Then They Prayed

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:24

Then They Prayed

by Robert T. Cooper

There was a need in the church. They examined the options and came down to one of two choices. In this case, there was a need for a single person. They came down to one of two people to fill the need. Then they prayed.

How often in church business do we never get around to praying more than a “God bless this business” opening and closing prayer? It is shamefully too often. Churches nowadays don’t have many real prayer meetings on their schedules anyway. But the church business meeting should be one of the prayingest meetings of all!

So when they got to the point of praying, how did they begin their prayer? “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.” Did you catch that? They began with praise, but not just with any old praise. They began with praise that was specific to the business decision at hand. The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. Face it, if in your church business meetings you want to vote for God’s will to be done (on earth as it is in heaven), then you would do well to pause before the vote and praise God in terms specific to the business decision at hand.

Finally, they were ready to pray, “Show us which of these two you have chosen.” You do understand that God is quite capable of answering, “Neither.” He did so on several occasions in Scripture. He is also quite capable of answering, “Both.” But if you have been seeking the Lord up to this point and have concluded that it is one or the other of the options on the table at the present time, then God will do just what you have prayed. He will show you which of the two He has chosen.

There are often things that need deciding in a church. Next time consider doing it this biblical way.

Has your church ever prayed like this right before a vote in a business meeting? Could your church do so in the future? We welcome your comments.

So They Proposed Two Men

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:23

So They Proposed Two Men

by Robert T. Cooper

Face it! There’s a whole lot that the Bible doesn’t tell us.

There’s a cartoon on the internet with a caption that reads something like, “Prior to the election of the replacement apostle, they went through several rounds of narrowing down the candidates using the latest high tech methodology.” The picture in the cartoon is of two men in 1^st century biblical attire playing “Scissors, Paper, Stone” (or whatever name that folk game is going by at this time).

And while I am confident the narrowing process wasn’t done by that particular game, one has to consider how many people were actually qualified to serve and how they finally narrowed it down to these two. And when in the process were they asked whether they would serve if selected? We simply don’t know.

But it is not uncommon in the Scripture for questions placed before God to be put into “one or the other” terms. It is always either “my side or their side,” “yes or no,” “this or that,” “this one or not.” So perhaps there is something for us to learn about how to put questions to the Lord after all.

I guess I am too steeped in probability theory to make most decisions by casting lots. But I can often pray in that binary sense and watch for how the Lord answers. It has even happened to me that I asked the Lord to put one of the answers in my mouth; when the time came I intended to give one answer, but was surprised to find the other answer coming out of my mouth. In every case, I have known with confidence it was the Lord who brought that about. Yes, I have found He is trustworthy in that regard.

So the next time you have a question to present to the Lord, why don’t you try asking in that binary fashion? See how He answers. And perhaps you can do so at church business time too.

What has been your experience presenting binary questions to the Lord? What questions are you facing at this time that you could present to the Lord in a binary fashion? We’d love to get your comments.

Church Government

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                Acts 1:23 – 26

Church Government

by Robert T. Cooper

Who gets to decide what in a local church? My background is with churches with congregational polity, but I know someone who is taking classes to join a church with a different polity. A recent lesson he took referred to the Jerusalem Conference and concluded that the local congregation doesn’t get to decide everything.

So when we come to Acts 1:23 – 26, we find a situation in which everyone agreed a person needed to be selected to replace Judas as an Apostle. It seems from the context that the entire congregation was permitted to nominate candidates, but only two were nominated. And then rather than the entire congregation voting, lots were cast. They didn’t think of it as gambling; they thought of it as allowing the Lord to decide the selection. Do any churches make decisions that way in modern times? I don’t know of any.

Still, as a believer I have confidence in the Lord, that however any local church makes decisions, He is in charge of the outcome. He moves in people’s hearts to vote one way or another. He places words in people’s mouths according to His intentions. He causes ballots to be counted or left uncounted in various ways. When we fully trust in the Lord to bring about the result He desires, we can be confident that He does.

What is the voting polity of our church? What is the biblical basis of that polity?

More Than One Might Guess

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                Acts 1:21 – 22

More Than One Might Guess

by Robert T. Cooper

If you study the Bible for very long, you quickly come to understand that the biblical writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit did not record every detail of every incident. Modern writers are mostly careful to give plenty of details in every scene, particularly if one of those details is going to matter later in the story. That is simply not the case in the Bible. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Let’s start with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. And let’s look at it particularly from the perspective of the Gospel of Luke, since Luke is the one who also wrote the book of Acts. Luke says that when “all the people were baptized, Jesus was baptized too. But Jesus hasn’t been tempted yet. He hasn’t begun His public ministry yet. He hasn’t selected His apostles yet. The women aren’t yet following Him, not that Luke will quickly get around to mentioning them either.

Comparing Luke’s Gospel with John’s, the first two men who would eventually become apostles didn’t start following Jesus until the next time John the Baptist saw Jesus after His baptism.

For the second example, let us consider Luke’s account of the Ascension. The way the Gospel tells that incident, Jesus has just appeared to the apostles (plus Cleopas and Cleopas’ companion) on what we would call Easter Sunday night. We learn elsewhere that Thomas was not with the other 10 apostles that night. The very next thing Luke tells in his Gospel is that Jesus took this group out to the vicinity of Bethany for His Ascension.

The book of Acts begins with the Ascension. In this case, Luke only indicates that Jesus took the apostles (presumably the Eleven) to the Mount of Olives. It was there that He ascended.

Having laid all of that groundwork, let’s look at what Peter says later in Acts 1.

Acts 1:21 – 22 NIV

²¹Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 1:21 – 22 NIV

They were going to select someone to replace Judas as an apostle so there would once again be Twelve. To qualify to be a candidate, this person would have to have been with the apostles the entire 3½ years of Jesus’ ministry, just like the Eleven. The candidates would have to have been there for everything from Jesus’ baptism to the Ascension.

What does this mean? It means that all of the original Twelve, the two who were nominated to replace Judas, and presumably some others were present at Jesus’ baptism. It means that the two who were nominated to replace Judas, and presumably some others, were present at the Ascension. It means that the two who were nominated to replace Judas, and presumably some others, were present during virtually the entire ministry of Jesus between His baptism and His ascension, particularly for the post-Resurrection appearances.

Now tell me. When you were reading the Gospels, did you pick up that Matthias and Barsabbas were present at most all of those events? Did you pick up that there were others besides these two who were present at most all of those events? Did you even pick up that the ten besides Andrew and John were present at Jesus’ baptism? I confess I didn’t.

So when you are reading the Bible, understand that we are not getting all the details we would expect from a modern author. But understand that by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we are getting everything we need to know for a proper spiritual understanding of what God is saying to us. Thanks be to God!

Which of these things have occurred to you previously? Which were new ideas to you? Do you indeed have confidence that God is communicating to you all you need to understand for your spiritual benefit? I look forward to reading your comments.