LEARNING TO WAIT FOR GOD’S PERFECT TIMING

Acts 1:15-26
Bob Bonner
February 14, 2010

Oftentimes we find ourselves living in the middle of a “holding pattern.” We sense a need to act or to change the direction we are going, but we don’t really know what course of action to take. We are unsure about a job change, the sale of a home, a potential move, which college to attend, whether to home school the children, what to do about future investments, or our marriage status. These are hard periods to live through, especially if they require waiting--one’s desire has to be delayed. We live in a culture that has become used to immediate results: cooking that used to take a half hour now takes minutes with a microwave, communication that would require waiting for a person to arrive home or at the office can now be immediate with a cell phone, acquiring information that had to wait for the newspaper to arrive is now possible through cyberspace. But when we are delayed just a few minutes on the internet while the world opens up to us, we think about trashing our present computer to get a faster, quicker model. Let’s face it--most of us are people of action who expect immediate results. We would rather do something than wait for an answer or an opening to take action. We would rather force an opening than wait for one to appear.

Impatience has led many of us to step out ahead of God and act in some way, only to meet up with failure or worsening problems. Learning to seek after God’s perfect will and timing is hard for all of us, no matter how spiritual we or others may think we are.

When we want God to do something but He does not do anything, we think something must be wrong. For example, if our community is not turning to Christ swiftly enough, then maybe it is because were not strong enough or bold enough in our faith. These concerns in the past have led our Christian community to put on a full-court press evangelistically speaking to reach the community, full believing that God will bless their efforts. Only later, if we take an honest evaluation of whether or not God has truly blessed our efforts, are we forced to admit, “We see little evidence of God’s hand supporting us in this.”

We are not the first sincere and God-fearing Christians to make this mistake of not asking God, “Is this something You would have us to do?” before we do it. Take for example, the Apostle Paul. In Acts 9, we learn of the Apostle Paul’s sincere desire to get the Gospel out any way he could right after he was saved. In Damascus and Jerusalem, this led to problems and disruption in the Christian community. In both towns, after trying to reach friends and family for Christ, Paul had to be rescued by other believers and helped to escape, because his former Jewish friends wanted to kill him. 

Later in Acts 22, the Apostle Paul tells of another incident that occurred to him at the same time as that in Acts 9. Look with me at Acts 22 where Paul, in his own words, tells us what happened to him during that point in his life. Beginning at Acts 22:17 Paul says, “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem [from Damascus] and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him [Jesus] saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’”

According to Ray Stedman, this is what God meant by His instructions, “Paul, you don't belong here in Jerusalem. I don't want you to be the apostle to Israel; I want you to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Get out of this city. Nobody is going to listen to you here.” Notice how Paul argues with Jesus in the next two verses. 

And I said, “Lord, they themselves understand that in one

synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who

believed in You. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was

being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for

the coats of those who were slaying him.”

Once again, Ray Stedman states that Paul’s point in saying this was, “Why, Lord, you don't understand anything. You don't seem to realize who I am. Why, I am the one who was persecuting the church with great eagerness and malice. I imprisoned people in the synagogues, and these Jews know how vigorously I opposed the church. And now that I am a Christian, now that I know that those I persecuted were right, the Jews will have to listen to me, Lord. You're throwing away your greatest opportunity through me right here! I'm the one who will make the greatest impression upon them. They can't help but believe when they hear it from me!”

But listen to our Lord’s response in the next verse. “And He said to me, ‘Go!’” In the original, that is a curt word—“Get out of town!” “For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”  In other words, Jesus was saying to Paul, “I have a different program for you, Paul. You see, you're not running your life any longer. You're not doing the programming, I am; and I have something entirely different for you. And all that you think you must add in order to make it successful is of no value whatsoever in the program I have in mind. All you need is me. All you need is my life in you, working through you. Until you learn that, you will never be of any value to me at all. So I want you to leave town. You can't get the whole picture as to what I have planned to do through you while you are here in Jerusalem; you get all confused by what you want to do, so I want you to get out.”

Now look back in Acts 9:30-31. Here we read Luke’s record gained from eye witnesses who were living in Jerusalem at this time. We read:

But when the brethren learned of it, [meaning the disturbance Paul

was causing and the desires of the Jews to kill him] they brought him

down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus. So [dramatic pause

indicating the result of getting Paul out of Jerusalem] the church

throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace,

being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the

comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. 

You see, up to that point, Paul’s good intentions and good ideas of doing ministry the world’s way caused the early church all sorts of problems. Being distracted by Paul’s efforts, the church was hindered in its growth until Paul was physically removed from their presence.

Understand, Paul was a good-intentioned godly man who wanted to do good. I’m not saying that he wasn’t a powerful man used by God. But even Paul had some things to learn and areas to grow in before God could fully use him.  Just like us, he especially needed to learn to wait upon God.

The tension we feel between doing something we think is good and doing nothing, or waiting, is no easier today. Today we say to the Lord, “I’m tired of being single or afraid to remain single and I want to get married this next year, so will you point out which man it is you want me to marry?” rather than asking, “Is this something you want for me?” Or, “Lord, I’m tired of being under my parents’ roof. I want to get out on my own. I’m 18, so I want to join the army,” rather than asking, “Lord, is it time for me to strike out on my own?” Many times we begin with the assumption that God wants something and we go after it without ever asking Him if that could be true. We take steps, based upon our assumption, and only then pray and ask God to bless our actions. When the results are less than satisfactory, we wonder why.

Today in our study of Acts 1:15-26, we are going to see another such situation from a very godly and sincere saint, whose intentions were good but were nonetheless not the will of God.

By way of historical setting, we are somewhere during those ten days after Jesus Christ’s ascension and the Jewish holiday of Pentecost. During those ten days, Jesus had told his disciples to return to Jerusalem to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. That was Christ’s only instruction. Go to Jerusalem and wait. He gave them no instruction to begin any major ministry or to take on any major action of weighty responsibility such as replacing the apostolic vacancy left by Judas’ suicide. The One who was to give them direction and leading, the Holy Spirit, had yet to come to indwell them and to grant them the power and authority to make decisions.

So what were they to do during that time? God gave them much time to reflect upon many things. For instance, they probably spent much time reflecting upon their relationships with one another. I don’t know if they talked about it together, but they couldn’t help but still be trying to figure out what happened to Judas. Why had he turned against Christ? They probably also spent some time reconciling their relationships with one another.  There may have been some criticism of each others’ past actions. Peter had denied the Lord, Thomas had doubted, and James and John had wrangled over who was greatest and what position they would have in Jesus’ kingdom. It was probably at this time that John explained to Mary that Jesus requested that he look after her, and John and she were sorting out what that would mean.

We also know from Acts 1:14 that they spent quite a bit of time praying. But they did more than just pray, according to Luke 24:53. There Luke tells us that they “were continually in the temple praising God.” They had obviously left the upper room, gone to the temple, and shared their faith. In fact, since there was probably not enough room in the upper room for 120 people to meet, this meeting in which Peter stands up to say what we are about to begin studying today may have taken place off in a corner on the temple mount.

Finally, we know from Peter’s quotations from Psalm 69 and Psalm 109 in our text today and from his quotation from the prophet Joel during his sermon at Pentecost in chapter 2 that these disciples had spent some considerable time searching the Old Testament scriptures. Probably those subjects that they were most interested in were those that concerned the coming of the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God. And because of some findings that Peter came away with from his study of God’s Word, he feels there is something they must do while they are waiting for the Holy Spirit.

Follow along in your Bibles as I read Acts 1:15-26. 

“At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a

gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there

together), and said, ¹⁶“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled,

which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning

Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷For he

was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”

¹⁸(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness,

and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his

intestines gushed out. ¹⁹And it became known to all who were living

in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called

Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) ²⁰“For it is written in the book

of Psalms, ‘Let his homestead be made desolate, and let no one

dwell in it’; and, ‘Let another man take his office.’ ²¹Therefore it is

necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time

that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— ²²beginning with

the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—

one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was

also called Justus), and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed and said,

“You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of

these two You have chosen ²⁵to occupy this ministry and

apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

²⁶And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he

was added to the eleven apostles.

At this point, a question should be asked. Until recently, I did not consider this question, but have come to realize that it leads us to a very important practical lesson for the Christian life. Most commentators I have researched don’t even raise or consider it. The question is: Was the selection of Matthias God’s choice for Judas’ replacement? Some highly respected scholars who do raise this question and who write convincingly come up with the answer, “No.” Among them are the late Biblical scholar and Christian apologist E. M. Blaiklock; G. Campbell Morgan; J. Vernon McGee (Through The Bible radio); M. R. Dehaan (Radio Bible Class); William Sanford LaSor; and John Stott. They all believe that Matthias may have been the people’s choice to replace Judas, and undoubtedly he was a very godly man, but more than likely he was not God’s choice to be an apostle.

However, there are equally godly scholars who take the position that Peter’s actions were right and he was in the will of God. John MacArthur, James Boice, and John Walvoord are among them. Who is right? After examining all the arguments in depth, I am at this point clearly persuaded that the Biblical evidence suggests that Peter’s generating a move to elect Matthias was not part of God’s plan; and I will show you why I hold that position. In the end, the principle lesson we can take away from this passage will ultimately come out the same, regardless of whether or not you agree with my stance. Yet, it would not be ethical for me to teach you something without explaining why I believe this to be Biblically correct.

In Matthew 19:28, Jesus was spelling out some aspects of His coming Kingdom. He tells his disciples that there will be twelve thrones upon which twelve apostles will be judging the Kingdom of Israel.  Peter had evidently remembered this. Presuming that Christ’s return was imminent and the Kingdom would be coming, and because there were only eleven apostles at the moment, he figured there had to be a twelfth. Therefore, while waiting for the promise of the Spirit’s coming, impetuous Peter suggests that they give the Lord a little assistance by appointing a twelfth apostle to replace Judas. He even uses two Bible verses to support his conclusion.  I believe that he uses them in error, and I will show you why later. But in all of Peter’s figuring, he made one blatant mistake. And this mistake is extremely important. He forgot that the apostles were all chosen directly by Jesus Christ and were not indirectly elected by men. And later, we note that Jesus Christ hand picked Saul, changed his name to Paul, and made him an apostle. If Matthias were a genuine God-ordained apostle, then there would be thirteen, with only twelve thrones to hold them in the kingdom. Who would be left out and why?

As we learn later, this same Apostle Peter is one whose ministry covers a series of successes and failures. But that is not meant to unduly beat up on him, but simply to show you that, like Paul and you and me, Peter still needed to mature in his faith. And further, to the encouragement of us all, it reveals God’s grace—that He can use any of us, even when we have not yet reached perfection.

As we read Luke’s description of Peter’s actions and Peter’s words, notice what we see. In verse 16 Peter states, “The Scripture had to be fulfilled;” in verse 21, “It is therefore necessary;” and in verse 22, “One of these should become a witness with us.” Who said so? Nowhere do we have any assurance that Peter was acting under God’s guidance. Nowhere do we hear of a “Thus saith the Lord” or “The Lord has instructed us to choose a replacement.” Nowhere do we have any evidence that Peter or anyone else even asked God if He wanted to replace Judas.

Also, keep in mind that the indwelling Holy Spirit had not come upon Peter or any of the other apostles to grant them the power or authority to do something as strategically important to the kingdom of God as choosing the twelfth apostle. There is absolutely no question in my mind that Peter was sincere and well-intended. But like Paul’s sincere desire to get the Gospel out any way he could, sincerity is often not proof of God’s confirmation of our actions. 

Instead of waiting for the divine appointment of God’s ordained apostle Paul, Peter engineered the appointing of Matthias. First, he had the others set up a slate of candidates. The next verse tells us they prayed about it. But in my humble opinion, they should have prayed about whether or not they should have done this before they put together their slate of nominees. Finally, they cast lots, or drew straws if you will, to see who would win.  By that point, they were determined to do what they were going to do. If they were going to cast lots, how could God have stopped them?

It is always good to pray for God’s leading in any situation, but to make up your mind first and then ask the Lord to put His endorsement upon your choice is quite another matter. We are all prone to making up our minds concerning what we want or what we would like to see happen and then asking God to bless our decision. No doubt Peter and the others were sincere and thought they were in the will of the Lord, but they had been told to wait and not act before the Holy Spirit came to lead them.

Interestingly, in comparison to the Apostle Paul, whom I believe was Christ’s handpicked twelfth apostle to replace Judas, and whom we hear a great deal about, we hear no more about Matthias following his appointment. Neither do we hear much about some of the other apostles, but we certainly hear a great deal about the Apostle Paul, the author of fourteen books of the New Testament. As well, it is not said that God accepted or ordained Matthias. 

Furthermore, when you read the text closely you notice something different concerning his grouping with the apostles. You do not read he was numbered among the twelve apostles. One would have expected Luke to write in the customary form and state that Matthias was “numbered among the twelve apostles.” But with irony and rebuke, Luke instead records that Matthias was numbered “with the 11 apostles,” hinting that he never was really one of them. It is true that in Acts 6:2 we read of “the twelve summoning the congregation.” But Luke does not state twelve what. Furthermore, historically, when we have looked at this passage as it concerns church policy, all have viewed these twelve as elders, not apostles, even though some were apostles. Hence, I repeat, that Luke never identifies these twelve men, specifically Matthias, as God-ordained apostles.

Evidence that Peter made a mistake is the negative effect that Matthias’ election had on one of the greatest apostles who ever lived, the Apostle Paul. When God’s officially chosen Apostle Paul came on the scene, he was not, at first, accepted by other Christians as an apostle. Instead, for the next thirty-three years of his ministry, everywhere he went he had to defend his divine ordination as one of Christ’s chosen apostles, even in the last letter he ever wrote, II Timothy.

Check this out: In nine of the fourteen epistles that the Apostle Paul wrote, he begins with a defense of his apostleship. No other writer of the New Testament had to do this. Only one time did one apostle, Peter, call himself an apostle in one of his epistles, but that was simply to identify him as the author of the letter. But Paul’s place as an apostle was constantly attacked and questioned and Paul was forced to assert his Christ-ordained authority over and over again.

Look at three of his earliest letters. The very first letter Paul wrote was to the Galatians in AD 49. Paul writes, “Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of a man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.” The inference, of course, is that Paul did not become an apostle by the will of men (a group of apostles) or as a result of one man (possibly the lead Apostle Peter at this time). This is Paul’s reference to the election of Matthias in Acts 1.  There is no other Biblical reason to which we can point for Paul’s including this in his first ever epistle.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, written in AD 56, begins this way: “Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God.”  Why this emphasis on his “calling” to be an apostle? It was to defend himself against the charge that Mathias and not Paul was the true apostle, and so Paul adds, “By the will of God.”

In his letter to the Romans, written in AD 58, he introduces himself in Romans 1:1, “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle.”  He does not say “appointed by the eleven” but “called.”

Because of the mistake of Matthias’ election to apostleship, for the next thirty years Paul had to continue to defend his legitimacy as Christ’s hand-picked apostle. However, to his credit, I don’t believe Paul held ill will toward any of them, because as we saw in Acts 9, he learned personally how easy it was for himself and therefore anyone else to make this mistake. Humbled by his own mistakes, he was gracious toward others.

May God protect us from our good intentions and over-zealous attempts to promote or engineer the work of Christ. When we try to promote God’s work apart from His clear direction, we usually end up making life a little more difficult for others. God’s work is a supernatural work that begins with our first asking, then waiting, and finally depending upon the Lord to do His thing through us. Remember, we may be sincere and filled with good intentions, but we can also be sincerely wrong.

As it concerns this question of Matthias’ election being right or wrong, here’s the real kicker for me. If you look at Mark 3:9-19 you will see Christ’s guidelines for his apostolate. The key verses are 14 and 15. In these verses we see four guidelines for becoming an apostle. We read, “And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons.” The first and probably most important guideline is that Christ’s apostles were all “appointed” by Him personally.  Matthias had not been.

Second, they were to have been with Christ, which the Apostle Paul had been. But notice, different than Peter’s qualification, Christ did not demand that Paul had to have been with Jesus from Christ’s baptism to Christ’s ascension. 

Third, Christ’s apostles were to preach. Obviously, Paul had done that, but this qualification was absent from Peter’s list. Could Matthias preach? We don’t know.

Finally, Jesus said that His apostles were to have authority to cast out demons. Did Paul have that power? He certainly did. Did Matthias? We don’t know.

In Acts 1:20, Peter references as support for his actions two separate psalms, Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8. In Psalm 69:25, David the psalmist utters a prayer that God’s judgment will fall on these wicked impenitent people who were also David’s enemies. Although much of Psalm 69 is often quoted by New Testament writers in reference to Christ, those references point to a plurality of enemies. However, interestingly, Peter here individualizes the text to point to one person, as though David specifically had one person in mind or that the Spirit of God was speaking prophetically of Judas. But there is no evidence in this text that David or the Spirit of God had an individual in mind. Instead, the evidence suggests that the entire Psalm 69 refers to a group of people. We have no idea why Peter referenced Judas in this psalm. In my research, none of the commentators I read could explain why Peter used this verse in the first place, because it adds nothing to his reasoning for replacing Judas. 

Then Peter moves to support his suggestion for their need to replace Judas by quoting Psalm 109:8. Like the previously mentioned psalm, this psalm too speaks of David’s enemies, and it parallels Christ prayer for guidance from God during his ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane just before His arrest. If this verse and the others from this psalm are to be applied to Christ in the Garden, then they point to all the wicked Jews who had rejected him, including Judas. Furthermore, when David writes in verse 8, “Let his days be few; let another take his office,” this referred to the offices of any person who carried any responsibility in Israel in David’s day but had become a traitor to the king. When a subject of the king was proven to be a traitor, he was removed from office, usually by death, and replaced by another. That was standard operating procedure in those days. It’s probably why Peter chose this verse to support his actions. One always replaced the office of a traitor with another loyal subject. That’s how Peter’s world operated. But it is not how God operates. 

Today, when an individual uses the scriptures in such a manner to present his or her case, we have a name for it. We call it “proof texting.” I believe that what we have here is an impetuous Peter proof texting so as to encourage others to do what he sincerely believed was the natural and good thing to do. I believe that Peter was sincere in his study of God’s Word, but he was wrong in its application. 

Remember, the Holy Spirit had not come yet to lead, guide, and instruct the Apostles. The fact that I believe Peter made a mistake in his use of this passage in no way suggests that our Bible has mistakes in it. Our Bible is without error. But it does contain errant thinking people and examples of incorrect usage of Scripture, like this one.

So, where does our study leave us? It leaves us with two warnings and a challenge. As a warning, we are to seek God’s will first in all that we do. Don’t presume upon anything being what God wants you to do, especially if it is the way the world functions. For example, the world says, “The way you win the hearts of the people to think as you do, is to get the most beautiful and powerful people up front to push your agenda.” I am acquainted with one parachurch organization that based its evangelistic outreach on using the brightest, wealthiest, best looking, and most talented athletes or businessman to stand up and speak out for Christ, even though they may have only been saved for a month. When I asked why, they said, “Because it works. Look at how it works in the political arena.” We are not about a work of men, but about God’s work. Therefore, when it comes to making a decision, begin by asking God, “Is this something You want me to do?” Once we understand His will, then we are to wait upon Him to show us the individual steps He wants us to take and when He wants us to take them in order to fulfill His will. 

Here’s a second warning: When it comes to making important decisions in determining God’s will, we are not to be rushed or in a hurry due to a false sense of urgency. To put that another way, not all decisions require urgent action. If it were urgent for Judas’ place to be filled, God would have given all of the apostles clear instructions as to what to do. 

Is there ever such a thing as a true sense of urgency? Sure there is. There are many decisions Christians have to make very quickly. We make them every day. For example, a surgeon operating on an emergency room patient has little time to do research, because in five minutes the patient could die. He has to make an immediate decision and move forward, for to do nothing could mean certain death for his patient. However, we always have time to pray a quick prayer, asking for God’s help. Any time we think we want to do something that the Bible warns us against, we don’t need to pray. We need to obey, to do what is right, immediately. But not all decisions are as urgent as we make them out to be.

Here’s the challenge: Like the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter, all of us are prone to stepping out on our own and making plans, without ever considering God. It is an easy thing to do. When you find that you have done so, then here is my challenge to you--learn from your mistakes. Don’t beat up on yourself when you make them. Likewise, when you see other Christians make decisions that somehow affect you, and when they make those decisions with good intentions but have forgotten to check it out with God first, don’t crucify them. Continue to pray for them, especially as it concerns their future decision making and their spiritual growth! Although Paul confronted both his mentor Barnabas and Peter for their theological mistakes, he did not shame them. I sense nowhere in Scripture that Paul pointed his finger in a harsh manner at the other apostles for their initial rejection of his being called an Apostle by Jesus Christ.

God’s love covers a multitude of sins. God’s love through us toward others who make mistakes should also cover a multitude of mistakes.

This morning, I feel like we have opened the door to a very significant and practical issue for our Christian lives in which some of you need some additional help. Others of us could use a reminder in this practical area. That’s why, next time, we want to consider the practical issue of Christian decision making and discerning the will of God for our lives.

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