It's interesting. We get two in-depth glimpses at two of the disciples. We see some of them to a certain degree, but Peter and Judas, it's very interesting to compare and contrast the two. In this chapter, we see Peter standing up, being involved with leadership. Of course, Judas at this point has already taken his own life.
Now, he was numbered with them. He had an official membership, I guess, in through the apostles, but I don't think he was ever with them, if you understand my meaning. I mean, he was part of the ministry, but he wasn't part of the ministry.
He was kind of a spectator to things that went on. Occasionally, what would happen is a disagreement would come up, and you would really see where the heart of Judas was. Understand, that's what happens to each and every person in our church experience. You see, this is not the perfect church. If you're here for the first time, hate to burst the bubble, but this is not the perfect church.
We are following the perfect God, but oftentimes, what happens in our church experience is there's a little hiccup in the road. There's something that happens, and a lot of times, it reveals where somebody's heart is towards this ministry. There was such an event, one of such many probably, but in John 12, verse 4, But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box, and used to take what was put in it.
Now, you probably remember the story. The woman with the alabaster box, obviously worth a lot of money, broke it in worship of the Lord. We believe that it might have actually been her dowry, her life savings, if you will. And what Judas says in the beginning, and it shares in the other gospels that, you know, he says, Well, why didn't we give this money to the poor? Now, that sounds really noble, doesn't it?
Doesn't that sound good? I mean, had you been sitting there, and there's an indication that some of the other disciples kind of got riled up and said, Yeah, what's going on? And they just discussed it among themselves. But that was not the reason Judas asked the question. Judas, as John points out, wanted the money in his money back. Why?
Because he wanted to rip it off. When someone around you speaks against leadership, spiritual authority, understand something. You may be in the presence of a Judas. Be careful, guys. They may be saying the right things.
Well, yeah, well, why don't we give this to the poor? Be careful. Be careful. I'm not saying they're very definitely a Judas type, but you know what?
I'm sure I've seen my share here. So be careful with that. So Judas says, Well, I don't agree with you about this.
And what we see if you follow the timeline in the Gospel of John, at that point, Judas then goes to betray him. Throws his hands, oh, that's it. I'm not going to be part of this anymore. But was he ever really a part? I don't think so.
I think he was a spectator, and that's a dangerous place to be. 1 John, John goes on to say this in 219, talking about people leaving fellowships. He says, These people left our churches because they never really belonged with us. Otherwise, they would have stayed with us.
When they left us, it proves that they do not belong with us. Numbered with us. It's a good concept, obtained a part in this ministry. Well, we'll see three things throughout the book of Acts, and if this is your home church, these three things should be a part of it. Number one is serving. Number two is giving.
Number three is attending. Did you notice that percentage, 8% of all Christians tithe? I don't know if that shocked you, but I'm not sure it should.
Praise God, we have a higher percentage of people here, but it still would shock you to know how low it is in comparison to what it should be. So you can do a heart check with those three things, serving, giving, and attending. Verse 18, Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity. Falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his entrails gushed out. This kind of fills in some blanks about Judas, but he has a tragic end to a tragic life. Judas went, and you may remember the story, and threw the money down in the temple, and he said, I've betrayed innocent blood, and they said, what is that to us? Now, they couldn't put the money back into the temple, so what they did is they went and bought this field for people to be buried in.
What a tragic ending. Now, especially when you consider that he was with Jesus for three and a half years. That's just a mind blower, isn't it? Because we think a lot of times, well, you know, had I been with Jesus, oh man, I would probably be on fire if I could have actually sat under the teaching of Jesus.
Are you on fire now? Because if you've been here for very long, guess what? You've sat under the teaching of Jesus as we've gone through the Gospels. And see, a lot of times we think, well, if I could have been there, well, you're here now watching what the Lord is doing among us.
Judas heard, and he did not do. It's an awesome thing to watch what God does in lives here. Week in, week out. We hear awesome stories and testimonies, victories of people. You know, I sit up here, and I pray over what I'm going to say, and then I present what I'm going to say, but to hear that it's actually changing lives, well, it's an awesome thing. You know, people come here, they don't know Jesus. They've never been forgiven of their sins.
They come to this place, they ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins. I talk about serving, and they go, okay, well, you know, there's an expectation here. Christians are supposed to serve. If you're following Jesus, you're supposed to follow Him in the service.
That's what I want to do. It's so awesome to see that. But it's a heartbreaker when people don't do those things. When people come in and they don't ask the Lord to forgive them of their sins, or, you know, they come in and they ask for the forgiveness of their sins, but they refuse to engage in service.
And before long, a little hiccup happens, I'm out of here. And that's a heartbreaker. And, you know, but here's the thing that I tell staff, because we shed tears over some of these folks. We pray for them. And as I tell them frequently, may it always bother us.
I don't care how many people come here. May that always touch our heart and break our hearts to hear that somebody has refused the counsel of God, the correction of God's Word, and bailed out. It's a sad thing, because that's what happened to Judas. Now, how do you keep from being a Judas? It's a good question. If you remember at the Last Supper when Jesus said, somebody's going to betray me, the disciples didn't go, it's not going to be me, other than Peter. They said, is it me?
Am I going to do this? That's a good question. Well, here's the thing. How do you keep from being a Judas? By being a doer of the Word, not a hearer only.
That's our first life lesson. We should do the Word and not just hear the Word. See, I can make sure that you hear the Word. I can guarantee you we're going to continue to go verse by verse.
And if you've read the Bible at no other time in your week, I will read the Bible to you. I promise I'll do that. I can't get you to engage. I can't make you engage and begin to be a doer, other than encouraging you to begin to serve the Lord. And that's what I do. I want to encourage you to serve the Lord. Why? Because then you're doing the Word.
You're doing it. You see, the world is kind of tired of followers of Jesus saying what we believe and not doing what we believe. They're looking for the stuff. They're looking for the goods. They're looking for action behind our faith.
And so what we want to do is help people to get engaged in action. So, you know, I asked this, I think, was it last week? I can't remember. But what good is your Christianity doing people around you? How is it benefiting other people on the road with you right now? Are the persons seated behind you? Are the persons seated in front of you?
That should be an easy question to answer. If it's not, then there may be questions about you being fully engaged. See, we engage in Bible study here, Bible teaching, but that should be leading to Bible doing. And if it just leads to more knowledge, you know what?
That was something that Jesus was against, just getting the head knowledge and not doing the things that God was talking about. People want to see the real deal. This world is looking for the reality of what we say we believe. So there's a lot of ways that we can show them. And in that, we can make sure that we don't end up a Judas.
But see, I know there's folks in here. Oh, here he goes about serving. I don't want to serve. I don't want to do it.
Not going to do it? Man, it breaks my heart, because you've taken one step closer to being a Judas. Whether you want to hear that or even like hearing that, that's something I have to say, because there's a responsibility on my part to encourage you to do the work. See, if I just sit around and just encourage everybody here to be a consumer, I'm not doing anything for the kingdom of God. As I encourage you to begin serving the Lord, then we're beginning to build the kingdom of God. We'll be right back with more from David Magee 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 Magee as he continues teaching verse by verse. Now, verse 19, the story of Judas continues, 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. He redeemed us from the hopelessness and the bondage of sin. Jesus has redeemed us or purchased us who were spiritually dead, and now we've been made spiritually alive. 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. 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, guys, all scripture. In Matthew chapter four verse four, it 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.
I love the story. We went through Joshua and we learned that the angel of the Lord came and knocked down the walls of Jericho. Now, the angel of the Lord, maybe you know this, maybe you don't, was what we call a Christophany. In other words, it was Jesus appearing to Joshua.
How do we know that? Well, Joshua worshiped him and he accepted the worship. Angels don't accept the worship of people.
Not getting back into that teaching. But this pastor comes to a church and he thinks, well, you know, I'm gonna ask them to make sure they know this stuff. And he pops into the Sunday school and he goes, guys, who tore down the walls of Jericho?
They all kind of looked at each other. I didn't do it. I think Johnny did it. Johnny said, well, I didn't do it.
So the pastor gets really distressed. He waits till after class is over, he goes to the Sunday school teacher and goes, ask his kids who broke down the walls of Jericho and, you know, and that one Johnny said he didn't do it. And the teacher said, well, yeah, I knew his family.
If he said he didn't do it, he didn't do it. They thought, oh my gosh, these people don't know the Bible. So the next elders meeting, he goes in, he's really distressed and he said, look, guys, you know, I walked in the Sunday school class to ask them, you know, who tore down the walls of Jericho and they said they didn't know and this one little kid said he didn't do it, little Johnny, and man, I was just, I was shocked. And one of the elders said, well, you know, again, I know Johnny's family and they're a good family and if he said he didn't do it, he didn't do it.
And then another elder said, well, you know what, let's not bother about who tore the wall down, let's just allocate the funding and get it fixed. 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 wanna 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 into the book of Acts. If 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 12th 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 12th disciple because Judas, since he had committed suicide, left a hole. They thought, well, we'll replace him.
It was 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 in 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 gonna do that to God. Don't A, B God because 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, let's form a committee, let's get somebody else to be a part of the ministry.
Awesome thing. 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 the local church.
It maximizes, if you will, the effectiveness of your Christianity. 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 gonna talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit. It's gonna be a great chapter. A lot of cross references and we're gonna 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? Well, they end up, we'll see in the next verse, they chose Matthias.
And what's wrong with that? Well, not a whole lot other than we never hear of Matthias ever again in the Bible. To say he was not very impactful would be an appropriate statement. 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. But the A beat God.
Was it A or is it B? I guess God wouldn't beat. 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? Even if it's like, 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?
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. 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 telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. 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 with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ.
Or you can write to crossthebridge at P.O. Box 12515 Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27117 and share how God is working in your life. You know, 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, D.A., 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 of Acts.
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