Unstoppable Part 5

Unstoppable Part 5 Last week we found the disciples in a time of transition. While waiting they were staying, praying, and weighing (a heavy decision). Then Peter gets up to speak. We pick up there today. Look at verse 15-16 “In those days Peter stood up among the disciples (the number of people together was about one hundred and twenty), and said, “Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide to those who seized Jesus.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ I want to pause here because we have something very important to learn about how we got the Scriptures. It was the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that they were waiting for. The same Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised them is the same person of the Trinity that inspired the writers of the scripture. Peter would later say that the writers of the Bible were born along, carried along, by the Holy Spirit as they recorded their words. But what you see in verse 16 is a beautiful example of what we call dual authorship. As Peter is referencing these songs, look at how he describes the Psalms. “which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.” So who wrote the Psalms? Well, David wrote the Psalms. But wait a minute, it says David wrote the Psalms, but it also says the Holy Spirit wrote the Psalms. It’s right there in the passage. Both are mentioned. So what we believe in is what is called dual authorship. A divine author, capital A, who carried along a human author, little a, and as capital A carried along little a, capital A did not subjugate the human author. Did not subjugate the human author’s temperament. Did not subjugate the human author’s personality, background, etc. but strategically used it, to carry him along in penning God’s word. I mean, it’s an amazing thing what God did in the inspiration of the Scriptures- how He worked in this way. And so as you read the Bible, you’ll see the personalities of the biblical writers coming out. And yet at the same time, it’s understood that God, somehow- I’m not sure exactly how He did it- but He guided them along in such a way, respecting who they were, that they ended up penning God’s Word. In second Timothy 3:16-17 it says all Scripture is inspired by God. And basically what it means is God-breathed. And when it says God breathed, what it’s speaking of is the dual authorship of Scripture. Capital A guiding little a to record God’s Word in such a way that in the original manuscripts, there’s not one single mistake or error in it. And yet somehow God sovereignly used the individual to write His word. This is what second Peter 1:21 means when it says, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men,” not subjugated, “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” Now that Greek word moved is pheró. And that is the same word that you’ll find in Acts 27:17 concerning wind that comes into the sails of a sailboat. “When the ship was overpowered and could not head into the wind, we let her drift. Drifting under the leeward side of an island called Cauda, we could scarcely secure the rowboat. When they had hoisted it aboard, they used ropes to undergird the ship. And fearing that they might run aground on the sands of Syrtis, they struck sail and so were driven.” Acts‬ ‭27‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬ And when that wind comes upon the sails of a sailboat, the boat is propelled. That basically is how the Scripture came into existence. The Holy Spirit, just like when filling up sails on a sailboat, thereby propelling the boat, the Holy Spirit came upon David and every other writer of Scripture and somehow supernaturally moved them, not overriding them, but using who they were in terms of their life experiences, characteristics, temperament, etc. So Peter said, Verse 16 Brothers, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit previously spoke by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became the guide to those who seized Jesus. For he was numbered with us and took part in this ministry.” Verse 18 is a parenthesis, (Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity. And falling headlong, he burst asunder in the middle and all his organs spilled out. It became known to all the residents of Jerusalem. So this field is called in their dialect Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭16‬-‭19 ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Why do I care that his organs, intestines gushed out? Oh, Luke was a physician. Yeah. Colossians 4:14, says “Luke, the beloved physician.” So dual authorship of Scripture. Do you see how Luke’s personality comes out here? I mean, if I was writing this, I wouldn’t care about intestines because my background has nothing to do with medicine or biology or anything like that. There is also a lesson here on how to handle contradictions. Slide: Another view is that Judas defiled the city when he hanged himself, so the priests threw his body over the wall facing the Hinnom Valley,” and when they threw his body out of the city, that’s when his abdomen was ripped open and his guts or his intestines gushed out. This was the time of the Passover and Jewish law talked about how you can’t have a religious activity in a defiled city. So what we have on the table are a lot of different ways for trying to harmonize these alleged contradictions. Therefore, they do not fall for the law of contradiction that something is both black and white at the same time. The Scriptures do not contradict…they harmonize. Which is further proof of inspiration. You can tell they did not calibrate and rehearse their stories. They wrote from their personalities, backgrounds, etc. This is the end of Judas. “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘Let his habitation become desolate, and let no one live in it,’ and, ‘Let another take his office.’” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Now, Peter here is going back to the book of Psalms, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit through David, to give us a prophetic word to tell us that what happened to Judas was not unexpected to God. Peter took this, and maybe Jesus had pointed this out to Peter during these 40 days, as a prophecy that the Lord Jesus would be scorned, he would be given vinegar to drink, he would be abandoned, but the one responsible for it, his place would be deserted, and no one could dwell in it again. So that was from Psalm 69. And now he's going to quote from Psalm 109, let another take his place of leadership.” “I'll not take time to look at that, but it's the same sort of context. If you want to look at Psalm 109 verse 8. So Peter here is very burdened that Judas be replaced and that the number of apostles once again be 12. So in verses 21-22 he says, “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the very day that He was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness of His resurrection.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ So they nominated two men. “So they proposed two, Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was named Justus, and Matthias.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭23‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Then they prayed.‬‬ “Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who knows the hearts of all men, show which of these two You have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, to go to his own place.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ And then they cast lots. This is the last time that lots are cast in the Bible, because, of course, after this, the Holy Spirit is going to come to guide us with all wisdom. But in this case, the lot fell to Matthias, and he was added to the 11 apostles. “Then they cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. So he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” Acts‬ ‭1‬:‭26‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ So I just have one last question here. Why was Peter so burdened, so concerned that there be 12 apostles?” “Some people say Peter acted presumptuously here that Paul was actually supposed to be the twelfth apostle, that Paul was the one who was chosen to replace Judas. But no, I don't think so. I think that Peter here knew exactly what he was doing, and I think he was probably acting on some instructions that Jesus gave during the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension. Peter was looking forward to the kingdom. He did not know the times or the seasons. He is still thinking it was literal. Because 12 in the Bible is the number of completeness. There are 12 months that complete a year. And interestingly, this is not only true on Earth, but it's going to be true in New Jerusalem. We're told in the book of Revelation, Chapter 22, that the tree of life is going to bear 12 rotations of fruit, monthly fruit, 12 crops of fruit every month for the healing of the nations. And Jesus talked about there's 12 hours of sunlight in which somebody can get something done, and 12 hours of darkness, which makes up a 24-hour day. Jesus spoke for the first time in terms of his recorded words when he was 12 years old.” “We're told that heaven is going to be 12,000 stadia in length and width and height. And so the number of 12 in the Bible, 12 completes a year, it completes a day, it completes a night, it shows the completed city of New Jerusalem. So now think about this. The Church of Jesus Christ that will be in New Jerusalem forever and ever is made up of both the Jewish redeemed channel of redemption that God the Father developed in the Old Testament and the Jews of all of the ages represented by the twelve patriarchs and the Church which is represented by the twelve apostles. Jacob had twelve sons which became the twelve tribes of Israel. God built a nation made up of twelve tribes of Israel and Jesus built a Church on the foundation of the twelve apostles. You see, replacement theology cannot be right. And so you put twelve and twelve together and you have twenty-four. Now look with me at the book of Revelation and chapter number four. “Revelation and chapter number four, This Great Worship Service in Heaven. “After this I looked. And behold, there was an open door in heaven. The first voice I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, there was a throne set in heaven with One sitting on the throne! And He who sat there appeared like a jasper and a sardius stone. There was a rainbow around the throne, appearing like an emerald. Twenty-four thrones were around the throne. And I saw twenty-four elders sitting on the thrones, clothed in white garments. They had crowns of gold on their heads.” Revelation‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ “Now, who are these twenty-four elders? They can only be New Testament saints who have already enjoyed the resurrection. In the fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation, we are given five bits of information that limit the identification of the twenty-four elders. 1—They are blood redeemed. “You have redeemed us to God by your blood” (Rev. 5:9). They can’t be angels because they are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. 2—They are seated on thrones. “Round about the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting” (Rev. 4:4). The biblical precedence for twenty-four men worshipping God in his throne room is found in the account of King David establishing twenty-four courses of priests for the temple service, in obedience to the command that the Lord had given Aaron (1 Chron. 24:1-19). As there were twenty-four courses of priests for the temple service in the Old Testament, so there must be twenty- four courses of priests in the New Testament priesthood. This is not the New Testament copying the pattern seen in the Old Testament. It is actually the other way around. The arrangement and order of the temple in the Old Testament was patterned after the arrangement and order of the true temple in heaven (Heb. 8:5). Which serve as an example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: See to it, he said, that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mount. The twenty-four elders, therefore, are likely the heads of the twenty-four courses of the heavenly, New Testament priesthood. The courses will maintain a continuous presence in the throne room of God for all eternity. Each course will serve two weeks of the year in temple service. Four times per year all of the courses will be present. Whether the head of each course is a permanent post or a rotating post is uncertain. 3—They are wearing reward crowns. “They had on their heads crowns of gold” (Rev. 4:4). They are not wearing the royal crown (diadēma) but the reward crown (stephanos). 4—They have their resurrection robes. “Clothed in white robes” (Rev. 4:4). This is the literal robe that all the believers receive in the resurrection, which symbolizes their justification. 5—They possess all the aforementioned blessings in heaven before the tribulation starts. This is clear from the fact that they are seen in the throne room of God, seated on thrones, wearing their robes and crowns, before the first seal is opened and the antichrist revealed (Rev. 6:1).‬‬‬‬‬‬ The timeline of the twenty-four elders absolutely demands a pretribulation rapture. They have been before the Judgment Seat of Christ and received their righteous garments and their reward crowns. And go over to Chapter 21 as we close out, the Book of Revelation and Chapter 21, and look at this, talking about the great and glorious city, the city of New Jerusalem in verses number 10-14. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, her light like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites were written: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭10‬-‭14‬ ‭MEV‬‬‬‬‬‬ So there had to be a twelfth apostle, because the city of New Jerusalem has twelve gates and twelve foundations, and it represents all of the redeemed of Israel, who have come through the channel of Israel, and through the channel of the church, to make up the great eternal city of God. And what comes next is that of Pentecost, and we'll look at that next week.”