Monday, December 31, 2007
Consistency Is The Opposite Of Hypocrisy
If we are to be true worshippers, worshiping in spirit and in truth, then we should examine ourselves and our worship to see that the two are consistent. Someone once said that more people lie in church on Sunday during the singing of the hymns than any other time during the week. That statement may not be far from true as we sing songs like, "I surrender all," yet in truth we have surrendered very little.
I submit to you that no action can please God. Only action accompanied by a right heart. We may give of our time, our resources, and our money, but if we do so with the wrong motives then we still fail to please God.
If our lives are consistent with our words and our worship, then we will have avoided hypocrisy.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Pride: A Self-Destructive Attitude (Sermon: Luke 2:1-20)
Here are some reasons I believe pride is so self-destructive. First, it keeps us from recognizing our weaknesses. Some have mistakenly understood humility as looking down on yourself, but true humility involves not the discounting of ourselves but a accurate estimate of ourselves. Pride causes us to overestimate our abilities and character. The second reason that pride is self-destructive is related to the first. Because we over estimate who we are, we often enter a state of denial about our personal needs which keeps us from taking the action we need to take.
For example, a husband gets into an argument with his wife. Both say things that are inappropriate to the other. Yet, because of his pride he cannot admit that he did anything wrong in the situation. Therefore, he is unwilling to apologize or take any steps toward reconciliation.
Or consider an alcoholic who believes she has everything under control. "I can stop anytime I want," she says. Yet the truth is, she can't go a day without alcohol. It is absolutely controlling her life. As a result, she will not seek help.
Perhaps the most critical scenario is the person who because of pride cannot admit that they have sinned and need forgiveness. Because of their pride, they may never repent and receive God's forgiveness. What a tragedy to be without Christ because of pride.
Yes, pride has a high price. Toy with it long enough and it will cost you everything. Christ was humble; if we are to be like Him, we must repent of our pride.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Jesus’ Fulfillment of the Old Testament (Sermon: Matthew 1:18-25)
A second type of fulfillment is seen in Jesus’ replacement of the Old Testament feasts and institutions. For example, Jesus replaces the Passover lamb. Paul tells us: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Thus, we do not celebrate the Passover today, because Christ is our Passover. In celebrating Him, we commemorate the Passover.
These are but a few examples of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament. They teach us that God has been working throughout history to bring about His plan of redemption and that the events of Christ’s life, including the betrayal and crucifixion, were all part of God’s plan.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Learning To Read All Of The Bible (Sermon: Acts 4:23-31)
Many false teachings and distortions of scripture arise from someone trying to interpret a single teaching or passage of the Bible in isolation from the rest of the Bible. As a result, many false teachings are passed on by well meaning people who had no intention of distorting the Word of God. The old adage, “you can be sincere and be sincerely wrong,” still applies to scripture. So we too must guard our understanding and teaching of scripture, lest we unknowing accept or teach false doctrine. How can we do that? One of the best things we can do is to read the whole Bible. We must interpret every passage in light of the overall teaching of God’s Word.
Do I believe in the sovereignty of God? Yes. Do I believe in the free will of man? Absolutely. How can the two seemingly contradictory ideas be reconciled? That is a question for God, not for me. I only know what God reveals to me through scripture, the rest I must accept by faith. I only know that the Bible teaches both and so I must accept both. To believe without having all of the understanding or evidence is called faith. And if we read the entire Bible and seek to follow all of it, it will indeed require faith.
Monday, December 3, 2007
The Unhindered Gospel (Sermon: Acts 4:13-22)
Not only was the gospel unhindered by persecution, but it also refused to be held by geographical, social, and ethnic boundaries. The early believers were commissioned to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), and so they were. Samaritans and Gentiles, viewed as the scum of the earth by the Jews, were brought into the early church by those Jews who became believers in Jesus Christ.
Often today, we hear dismal reports about the future of the church. Yet, we should remember what Jesus said: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). The gospel was unhindered in the days of the early church, and today it is no different.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Reading the New Testament in Light of the Old (Sermon Acts 4:5-12)
In Acts 4, Luke tells us of Peter’s designation of Jesus as the stone. If read apart from other scripture, it might appear that Peter was saying that Jesus was strong and immovable, but when read in the light of the Old Testament that both Peter and the Sadducees were so familiar with, it becomes apparent that Peter was pointing to Jesus as God in the flesh, the Messiah. The stone was an image used to refer to God in the Old Testament (Psalm 18:2) and in Daniel (2:35) it was used to prophesy of the coming Messiah. Peter draws upon these images to forcefully proclaim to the Sadducees that the Jesus whom they had crucified was the Messiah.
Acts 4 is just one example of a phenomenon that saturates the New Testament. Most of the theology and many of the images of the New Testament are grounded in the Old Testament. Just one more reason New Testament Christians today should read the Old Testament.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Our Resurrection: Hope or Hoax?
Once we accept the resurrection of Christ as a reality, it is a very small step to believe that we too can be resurrected. This is our hope. Josh McDowell's book, The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict, is an excellent resource. Chapter 9, "The Support of Deity: The Resurrection-Hoax or History?," is dedicated to examining the evidence in favor of the resurrection. It also combats some inadequate views of the resurrection. An free online resource is provided by Dr. Danny Akin. Dr. Akin is the President of the Southeasthern Baptist Theological Seminary--an outstanding theologian and scholar. He has both a manuscript and an audio version of a lecture he presented on the subject of the resurrection. Download the manuscript (PDF). Download the Mp3. Visit Dr. Akin's website.
Paul's statement about the resurrection is as clear as any other biblical teaching; all of Christianity hinges on the reality of the resurrection of Christ. Yet, some today would have us believe that belief in the resurrection of Christ is a leap of faith. I submit that it takes very little faith at all to believe in the resurrection of Christ if you simply look at the evidence. No one in history has ever given a satisfactory explanation of the evidence in favor of Christ's resurrection. The only way to believe the resurrection is a hoax is to ignore the evidence or distort it.
If you would like to examine some of the evidence in support of the resurrection, let me recommend some resources.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Even Religious People Can Be Saved
One of my friends Dexter Tucker recently wrote down his testimony. It is a powerful story that illustrates our ability to pretend to be believers, but not to commit ourselves to the Lord and be saved. As you read this life story about a preacher’s son turned deacon, remember that even religious people can be saved.
-----------
I grew up in a country boy with no TV or any toys. I had a big imagination and my dreams were made from that. I was very rebellious toward my daddy and I didn’t mind him very well. I got a lot of whippings because of that. All those whippings just made me more rebellious and hard headed. My mother had a softer touch and her words to me hurt me more than those whippings from daddy.
When I was 15 years old, I walked the aisle at church one Sunday morning after two of my school mates had done so. I was baptized in the local lake and now everybody looked at me with that look of “What a nice young man—a preacher’s son.” Yes, my daddy was a preacher, logger, farmer and he worked in the county government.
So I joined the Navy at the age of 18 to see the world and all that was out there. When I walked that aisle in church I had a mind change but not a heart change. So I really didn’t let God come into my life. I did my own thing in the Navy for four years. I got discharged at Norfolk, VA and I was on my way to Charleston, S.C. when I had the strangest feeling come over me as I was hitchhiking that day. Somehow I felt like I was going into a new world and I was not going to have any control of it. When I got to Charleston I went to see my old buddy who was stationed there with his wife, and I reenlisted back in the Navy for six years.
The next day, I was walking the street in Charleston at noon and just then this girl came out of a building and turned and passed right by me. I fluttered and I have never felt so shook up in all my life. After a few minutes, I calmed down. I went to my buddy’s house and we were sitting on the porch playing music and he said “There’s a girl next door that you gotta meet.”
Well, this girl came out of her door with the cousin she was staying with and I almost lost my breath. It was the same girl I had seen at noon on the street downtown. So I said to her about what and when I saw her and she said it could have been because she was going to lunch at that time. She didn’t know me from Adam. So, I asked her to go to the movies with me and she did.
After three dates and three months later, I asked her to marry me and she said yes. We went to my hometown to introduce her to my parents and my mother said to the “Honey I’ve been praying for him every day since he left home. Now you can pray for him.”
My wife got saved the first year of our marriage and then came our first child, a boy. I was deployed during his birth. She read the Bible to him every night and prayed for him and me every night.
Well, this rocked on for years. I would come home and go to church and Sunday School with them and played the part of a Christian. Yes, I was a good actor.
I had been in the Navy for 10 years and was on shore duty in Panama City, FL. My wife was pregnant with our 2nd child. She had a good pregnancy for almost 9 months and then we suddenly lost our beautiful baby girl. I almost lost my wife too. I cried and my 3 year old son cried too.
I was still playing the good old boy Christian routine and after a few years, 5 to be exact, my wife was pregnant again and this time God gave us another son.
Well, we ended up my last three years of the Navy in Orlando. I played the part at being a Christian so good that I was ordained as a deacon.
After I retired and moved my family to Douglasville, I was sitting in the choir loft listening to the preacher, who was Bro. Jack Evans, and he said something when I hear God call out to me. My response was yes, Lord, come into my heart, I surrender my life to you and He did and I came out of that choir loft shouting “hallelujah Bro. Jack, I just go saved!!”
Now to summarize my life story to you, it goes like this:
My wife knew all the time that I wasn’t saved. I knew deep down I wasn’t saved because of my actions away from home.
When I got saved and I gave myself to God, He changed my desire and my wants and I love Him and worship Him every minute of every day.
I look back and see how I worked for the devil all those years and I also see how God gave me my precious wife through my mother’s prayer, and how god saved me through my wife’s prayers. I’m still working on my Masters Degree and I’ll graduate when I get to heaven. Praise God for the Holy Spirit and for letting Jesus, His son, die for my sins.
-----------
Maybe you are like Dexter once was—playing the part of a Christian. If you are like he once was, you can also become like he now is—a child of God. If you have any doubts about your salvation, please contact me and let me share with you how you can know for certain that you are saved and that heaven will some day be your home.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The Child of God and the Word of God
Let me offer a couple of tips for busy people who want to be in God’s word. First, consider redeeming your driving time by listening to the Bible. You can purchase the entire Bible on CD. It’s a little expensive, but a great investment. If you can’t afford to make a large investment, you can buy individuals CD’s of the Bible at the Dollar Tree for $1. If you have an iPod, there is a free daily podcast of Bible readings (http://thebiblepodcast.org/podcast/). Second, consider making a schedule for Bible reading. If you planned 10 minutes a day, by the end of the first week you would have completed more than a hour of Bible reading. Who can’t spare 10 minutes? And yet what an improvement 1 hour of Bible reading would be to the devotional life of some believers.
Most importantly, if God is to be a priority in your life—which is a necessity if you are to worship God—then consider marking off a significant amount of time each week to be in His word. I want to encourage you to read Psalm 119. David had a passion for the word of God and in this Psalm it comes through with great beauty and clarity. Each time I read it, I am refreshed and given a renewed desire to be in God’s word. If you will take time this week to read and reflect on this passage, it may be the start of a personal revival in your life and you more deeply commit yourself to enjoying God’s word.
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Cost of Compromise
However, it is the moment is which we have something to loose that we are tempted to waiver. When our best friend commits the same sin, that just last week we crucified some celebrity for, the cost of taking a stand stares us in the face. Then we realize (maybe for the first time) that commitment to the Lord requires sacrifice. In the post-modern age where the only acceptable absolute is that there is no absolutes-which is of course self-contradicting, but let’s not confuse its adherents with the facts—it is extremely unpopular to take a stand on anything. If we oppose the homosexual lifestyle, then we are homophobes. If we teach that Jesus is the only way to heaven, then we are closed minded and intolerant toward other religions. Of course, in America, when we hear the cry for religious tolerance, it means that all faiths, except evangelical Christianity, are to be accepted, which is of course a form of intolerance, which leads us to ask how can the tolerant practice intolerance in order to further tolerance—but again I am, perhaps unfairly, appealing to reason and common sense which apparently are irrelevant to some of the prevailing ideas of our day and time.
Many things may be uncertain today, but persecution for holding an unwavering commitment to God’s truth is as certain as death and taxes. Hold to the faith regardless of your crowd and you may loose your job, your position, future opportunities, income, and in some cases your life—hence, the appeal of compromise. But compromise only provides temporary relief from the tension between the ways of God and the ways of the world, and like a lie that must be maintained with new lies, compromise quickly grows into a reoccurring necessity, for some it will becomes a lifestyle.
Yet, no matter what the cost of taking a stand maybe in any given scenario, it pales in comparison to the cost of compromise. When we compromise what we believe we loose respect and credibility among those who share our convictions. We disappoint the Lord, and may even forfeit some opportunity that would have been available to us, had we been a person of character and integrity. And last, but not least, we lose self-respect and dignity, and the way the economy is going these days that is all some of us have left.
It is difficult to take a stand when so much is at stake to lose, but what profit is it if you gain the whole world and yet forfeit your own soul? Character is never forged in a rose garden, but in the fire of life’s difficulties. The only way to truly know what is inside of a person is to see what comes out when they are under pressure. The next time you face the temptation to compromise, consider the consequences.
Monday, October 15, 2007
An Age of Disbelief
It is important for believers to understand that all of the Christian faith hinges on the resurrection of Jesus. Peter and the early witnesses believed it and we must believe it in order to be saved. For those of you who may still have doubts, let me present a couple of facts for you to consider. First, no one has ever been able to produce a body. The empty tomb stands as an important piece of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Second, for those who argue that the body was stolen, let me ask you a couple of questions. How did a group of uneducated fisherman manage to steal the body of Jesus from underneath the noses of several highly trained Roman guards? What grave robbers do you know that take the time to undress the body and neatly fold the garments to leave behind? Third, it is incredible to believe that if the disciples were involved in a mass hoax to deceive people into believing that Jesus had been raised from the dead that not one of them would have succumbed to the pressure of fear and intimidation the Jews and later Romans placed upon them. How many people are willing to die for a lie? And yet all of the apostles went to their graves proclaiming the resurrection of Christ. Fourth, the Jewish leaders could not disprove the resurrection of Jesus in their own day. Fifth, two skeptics, James and Paul, were converted by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and become great Christian leaders in their day.
The list of evidence for the resurrection could consume volumes. I am only giving a handful of truths to ask you to think about and consider. Although Christians today are often portrayed as narrow-minded idiots, I submit to you that it would take a narrow-minded idiot to dismiss the evidence for the resurrection. If Christ be not raised, we have no faith, but praise be to God, Christ is raised!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Recommended Resources on Speaking in Tongues
The second resource is a book he published entitled, Charismatic Chaos. I have ordered a copy for our church library, but to my knowledge it is not yet come in. You can purchase a copy of the book online at: http://www.amazon.com/Charismatic-Chaos-Dr-John-MacArthur/dp/0310575729/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-1897890-1154309?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191854430&sr=8-1. The current price is $5.99. Full bibliography: John MacArthur, Charismatic Chaos (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992).
**Disclaimer: Please understand that I am recommending these resources because they contain very valuable research. I do not agree with John MacArthur at every point, so if you are offended by something he has written please don't assume that I agree with him on that point and focus your anger at me. Why then would I recommend someone else's resources? Because when I was growing up my pastor once told me, "Kevin, any good mule in Sevier County has enough sense when it comes to a briar in a bale of hay to push the briar aside and keep feasting on the hay." There's a lot of good hay to feast on in these resources, if only we have the sense God gave a mule.
Does God Work in Different Ways? (Sermon: Acts 2:5-13)
We must remember that a change in the way God is working does not necessitate a change in His character or nature. The way in which a father interacts with his son will change drastically from the time that child is a preschooler to the time that he is six-teen. Yet, the change in the way the father interacts is not a reflection of a change in the father’s character, but of a change in the circumstances of his son. In the same way, believer’s today do not sacrifice lambs—not because God has changed His mind about the need for sacrifice, but because Jesus fulfilled that need when He died on the cross (1 Cor. 5:7). God walked and fellowshipped in the garden with Adam, yet no one after the fall experienced this relationship. Why? As a result of the fall, the circumstances of the relationship between God and man changed.
What does this mean for us today? It first of all means that we should not view everything we see taking place in scripture as normative for today. In particular, we should not expect the miracles that God did as signs to establish the credibility of the early believers and apostles to be taking place today. Does this mean that God is no longer working? Absolutely not! It simply means that God is working in a certain manner, because of where we stand in history. God has always been at work, today is no exception.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Learning What's Really Important (Sermon: Ecc. 3:9-15)
The seniors that I spent my time with viewed life through different glasses than anyone I knew my own age. We were all concerned with what our salaries would be, what type of car we could afford to drive, how nice our house would be—in a nutshell we thought about success as defined by a greedy materialistic world. Those that were dying seemed to think about only two things: their relationship with God and their family. As I prepared to preach some of their funerals, I realized that although I had spent hours visiting with them, listening to their stories, and asking questions, I didn’t even know what many of them did for a living. I didn’t know where they had previously lived, what kind of cars they had driven, or even what social circles they had ran in. But I could tell you the shoe size of some of their grandchildren. I knew when they had joined the church and when their children had been saved. I knew these things not because I asked, but because in every instance, these were the things that were dear to those that were dying—the things they most wanted to talk about. These were the only things that mattered at this point in their life; aren’t these the only things that matter at any point in our life.
If only we could gain the perspective of these wise veterans of life, while we were young. Someone once said: “wisdom is learning from the mistakes of others.” Have you ever said to yourself, “I wish I knew then what I know now?” I want to ask you to consider that maybe if we listen to those who have gone before us, we can know now some of what we will know then.
Monday, September 24, 2007
One of the Greatest Obstacles to being Filled with the Spirit
Born with a sinful nature that loves the instant gratification of sinful pleasures, we are often tempted to revert back to our old nature. We give ourselves to God at the point of our salvation, but as we are confronted with daily choices in life, we gradually take back ground that we had once surrendered. Ultimately, our unwillingness to completely and totally submit to God’s will is a reflection of our lack of faith in His wisdom and goodness. We know that God commands us not to lie, but a white lie doesn’t hurt anyone. Certainly, Jesus did say we should render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, but the IRS is far more unreasonable than Caesar ever was.
And so, if we continue on this path, little by little, we compromise the truth of God’s word and the goodness of His will for our lives, in favor of our own wisdom. We should hear the words of Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”
When we choose our own wisdom, rather than submitting to the will our heavenly Father, we rob ourselves of the great blessing of the Spirit-filled life. As James told the early church: “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8). When you face moments of crisis in your life when you have to choose between obedience to God and gratification of self, choose obedience. For in denying yourself, you will be receiving a blessing far greater than anything this world has to offer.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Sermon: "Baptized with the Spirit"
Can a Believer Loose the Holy Spirit? (Sermon: Acts 2:1-4)
The Bible teaches in Galatians 4:3-7 that we are sons of God: "4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."
Just as you were born physically into an earthly family, all children of God have been born into a spiritual family. You may not like some members of your earthly family, but they are still your family. Your earthly father will always be biologically your earthly father. You may disown him or refuse to claim him, but that will not change the fact the he is your father. So it is with the children of God. We may disobey God at times. We may even do things to break God's heart, but once we are born into the family of God we are always a part of the family of God.
Therefore, if you have been born again (John 3), then you have been given the Spirit of God and have been adopted into the family of God. Nothing can take that away from you, because God has given it to you. He gave it because of His love for you, not because you deserved it. Can a child of God loose the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
What Does the Old Testament Have to Say to New Testament Christians?
First, without the Old Testament, much of the New Testament appears confusing and irrelevant. How would we fully understand the need for Jesus' death without understanding the sacrificial system of the Old Testament?
Second, much of the New Testament is written to show how Jesus and the church fulfill the Old Testament. Paul writes, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed"
(1 Cor 5:7).
Third, the New Testament itself testifies to the relevancy of the Old Testament. Paul wrote to Timothy, "16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). Remember that he wrote this when the only scriptures available to him were the Old Testament.
Finally, John ended Revelation with this statement from God: "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book (Rev 22:18-19). While this warning concerns the Book of Revelation, I believe we would be wise to carefully consider it for all of scripture.
Why then do so many believer struggle with applying the Old Testament? Because, to use a New Testament metaphor, much of it is meat not milk. You can't guzzle Leviticus, not and make any sensible application to our present lives. The meat of God's truth must be carefully considered. It is not irrelevant. It does not need to be made relevant. It simply needs to studied so that its relevance may be understood.
If you are struggling with an Old Testament passage, don't give up or pass it over--study and pray. And when you get discouraged remember Jesus' promise: "7 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matt 7:7-8).
Monday, September 3, 2007
"The Imminent Judgment" Obadiah 1:15-18
Is all sin the same? (Sermon: Obadiah 1:15-18)
The verse that is typically used for support of this argument is James 2:10: “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” However, James is not addressing the severity of sins, but the condition that is brought upon humanity by even a single sin. His point is not that it does not matter what sins we commit or how many sins we commit. His point is that one sin makes someone a sinner. Let me illustrate. How many lies do you have to tell to become a liar? One. How many times do you have to steal in order to become a thief? Once. How many sins do you have to commit to become a sinner? One.
Look at what the Bible says about different sins. Proverbs singles out seven particular sins. "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him" (Proverbs 6:16). John is very clear that not all sin is the same. “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death (1 John 5:16-17).
Also, consider how God dealt with David. The story of David and Bathsheba is one of the most well known passages about David (2 Samuel 11-12). However, David had certainly sinned against God prior to Bathsheba, but it was David’s sexual immorality and disregard for human life that brought God’s wrath upon him (2 Samuel 12:14).
Yes, all sin will separate us from God. However, not all sin carries the same consequences. Therefore, we should never use the unbiblical idea that sin is sin in order to justify our sinful choices.
Monday, August 27, 2007
"The Early Church in Action" Acts 1:12-26
Quick Facts (Sermon: Acts 1:12-26)
A Sabbath days journey: .5 to .75 mile
Casting lots: Similiar to throwing dice; two lots would have been placed in a cup and the first to fall out when tipped would have been considered the will of God
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Matthias or Paul: Who is the Twelfth Apostle? (Sermon: Acts 1:12-26)
However, several issues must be considered here. First, none of the apostles are mentioned by name after Acts 1, save Peter and John. Thus, the lack of mention of Matthias is no more important than the lack of mention of the other nine. Second, Luke wrote Acts under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and after the ministry of Paul and Matthias were well underway. If the appointment of Matthias was illegitimate, Luke would have surely addressed the issue in his account. Third, Paul's ministry was very different from the twelve. While they primarily led the church in Jerusalem, Paul was specifically called to the Gentiles. Fourth, Paul did not meet the qualifications of the office of apostle. He was not with Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was not a witness of the resurrection until his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Fifth, the other apostles did not recognize Paul as one of them. In fact, they did not even accept that he was a genuine believer until Barnabas interceded on his behalf. (Acts 9:26-31)
With these facts under consideration, we can affirm with all confidence that Mattias was and is the twelfth apostle.
Should Christians Cast Lots? (Sermon: Acts 1:12-26)
Let me first answer the question whether Christians should cast lots today or not with a clear "no." Why not? I believe the answer lies within the time period of Acts 1:12-26. First, it is important to note that the early church cast lots before the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Second, we do not read of the early church ever casting lots after Pentecost. Why? Because the Holy Spirit indwells believers and guides them in decision making.
What then should we do to seek God's will? First, we should look to the scripture. Many questions can be decided by simply knowing what God has directed us to do in scripture. Second, we should pray in the Holy Spirit (Jude 1:20). Romans 8:26-27 tells us: "26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. " In John 16:13 Jesus tells His disciples of the promise of the Spirit: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."
Having received the gift of the Holy Spirit, Christians today, then have no need for casting lots.
Judas: Traitor or Hero? (Sermon: Acts 1:12-26)
The document leaves the modern mind with two options for understanding Judas: either he was a traitor, as the Gospels insist, or he was a hero, as this newly found document purports. Since even Christian scholars affirm the authenticity of the document, we must choose which gives the accurate portrait of Judas: the Bible or The Gospel of Judas, for a careful examination of each will reveal that they are completely incompatible.
The Bible clearly portrays Judas as a traitor. Peter prays, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, 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." (Acts 1:24-25) John gives an editorial comment regarding Jesus' statement to be sure his readers know the Judas was the one to which he was referring: "And yet one of you is a devil. He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him." (John 6:70b-71).
So where does this leave us? Well, The Gospel of Judas is most likely an authentic early writing. However, we know of many early manuscripts. The early church knew of them as well, but they only designated 27 books to be added to the scriptures we now know as the Old Testament. The age of a document and the accuracy of a document are unrelated. Further, since there is no external evidence to corroborate the witness of The Gospel of Judas, it seems unreasonable for even the most dedicated sceptic to favor it against the scripture as an accurate witness to history.
Is Judas a hero? Not if the Gospels are true. Yet, some would like to parade The Gospel of Judas as proof that the Bible is in error. Perhaps Paul had this sort of discussion in mind when he wrote: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
For a view of The Gospel of Judas and to read what the media is saying about it go to:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/?fs=www9.nationalgeographic.com
For an intelligent Christian discussion of the issue you can listen to a previous broadcast from the Albert Mohler show at:
http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2006-04-06