D—Setting the Stage for the Spirit
FILLING THE VOID-II—Acts 1:15-26
Peter initiated the selection process by which an apostle would be chosen to remove the void in their ranks created by Judas Iscariot.
A void in leadership/the ranks must be removed.
A void in leadership/the ranks creates a vacuum which must be removed.
When must a void in position/leadership be removed?
A void in leadership must be removed as....
1. BURDEN Demands It(:15-16)
2. VACUUM Demands it(:16-17)
3. REALITY Demands It(:18-19)
4—A void in leadership must be removed as....
SCRIPTURE Demands It(:16, 20)
Explanation:(:16, 20)
:16—“Men & 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;”
“This Scripture had to be fulfilled”
—Scripture speaks to Specific people, needs, events & times!
“Guide”—odhgov—A leader of the way, a guide; A teacher of the ignorant & inexperienced. From two words meaning—a leader to the way, road or course.
“Arrested”—sullambanw—To seize, take one as a prisoner; To conceive(of a woman); To seize for one’s self.
Jn. 6:51-71—““I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; & the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man & drink His blood, you have no life in you. “Whoever eats My flesh & drinks My blood has eternal life, & I will raise him up at the last day. “For My flesh is food indeed, & My blood is drink indeed. “He who eats My flesh & drinks My blood abides in Me, & I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, & I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down from heaven--not as your fathers ate the manna, & are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, & they are life. “But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, & who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back & walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. “Also we have come to believe & know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, & one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.”
“Which the Holy Spirit spoke before before by the mouth of David”—
:20—“For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; &, ‘Let another take his office.’”
—The above events(:18-19) though not so precisely described in prophecy, were nonetheless, generally described in Psalm 69:25 & Ps. 109:8.
—The office was now vacant & his “place” thus being “desolate” was to be taken by another person.
Ps. 69:22-28—of the king’s(Lord’s) adversaries—“Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually. Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents. For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.”
Ps. 109:6-13—of the Lord’s enemies—“Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, And let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, & beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out.”
“Desolate”—erhmov—Soliatry, lonely, desolate, uninhabited.
“Office”—episkoph—Investigation, inspection, visitation— that act by which God looks into & searches out the ways, deeds character, of men, in order to adjudge them their lot accordingly, whether joyous or sad,—Oversight,—Overseership, office, charge, the office of an elder,—The overseer or presiding officers of a Christian church. From Ps. 109:8—hdqp p@quddah pek-ood-daw’—Oversight, care, sutody, mustering, visitation, store.
Argumentation:
Lk. 16:22-31—““So it was that the beggar died, & was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died & was buried. “And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes & saw Abraham afar off, & Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried & said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, & send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water & cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, & likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted & you are tormented. ‘And besides all this, between us & you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ‘for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses & the prophets; let them hear them.’ “And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ “But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses & the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’””
Mat. 22:29—“Jesus answered & said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.”
Lk. 24:45—“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.”
2Pet. 3:14-16—“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot & blameless; & consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught & unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”
2Tim. 3:14-17—“But you must continue in the things which you have learned & been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, & that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, & is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Illustration:
Undeniable directives—Dragonfly/Lays eggs below surface of water/Nymph lives under water/Crawls out, splits skin & emerges to fly/SCRIPTURE
Road in mountains/Veer off & lose everything/SCRIPTURE
Application:
?Your SCRIPTURE demand leadership from the Lord?
?You Removing the Void with God’s leadership?
5—A void in leadership must be removed as....
COMPATIBILITY Demands It(:21-22)
Explanation:(:21-22) Harmonious/Consistent/Qualify
:21—“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in & out among us,”
—Shared a common experience with the Lord.
—This is a strct definition of ‘Apostle.’
“Accompanied”—sunercomai—To come together—Assemble; To go or come with one, to accompany one.
:22—“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.”
“Beginning from the baptism of John”—
Jn. 1:29-34—
Luke(author of Acts) always uses ‘apostle’ to designate the Twelve except in 14:4, 14
‘Lk. 22:28-30 Speaks of the apostle’s unique role of sitting in the kingdom & judging the 12 tribes of Israel’(J. B. Polhill) thus necessitating restoration to the full number of twelve.
‘An apostle, then was not an ecclesiastical functionary, nor just any recipient of the apostolic faith, nor even a bearer of the apostolic message; he was a guarantor of the gospel tradition because he had been a companion of the earthly Jesus and a witness to the reality of his resurrection because the risen Lord had encountered him.’—R. N. Longenecker
‘Eyewitnesses who could share His teaching & confirm His resurrection & ascension.’—J. B. Polhill
“Witness”—martuv—A witness either in a legal, historical or ethical sense.
Argumentation:
Illustration:
Deacons/New leadership/They must qualify!/COMPATIBILITY
NASCAR/Qualifying rounds/Parameters set/Top contenders determined/COMPATIBILITY
Orange grove/Tree dies/Replacement is with one of like features—Fruit consistency is all important/COMPATIBILITY
Engine/Throws a rod/Piston replacement/Won’t operate without it/Parts must have consistency with others/Same goal-Same abilityCOMPATIBILITY
Application:
?Your COMPATIBILITY demand leadership from the Lord?
?You Removing the Void with God’s leadership?
6—A void in leadership must be removed as....
ACCEPTANCE Demands It(:23-26)
Explanation:(:23-26)
:23—“And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, & Matthias.”
—Two men were proposed by the group of apostles/disciples.
—One of these men was Joseph & the other was Matthias. Joseph was “called Barsabas” His surname/family name was “Justus.” Matthias’ last name is not noted.
—The MT, rather than stating that “Justus” was a surname or family name, says that he “was also called Justus.”
“Joseph”—Iwshf—‘Let him add.’ Hebrew—YHWH has added.
“Barsabas”—Barsabav—‘Son of Sabas or Tsaba(pleasure).’ Of Aramaic origin.
“Surnamed/Called(Justus)”—epikaleomai— To put a name upon; To be named after someone; To call something to one; To invoke; To call upon in prayer.
“Justus”—Ioustov—‘Just.’
“Matthias”—Matyiav or Mayyiav—"gift of God." Hebrew
:24—“And they prayed & said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen”
No oral(heart) word(decision) of God will contradict His written word!
“Lord”—kuriov—He to whom a person or thing belongs.
“Know the hearts of”—kardiognwsthv— Knower of the hearts.
“Show”—eklegomai—To pick out, choose, to pick or choose out for one’s self.
:25—“to take part in this ministry & apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”
“Take part”—klhrov—An object used in casting or drawing lots, which was either a pebble, or a potsherd, or a bit of wood; What is obtained by lot, an allotted portion.
“Ministry”—diakonia—Service, ministering, esp. of those who execute commands to others; Of those who by the command of God proclaim & promote religion among men; The ministration of those who render to others the offices of Christian affection esp. those who help meet need by either collecting or distributing of charities; The office of the deacon in the church; The service of those who prepare & present food.
“Apostleship”—apostolh—A sending away;A dismissal or release; A thing sent—of gifts.
“Transgression”—parabainw—To go by the side of; To go past or pass over without touching a thing; To overstep, neglect, violate, transgress; To so go past as to turn aside from; One who abandons his trust.
:26—“And they cast their lots, & the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.”
—This is the last time in Scripture where ‘casting lots’ is used in making a decision...Why?...The Holy Spirit would come to indwell believers!
—Thus Matthias took over the office of apostleship which Judas Iscariot had squandered/profaned/wasted.
“Numbered with”—sugkatayhfizw—Be depositing a ballot in the urn(by voting for) to assign one a place among, To vote one a place among.
Argumentation:
Rom. 12:1-3—“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good & acceptable & perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
Php. 1:9-11—“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more & more in knowledge & all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere & without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory & praise of God.”
Eph. 1:15-21—“Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus & your love for all the saints, do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom & revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, & what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead & seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality & power & might & dominion, & every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
Rom. 11:33—“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom & knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments & His ways past finding out!”
Illustration:
Decisions by elders-deacons-staff/Must first mentally accept their qualification in the process/ACCEPTANCE Demands it
Application:
?Your ACCEPTANCE demand leadership from the Lord?
?You Removing the Void with God’s leadership?
CONCLUSION
Action:
A void in leadership must be removed as....
SCRIPTURE Demands It(:16, 20)
COMPATIBILITY Demands It(:21-22)
ACCEPTANCE Demands It(:23-26)
BURDEN Demands It(:15-16)
VACUUM Demands it(:16-17)
REALITY Demands It(:18-19)
Presented 08/07/05pm to:
Richland Baptist Church
40510 Stewart Rd.
Zephyrhills, FL 33544
