Latest / Desoto Hills Baptist Church / JANUARY 19, 2025 - "Actively Waiting" Acts1:12-26

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JANUARY 19, 2025 - "Actively Waiting" Acts1:12-26 · Desoto Hills Baptist Church

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to DeSoto Hills Baptist Church.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Our Sunday morning services are weekly at 9 and 10 30 am.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: You're listening to an audio recast of this past week's service.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: We hope you enjoy.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: God bless.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: If you have your Bibles, this morning we'll be in the book of Acts, acts chapter 1.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: As you turn there, let me ask you a question.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: You don't have to answer this out loud, but let me ask you a question how many of you like waiting?
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I would contend this morning that not many of us in here would say I like to wait.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Not many of us do.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: As I was preparing this sermon, I remembered one of my nieces.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Right after we moved to DeSoto Hills, my sister and her family came up, and this was 17 years ago.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: My niece was probably only around three years old at the time and I wanted them to have the full experience.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: So we went to eat barbecue here in South Haven when they were up here, to a place that Brother James had already taken me a couple of times, and we went to eat and we ordered our food.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I remember and this one niece she was sitting beside Amber and I and her mom and dad were down the table.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: It was a bunch of us and I'm telling you they hadn't no more taken our order and and dad were down the table.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: It was a bunch of us and I'm telling you they hadn't no more taken our order and taken it back to the kitchen that she started Where's our food?
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: When are they going to bring us our food?
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: I'm hungry.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Where's our food?
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: When are we going to bring our food?
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: And she just kept on and on.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: Now, in actuality, it had not been long.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: We didn't wait long on our food that day, but she hated waiting.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: She couldn't do it.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: As we come to this passage today, that's exactly where the disciples are.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: They're in a place of waiting.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: If you remember back, even up in verses four and five, it says and while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which he said you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Jesus had told them to go and wait.
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Even we see right before he ascends down.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: In verse 8, he says you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: So wait on him, don't jump ahead.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: They're in a place of waiting and you know we can identify with that so often.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we find ourselves in places of waiting.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: We believe God's moving.
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we believe and we pray God, show us, let us know what you want, let us know what you're going to do, and in that time we are waiting.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: And sometimes what we say is God, would you just hurry up, I'm going to wait on you, but I want to do it in my schedule, I want to wait on you on my timeline, but that's not necessarily God's timeline and he doesn't have to work on ours.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: But he calls them here to wait.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: But what we're going to see today in our passage that, as the apostles waited for the Holy Spirit to come, during that waiting time they actively sought and obeyed God.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: During waiting.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: They were active though.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: They actively sought and waited on God.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: And what I hope that we see today is that waiting, when we find those times of waiting in our lives, waiting is an active pursuit.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Sometimes we don't see waiting like that, but waiting is an active pursuit.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: It's an active pursuit of following, trusting and obeying God.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: It's an active pursuit of following, trusting and obeying God, and so I hope we are challenged today with this.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: We need to follow Christ even as we wait.
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: So the question that we want to answer is how did the disciples?
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: How did the apostles?
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: How did they actively wait on God.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: So let's read today in Acts, chapter 1.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: If you are able, if you will, please stand with us as we give honor to the reading of God's word.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: It's a lengthy passage.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Today we're going to start reading in verse 12 and read down through the end of the chapter.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And when they had entered they went up to the upper room where they were staying Peter and John and James and Andrew, philip and Thomas, bartholomew and Matthew, james the son of Alphaeus, simon the zealot and Judas, the son of James.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: In those days, peter stood up among the brothers the company of persons was in all about 120 and said Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: Now this man acquired a field, with the reward of his wickedness and, falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out, and it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: So that field was called in their own language a keldama, that is, field of blood.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: For it is written in the book of Psalms May his camp become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it and let another take his office.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: So one of the men who had accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: And they put forward two Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justice, and Matthias.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: And they prayed and said you, lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of us, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: And they cast lots for them.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: And the lot fell on Matthias and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Let's pray together, god.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: We thank you for your word.
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: We thank you for the opportunity now that we have to read and study your word together.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: We pray that, god, you move in us, that you enlighten us, that you lead us into all truth and that you change our lives for all eternity.
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: We love you and praise you and pray that you are honored and glorified here this morning, jesus, it's in your wonderful name that we pray, amen.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: So, again, the question that we're seeking to answer is how did the apostles, as they are waiting on Jesus, how did they actively wait on the apostles?
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Well, the first thing I think that we see here is this they devoted themselves to prayer.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: One way that they actively waited on Jesus and they waited on the coming of the Holy Spirit is that they devoted themselves to prayer.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: See what is happening in Acts, chapter 1, right here as this section begins.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Remember, jesus has just told them they will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon them and they will be his witnesses.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: And then he ascends to the heavens and they are standing there waiting.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Remember, we talked about it last week.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: They were kind of dumbfounded oh wow.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: And then these two men appeared to them and said hey, go, stop looking.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Jesus, just as he left, he's going to come back.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: He gave you something to do.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Go and do it.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: But the problem is, while they are supposed to go, do that.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: They're supposed to go, but they're supposed to wait.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: They are supposed to go, but they're supposed to wait.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: So here's what happens they return to Jerusalem from the mount to which they're standing, and it says they return together and they go to the upper room.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Now we're not really sure where this upper room is located.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: There are contentions, there are people who tried to guess, but Scripture doesn't actually tell us where this upper room is.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: But we know that it's probably somewhere close, just inside the eastern gate of the city.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: And we know that because it says they returned a Sabbath day journey away.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: Here's what that a Sabbath day journey away means.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: It is a phrase used for the distance that you could travel on the Sabbath before you were breaking the commandment of remembering the Sabbath and keep it holy.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Remember the Pharisees, the scribes, the rabbis.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: They got real technical on things and they said look, if you can take this many steps, you can go this far on the Sabbath, but if you take one more you've broken the Sabbath.
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: And so they had it.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: So it was about three quarters, that's about three quarters of a mile in our day.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: So we know they had been on the Mount Olivet and they traveled back to the city about three quarters of a mile, so they're probably right inside of the city, about a Sabbath day journey there.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: And he gives the names of who were there, and it's the 11 apostles, it's Mary, the mother of Jesus, some of the women who had been with him and his brothers.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: But here's the key to this little section, verse 14.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: All these, with one accord, were devoting themselves to prayer.
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: They were devoting themselves to prayer in one accord.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: Now listen, sometimes we read things like this about the first church and we think they all thought everything together and not necessarily.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: We're going to see in the book of Acts that there are times that the church was not in one accord.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I mean, later in the book of Acts we're even going to see Paul and Barnabas getting such a kerfuffle, such a fight that they split ways.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: The church isn't always exactly the same, but you know whether we find the church in Scripture, especially in the book of Acts.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Do you know where we find the church?
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: Always in one accord In prayer.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: They are always in one accord to go to the Father and devote themselves to seeking his face and praying.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: So what did they pray?
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: We don't really know.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: We do know that over in verses 24 and 25, they pray for wisdom as they try to choose the next apostle we do know.
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: Over in Acts, chapter 4, there's a prayer that is written out In Acts, chapter 4, verse 23,.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: He says this and when they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and elders had said to them.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: And when they that's the congregation heard it, they lifted up their voices together to God, they prayed together to God.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: And here's what they said Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who, through the mouth of our father, david, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain?
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: For truly, in this city, there were gathered together against your holy servant, jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: And now, lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant, jesus.
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: This was a prayer that the church prayed and it was after some of the apostles, after Peter and John had been arrested and told not to speak about Jesus.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: And they come back and they meet with the church and here what we find them doing is praying for boldness so that they would be witnesses, so that they would speak about Jesus.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: They're praying for boldness there, probably not the exact prayer that they prayed together back in chapter 1.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: The issue that we find in chapter 1 is not necessarily what they prayed, but that they prayed.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: The way that they actively waited on the Lord and waited on the coming of the Holy Spirit was that they devoted themselves to prayer.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: They sought His face.
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: You know we talk about praying a lot.
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: Back in the mid-90s, when I was in high school, pontotoc County schools got sued.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: They got sued because there was a group of students who were praying over the intercom at the school.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: We would get together and I was one of them, and every morning there was usually two of us and one of us would read scripture and one of us would pray.
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: We'd do it over the intercom that went out to all the school and that's how we started our morning at South Pontotoc and at North Pontotoc and that year someone sued the schools because that was happening and listen, I remember it, it became a big deal.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: There were t-shirts made that said religious freedom.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: There were yard signs that were made that said religious freedom, that people put out everywhere and there was.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: There was rallies that were held on the square in Pontotoc and it became a big ordeal because someone was trying to take prayer out of school.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: But here's a question that I have thought about over the years since that why did prayer only become a big issue to people when it became a political issue?
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Would people really have been upset if we just didn't show up and didn't pray, not because we got sued, but if somebody just didn't pray, would people be upset?
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: Would people be upset if students just quit praying period?
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Would we be that upset when our prayer closets are empty and no one knows?
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Would we be that upset when we forsook our time just to stop and pray to Jesus?
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Would we be that upset when it's a spiritual issue and not a political issue?
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: Hear me, for the apostles it would have been, because they were as.
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: They waited on the Holy Spirit.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: They devoted themselves to prayer.
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: And hear me, church, as we are waiting, listen, and we're waiting for things right.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: We're waiting for a new minister of music, we're waiting for a new minister of students.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: We're waiting for a lot of things to happen and as we are waiting, hear me, church.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: One way that we can actively wait and obey the Father is to devotedly seek Him in prayer.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: Together we need to be devoted in prayer.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: The disciples, as they actively waited on the Holy Spirit, they were devoted to prayer, waited on the Holy Spirit, they were devoted to prayer.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: The second thing that we see here is not only were they devoted to prayer, but they were devoted to listening and hearing and searching God's Word.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: In the next little section, peter stands up and it's unclear for me exactly how the multitude grew.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: Was it just the 11 apostles, some women, mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers in the upper room?
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: And then they changed location because now, all of a sudden, it's 120?
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Or were they 120 there at one time altogether, the whole time?
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know, I can't follow that, but here's what I know time all together, the whole time.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know, I can't follow that, but here's what I know.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: Peter, at this point, is standing up and he is dressing about 120 people, 120 brothers, followers of Christ, who had come together.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: And as he is coming, and as Peter stands up and speaks to them, he is going to give them a charge and he's going to talk give like three fulfillments of scripture.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Give them a charge and he's going to talk give like three fulfillments of scripture, two that have already been accomplished and one that needs to be that he is going to present to them.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: And he is able to do that because he has searched God's word.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: And now he is presenting God's word and those 120 people are hearing and listening and obeying God's word.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: Here's what it says in verse 15.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: In those days, peter stood up among the brothers the company of persons was in all about 120 and said brothers, here's key the scripture had to be fulfilled.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: Do you hear that the scripture had to be fulfilled?
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: If he's not studying God's word, if they're not in God's word, if they don't in God's word, if they don't know God's word, then they don't know.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: Scripture has to be fulfilled.
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: But he knows it must be fulfilled.
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: It has to be fulfilled because he is studying God's word.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: He goes on to say in that verse which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas.
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: So what he is saying is David, centuries ago, prophesied something about Judas and he told us about Judas.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: And what had these scriptures that David talked about Judas must be fulfilled Verse 17,.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ministry.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: Now here, some commentators will say that he is alluding to Psalm chapter 41, verse 9.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: In Psalm 41, verse 9, david writes Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: So even his close friend has lifted his heel against him.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Now, verse 17,.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: Hear it again.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: For he, that's Judas, was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ministry, judas who betrayed Jesus.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: And so now that scripture has been fulfilled, we go down.
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: Skip down now to verse 20.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: In verse 20 it says, for it is written in the book of Psalms.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: In verse 20 it says, for it is written in the book of Psalms May his camp become desolate and there be no one to dwell in it.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: What he is quoting here is from Psalm chapter 69, verse 25.
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: And here's what Peter is saying.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: He says his camp has become desolate, like there is a camp and it has been emptied out, it has been abandoned, it has been left.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: And he's speaking of Judas here, peter, as he reads this, he's seeing Judas.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: That Judas, he had a camp, he had a place, he had a part of the ministry, he had been assigned duties, he had been given things to do, and he has abandoned his ministry.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: His camp has been left desolate.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: It has been gone.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: So there's two scriptures here that have been fulfilled, but the third one has not yet been fulfilled.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: And he quotes it there in verse 20 as well.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: Let another take his office here.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: He is quoting from Psalm 109, verse 8.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: And what he is saying is this Part of the apostleship we have been as apostles, we have been given jobs and duties and assignments to do.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: Judas has abandoned his and because those duties have been abandoned, guess what we need to do?
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: We need to feel that spot.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: How does he know that?
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: He knows it because he is studying God's word.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: He is in God's word and what we're going to see in the rest of the chapter is that the 120 that are there are hearing God's word because they are going to seek to fill that position.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: But before we go, before we leave this section.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: We see Peter's charge here, but you also see Luke gives us a parentheses here In verses 18 and 19,.
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: That's not Peter speaking.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: It's almost like Luke was writing about what Peter said and he said those things.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: But he takes a break from Peter's and inserts his own little reaction there, parentheses.
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: Here's what he says in verse 18, 19.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Now this man, talking about Judas, acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness and, falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: Now there's a lot of gross things happening there, but let's see how this is a fulfillment of Scripture.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: John MacArthur points back to Psalm, chapter 55, verses 12 through 15.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: And he says this little parenthesis about Judas, points us back to Psalm 55, where it says this For it is not an enemy who taunts me, then I could bear it.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: It is not an adversary who deals insolent with me.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Then I could hide from myself.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: We used to take sweet counsel together within God's house.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: We walked in the throne.
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: Let death steal over them.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Judas, his betrayal was a fulfillment of Scripture.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: And again they see this.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: They know this because they are in God's word.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: Hear me, church.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: As we are waiting, we must be devoted in prayer.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: We must be actively seeking God.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: And we must be actively seeking him not just through prayer, but through the study of his word.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: This is God's revelation of himself to us.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: You want to know who God is.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: He has shown us, he has told us.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: We must be seeking him.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: The way we actively wait on God is we devote ourselves to prayer.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: We hear and listen and obey and follow God's word.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: And finally, this morning, what we do, what we see the apostles doing, is that they followed the Spirit's prompting.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: They followed the Spirit's prompting Because here's what he said hey, hey, remember the two guys standing as they're looking dumbfounded in the sky.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: They're saying, hey, go, but wait, and I know that sounds crazy.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: I know that sounds crazy because when we hear go, what do we think?
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: But what are you saying is hey, go, but wait First.
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: You need to wait.
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: Here's why they are waiting on power from the holy spirit.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: They're waiting on him to come, but as they're waiting, they're also seeking the holy spirit.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Here's what they say.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: They say, hey, we got to fill this place of jude that judas has left behind, and understand that this is the last time that that an apostle's position will be filled.
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: It doesn't happen again.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: This is not a sign to apostolic succession, that it gets passed down.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: There are only certain men who could be apostles.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: There are only certain men who could be, because an apostle was someone who walked with Jesus, to whom he assigned specific duties to do, and when the 12 died, they were gone.
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: Who walked with Jesus, to whom he assigned specific duties to do, and when the 12 died, they were gone.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: Now there are things that, as believers that we can see what the apostles did and some of the things that he told them to do.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: We are to pick up the mantle and carry.
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: But there's no other apostles in this.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: No other were replaced.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: But here's why Judas was, because he was given a specific task within the scope of the twelve.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Then he abandoned his post, so they had to fill that spot.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: But because they're called to be witnesses, as we see there in verse 22, the men must be with us, a witness to his resurrection.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: They had to choose someone who had been with Jesus, who had seen him coming in and out from the time of his baptism to the time of his ascension.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: So it had to be one of those, somebody who was with them then.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: And as they were looking and two men were brought forward Matthias was one of them, the other was Joseph, called Bersabbas, who is also called Justice.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: And so they gathered them together and we've already talked about how they prayed, seeking God.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: But let's read that prayer in verses 24 and 25.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: He says but let's read that prayer in verses 24 and 25.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: He says this you, lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry, an apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: So they pray, asking God to lead them.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: Then it tells us they cast lots.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm not going to do it this morning.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: I usually pick on our bunco ladies and say they went and played bunco, but I'm not going to pick on you this morning, not going to say that.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: No, actually, here's what happens in the casting of lots.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: What they would do is they had two round, almost like dice pieces, and they looked differently and they would assign one to it, since you got two here.
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: They had two and they would assign one to each man.
• 28:22
  Speaker 2: They would put them in a jar and they would shake the jar and the one that came out first was the man on whom the lot fell.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: The lot fell here, on Matthias.
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: But hear me saying this is a long way from a game of chance.
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: They never believed that it was a game of chance, even back in Proverbs.
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: We've seen them seek the Holy Spirit all through the Old Testament using this method.
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: In Proverbs, chapter 16, I went to the wrong place.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: In Proverbs 16, verse 33, he writes this the lot is cast into the lap, listen, but it's.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Every decision is from the Lord.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: So what they believed is, as they were casting lots, that the Lord would direct which lot would fall out and to whom the lot would be cast.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: And let me ask you a question Is God able to do that?
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Let me answer it yes, he is.
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: But here's what's interesting about casting lots it never happens again.
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: After we see it here, it never happens again.
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: Here's why we're going to look at it next week.
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: Pentecost is coming.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes in a way that he has never come before, because he comes and he stays in the life of the believer.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: He lives in the life of the believer and no longer do we have to cast lots seeking his prompting and seeking his will, because now we can say Spirit, guide me.
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: But here's what they did, as they were waiting on the Spirit, they were actively waiting, they devoted themselves to prayer, they sought God in His Word and they listened and followed the Spirit's prompting.
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: Does Soda Hills listen?
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: I know I talked about how we are in a time of waiting for staff positions, but let's be honest with each other.
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: There's always going to be times where we are waiting to hear from God about something.
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: We are waiting to hear for Him to speak to us and lead us and show us.
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: May we wait actively.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: May we be a church who devotes ourselves to prayer.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: May we be a church who seeks God through his word.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: May we be a church who follows the prompting of the, and the way that we do that together is by doing that individually.
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: May you be a believer who devotes yourself to prayer, who hears and listens to God's word, who is prompted by the Holy Spirit.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: We're about to enter into a time of invitation.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: I'm going to pray for us, the musicians are going to come back in and we're going to sing a song.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: This is an invitation.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: Listen for you.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: Some of you this morning, I know, are in this place.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Some of you are saying Grant, you have talked a lot to believers this morning and and I have I understand, but I want you to hear me.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: If you are not a believer this morning, I pray that you hear the prompting of the holy spirit as well, because he is calling you.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: If, if you are not a believer, understand this.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: 2,000 years ago, jesus came and he walked upon this earth and he lived a perfect life and he died on the cross to save you from your sins.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: And if you have never trusted him, listen.
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: I want you to hear.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: And if you have never trusted him, listen.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: I want you to hear.
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: If you have never trusted him, as we sang this morning about being freed from the sins that held us damned, if you have not trusted him this morning, that is where you are not freed from those sins.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: But he died to free you and I pray that this morning you will trust in him, that you will understand that he died for you so that in these moments of waiting, in these moments of uncertainty and in these moments of we don't know what's going to happen, we have a place to go.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: We can devote ourselves to him in prayer, Having him prompt us with the Holy Spirit.
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: We can open his word and study and know him more and have him prompt us to follow him.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: If you've never trusted him, I pray this morning you will.
• 33:23
  Speaker 2: Or if you have, if you have, but you're just waiting and your time of waiting has been an unfruitful time Because it feels like you're just sitting and spinning your fingers.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: I pray that this morning, instead of that, you will actively wait, that you will devote yourselves to seeking him through prayer, to seeking him through his word and hearing the prompting of his spirit, and follow him.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: I'm going to pray for us and they're going to come and sing and if you have a decision to make, if you're looking for a church home, we would love to have you here at DeSoto Hills.
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: However, the Spirit is prompting you.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: I pray that you will obey and follow his prompting.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Let's pray together.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: God, we love you and we thank you for today.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: We thank you for how you love us.
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: We thank you for all you've done for us, jesus.
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: We thank you for coming and dying on the cross for us.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: We pray that this morning, spirit, as you are moving, as you are prompting people, that you, that we will hear your call.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: We pray that you will give us the faith that we need to trust and to follow you.
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: For those who have never trusted you as your, as their savior, god, we pray that today will be the day of salvation for those who have, or who are waiting, but have not actively waiting we get.
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: We pray that today they will devote themselves to prayer and seeking you in their word and hearing the Holy Spirit and following him.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: God, for those who need a church home, if you are drawing them here to DeSoto Hills, we pray that they come.
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: But, god, we also pray that if you are drawing them somewhere else, god, they will answer that call.
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: But, god, here's the most important thing we know.
• 35:31
  Speaker 2: We know that you created us to be a part of a community.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: So for those who are seeking community, god, I pray that you will lead them to the place that they need to be.
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: God, work in our hearts.
• 35:47
  Speaker 2: We love you and praise you.
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: Jesus, it's in your wonderful name that we pray Amen.
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at desotohillscom.