 Acts chapter 1, we're going to be looking at verses 9 to the conclusion of the chapter verse 26. I'm going to give to you some information as we develop this, and we're going to move into a portion that I've prepared. I actually, just to give you a heads up, my notes usually consist of around four pages. Today there's six, and so I'm just letting you know. So we got a lot of things to look at tonight. So let's begin reading at verse 9, read to verse 11. Now when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taking, he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? The same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. And so let's begin with an introduction. Throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, he prepared his disciples for his death, his burial, and his resurrection. And so this kind of teaching was very new to them. And it was difficult for them to grasp that Jesus, the Messiah, would actually die and be buried and be raised from the dead. That was a brand new concept to them. You see, their knowledge of the Old Testament was solid, but there were things that were still obscure to them that was especially true in the doctrine of the resurrection. They didn't yet understand that Jesus was going to die and be resurrected. Now on various occasions he told them that this would occur, but they had yet to really grasp his teaching. It says, for example, in Mark chapter 9, verses 31 and 32, that he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. And after three days rise again, but they did not understand this saying and they were afraid to ask him. So when Jesus was resurrected, he ministered to his men on various occasions. And that occurred over a period of 40 days. We saw that in chapter 1, verse 3, where Luke had said to whom he also presented himself alive after his sufferings by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And so when Jesus was resurrected, he ministered to them on various occasions over 40 days. Now when you look at the Gospel accounts, you're going to see that Jesus appeared to them various times. You'll see that he first appeared to Mary Magdalene as it's recorded in John 20, verse 16. He appeared to other women, Matthew 28, verse 9, to two disciples going to Emmaus, Luke chapter 24. He appeared to Peter according to Luke chapter 24, verse 34. He appeared to the 10 apostles, John 20, verses 19 through 25. He appeared to the apostles including Thomas in John 20, verses 26 through 29. He appeared to seven apostles by the shore of Galilee in John 21 to the men and perhaps 500 witnesses on a mountain in Galilee in Matthew 28 and to James Jesus' brother according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 7. So again, verse 3 tells us that when he appeared to them, he spoke to them of things pertaining to the kingdom. So he continued instructing them. He especially was commanding them to wait for the promise he set up the Father. And we're going to be looking more closely at this promise when we get into chapter 2 because the promise of the Father is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We'll be looking at that together in more detail. But as they were speaking to Jesus, they had asked him a question. They said to him, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? It says that here in verse 6. Are you going to do that at this time? Are you going at this time to restore the kingdom to Israel? Now, I wanted to give you some things as I prepared to go into verses 9 and all. I wanted to give you some things that it didn't touch on last time. So you get a more full account of what is taking place here. And so they had an expectation concerning Messiah. An expectation that was common in the nation of Israel at that time. When you look at what is called the eschatological or the last times kind of calendar that the Jews had at that time, there were certain expectations that they had as it related to Messiah. They had taught that before Messiah came there would be a terrible tribulation. For them that would have been Rome. Before his coming there would be a forerunner sent who was like Elijah. They recognized that as John the Baptist. After those two events they believed that Messiah would appear and establish his kingdom. The unbelieving nations would ally to fight against Messiah. The nations opposing him would be destroyed for their opposition. Jerusalem would be restored and be the city of the great king. That the Jews scattered throughout the earth would be regathered. That Israel would become the center of the world all nations subject to Messiah. And after Messiah began to rule that the world would enter into peace, prosperity, and joy. Now as we've been going through and just concluded our study in the minor prophets we saw those expectations that were laid out for the nation of Israel. And that's what they believed and that's why they're asking Jesus are you about to restore the kingdom to Israel? I want to know is this the time that you're going to establish your earthly kingdom? Now Jesus had said to them this isn't your concern. What you're supposed to do is you're to go out and you're to preach the gospel. You see the men still didn't realize that God was going to produce something that is called the church. As I've mentioned to you many times when you study your Old Testament and you study your New Testament you discover something interesting. You'll discover that in the Old Testament the world of humanity, mankind is divided into two sections, Jew and Gentile. And so when you go through the Old Testament and after the establishment of the nation of Israel and the coming in a relationship God has with that nation you begin to see how that God will speak of them as the Jew and the Gentile. So humanity was divided into two sections Jew and Gentile. In the New Testament as Jesus was walking on the face of the earth it was still regarded in that way the Jew and the Gentile. You'll see sometimes in the teachings of Christ that he alludes to that when he says in Matthew 10 to not go to the Gentiles but only to the house of Israel or when he's speaking to the Syrophoenician woman and he says I was sent only to the house of Israel. So you see that Jesus had continued ministering to the nation of Israel in his earthly ministry but he also had something in store for the world that the world had yet to understand and that was the church. And so when Jesus was speaking in Matthew 16 and giving to the disciples instructions he spoke to Peter and said you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. And that's the first mention of the word church, the Ecclesia, the called out ones. And so what Jesus was intending to do was to let them know that their ministry was prolonged. It wasn't something that was going to be over immediately but there was an age that is referred to in theology as the church age or the age of grace. There is an age that is going to be established where God is going to create out of the Jew and the Gentile what is referred to by Paul in his writings as the new man. The new man would refer to the fact that it's no longer the Jew it's no longer the Gentile it is also now the church. And the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles who come to faith in Jesus the Messiah. They didn't understand this. This is something that was still at that point something that was foreign to them. It was what would be called a mystery. Now the word mystery in the New Testament is used several times. In the way that we use the word mystery we will speak concerning a novel that is a mystery novel or a movie that is a mystery. But the New Testament word musterion the New Testament word mystery is a word that is really meaning something that at one time was hidden but now has been revealed. So when the word mystery is used and it is used in the book of Ephesians it will refer to and does refer to this mystery of the two becoming the one new man in what is called the church. In Ephesians 3 verse 6 it says this this is the secret plan or the mystery the Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the good news or the gospel and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promises of blessings through Christ Jesus. So Jesus' disciples did not understand yet that Jesus intended to create something called the church. They are asking a question are you about to restore the kingdom to Israel because their eschatological understanding their last days understanding had been developed over time and they still embraced it. And so the fact is no there is something called a church age and in order for people to be drawn into this kingdom that is going to be made up of Jew and Gentile who believe in Messiah you're going to need power. You got a message. The message is called the gospel but you need the power of the Holy Spirit and that's what we saw in verse 8 when he said you shall receive power after that the Spirit the Holy Spirit has come upon you you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the other most parts of the earth. And I want you to notice something I don't know if I spend any time or much time at all pointing this out but I'll point this out very briefly and then we'll move into verses 9 following but I want you to see again in verse 8 what he said you shall be witnesses to me. A lot of times the church has made the mistake of thinking that our role is to do witnessing. I think that of course it's important that we go out and we share the gospel of course the church has been commissioned to go out you see that as I mentioned to you before that we have what is called the great commission that was actually given five different times a lot of times we look at the great commission and we say well Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 and that's where you have it encapsulated but each one of the gospels Mark 16 Luke 24 John 20 and 21 there are allusions to what they're to do and Acts chapter 1 includes that and so in Acts chapter 1 he was giving them this commission but he was saying in the commission you need the power of the Holy Spirit you need the power of the Holy Spirit because you will never be successful in taking out this message without a transformed life see one of the things I was sharing with you last time touch this for just a moment and move on is the church today can do a lot of witnessing but what the church is supposed to be is a witness our lives that have been transformed by a message called the gospel is the evidence that God is in the life changing business if you will if any man is in Christ he is what a new creation a new creation I remember hearing a man true story of a man who had when Billy Graham was a young man doing evangelism he had given an invitation and this man had gone forward at the invitation and so Billy Graham had ministers who did follow up and so one of his ministers went to visit with this man to be a very well known mobster he was a very very bad guy he was a mobster he used to call him mobsters I don't know what they're called anymore but a mobster and so I don't want to generalize because I don't know that he was in the mafia but that's the kind of mobster I'm talking about so when the pastor goes to follow up with his very well known gangster mobster whatever when he goes to speak to him he says to him now that you've come to faith in Christ your life is going to be transformed and the guy says yeah I'm expecting that well what are you going to do with your life now because he was a well known gangster and all and he says well I'm going to continue what I do and the minister says what do you mean you're going to continue what you're going to do yeah I'm going to stay in the lifestyle that I have and he says to him oh no that's really not a good idea to stay you know breaking people's arms and things like that it's not a good thing to do unless you're UFC no that's not a good thing to do the guy says why not well because what you do is simply wrong he says I don't think so he said there are Christian truck drivers Christian businessmen I'm going to be a Christian mobster true story I'm going to be a Christian mobster you know see the Bible teaches us that when Christ comes into our life our life changes that's why it's so sad today to see Christians who don't understand that arguing that it's okay to continue in sinful lives and we're still going to go to heaven why because of the grace of God no when you have actually come into into contact with the power of the Spirit and when you've begun to read the word of God and you begin to have a heart of obedience you demonstrate that you've been saved by the life that you begin to live you are not saved by your works but your works demonstrate that you've been saved and so Jesus said you shall be witnesses to me he didn't simply say to them you're going to go out and do witnessing he said wherever you go whatever you're doing you will be a witness that's why you are a witness on the job that's why you are a witness at home that's why you are a witness at the gas station that's why you are simply a witness wherever it is that you are and that's why it's important for us to remember that because it's not just going out with a Bible and telling people how they should live it's living that Bible so people have a model of what it means to follow Christ and that requires the power of the Holy Spirit who transforms lives to be conformed into the image of Jesus himself and so Jesus was speaking here and he's saying this is what's going to take place you are going to be witnesses and again when we get into chapter 2 I'm going to spend some time looking especially at the first 11 verses next time we're together I'm going to share with you about this baptism the Holy Spirit the promise of the Father and how that works within our life and so with all of that said in a nutshell what we were looking at last time and now as we pick up in verse 9 it says when he had spoken these things while they watched he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight and so as he's speaking he actually is taken up this speaks of what is called the ascension Jesus is departing from earth and he's returning to the presence of his Father in Mark 16 verse 19 it says so then after the Lord had spoken to them he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God in Luke 24 verses 50 and 51 it says he led them out as far as Bethany he lifted up his hands and blessed them he came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried into heaven ask yourself what you would be thinking at that moment I mean think about it I have to be honest with you I've read this passage so many times over the years but I've never really allowed myself to think about how that would feel to watch something like that to see Jesus speaking and blessing I mean I don't even I can't get it I really don't to me it's like wow I mean are you kidding me one he was dead now he's alive he's been with me for 40 days in various times speaking to me that's been hard enough to deal with but to see him going up into heaven and be received by a cloud that's an amazing thing and so what we have is we have God the Father he's been up in his resurrection body and he's now at the right hand of the Father again that's referred to the exaltation of Jesus and he is now seated the Bible says at the Father's right hand the term at the right hand very often speaks of a place of power and authority so when you see Jesus described in scriptures being at the right hand of God or the right hand of the Father what's that referring to it is referring to the fact that he is there in a position of authority and power in Romans 8 verse 34 the question is who is he that condemns Christ Jesus who died more than that who has raised a life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us in Hebrews 1 verse 3 it says a son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being sustaining all things by his powerful word after he had provided purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven so this is speaking of Jesus being raised into heaven and he's now seated exalted there at the right hand in verse 9 it says a cloud received him out of their sight of course this isn't an ordinary cloud this would speak of the presence of God in the Old Testament it's referred to as the Shekinah Glory in Normach it was called the Chicano Glory no this is the Shekinah Glory of God and you see that in reference to that in 1 Kings for example chapter 8 in verses 10 through 12 where it says it happened that when the priest came from the holy place the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not stand to minister because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord Solomon said the Lord said that he would dwell in this thick cloud and so the picture that you have here is him being received up into heaven and the glory of God now as this is taking place verse 10 well they look steadfastly toward heaven as he went up behold two men stood by them in white apparel who also said men of Galilee why do you stand gazing up into heaven the same Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven so they are transfixed their feet are solidly planted on earth as they are watching in amazement as Jesus is received up in glory and there is these two men in apparel these two men in white apparel are obviously angels who are speaking to them we know that on occasion in the future they will take the form of men you see that in Mark 16 verse 5 where it says they entered the tomb and they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side and they were alarmed this young man was actually an angel so there are times that you will see them taking upon themselves the form of a man the appearance of a man and so here they are they are gazing transfixed towards heaven they are in utter amazement and the angels actually rebuke them and they are telling them what are you doing standing around didn't you hear what he said you need to get busy now again maybe they thought that as Jesus went up he was going to come straight back down but it says here no you got things to do and as a matter of fact notice what it says in verse 11 why do you stand gazing into heaven the same Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven will come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven now they remind them and this is important by the way if you take notes you might want to note this and you'll see why in just a moment the angels are rebuke them telling them get busy and they're reminding them that Jesus will literally return to the earth he's returning not in a secret or hidden manner he's returning in an open manner on the clouds of heaven as it says here now why do I want you to think about this for a minute there are false teachers that have said that Jesus will not literally return to planet earth I was reading something in excerpt from a tract that says you can live forever that's the track title you can live forever it was put out by the watchtower bible and track society it's found on page 147 the watchtower is the mouthpiece for the Jehovah's witnesses and it says Christ's return does not mean it literally comes back to this earth rather it means that he takes kingdom power towards this earth and turns his attention to it he does not need to leave his heavenly throne and actually come down to earth to do this as we have seen in the previous chapter bible evidence shows that in the year 1914 God's time arrived for Christ to return he was ruling it was then that the cry was heard in heaven now have come to pass the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ the watchtower organization all the way back in the early 1900s said that Jesus returned invisibly and that he was ruling in Brooklyn, New York in the watchtower organization now that's why it's important to read your bible that's why because they've been teaching this since early 1900s of course that specifically contradicts Jesus' teaching remember in the gospel of Mark chapter 14 verse 62 you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the mighty one and coming on the clouds of heaven Jesus said that Revelation 1 verse 7 look he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him even those who pierced him and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him so shall it be, amen there was no invisible or secret return every eye will see him scripture says it over and over again and so I wanted to give you something because there are people who knock on your door and they will tell you that and you need to be prepared for those kinds of things to be able to give an answer well it says in verse 12 they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet which is near Jerusalem a Sabbath day journey so they went about a half a half a mile and that was the farthest that a faithful Jew could travel on the Sabbath and verse 13 when they had entered the upper room where they were staying Peter, James, John and Andrew Philip and Thomas Bartholomew and Matthew James the son of Alpheus and Simon the zealot Judas the son of James these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers and so this again is giving us an account of what is taking place simply says they returned to Jerusalem and it says in verse 13 they entered into an upper room so they enter into an upper room this is more than likely the upper room where they had the last supper and where Jesus administered to his disciples I want you to notice that there are 11 apostles remaining these are the ones who have been appointed by Jesus obviously one of them is not there we know him by the name of Judas and notice what they're doing in verse 14 they're continuing with one accord in prayer and supplication so they remain in unity they remain in prayer and they're waiting for the promise that we'll see in chapter 2 so that's what believers are supposed to do believers are to remain united to pray and to trust the Lord to keep his promises and what's interesting there are others mentioned simply as the women and so seeing that they're named you have to supply who they could potentially have been simply by the women that are mentioned in scripture that were normally with him so we know for example Mary Magdalene was there that Mary the wife of Plupus would be there Mary and Martha Salome these are women that are mentioned as being part of the group of people that followed Jesus administered to him and the number would also include Mary the mother of Jesus and that's what it says here the mother of Jesus and his brothers we're going to look at that for a minute I told you I have a lot of scripture to give you today here's some more notice how scripture refers to Mary and I want you to see that scripture refers to her in a fairly casual way I want you to see that with me I want you to see and I'll read it to you again these all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers now why am I saying that I want to spend a couple moments looking at Mary the Bible never affords Mary any special recognition never affords Mary any priority of privilege and the Bible never encourages inordinate interest in or even inordinate affection for her in Mark chapter 3 verses 31 through 35 the Bible says Jesus's mother and brothers arrived standing outside they sent someone in to call him a crowd was sitting around him and they told him your mother and brothers are outside looking for you who is my mother and my brothers he asked then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said my mother and my brothers and he goes on to say this whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother now it's interesting brother sister mother but he doesn't say my father brother sister mother in other words anybody doing the will of God is part of my family he's part of my family she's part of my family so his mother didn't gain her special recognition or privilege in the church there was no special treatment of her but she is recognized as being blessed by God we read in Luke 11 27 and 28 as Jesus was saying these things a woman in the crowd called out blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nurse to you he replied blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it so there is no special recognition found in scripture she is recognized as the mother of Jesus a tremendous example to all but she also gave birth to her savior Jesus her son so she is not our co-redeemer she is not our co-mediator in the religious background I had she was called the co-mediatrix and co-redemptrix see I went to to mass in Latin in the Latin mass and we were taught that and so the Bible does not teach that but that's what we were taught what does the Bible teach concerning her well the title redeemer and mediator those are titles that belong to Jesus himself according to 1 Timothy 2 5 and 6 there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all in 1 Peter 1 18 and 19 it says you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed to you from your forefathers but with the precious blood of Christ a lamb without blemish or defect Jesus is my mediator Jesus is my redeemer and so I've had more than one conversation and I know that for some who are devoutly Catholic that this could seem to be very offensive and I understand why it would seem that way no I'm not bashing Catholics but I am speaking concerning Mary she's found here in scripture and thus we need to have a balanced understanding of who she is she's the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ she's the person that we respect she was blessed by God an amazing woman and a great example of godliness there's no doubt about it but she's not my mediator you see my mom taught me as a little boy again I was raised in the Catholic church baptized in small church in Los Angeles at my first communion and my confirmation at St. Pius X Church in Santa Fe Springs I was going through the four of the sacrament sacrament of penance and all I went through those things and I had my upbringing in that religious belief but also within that I discovered that there were things that were added to what the bible says and and that's just a fact I had a friend of mine who was Bill I still have him used to be my friend and I meet with him monthly he comes here monthly we were in the same kindergarten class so I've known him for a while and so Bill used to get angry at me and argue with me because he was starting to go to Calvary Chapel and he knew that I as a Catholic would not agree with what he was learning and he and I would argue about theology he was going to bible studies so I try not to be offensive to those who hold fast to their Catholic upbringing because I'm not here with the intent to insult people but I do have a background and I do understand some of the things that people feel in all of that related to it and so for me, Bill would say things to me and it would get me upset and all so it caused me to wonder about what I had been taught so I went to one of the parish priests there at St. Pius X in Santa Fe Springs I set up an appointment and I walked in and I sat down with this particular priest and I was 20 years old 19 years old at the time and I said to him, listen I have a friend of mine who is a Protestant now that was supposed to get the priest mad who is a Protestant and he's arguing with me about Jesus and he keeps telling me things about the Bible that I need to be born again and I've been telling him that I'm a Catholic I'm part of the first church that Peter is the first pope and the things that we've been taught are the truth but I need ammunition to deal with this guy that's what I did I wanted ammunition I wasn't walking away from the Catholic Church I did not walk into that priest's office with the intent of walking away from Catholicism I walked into the priest's office I wanted some ammunition to deal with this heretic named Bill that's why I went in that's a fact I went in so I get some ammo so I could argue with him and I'll never forget this as I was there seated across from the priest I said this is what he's saying how do I respond he's saying I need to be born again how do I respond and the priest leans back in his chair and kind of like folds his arms and he looks at me and he says I've tried it all I tried Eastern mysticism and he starts telling me the different paths that he had taken and he leans back and he says to me and I came back to Catholicism and that's no problem and that was his answer that was his answer and so when he said that to me now remember I don't know how to contextualize this but I'm trying to say I was a hippie I was a doper I was an alcoholic and I thought I was a Christian and I wanted help so I could rip up this Protestant this Calvary Chapel Protestant I was upset give me some ammo and when he did that and this is I walked out of the office he doesn't have an answer he can't give me answers I was raised like many of you if I had you raise your hand many of you were raised in the Catholic Church many of you were the majority of my church was raised in the Catholic Church you understand what I'm trying to say it was like a light bulb began to go off in my head and I said he doesn't have an answer he doesn't know how to deal with this he's just telling me relax I'll be okay and I'm not okay I'm a doper I'm a drunk I'm messed up I'm a lying thief I'm a candidate for the passage that's a fact he doesn't he doesn't have an answer that's what made me more curious when I thought maybe there is an answer to these questions God used that he used that in my life and so when I came to faith in Christ I have never come in with an attitude of disrespecting I don't want to disrespect people some are very thin skinned and they're expecting to be I'm not disrespecting I'm trying to speak truth and trying to encapsulate truth in a human form if you will trying to say this is how as an example so I came to faith in Christ and I was instructed from the beginning God's word is true that was no problem for me because if God is God and he can create all things I'm certain he can keep his word pure enough to communicate to me if he can't then what kind of God is there he's weak so the God that I know of in Scripture gave us his word that's when I was seated looking at this big old family Bible that weighed like 200 pounds and I was flipping it over and I was looking for things in this my sister-in-law's Catholic Bible and I was just looking for the doctrines I had been taught I didn't go there to argue with her I wanted to tell her about the Lord but she was in another room there's a Bible I've been taught to read it I look at it I open it up it actually has a Z-Catholic doctrine so I think well I might as well educate myself I'm a brand new Christian I hadn't been a Christian more than two weeks three weeks at the most and I just start to look up starting with the letter A well the assumption of Mary is that where where's the Bible say that and it doesn't I kept going and I looked up all these doctrines penance doesn't say it it doesn't say that she is co-mediatrix anywhere co-redemptrix anywhere it doesn't say she's the queen of heaven and I keep looking and I start saying well if it doesn't say that there's no there's no place some of you may not have ever been taught the doctrine of limbo where the souls of M-baptized children go in a perfect bliss but not heaven so I look to see limbo there's no such place and the only place I've mentioned this before that purgatory that was an interesting thing to me and it said purgatory does exist it's junior high ministry but outside of that and so listen the cry of those who were called the reformers was solis griftura the word of God only that's what our faith is based on and so the reason I'm even taking some time to look at Mary is just to remind you that the Bible is strangely silent about her it does speak of her as being blessed amongst women it does speak concerning her giving birth to Jesus our messiah it does not ever refer to her as the mother of God never does so there are things you were taught perhaps that just don't find revelation in Scripture and so Mary was one who gave birth to our messiah so I have conversed with people on this before and they think I don't respect her and I do I said do you and I've said but do you oh yes I do you respect her yes do you do what she says well what do you mean I said all you need to do is look in the Gospel of John chapter 2 and Jesus is at the wedding of Cana of Galilee and while he is there his mother approaches him and says they have no wine Jesus responds to her and says woman what do I have to do with you and in this conversation Mary says something she says whatever he says do it now if you honor Mary then honor her words are whatever he says do it what did he say believe in me I'm the savior follow me become fishes of men see that's one of the reasons that you can feel very confident to follow him to follow him because even his mama said to do that which is biblical and so yes I do I honor Mary's words Mary said whatever he says to you do it and so we have Mary mentioned here we also have his brothers I don't want to go into a long thing with you about that I can do that too I won't but scripture records that Jesus had brothers and sisters who initially did not believe in him Matthew 13 verses 55 and 56 the question is asked isn't this the carpenter's son isn't his mother's name Mary and aren't his brothers James Joseph Simon and Judas aren't all his sisters with us where then did this man get all these things John 7 verse 5 says even his own brothers did not believe in him you see what was taking place was at that time his family didn't come to faith or did not have faith in him after his resurrection is when they came to faith in him they came to faith in him now moving on verse 15 you can see now why I have six pages of notes in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples altogether the number of names was about 120 and said 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 falling headlong he burst open in the middle all his entrails gushed out and it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem so that field is called in their own language aquildama field of blood for it is written in the book of Psalms let his habitation be desolate let no one live in it and let another take his office therefore 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 that day when he was taken up from us one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection they proposed to Joseph called Bar Saba who was surnamed justice and Matthias he prayed and said oh Lord who know you oh Lord who know the hearts of all show which of these two you have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place he cast their lots the lot fell on Matthias he was numbered with the 11 apostles so in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples verse 15 when you read your bible you see something about Peter that is charming and interesting at the same time he had a very strong personality very strong personality and he had tremendous influence this was a man who was willing to speak out and you see that as you go through scripture and you see this man as he's mentioned and the scriptures that pertain to him so in many ways he was a very strong leader in what has been called the apostolic circle when you begin to look at the lists of the apostles you find lists found in Matthias chapter 10 and Mark chapter 3 and Luke chapter 6 as well as Acts here in chapter 1 his name is always first in the list of the apostles you will see that every time the names are mentioned of the apostles is always the first name mentioned through the gospels and Judas Iscariot is always the last and he's normally spoken of as the one who was a trader or the one who betrayed Jesus Christ when you go through the gospels and you look at this man by the name of Simon Peter when you go through the gospels you see that this is a man who loved Jesus Christ and he's a man who had a tremendous faith you know it was Peter who walked on water to Jesus as it speaks of that in Matthew 14 it was Peter who confessed that Jesus is the Christ the son of the living God in Matthew 16 it was he who said to him Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life in John chapter 6 it was Peter who said we have left all and followed you therefore what shall we have in Matthew 19 and it was he who said we have to die with you I will not deny you this is a man who is very strong and a man with tremendous faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but it was also Peter who failed to hold fast to his confession of courage and it was Peter who after he failed in such an open way who was restored by Jesus in an open way we remember how Jesus restored him and how that he commissioned him to feed and to tend the lambs and the sheep and so in the life of Peter his brokenness placed him in a place of leadership with a greater depth brokenness is what prepares you for deep ministry you might want to mark that in your heart if you want to be deep I've said this to you so many times you go through deep things if you want to be a help to people you're able to look back at the things you've gone through and you're able to say this is where God met me in a special way when I was at the end of myself is when I came to him when I was at the end of my strength is when I found my strength is in him when I was hopeless is when I discovered that he is my hope when I had no peace I discovered that it is he who is my peace when I felt alone I discovered that I'm never alone for he's always with me and he never leaves me nor does he forsake me so those are things you learn when you're there at your kitchen table saying I don't have two nickels to rub together the bills are coming and I don't know what I'm going to do and you say but God you have said that you would provide Lord help me give me wisdom direct me do something Lord sometimes I don't know what to do and God has a way of coming through there's one thing that I've discovered that is a benefit to just having a long walk with the Lord is things that at one time at the beginning of my walk with him thought I will never see an answer to this those things have been answered you see that in God's faithfulness his timetable is different than yours he works at a different pace we're young we run ahead of him we say come and catch up and the Lord says no the shepherd walks and you follow his voice I'm not supposed to follow yours so you walk at my pace you learn to walk according to my ways you trust me and I will never let you down you will never be alone you will never be without my presence you need to simply trust me Peter had to learn that Peter was boasting I love you more than these do you really do you really now I say unto you that tonight you'll betray me three times I'll die for you these may these guys I've always had second thoughts about but not me I will never some in this room know exactly what I'm saying when I say I have prayed and said I'll never let you down only to wake up asking myself how'd I get here how did I get here what steps did I take to end up pinging the way that I am I started out so well let him who thinks he stand take heed Paul said lest he should fall be aware that the enemy is there to trip you up and as you're crying out to God I will follow you that is a prayer that God hears and that is something that the enemy works over time to undermine never forget that because as you are wanting to follow the Lord there is one who wants to stop you from doing the same thing that's how you grow in faith Lord increase our faith the Lord says it's not great faith you need it's mustard seed faith just trust me even a little bit because it's not how big your faith is it's how big your God is and that's what we have to learn you see that's a bottom line that's a bottom line and so the Lord honors us trusting him and the apostle Peter is a man who really had a tremendous influence on the other apostles but this is a man who failed but Jesus restored him and has broken his place in a place of leadership to a greater depth so true to his character and true to his gifting Peter has taken the role of leader and in verse 15 there are around 120 disciples that are present at this time and as this is taking place in verses 16 and 17 his knowledge of scripture is revealed to us because he begins to quote scripture here now people thought that because he didn't attend any of the appropriate schools what we today call seminary they would think that this man probably wouldn't know scripture very well later on when we get to chapter 4 you're going to see that because the Lord used him to perform a miracle on a crippled man they were arrested for that and they were spoken to by the religious authorities and after they were speaking to them it says in Acts 4.13 they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived they were uneducated and untrained men the scripture said they marveled and they realized that they had been with Jesus you know uneducated and untrained one of the things that sometimes people will think that is that well I need to I need to go to these particular schools in order to be qualified in order to be a pastor and I'm not one who says you shouldn't go to school by the way I think this school is extremely beneficial and if the Lord places it on your heart and gives you opportunity too and it's the right thing for you of course training is a great thing and we need trained theologians absolutely but also I keep in mind that majority of my friends who are pastoring churches that God is using in the Calvary Ministries they didn't go to seminary they got into the Word and they were with Jesus they spent time praying and they spent time studying and God equipped them he had gifted them and because they have this tremendous love for Christ who is our savior that provokes them to remain faithful to the Lord what makes you faithful to God what has made me as a pastor faithful to to my wife faithful for my children faithful for my grandchildren is it because because if I got caught I'd get killed by Marie no because if I'm deceitful enough to find a way to go out on her I'm probably deceitful enough to be able to hide it from her you know what it's been fear of God fear of God my God will reveal and I'm aware of that I have a healthy fear of God see an unbeliever there is no fear of God in them Romans tells us in chapter 3 there is no fear of God in them the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom fools despise knowledge and instruction no it's the fear of the Lord I want you to remain away from evil because the Lord will deal with those whom he loves and he will chase him I'm aware of that I'm very aware of that and that fear of the Lord is also coupled with a love for the Lord and a fear of the Lord and a love for the Lord has made me the faithful man to my family has made me the faithful man I learned a long time ago that no affair no affair is worth losing everything for no affair is no relationship with somebody else is ever ever, ever worth losing everything for I'll give you one story and then I'll move on and actually teach the Bible I'm trying to illustrate something here I was a young man probably in my 30's or so I had a dream that was so real in my dream I had committed adultery and in my dream I had to tell my wife and in my dream I remember telling Marie I have been unfaithful and I watched her eyes and I saw the tears and the pain and this woman who came to faith in Christ because of me through me through my ministry I watched her in my dream it was so real the tears that began to pour down and then I had to go and speak to my children and I said to my children in my dream your daddy has been unfaithful to your mother and I watched my children's eyes that they were filled with tears and they lost that respect and honor that they used to have for me, I saw it then I had to speak to my friends in my dream my friends and I told my friends I have failed the Lord and then I spoke to my church and I stood up and I spoke to the church and as I said to the church I saw that not only did I affect David Rosales and his walk with God but I affected Marie Rosales I affected four children I affected friends I affected a church I affected a radio ministry that goes out on 40 different stations throughout this nation I affected thousands upon thousands upon hundreds of thousands of people and that put the fear of God in me in a way that was fresh that has remained all of these years nothing is worth violating your relationship with Jesus Christ for nothing, there's nothing out there that is more valuable than your walk with God and the influence that you have on other people for him that is so important to me and that came not because of seminary that came because of the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit and the desire to be honorable to him and so as they were looking at this man he knew Scripture as a matter of fact he quotes two Psalms of David the Psalms that he quotes are Psalm 69 verse 25 as well Psalm 109 verse 8 and it gives to us some insight and I'll give you one little thing here I want you to see in verse 16 how it says this Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David that speaks of inspiration the inspiration of Scripture 2 Peter 121 prophecy never had its origin in the will of man men spoke from God the Holy Spirit so that speaks of the inspiration of Scripture as well as the person of the Spirit because notice with me the person of the Spirit the Holy Spirit spoke now it goes on it had to be fulfilled verse 16 which the Holy Spirit spoke before though Judas was the deceitful guide yet God's word was fulfilled his choice to betray Jesus fulfilled God's word concerning the death of Messiah now sometimes people think of Judas and they say my goodness I feel sorry for him we need to remember that he had incredible opportunities according to verse 17 he was numbered with the apostles he obtained a part of the ministry Judas was outwardly a follower of Jesus Christ but inwardly he never committed himself to the Lord he was somebody that was so well trusted that he was put in charge of the ministry funds as a matter of fact when the Lord Jesus Christ was anointed and he said this was wasted why was this costly perfume wasted we could have sold it for a great sum of money 300 denarii we could have given to the poor he didn't say that because he cared for the poor but John tells us he said that he was a thief and as keeper of the money bag he used to help himself to what was put in it so Judas is a clear picture of a person who has had opportunity but hardens his heart he's an example of what Jesus warned about on the Sermon and the Mount remember in Matthew 7 verses 22 and 23 where Jesus said many will say to me on that day Lord Lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons then I will tell them plainly I never knew you away from me you evildoers Judas is one of those I never knew you he had the greatest opportunity to know Jesus but he never truly did think of all his opportunities he traveled with Jesus slept near Jesus ate meals with Jesus he saw miracles even performed them himself the kingdom it has been said was within arms length and still he refused to enter in he had great opportunities but no hunger for the kingdom and instead he betrayed the Lord eternal life was there for him but he chose the things of the world and he chose spiritual death he was one of the 12 but Jesus made it clear he was never truly saved in John 17 12 while I was with them I protected them by the name you gave me none has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so the scripture would be fulfilled now what's it say in verse 18 this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity the 30 pieces of silver that he sold Jesus for were used to purchase a potter's field now the apparent contradiction and I'm going to give to you something here there's an apparent contradiction sometimes people who read the Bibles may say that because the Bible tells us that he went out and he hanged himself but when you see in verse 18 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 it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem so field is called in their own language akaldama the field of blood it's written in the book of psalms let his habitation be desolate let no one live in it and so there are those who say well this seems like a contradiction because on the one hand it says Judas went out and hanged himself but on the other hand it says that he fell into a field and the answer to that is actually very simple he went out and he hanged himself the tree that he hanged himself on would have been over the ravine he was hanging there the rope eventually snaps he falls down he's rotted he hits the ground and his entrails burst out that simple I wouldn't want to be the one who found his body but that's what happened and so we'll close with a couple of thoughts from verses 21 through 26 concluding when it says of these men who have accompanied us they need to choose someone to take his place once more appealing to scripture they decide his office is to be taken by another man now there are requirements they should have participated in Jesus's earthly ministry from John's baptism and they were to be eyewitnesses of the resurrection another earmark by the way of an apostle is that they authored scripture by the inspiration of the spirit the question has been asked are there modern-day apostles there are those today and you can see them sometimes on TV they call themselves by the name of apostle are they apostles not in the biblical sense they may use that title for whatever reason they may have but in the biblical sense it says it very clearly they should be participating in Jesus's earthly ministry they had done so from the baptism of John witnesses of the resurrection they also are those who wrote the scripture so these men calling themselves apostles are not biblical apostles at all for whatever reason they have chosen to use that title for themselves and so it says finally in verse 26 they cast their lots the lot fell on Matthias now the casting of lots was common in the Old Testament to determine the will of God the lot is cast into the lap but it's every decision from the Lord Proverbs 1818 casting the lot settles disputes and keeps strong opponents apart so they would have a form of what is called casting lots to make a determination and whatever the lot fell on is the person that they feel was being pointed out and the lot fell on Matthias the interesting thing and I'll close with a couple thoughts Matthias is mentioned here and you don't see him anymore it's interesting you don't see him anymore so there's a theological debate concerning Matthias did they in using Old Testament procedures remember the Holy Spirit had yet to fall on them and Pentecost hasn't occurred they use Old Testament procedures and actually go around the will of God rather than determining the will of God and that's the argument that theologians have I'm not here prepared to give to you the answer for that but I will say this Paul has been called the 13th apostle but there are those who say that it's very possible that Matthias was not the one who should have been selected whether that's true or not I don't know all I know is that the lot fell on Matthias he fulfilled the number 12 which is the number of government and we conclude the chapter where it simply says he was numbered with the 11 apostles so he became the 12th with Paul later on we'll see him becoming the 13th