DON’T LET ANOTHER TAKE YOUR PLACE
Acts 1:15, And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 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; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry." 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 "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.'
The Bible is filled with many stories, some wonderful, some very troubling. There is, perhaps, no story more troubling than the story of Judas. Here was a man who walked with Jesus. He was one of the twelve apostles, who sat down to eat with The Lord. He was there during the intimate moments, the times Jesus chose to share only with the apostles. He was trusted by the other apostles. Judas held the money bags. He was the treasurer. This is a man whose life was blessed, a privileged man, one who not only saw the coming of the Messiah, but who knew him first hand. He was there at the Sermon on the Mount. He was there when Jesus fed the thousands with a few fish and a little bread. He saw the mighty miracles that He did. He was there when Jesus walked on the waters of the sea. Jesus had given the apostles power over sickness, and power to cast out demons. Judas was among the apostles. He knew what it was like to pray for the sick, and to watch them recover. He knew what it was like to command a demon to leave a person, and to have the demon obey him.
And yet the story of Judas is not a pleasant one. You do not find a lot of people naming their sons after this man. The name Judas has been marred for more than two thousand years by the actions of this man.
Judas had the privilege of being close to Jesus during His ministry. He was shoulder to shoulder with the other apostles. And he held the money bag. But, we see, there was another side to judas. He was a thief. Somewhere along the way, he began to take the money that others had given for the ministry of Jesus. It may have started innocently enough. He may have needed a little money. The first time he took money from the treasury, he may have told himself he would pay it back, just a little loan. He may have justified the theft. But, as these things go, after the first time borrowing from the treasury, the second time was easier on his conscious. And the third time, and, soon, he may have justified to himself that he deserved the extra money as payment for his services. But the Bible says very clearly the truth about Judas. He was a thief. And the reality was that Judas loved money more than he loved the Lord Jesus. Judas loved money more than he loved being in his office, the apostleship he had been elevated to. Finally, Judas betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. And his place, his bishopric was given to another.
Judas was not the first one in the scriptures who lost what he had with God. He was not the only one who was replaced by another.
No. This sad story has been told over and over again.
Let us examine the man, Esau.
Esau was Isaac’s firstborn son. Jacob, his brother, was the second born. At that time, the firstborn son would receive a double inheritance, by birthright, and, by right of birth, that privilege belonged to Esau. But there was something Esau stood to inherit that was better than just a birthright. Esau was to receive a very special blessing from his father, Isaac. You see, Isaac was the son of the promise God made to Abraham. Out of Abraham’s seed, all the Earth would be blessed. This promise speaks of Jesus, who would be born through the lineage of Abraham. Had everything gone according to Isaac’s plan, the nation of Israel, and the messiah, would have come from Esau, and not Jacob.
But that is not what happened. It did not happen, because Esau did not desire the birthright like Jacob desired it. Jacob esteemed the birthright. He wanted the birthright. He wanted the promise God had given to his Father, Isaac and his grandfather, Abraham. He desired the blessing that Isaac would place upon the firstborn. But that right, that privilege belonged to his older brother.
But Esau did not view his birthright to be worth very much. It was just an entitlement. Something he received with ease. He was simply born to the right. Jacob desired the blessing of God. He desired the things of God. Can I tell you that there is no record before Esau lost the birthright and the blessing of Esau being a particularly bad person? But it does appear that Jacob had some true issues when it came to his character. Yet, Esau’s place was taken from him and given to Jacob. Why? On word; desire.
God is not a respecter of persons. It does not matter to him where you come from, or who your parents are, what your last name is. But he is a respecter of desire.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6.
Esau’s character was soon revealed. He was hungry one day. He had been out in the field, hunting for game. When he returned, he was hungry. The only true desire Esau showed in the scripture was the desire of his flesh, his carnal hunger. When Esau returned, Jacob was cooking a pot of red stew. When Esau saw the stew and smelled the aroma, he hungered for the stew. He asked Jacob for some of the red stew. Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Now, I submit to you that Esau was not in danger of actual starvation. He was just very hungry. He wanted what he wanted, when he wanted it. He desired a bowl of stew more than he desired the promises God gave to Abraham and to Isaac.
God was watching Esau and Jacob. And He is watching us, as well. God had an opinion about what Esau did that day. Paul said in Romans 9:13, quoting what God said through the Prophet Malachi, “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”
Why did God love Jacob? I believe God loved Jacob, because he saw the things of God as very important. So important, that he later deceived his father Isaac, and got the blessing intended for Esau. Esau esteemed the birthright as a lowly thing, and, because of his lack of desire for the birthright, he lost the blessing, also. And his place, his position was taken from him and given to another.
Jacob was not necessarily a good person, and Esau was not necessarily a bad person, by definition. The difference was between desire and lack of desire. Esau had the birthright and it meant less to him than a bowl of stew. Jacob desired the birthright, the blessing, and the promises of God.
Let’s look at the first king of Israel, King Saul. Now this was a man chosen directly by God to be the first king of Israel. Look what the Bible says about Saul.
Saul began his reign with the right spirit. Imagine, a man coming from one of the least of the houses of Israel to become the first king. What an honor, what a place God had given to him! Next to Samuel, he was the most influential man in Israel. But, more than that, his sons would be princes and kings after him. And, he may not have known it, but one of the kings to come would be The Lord Jesus, himself. Had the story of Saul ended well, we may never have heard about David, because Jesus would have come through the line of Saul, and the tribe of Benjamin. What a great honor! Saul had been given so much by God. But he lost it to another. Another man took his place.
You see, Saul made the wrong choices. It was the time before a battle. Samuel had instructed Saul to wait seven days for him before going to battle. Then Samuel would come down and offer a burnt offering to The Lord. But the troops were restless, and Saul could not wait any longer. It reminds me of Esau. Esau had so much given to him, but he sold it all for a bowl of stew. Saul decided somehow that he could take upon himself the priestly duties of offering a sacrifice to The Lord instead of Samuel, who was not only a prophet, but a priest, a descendant of Aaron, the High Priest. Saul could not wait any longer. He had to have what he wanted, and he had to have it right then. Saul offered the sacrifice and peace offerings himself, and as soon as he did, Samuel came. If Saul had only waited a little while longer, he might have kept all that God had given him.
“And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.” 1 Sam. 13:13.
Samuel said, Saul, if you had only kept the commandments of The Lord, he would have established your kingdom. Out of Saul, the Messiah would have come. Jesus would be called the Son of Saul, instead of the Son of David. But another took his place.
And God would choose David, a young shepherd boy, to be king of Israel. Saul’s place was given to another. Why? Because David desired God. He was after God’s own heart. He hungered for the things of God. He wrote Psalms to God, Psalms of love, Psalms of worship. And David took the place of Saul.
But David was not always very good. He had his faults.
If we were to compare the sins of Saul to the sins of David, we may come to the conclusion that Saul was a better, more righteous man than David was.
But the record does not support that. In fact, if we opened the record of the sins of Saul and compared his sins to the record of David’s sins, we might conclude that David was far worse a sinner than Saul was.
David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of David’s loyal soldiers. When she told him she was expecting a child, he tried to cover it up. When that did not work, he ordered the murder of his loyal soldier.
So, David was an adulterer and a murderer. Saul was disobedient and offered a sacrifice he should not have offered. What was worse? I believe most jurors, when examining the crimes of David and the crimes of Saul would conclude that David’s crime of adultery and murder were far worse than the crime of Saul.
Why, then, did David keep his kingship and his dynasty? Why was Saul replaced?
A look at how they reacted to their sins, once confronted with them, sheds light on these two men.
1 Samuel 15:30, “Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.”
Saul was concerned about his own honor, how the people viewed him. To Saul, God was Samuel’s God, not his own God. His desire was for his own exaltation, his own reputation.
When the prophet confronted David with his sin, David cried out in anguish, not for his own reputation, his own honor, but he cried out to God, his heart after God’s own heart.
We find his cry of repentance in Psalm 51:
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
David’s heart was broken, because he had sinned against God. Saul’s confession was all about his own reputation. David loved God. Saul loved Saul.
Let us turn again to this man, Judas. What a tremendous calling and office Jesus had placed him into. Judas must have started out well. He had a good reputation among the other apostles. He was the treasurer, a trusted position. But the Bible says he was a thief. When Mary broke the alabaster box of expensive perfume in order to anoint Jesus, Judas was angry about the waste. Money meant more to him than the Master. Money was his master. God had given this man a wonderful calling. Heaven would be his home. His name would be etched into the very walls and gates of the Heavenly City, like the other twelve apostles. He would have experienced the wonders of living as an apostle of Jesus Christ in the early church. But he wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it right now. As Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, Judas sold Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. He who had, by the authority of Jesus, cast out demons became possessed by Satan himself. He died by his own hands.
And, in Acts chapter 1, Peter calls for his replacement. Peter. Peter causes lots to be cast to fill the office, the place, that Judas had lost.
But let us look at Peter. Peter, the great preacher of the Day of Pentecost did not have a perfect record. Judas betrayed the Lord for money. Peter denied the Lord three times. He had told the Lord he would never forsake him. He had told the Lord all the other disciples might forsake him, but he, Peter, was willing to die for him.
Matthew 26:34, Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.” 35“No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!”
But, when the hour came, when the time came when Jesus needed a friend, Peter denied he even knew him. He denied him three times, once to a servant girl. He cursed and he swore that he did not know Jesus. And then he heard the rooster crow. He left in bitterness, with weeping.
Judas had betrayed Jesus, and Peter had denied him, cursing, three times. Yet Jesus did not forsake Peter.
Mark 16:
“5 When the three women came to the tomb of Jesus, early in the morning, an angel met them. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ”
There are two things to notice here. The first is that Peter is no longer included by Jesus as being one of the disciples. Peter had denied the Lord. I can only imagine the terrible bitterness, the broken spirit Peter had over three days. The self loathing, the embarrassment of failing, the disappointment. The next thing we see is Jesus wants Peter back. Peter may have failed, he may have denied the Lord, but the Lord still had plans for him.
John 21:15 …Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Peter had denied the Lord three times, and three times, Jesus said, Peter, do you love me? Can I tell you that Peter’s denial is not what mattered the most to Jesus? What mattered most to Jesus was Peter’s desire. Judas betrayed Jesus and was lost, because he desired money more than he desired Jesus. Peter denied Jesus three times, and was forgiven, because he desired Jesus.
Mt. 14:16, But Jesus said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time for the banquet he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.’ 18 But one after another they all began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going out to examine them. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I just got married, and I cannot come.’ 21 So the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the master of the household was furious and said to his slave, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22Then the slave said, ‘Sir, what you instructed has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 So the master said to his slave, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads and urge people to come in, so that my house will be filled. 24 For I tell you, not one of those individuals who were invited will taste my banquet!’”
You see, the ones invited did not esteem the banquet high enough. They had other things to do. Sure, they might have come if they had absolutely nothing more important to do. But God is looking for people with desire, hunger, thirst.
37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
And those who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. There is a banquet before us, a cornucopia of goodness, a feast of the wonderful things of God.
Matthew 8:11, And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. 12But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We are not waiting on God. He is waiting on us. And his question to us is the same question he had for Peter. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
And there may be some of us who are answering, I love you, but I failed you. I am unworthy of you. But the question was do you love me? Peter was a failure, but he was the great preacher of Pentecost.
The table is set tonight, not for the perfect. Not for the ones with all the talent. It is set for the hungry. It is set for those who love him and desire Him.
