If you would turn with me please to the Word of God, to the Book of Acts in the New Testament, to Acts chapter 1, and we take up the reading there at verse 15 to the end of the chapter, verse 15 to verse 26 of Acts chapter 1. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about a hundred and twenty. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. for he was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem insomuch as that the field is called in their proper tongue Akildama, that is to say the field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, And let no man dwell therein, And his bishopric let another take. Wherefore if these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Thou Lord, which knows the hearts of all men, show whither of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and the apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots. and the lot fell upon Matthias and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. May God add his blessing to that reading of his own word. Well let us come to the Lord and let us pray together. Our gracious God and our loving Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for that eternal, everlasting love, loved from before the foundation of the world, loved in time and loved for all eternity. A love that promises never, never to let us go, never, never to forsake us. Father, we thank Thee that we are in the arms of love of this evening. Our Redeemer, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who revealed that love to us, who brought us to the experience, to the joy, to the gladness, the happiness of being in Him, trusting in Him for salvation, full and free. And Father, we thank Thee. Lord, as we've just been singing this evening, He is the One who bore our misery, who lifted us, who took us out of the darkness. Lord, out of the misery, the deep pit of sin. And Lord, now we stand upon that solid rock, which is Christ Jesus Himself. And Lord, we know and understand that all of the ground is just sinking sand. But Father, through our Redeemer, through our Lord Jesus Christ, we come this evening and we've come to worship Thee, the Creator, the One who threw the stars into the sky, the One who has formed the universe and everything in it. Lord, we gaze at these stars of a night. We see them in their hundreds, their thousands. How many, Lord? We know not. But we know the One who made them, the One who designed it all, the architect and builder, the One who framed the world and everything in it, the One who gave us our very being. and the one who holds our very next breath in his hands, God Almighty, the triune God, the faithful covenant Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we worship thee this evening. And we pray, Father, by the energy, the power of thy Holy Spirit, his presence here amongst us this evening, that he would lift our hearts from the drudge and the misery of the world. Lord, we look We look out in that world day by day. Lord, we see the news. We hear of the pain and the death, the misery. Lord, all the sadness and sickness and all the sin and degradation. But Lord, here in this hour, we've come apart to be with Thee, to shut ourselves in with our God, with our covenant Lord. And Lord, we pray that we might be mindful of no presence but Thine and no voice but Thine. And we pray, Heavenly Father, that all the things of the world, Lord, in this evening hour would grow strangely dim, Lord, closed out from our minds, and that we might be taken up with the majesty of Heaven, even our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who is alive from the dead and alive forevermore. We worship a living Savior, not a dead prophet. And Father, we thank Thee that our Lord Jesus Christ, because of what He has done accomplished, because of His resurrection, we live too and we shall live forever too. And Father, we thank Thee, Lord, that when we are done, when we are finished on this earth, We have a home. We have a mansion in the sky as we say. We have, O Lord, a heaven to go to. And Father, we pray, Lord, that as we walk through the course of this world, our pilgrimage, we pray, Father, that we might ever and always be mindful Lord, while we are in the body, while we have the strength and the power, while we have the presence of mind, that we might serve Thee and Thee alone, worship Thee and Thee alone, that, Father, we might walk in covenant obedience with Thee. And, Father, we pray that, Lord, that our minds might be focused upon our goal. And our goal is God, is the throne, is the lamb in the midst of the throne. Lord, that's our destination. That's our final resting place, not in this world. Father, we have no part with this world. We are just strangers. We are pilgrims. We are just passing through. And so we pray that we might hold lightly to all the things of the world. And Lord, that Thy behest be ready to let them go and to fly away to heaven. Oh, Father, help us, Lord, to look forward to that day. We don't look, Lord, to it with fear. Lord, death has no hold on us, no power on us any more, Lord. We are set free from sin and from death and hell. There's no fear of judgment with us. The condemnation is gone because our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, bore it all in His own body on the tree. and now we are thy free people we are our slaves of God and of Jesus Christ and we are happy delighted to be so slaves unto righteousness and father we pray lord as we study thy word even this very evening that we might be trained and equipped and help lord to live unto righteousness. Lord, there was a time, there was a day, when we lived in darkness, we cared nothing for the things of God and the principles of Thy Word. But now, Father, there are delight to our souls. Now, Father, we hunger and we thirst after such. Now, it's our delight to be here together, a company of Thy people. Lord that has told us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together and Lord we would not, our desires to be here and we pray that thou hast increased that desire and that that desire be never taken from us. And Lord, please, O Lord, as we study Thy work together, that Thou hast enlightened us, illumined our minds, and Lord, teach us and train us to walk through the course of this world in obedience to Thee. That Lord, please, that we might, every one of us in this room, when we step out of these bodies into eternity, that we might hear those wonderful, wonderful words of our Saviour. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Lord, our desire is to serve Thee and to serve Thee faithfully. Lord, to speak Thy truth and to do it in love, but to do it faithfully, without compromise. And we pray that Thou help us so today with boldness and courage. And we pray, Father, please, that as Thy people, that we would stand one together, united in the things of Christ. And Lord, Lord, we bring those of our number who are not with us this evening. We pray for Debbie, that thou would bless her with her family at this time. Refresh her and strengthen her spiritually. And Lord, give her the comfort and the closeness, a sense of the nearness of thy Holy Spirit tonight. Lord, please encourage her in the way. And Lord, we pray for Andrew too, who's normally with us this Sunday morning. Lord, please, that thy truth would be, or that his mind would be impregnated with it, that it would never leave him. and that thou wouldst cause it to be effective to his salvation. And Lord, we bring our sister Mary to thee tonight. We pray for thy blessing, thy healing. Touch upon her. Lord, restore her. Remove this deep-seated cough and cold and give her relief from it, even this very night, Lord. Touch her body and make her well. And grant, Father, please, that she might be restored very, very soon to our fellowship. Lord we love her and pray for her that thou wouldst bless her very much this evening and then Lord we pray for our sister Pat we bring her to thee once again and pray Lord please bring her out of this darkness and once again Lord shine the light in our heart and mind and Lord cause her to see Lord that thou dost care for her cause her to see thou art the one who is the cause thou art the one who has brought her out to the place where she's been and done it for a good reason, for a purpose, for her own good even. But Lord, please help her to understand this, that everything, absolutely everything that falls out to her, everything that's done is of thy will, and it's for the good of thy people, it's for her good. And we pray Heavenly Father that she begins to understand this. That she would see a Father's hand of love upon her. One who cares for her intimately and one who cares for her infinitely. And Lord, let us be pleased to bring her, Lord, to this place once again, to company with thy people and to worship thee, the true and living God. So Lord, we pray for all of these people. Bless them each and every one. Encourage them in the things of thyself. And Lord, now as we turn to thy precious word once again, we thank thee for it, the book of God. We thank Thee, Lord, this is Holy Spirit inspired, this is the voice of Thy Spirit. And as He speaks to us this evening, O Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst open our ears. Remove all the rubbish, all the debris, Lord, that's gathered in there, all the stuff of the world that makes us deaf to the voice of God. and give us ears to hear, hearts, Lord, to believe, and wills to obey everything, Lord, that thou dost command us. So, Lord, please come to us and bless us and illumine our minds. Give us thy Holy Spirit without measure. Come, Lord, and bathe us in the Spirit of God once again. Give us a drink of living water. Refresh our souls, Lord, in thy presence. And grant, Lord, please, that we might be filled again with joy and with peace as we believe, Lord, thine every word. Forgive and pardon our many, many sins. They are of innumerable, Lord, for number. but we pray that thou hast blot them out every one, cleanse us in the precious blood once again, and pour out thy Spirit upon us, because we ask these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We turn with me again to the Acts of the Apostles, please, to chapter 1 and those verses that we've read already in our service and we come now this evening to the subject of the twelfth apostle. One, of course, as we know and understand, is missing. But what a thrill and encouragement to have so many people gather together in prayer. 120. And what a contrast is this. What a contrast. After the picture, you know, that we're given at the cross, when there was fear and unbelief, disappointment, negative everything, everybody was demoralized, they thought it was all over. John 20 verse 19, then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear, for fear of the Jews. And then of course came Jesus and said, Peace be unto you. But there was a spirit of fear, demoralization. And now here's 120 gathered together for prayer and with a sense of being caught up into the will and to the working of God. We remind ourselves, of course, some things just don't seem ever to change, but there was over 500 people, or at least 500 people, who saw the risen Christ. So why is there only 120 at the prayer meeting? gathered for prayer. Some of course doubtless, some have absented themselves as of necessity, some out of choice. And some, well some maybe were there at the first sessions but weren't able to stay for the latter sessions. But you know it is, well I do have to say it is so important that, you know as I said, as I commented in prayer that you know we're instructed, we're commanded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, whether it be for prayer or whether it be for worship. Our desire should be to be here with the Lord's people in the Lord's presence. And if that desire is not there, for whatever reason, there's something wrong. We should be consumed with that desire. We should be all week long, we should be eager, we should be waiting for Sunday for the first day of the week. And of course the other thing is that when we're not present, when you're not present for whatever reason, for any reason whatsoever, That's a great discouragement to other people because there's somebody in that congregation you can guarantee is looking up as people come through the door. Oh is so-and-so here today? Is so-and-so here tonight? And they don't see them and they're discouraged. You discourage the brethren when you absent yourself from any meeting. But, as I say, some is of necessity. There will be some people who are elderly to look after, some who will have animals to look after, and so on and so forth. There are times when there are legitimate reasons why people can't be at a meeting. That has to be understood and acknowledged. But one reference in verse 14 before we move on is this reference to brethren and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brethren. Now what does that mean? Now some say it means the Lord's brothers in the flesh that is. Is it his natural brothers or is it a reference to the spiritual brethren? You know we speak about the brethren meaning you know the church in general. Well, I think it's the latter. I think it's the spiritual brethren. Because, right after Mary, we read, not her sons. You would think, wouldn't you? It would say, Mary and her sons, rather than his brethren. See what I mean? But why is the mention, why does it say, speak of the relation to Jesus and not to her, not to Mary? Well, Mary's place, you see, she was placed under John's care. Why? Well, because, you see, the other brothers of the Lord Jesus, that is, the brothers in the flesh, they weren't believers. In John 7 verse 3, his brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world, for neither did his brethren believe in him. Now there was a point, I don't know about the others, but I know that James, James the Lord's brother, came to faith. But when he came to faith, we have no way of knowing. He was numbered amongst the disciples. He was martyred earlier on in the history of the church. But you see, they were not believers. So Mary, you see, a believing woman, she was placed not under their care, but she was placed under the Apostle John's care. because he would care for her spiritual needs as well as just her temporal needs. Our sons, her other sons, you see, would be incapable of giving her that. So now the brethren, brethren, is the standard designation for disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The upper room is somebody's house or the temple courts, it's unknown where that was. But one's missing and that's Judas and Jesus hasn't appointed any substitute, someone to take his place, so perhaps maybe the 11 must have, well I don't say must have, but may have discussed the issue prior to the action that's taken here. But the number of course must be 12. Jesus of course implied this, didn't he? you know, matching the 12 patriarchs, the 12 tribes of Israel and of course the apostles were told that they would judge the 12 tribes of Israel so there has to be 12 of them. So, who is the 12th man to be? Is it Matthias? Is this the man? But notice, and this is an important point, that the apostles don't act by themselves And this is a pattern. This is a pattern for the New Testament church. The apostles lead. They lead. But the decision ultimately is made by the gathered church. Not democracy. Not democracy. No place for democracy in the New Testament church. It is a led church. It is led by its officers. But there are important decisions that are made by the gathered church. This is one of them. So, first and foremost, the decision with regards to the appointment of Matthias. The number gathers about 120. There's nothing symbolical about that number. The only reason the numbers mentioned here, it would seem to me, is, well, one is to show that it was the church that acted together, and two, to show the ratio of the increase in disciples. Now, it seems natural that Peter would assume the chair. He was a natural leader, not by any right, not by any authority, not because he was superior to the other apostles. In fact, I would say the exact opposite, because of his fall, because of his denial. They were all on a level standing. not by any right, not by any authority, but just by a general consent of the other ten apostles. So they're gathered here in the upper room, Peter takes the lead, and there's a spirit of expectancy, the impending promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's a wonderful, a lovely spirit of harmony and fellowship amongst them that all of one accord Peter takes the lead and it seems that there's a willingness by the people to be led. That's wonderful because that's not always the case in the church is it? Plus there's the assumption of course by the people that they'll be led by these men in the right way. Now they've been waiting for 10 days and they're longing, longing for the fulfilment of the Lord's promise but shouldn't that beloved, shouldn't that mark every prayer meeting? Do you know? They don't know exactly what to expect, but they're looking for something wonderful to happen and they're not going to miss it. These 120, they're not going to miss it by neglect, by absence. And that's another good reason for not missing the prayer meeting. Because you just don't know, beloved. Wouldn't it be sad? Wouldn't it be sad if you were... I'm not talking about absence by necessity, but, you know, if you were sitting in front of the telly with your feet up and just couldn't care less about the prayer meeting and the Lord came on that occasion amongst his people in a very special way and blessed his people. You just don't know what's going to happen at a prayer meeting. You just don't know when the Lord's going to come. We pray for His blessing. We pray for increase. We pray for His Spirit. We pray for the Lord to be working amongst us. What if He came? What if He came in great power and a fusion of His Holy Spirit poured out upon us and you couldn't be bothered coming? Oh Jan, I'm tired. Not tonight, next week. And so it's during prayer that they address this subject of the 12th man. Now there's no record of Jesus telling them to replace Judas. So it seems proper to the church to act. The officers are not to lord it over the church. Peter's address here is to it seems to the men and brethren suggesting someone has said suggesting that only men were present to conduct the actual business now whether that's so or not we can't prove that but it's a sound principle it's a sound principle because the men should lead yeah The church officers should lead the church and then the church officers come to the gathered church and tell them what they have decided and give the church guidance, say this is what we believe you should do. And then of course the church in the presence of the Lord votes accordingly. So the principle is sound. You see, in the Acts of the Apostles, you have the bones, you have the principles laid down for church government. It's not just left to our own devices, to our own fancy. People say, well, business of church government doesn't really matter. You know, some people like independency, some people like Presbyterianism, some people like Episcopalianism, and so on and so forth. There are principles laid down in the Word of God, how the church should be governed. And it's developed, of course, in further epistles. Now Peter takes them back to the Old Testament scriptures, but does he bring them to the right conclusion? That's the question. Is this the old impulsive Peter? He's a natural leader, but he's been guilty before. Remember John 21 verse 3? Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. And they say unto him, we also go with thee. We've seen this impulsiveness in Peter time and time again. Is this it once again? He's sincere. He's always, beloved, he is always sincere. We give him that wholeheartedly. He's an apostle and the writings of the apostles we decree, they are infallible. But the man himself is not infallible. He's not perfect. None of them were. And even a praying fellowship is not infallible either. There is an enemy, beloved, whose business is to sow tears and to cause confusion. Now it begins with an Old Testament prediction and notice the reference notice the reference here to inspiration in verse 16. Men and brethren this scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas. The word of God is not man's word the means by which the Holy Spirit speaks to us is through His Word. And of course, that is a wonderful, wonderful affirmation of the inspiration of Holy Scripture. And of course he refers to, in this instance, he refers to the desolation in Judas' family because of his desertion. Psalm 69 verse 25, let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. You see his whole family were affected, the whole clan would be affected by his disaffection, his desertion. We touched on this in Luke's Gospel, so I'm not going to go over it again. And then, plus, is his replacement. Psalm 109, verse 8. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Peter, he harks back to the Old Testament. He says, now this refers, it refers in the first instance to David's enemies, to David's foes. But David was a type of Christ. and the experiences that David went through, his enemies, you see, they're a type of the experiences prophetic of the Lord Jesus Christ. So these foes are a type of Judas. Now Peter's been taught well. Now he has a grasp of scripture like he never had before. He interprets the scripture. He interprets these verses. He interprets the Psalms correctly. He's absolutely right in his interpretation. But is his conclusion right? His conclusion, verse 21 and 22. Wherefore of these men which accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus was in and out amongst us, let one of them be ordained as an apostle. Is that the right conclusion? Is that the right application? Two men are suggested, Joseph and Matthias, as being the fittest. And then prayerfully it's put to the lot. And of course, the lot falls to Matthias. So was this selection, this appointment, was it right? Or did Peter move impulsively here? Did he run before the Lord? Well the answer to the question is, in my opinion, is that yes he did. It was a wrong, it was a wrong appointment. Now I say that, it's something, I've read this time and time again through my Christian experience and it's never laid comfortable with me But I've never known exactly why. Sometimes I thought to myself, well, Matthias is never mentioned again. That seems strange. If he was an apostle, then surely we'd have read, heard something about his future involvement in the work of the church. Well, we don't. But of course, there are other apostles that aren't mentioned either. So that's no ground for discarding him. It's an incorrect appointment. for serious objections. Paul is emphatic about his office. He says in 1 Corinthians 9.1, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you for the seal of mine apostleship. Are ye in the Lord? He is adamant, he is emphatic about his office, his apostolic office. Now if there's a significance in the number 12, and there is for reasons that I've already mentioned, then that Paul makes number 13. Now, if there's significance in the number 12, if the number needs to be 12 and Paul makes it 13, then that throws everything out of sync. There cannot be 13. There aren't 13 patriarchs and there aren't 13 tribes of Israel. Also, if it's essential that an apostle be called directly and immediately, personally, by the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is, then Paul fits that requirement, but Matthias doesn't, the lot notwithstanding. Also for the appointment, this appointment is very important, because these men and their doctrine, they are the foundation of the New Testament Church, Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone. They ought to have acted in this instance, the importance of this matter, they ought to have acted only on the command of the Lord Jesus Christ. and if the matter was as urgent as Peter makes it out to be here, wouldn't the Lord Jesus Christ during those 40 days when he ministered to them such an important matter as this, wouldn't he have said to them, such and such must take the place of Judas? As soon as I'm gone, as soon as I'm out of here, then you must get yourself another apostle, somebody to stand in Judas' place, but he doesn't do that. They have no command from the Lord to do this. So we conclude, not Matthias, but Paul, the apostle Paul, is Judas' replacement. And Peter, as on former occasions, As we have seen him, it's just a bit too quick. Off the mark. He jumped to a conclusion that was wrong. Now, it was done in a godly way. It was done in a reverent fashion. It was done with reference to the scriptures. It was done with prayer in the presence of God's people. But Peter knew nothing about Saul of Tarsus. He knew nothing of this man at this juncture except that maybe, just maybe, he was a possible threat to the cause of Jesus Christ at that present time. But perhaps maybe this is the issue. Maybe here there's a perpetuation of the Old Testament framework of thinking the Jewish psyche. You know? 26 and they gave forth their lots and the lot fell upon Matthias. That's Old Testament practice. This is the Old Testament framework of thinking. That now belonged to the past. The Lord Jesus Christ has died, has risen from the dead, has ascended up into heaven. The Old Testament framework of thinking. belongs to the past and later Peter of course is found at cross purposes with the Lord in Acts chapter 11 the Lord wants him to go and to minister to Cornelius and of course he's arguing with the Lord he's saying not me Lord I never touched anything I'm a good Jew I never touched anything unclean no Gentile I'm not going to minister to some Gentile and the Lord of course has to work supernaturally in order to get the Jewishness out of this man's mind. But even then he's not completely clear of it because in Galatians Paul has to upbraid him publicly. He has to confront him and challenge him for laying Jewish principles upon the Galatian Christians. And he's rebuked publicly for it. So you see, the narrow Jewish thinking had to be changed. But there are two lessons here. And one is, you see that guidance, even with an appeal to the Bible, guidance, even with an appeal to the Bible, covered in prayer, even by the fellowship of God's people, and even with what we think to be the prompting of God's Spirit, can be wrong. Because the bottom line here is, no action was needed. No action was needed. It wasn't necessary. They should have just left it with the Lord. And the second thing is, the comforting thing about this is that in spite of this wrong conclusion, this incorrect avoidment, it didn't hinder the work. the Lord overruled. But secondly, we have the defection of Judas. We have to go back over these verses. Verse 16, men and brethren, referring again to the Scriptures. Peter here, he speaks, he's not altogether wrong. Wrong about Matthias, yes, but not Judas. And about the Scripture, of course, he's right also. You see, before this was a closed book to these men. But now he has a grasp. Now he understands the scriptures in a way that he never did before. And this is very acute. This is very good reasoning. He's absolutely spot on with regards to his interpretation. But it highlights the fact, as you see, beloved, that the Spirit of God is needed. The Bible is a closed book to anybody. without the Spirit of God. How many people could testify to in the past having picked up the Bible and found nothing in it at all whatsoever. Who could possibly read this dry and dusty old book but then they've been born again by the Spirit of God and they turn to it and they find absolute and utter delight in it. Because the special understanding has been opened. And that's what happened to these men. Luke 24, verse 44, remember? He said unto them, These are the words which I speak unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Peter understands them now. And Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 12 so he tells us here verse 16 the prophecy fulfilled look at the words must needs have been fulfilled the scripture concerning Judas had to be fulfilled If it's written in the Word of God, if it's there in the pages, bright and fair, whatever it is, beloved, you can guarantee it will come to pass. It must needs do so. If God has spoken it. And what he says, you see, is based upon God's Word. intimating that the scriptures authentic inexorably it must be fulfilled because it is the product of the Holy Ghost. Peter well well grasped this. He wrote later on in 2 Peter 1.20, knowing this verse, that no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but the holy men of God spake as they were moved, as they were borne along by the Holy Ghost to write the things that they wrote. It is the product, it is the voice of the Spirit of God. He uses the agency. He uses the mouse and depends of men. In this case, it's David who's the channel. That's how the Spirit of God speaks. That's how he communicates to us. It's no less than the Word of God. So what do I do? When I hear a voice in my head, or I think I hear a voice in my head, all this mystical nonsense is floating about these days. What do I do with it? Well, on my computer I've got a little wastebasket, a picture of a wastebasket at the bottom corner of the screen. And if there's something I want to get rid of, I drag it down to the wastebasket and it goes, and it's gone. I stick it in the trash can. That's what I do if I hear a voice in my head or any other voice or anything else that doesn't come from the Word of God, from the Scriptures, the trash can. That's where it belongs. To be led by the Spirit is to be led by His Word. To walk in the Spirit is to walk by the principles of His Word. This is the voice of the Spirit. So the prophecy of the willful betrayal of Judas is verified. His defection, his apostasy on the dark night of Gethsemane, it was prophesied and it was fulfilled that night. Now some say, some accuse Peter here of being harsh as he speaks about Judas. Well, there's two things that are wrong with that. One is that, well, if Peter's been harsh, then the Holy Spirit's been harsh. Because his words, his words are inspired too. So, you know, that's a double accusation. But on the contrary, I think his words are very mild. And the reason for his mildness, I think, is because when he thinks of that dark night in Gethsemane, it brings to his own mind, it brings him back to his own denial of the Lord Jesus Christ on the same night, the same occasion. And the only thing that prevented Peter from falling completely, from apostatizing finally to just like Judas, was his master's intercession. Luke 22, 31, the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee. The grace of the Son of God. That's all. That's the only difference between the two men. Who makes you to differ, the Apostle says. 1 Corinthians 4.11 For who maketh ye to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? So, beloved, we do not rejoice in the fall of any man. That is not a cause for rejoicing. And neither is it a cause for proud arrogance. Neither is it. No, it's a cause. It's a cause for weeping. It should break our hearts to see anyone fall, anyone stumble, and especially so to this extent. And it should cause us to make sure. It should cause us to tremble in our innermost being and cause us to make sure that we have closed with Jesus Christ and that we have a sure and a real interest in Him. Because that's the only safe ground. Judas was in a very privileged position, Peter reminds us in verses 17 and 18. For he was numbered with us and had obtained part of this ministry. Not just in name, not just in appearance, but he had a personal participation in this ministry. He wasn't just there to make up the numbers, he was one of that sacred number, one of the twelve, chosen and appointed by Jesus Christ himself. So the circumstances from which he fell heightened the atrocity of his crime. Shows the height from which he fell. So, beloved, we must guard against. We must guard against self-righteousness. No believer, no true believer can ever get to the place where Judas is at. Be assured of that. I'll come back to that in due course. I want to put fear where there should be no fear. That cannot happen. But we must learn the lessons. And we must guard ourselves against self-righteousness. Wherefore let him that thinketh, he standeth, take heed lest he falleth, says Paul, in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12. And he's speaking about those who perished in the wilderness. Instead of gloating, instead of self-righteously saying, oh, you know, I'd never do that. That never happened to me. Paul inserts a warning there. He says, let him who thinks he stands, you be careful lest you fall. If you think that place, a privileged position, if you think that place, position and authority, even ministry, makes you invincible, then I tell you, you're deluded. In fact, that makes you more vulnerable. You step into ministry, you put a target on your back and Satan is gunning for you. Verse 18, Judas didn't go out and buy a field, that's not what it meant. But by throwing the silver down on the temple floor before the priests and going out and hanging himself, Matthew gives us a clearer picture. Matthew 27 verse 3, Judas. which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, what is that to us? See thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, it is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. and they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in, wherefore that field was called the field of blood unto this day. It was the priests who bought the field. He left, Judas left the priests with a problem. What to do with the blood money, the betrayal money? and they solved it by buying this piece of ground, this plot of land, making it the potter's field, as they called it. And Peter here supplies us with the gruesome details. Judas hangs himself, obviously from such a height, the rope breaks for some reason, or perhaps it was the way that he did the thing, but he falls from a great height and he's splattered all over the sidewalk. His fall was obviously violent because his body broke asunder. Athiophel in the Old Testament is another type of Judas. He was a betrayer, a traitor as well, who hanged himself. The end of the traitor is a terrible one. Hence, blood money. Hence, the field of blood. That's the proper name. Akkodama. Akkodama. He betrayed innocent blood. His suicide, Peter tells us, verses 19 and 20, he tells us it was common knowledge. It was known unto all the dwellers in Jerusalem. It's common knowledge. Everybody knew about it. And as we've seen, of course, it left a vacancy. His bishopric. Now, this is a word that I want to pick up on, because in the Acts of the Apostles, as I say, the foundations for church government are laid down. And this word will come up again, and so that's why I want to mention it, lay hold upon it here while we're at it. Store it in the back of your mind, and you'll perhaps remember what was said. The Greek word that underlies the word is Episkopen, which is where we get the word Episcopal from. It's interchanged in other places in the New Testament, for instance the pastoral epistles where Paul deals with church officers. He uses the word Presbyterus, which is where we get the word Presbyter or Presbyterian from. And sometimes he uses the word elder. They're all interchangeable, but they all mean the same thing. 1 Timothy 3 verse 1, if a man desire the office of a bishop, an elder that is, an elder. He desires a good work. So, you see, it's about, the word denotes rulership, government, exercised over the church, and in Judas' case, of course, it was apostleship. Now, it is scarcely necessary to add that Peter did not intend any office, any office that corresponds to what we know today in our environment understand by the term bishop. Episcopalianism, prelacy. If I could take you back to 1640 when the good man of England Oliver Cromwell was around when he heard Charles the King was trying to thrust potpourri on Scotland and Scotland took his prayer book and threw it in his face and this absolutely delighted Oliver Cromwell and he could see because he was a believing man he was a fine Christian man was Cromwell one of England's finest And he could see there was a fight coming, this was just prior to, on the edges of the civil war. But there came out of that in 1644-ish and following. The Westminster divines, a group of divines from Scotland, England and Ireland gathered together at Westminster and they over a period of two years of consultation and conference They devised the Westminster Confession of Faith, the shorter and larger catechisms, all which are still with us, and the solemn League and Covenant, whereby these men brought the nation, the three nations, England, Ireland and Scotland, to a denunciation of all prelacy, one of the things in that solemnly in covenant, we will fight against, we will war against, all popery, all prelacy, archbishops and deacons and such like. Anything that is the smites of an unbiblical government. Their desire was to bring about a uniformity of worship within the nation. instead of this crazy, crazy confusion, utter confusion that we see at this day in our land. Alas, alas, England clung to its potpourri, it's always loved it, never get rid of it altogether and to its prelacy, Hence the Church of England at this day still has its archbishops and archdeacons and all its prelacy. That's not what Peter means by the word bishopric here. And then of course there was the invasion of the Anabaptists from the continent and both Popery and Darminism prevailed in England. And that's just about what you're left with today. Mostly. Mostly. I have a friend, a minister, who is an independent, believes to some extent, I think he's only half committed myself to it, to independent government, you know, each and every church doing its own thing. But I hear him moaning. I hear him crying about it. This independence he says has gone mad. Absolutely start raving mad. Everybody just doing what's right in their own eyes. Every church. You have a few churches, one or two, where you've got a strong minister in the pulpit and of course that holds it, that's an anchor. But take him away and put something else in and that will go like the rest. But the Bible lays down a form of church government. There is a scriptural form of church government that guards against that. That is what those Westminster divines sought to do to bring about a uniformity of religion, i.e. Presbyterian government. Only a return to that will bring an end to the crazy confusion, the madness that you see in England today. Nothing else. Neither ancient or modern innovations will do us. We must strive for reformation, for a biblical pattern in all areas of church life. If it's commanded, it's to be done. If it is not commanded, then it is not to be done. And the cost to you and I, the cost to you and I, is of no account. God must be obeyed. So, but what is of account is the Gospel. Judas was driven of course by Satan. That was made clear to us in Luke 22 and verse 3. Then entered Satan into Judas. Surname Discariat being of the number of the twelve. He was driven, he was possessed of Satan and he was driven to do what he did by Satan. And Satan's designs and devices of course we know are cruel and relentless and the unbelieving world we are told we're told by the Apostle is in the grip of Satan what John 5 19 the whole world lieth in wickedness under the slave the wicked one Ephesians 2 verse 2 according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience And unbelievers tend to be of the devil because he or she lives sinfully in rebellion against God. So you see what I'm saying is, beloved, that the only security, the only security against this cataclysmic fall, this catastrophic fall of Judas's, the only security against that is to be in Christ. Because there in Christ you are untouchable, you are free from his jurisdiction. Again 1 John chapter 5, this time verse 18, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. The word touch means grasp. He is outside of his grasp. He cannot grasp you. He cannot recapture you. because you are kept by Christ, He cannot, He hasn't got the power and the strength to take you out of the hand of Christ in which you are placed. So the Christian, the believer no longer breathes the poisoned atmosphere that is impregnated by the serpent's venom. The Christian, the believer is governed not by Satan but by God's Word and Spirit. And day by day, they clothe themselves in the armor that God has provided for them. In Christ, in their glorious Redeemer, they can face the devil and his assaults. They can face the dark hosts of Satan fearlessly, knowing that he has got nothing on them at all, because Satan has nothing on our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the victory that overcometh the world. This is the victory that overcometh all evil, beloved. This evil to which Judas fell prey. This is the answer. This is the only answer. This is the victory that overcometh the world and the world that lies under the sway of the wicked one. This is the victory. Our faith in Jesus Christ. There you are safe and you are safe forever. No one can touch you, not even Satan. So do you believe? That is the question. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you call? Have you called upon his name? Are you clothed upon with the armor of God? Are you untouchable? on whose side of the fence have you or will you fall? Jesus says you are either with me or you're against me, you're either for me or you're without me. But if you will believe, if you will repent of your sin and you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. Amen.