Elder Ron Gannon - The Twelve Apostles II

[0:00] Well, this morning we're going to continue the series I started about the 12 apostles last week. And last week we finished up with Jesus calling the 12 apostles.

[0:10] He called the 12 disciples up on the mountain after he had prayed, and he chose 12 apostles. Jesus, when finished, he will use these 12 selected men he chose and called apostles.

[0:24] His disciples, these 12, had been traveling with him. As these disciples, he'd been traveling with them. He'd been watching Jesus go into the crowds teaching. He saw him going into the synagogues and teaching and preaching there.

[0:38] And these disciples had heard him minister, and they were being trained. And that's what Jesus was doing with us. Now it's their turn to go out. And this is our first mission that Christ gives them as we read here in Matthew chapter 10.

[0:52] He tells them, do not go into the way of the Gentiles. This is a pattern of the gospel. It was for who? It was for the Jew first.

[1:05] As we go through the gospels, we know that John the Baptist came. And then when Jesus came, he was always preaching first to the Jews.

[1:15] That's who the ministry was for. That's who it was for. It says, do not go into the way of the Gentiles. The gospel would go to them. They would eventually go to both, the Jew and the Gentiles.

[1:28] But at this point in the scriptures, Jesus wanted them just to go to the lost house of Israel. Do not go to the way of the Gentiles. Not even the Samaritans.

[1:38] And the Samaritans was a mixed race of Jews and Gentiles who had intermarried during the Old Testament. And when the Assyrians and the Babylonians took Israel into captivity back around A.D. 700.

[1:53] But he says, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. At this time, the Jews were like lost sheep. And that's what they were. That was based on the abuse and the neglect from the spiritual shepherds, which would have been the scribes, the priests, and the Pharisees at that point.

[2:11] Remember last week when we read Malachi, Jesus, he said Israel had backslidden. God was dissatisfied with them. And he was going to send a forewinter, John the Baptist, and then he was going to send Jesus in.

[2:27] God's intention was to reach the whole world, but first beginning with the nation of Israel. There was certainly enough work to be done among the lost house of Israel to keep them busy. The nation of Israel had to be prepared before the earthly killing could occur.

[2:42] And that's what Jesus was telling his disciples. To go out, prepare your fellow man, your fellow Jew, the nation of Israel. Verse 7 says, as you go, preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[2:56] Earlier in Matthew, we were told that that's what Jesus' message was. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The disciples brought that same message.

[3:08] Simply bringing it over a larger area. Now that Jesus had the 12 apostles, he could cover more area and reach more of the nation of Israel.

[3:20] We may also surmise that they were to repeat many of the themes found in the Sermon on the Mount, as we see in Matthew chapter 5 through chapter 7. Because that message tells what the kingdom of heaven was all about.

[3:32] There's no mention of them preaching in the synagogues. But we only see them going out into the streets. Going out and doing street ministry. And reaching the people through the street ministry.

[3:45] Verse 8 says, we see that their ministry will be accomplished by miraculous signs and wonders. Jesus gave them power. As we read there in Matthew chapter 1, verses 1 and 2.

[4:00] He gave them signs of miracles, healings, of all kinds of sign gifts that he had given them. This healing ministry was to serve as their credentials. The apostles' credentials.

[4:12] When they went about doing these things, they would know that they were there for a certain purpose. Remember, these were just common men who had no other credentials. They had no degrees. They had no big names behind them, doctor or anything like that.

[4:26] These were common men that Jesus had picked and chosen to go out and do this. So we see that this would be their ability to go out and show people that they had these signs from Jesus Christ.

[4:43] And of course, what was these signs for? He gave these people the ability to perform miracles, to heal. And they were all just for a sign.

[4:55] And the sign was for the fact that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, that the ones that they're proclaiming, was on board. He was here. Except this man, the Son of God.

[5:06] And these miracles, these things were a sign for these people. And when they seen them, many believed. Of course, we know that many did not believe. So we know that their credentials were verified by the facts that the things that they were able to do.

[5:22] They were to travel lightly, verses 9 and 10. How were they to provide for themselves? Jesus assures the apostles that no fundraising would be necessary. No special equipment needed to be acquired.

[5:35] They were just to go, just as they were. They were to travel lightly. And their wallet was to travel lightly also. They were not to be in the ministry for money.

[5:47] Jesus told them to go out. And when you go out to these cities, find a place to stay. And you would be provided the things that you would require during this trip. They were not sent out to do any deputation work like we know today.

[6:02] When a missionary gets a, when he feels that he wants to be a missionary, the first thing you have to do is out is go out and do deputation work. If you're going to be sent to the foreign field, you've got to have funds to do it.

[6:14] But not these men. These men on this first trip were to go out just as they were. Instead, they were to depend upon the Lord and upon the hospitality of his people for their upkeep.

[6:29] In Luke 9, it says, Departing, they began going through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. Preaching the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This became a real problem for some of the officials.

[6:41] If you turn to Luke in chapter 9, You're going to see this. And a lot of the people in that area at that point had a problem with what was going on.

[6:56] There was one thing dealing with Jesus going around and teaching and preaching and healing. But suddenly his ministry had just multiplied by 12. Can you imagine?

[7:07] Jesus was going out there reaching many, many people. But now he had 12 other men going out to do the same thing. This soon affected the attention of the civil government in Galileo.

[7:19] That government rested in the hands of Herod. Herod had been familiar with the ministry of John the Baptist. It was he who ordered John arrested and it was he who contend him to death.

[7:29] He had thought that this would be the end of this story. But instead, it was just beginning. Now, instead of John, there were 12 preachers traveling all through Galileo.

[7:41] Giving out this same message. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Verse 10 says, When the apostles returned, they gave an account to Jesus of all that they had done.

[7:53] What a wonderful time this must have been. To go out and minister and then come back together with Jesus. To be encouraged in all the things that God had accomplished through them. And we're going to see the rest of the Gospels accounts show that the 12 living and traveling with Jesus during his earthly ministry.

[8:11] And their consistent message was, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Again, this message is always to the nation of Israel first. As we continue through the Gospels, many times we see the Apostles believing who Jesus was.

[8:26] But not understanding fully some of the Jesus sayings and messages. Why? Because it just was not time yet for them to understand.

[8:37] All four Gospel accounts revealed Jesus and the Apostles feeding the 5,000. At the end of the meal, and after 12 baskets were collected as leftovers, the crowd saw these signs.

[8:52] After the crowd saw these signs, they said, This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. Again, what brought on this statement? It was a sign.

[9:05] It was a miracle. He had just turned five feasts into enough food to feed 5,000 people. These are the type of things that got people's attention.

[9:19] In Mark 8, Jesus asked the Apostles, Who do the people say I am? They said, Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. And others say one of the prophets. Then Jesus said to them, Who do you say I am?

[9:33] And this is where we hear Peter say, You are the Christ. He then began teaching them that he must suffer, be rejected by elders, and be killed.

[9:44] Then after three days, rise again. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him for saying this. Now can you imagine a teacher teaching these apostles and the Apostle Peter had enough gall to stand up and rebuke Jesus for saying that he was going to be put, or was going to disappear and die and be put on a cross.

[10:08] But that's exactly what Peter did because he didn't understand that. The time was not right for him to understand that. Peter takes him aside and rebukes him for saying this.

[10:19] But Jesus, in turn, rebukes Peter and says, Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God's interest, but only on man's interest. And we see that in Mark 8.

[10:33] Later we see Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to the mountain where he is transfigured. Jesus tells them there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.

[10:48] Now he was telling these three apostles that you most likely will still be alive when you see this kingdom come in and this power come in. Of course they didn't understand that it had to come after Jesus' death.

[11:04] And that's when he would bring in the kingdom. But he's telling them that they would be alive at that point. Of course we know as we go on through the scriptures that this never came about because the Jews just never accepted and brought this forward.

[11:22] Several changes occur close to the end of Jesus' ministry. We see these changes during the Last Supper discourse. At the Last Supper in the book of John, Jesus gives an extended sermon to his twelve apostles.

[11:33] This discourse resembles farewell speeches that we see today called Testaments in which a father or a religious leader often on deathbed leaves instructions for his children or for his followers.

[11:49] This discourse starts with his betrayal. And we see that in John chapter 13. If we can turn to that and you can follow what I'll be saying in John chapter 13.

[11:59] John. I just lost my battery. Am I on?

[12:14] Okay. John chapter 13. At the meal he said, One of my disciples is a child of the devil. The devil is going to use this disciple to carry out his purpose.

[12:27] As we read there in John chapter 13. When Jesus had said this he became troubled in spirit and testified and said, Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray me.

[12:41] The disciples may get going looking at one another at a loss to know which one he was speaking of. Of course Jesus knew and also Judas Iscariot knew and at once Satan entered into him.

[12:54] Why was Judas Iscariot chosen to be one of the twelve? Why was this traitor chosen? Did the Lord make a mistake? Did he choose the wrong man? Or out of all the men that he could have chosen why was this man chosen?

[13:10] We got to jump around a little bit but John 6 I don't think you have to turn there but in John 6 this is where Jesus gives the discord about being the bread of life coming down from heaven and you must eat of this bread to receive eternal life.

[13:24] And when he was giving this message to the people there and also to his disciples and the apostles they said this is a hard statement to take that we have to eat from this bread of life.

[13:38] And in that that's when he found out and he made this statement that there is many who do not believe and at that point many of those disciples that he had now I'm not talking about the apostles but the disciples left because of this statement.

[13:58] So he said but there are some who that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believe not and who would betray him. This verse makes it clear that Jesus did not make any mistake.

[14:08] From the very beginning he knew that Judas would betray him. In verse 70 there in John 13 it says I have not chosen you twelve yet one of you is a devil.

[14:19] Jesus was saying something like this I have chosen twelve apostles and one of them is on the devil's side. The devil is going to use Judas to carry out his own purpose by betraying Jesus.

[14:33] During supper the devil having already put into the heart of Judas to betray him he got up and left. God had a very important purpose for choosing Judas I believe.

[14:45] The Lord wanted the apostles and for us to learn something from this man the tragic life of Judas ought to be teaching us something that is very important such as it is possible to show outward indications of salvation and yet still not be saved.

[15:06] And we see that today don't we? There are people that can have these outward signs of salvation but yet down deep we know that they're not saved. Seven times in the gospel Jesus is described as one of the twelve he's described as one of the twelve.

[15:23] Jesus commanded twelve disciples including Judas to go forth and to preach the good news about the kingdom. As far as we know Judas actually did this. He went forth and preached the message repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[15:39] What is even more amazing is that Judas probably performed miracles. Jesus gave the twelve apostles including Judas power against unclean spirits and power to heal of all manner of sickness.

[15:52] It is very probable that there were people living in the land of Palestine who would say I was healed by Judas or I had a demon cast out by Judas. When the disciples returned from their first journey they did not say Lord in your name we were able to heal and to cast out demons but Lord something is wrong with Judas.

[16:15] He was not able to heal anyone and the demons would not obey him. No, every indication seems to include that Judas preached and performed miracles just like the other eleven disciples.

[16:28] Jesus had chosen him and he was being used. Perhaps Judas one day and I'm sure he'll say Lord, Lord have I not preached in your name? Have I not cast out demons in your name?

[16:40] And of course we know that Jesus said even as today some people say that Jesus will answer and say I never knew you depart from me you who have practiced lawlessness.

[16:52] The same is true today people can go through the outward motions and still not be saved. Can people preach and not be saved? That's probably a hard statement we don't think that most preachers that would get up here and preach and not have that salvation.

[17:10] But I'm sure somewhere there is there could be a pastor who preaches the gospel every Sunday who has not really accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into his life. Can people sing hymns and not be saved?

[17:25] Of course. Can a person pray and not be saved? Can a person witness and tell others about Christ and not be saved? Can a person read the Bible on a daily basis and not be saved?

[17:38] Another lesson that could be learned from this is possible to fool everybody but God.

[17:50] Judas failed to get his heart right with God but he succeeded in fooling all of his contemporaries. All the other disciples that there is no indication that they ever knew that there was something wrong with Judas.

[18:03] There is not a hint in the four gospels that the other eleven disciples ever suspected Judas or realized that he was a phony. In fact they seemed to trust him all the way to the end.

[18:15] What was Judas carrying there at the Last Supper? Judas served as a traitor of the disciples on the night that Judas was betrayed Judas still held that money bag. They still trusted him.

[18:29] Even at the very end the other disciples did not suspect that Judas was a traitor. During the Last Supper Jesus said to his disciples Verily I say unto you that one of you shall betray me. What did the disciples think at that point?

[18:44] What did they say? Did they say Lord it must be that good no good scoundrel Judas. We always knew that something was wrong with him.

[18:55] No that's not what they said at all. They said Lord is it I Lord. Judas fooled every one of them. He fooled everyone but the Lord and himself. And down deep we know that Judas knew that he was a phony.

[19:12] Another possible thing is it possible to be very close to the Lord and yet to end up lost forever. Very few people have ever been as close to the Lord as Judas was. Very few people have ever spent so much time with Jesus as Judas did.

[19:27] He had every opportunity and privilege to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He lived and ate and traveled and slept in the presence of the Son of God. What more could a man ask for?

[19:39] What more could a man be given than what he had been given? Yet here is what Jesus said about this man. The Son of God as it is written for him but woe unto the man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed would have been good for that man if he had not even been born.

[19:56] I want you to turn to John 17 chapter 17 verse 12 and this is what Jesus called Judas and here it says what does Jesus call Judas the son of perdition the man who will perish and who will be damned and lost and ruined forever in hell there's only one other man who is called the son of perdition in the Bible and who is that man that is the man of sin the Antichrist who we'll see talked about in the future there in 2nd Thessalonians as we see there the life of Judas ended in sad tragedy Judas knew his great sin but he never repented or changed his mind he never changed his mind instead he committed suicide by hanging himself after he went through all this and he betrayed

[20:56] Jesus he tried to take the money back even at this point he did not change his mind but he committed suicide but God would not let Judas get away with a simple hanging something even worse happened we learn in Acts 1 that Judas fell headlong and burst open into the middle and all his bowels gushed out no matter how terrible this death may sound it's nothing compared to the terrible eternity that Judas will have in hell as we go on through the last supper and other big changes occur Jesus starts his discourse letting the apostles know that he would soon be departing in John 13 verse 33 he tells them little children I am with you a little while longer but where I am going you cannot come and then Peter asked this question where are you going and why can't I follow you Lord I will lay down my life for you that Peter was always speaking up wasn't he but Jesus said Peter will you really lay down your life for me

[22:08] I tell you that a roaster will not crow before you deny me three times and of course we know the story of what happened after Jesus was arrested and he stopped before the leaders and out in the courtyard Peter denied Jesus three times in John 14 verse 3 he tells them I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may also be but Thomas said Lord we do not know where you are going how do we know the way and Jesus answers I am the way and the truth and the life no one comes to the father but through me at the last supper winds down Jesus tells his apostles these things I have spoken to you while I have died in with you but a helper the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance the things that I have said we see another big change in

[23:19] Luke's last supper discourse as he tells of his departure he states when I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals you did not lack anything did you and of course they answered and said nothing Lord but now and in the future whoever has a money belt is to take it along likewise also a bag and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one why would Jesus tell these apostles that he knew what was going to be happening he knew that as this message had been preached and it was now time for him to go to the cross and he knew when these apostles were to take on this job in the beginning of Acts to go out and proclaim this message that Jesus Christ crucified buried and risen again that they were going to face persecution they would go to their own people and they were going to need money because a lot of these people would not probably take them in and they may need this sword

[24:27] I don't think Jesus is telling them to take up their sword and kill somebody I think what he's telling them is you're going to face persecution you're going to face persecution so you need to be ready you need to be ready verse eight and Philip said show us the father and it is enough for us Jesus for I have been so long with you and yet you have not come to know me Philip he who has seen me has seen the father so you see he talks to these apostles during this last supper and he's given them some last things to think about before his crucifixion now as they moved to the garden of Gethsemane while he poured out his heart to the apostles what did they do well two times he came to them and they had fell asleep and he tells them at this time and you guys are sleeping he rebuked him twice for falling asleep and then

[25:36] Judas comes with the rosen soldiers and it's here again Peter quick Peter gets up and he cuts off the ear of one of the Roman soldiers and it's here again but we see Peter denying Jesus three times after this particular point after the last supper we really don't hear more of the twelve during the trials and the crucifixion except at the cross where Jesus tells his beloved John to take care of his mother this is the only then this is only recorded in the gospel of John after his resurrection Mary Magnum goes to the tomb and she saw that Jesus was gone and she told Peter and John and Jesus appears to Mary and says I ascend to my father and my God go tell the disciples what I have said then Jesus appears to the twelve to the eleven because Thomas is not there and breathed on them and said receive the Holy Spirit but when Thomas came he did not believe that they actually had saw him and after eight days

[26:41] Jesus appeared again to the disciples and Thomas was present and he told Thomas reach here and fill my hands and my side and then that's when Thomas said my Lord and my God he then appeared again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias where he again gave them a good catch of fish and he ate with them it's here after breakfast he asked Peter three times do you love me Peter see here that that Peter has gained some insight you remember back what Jesus said there at the last supper I've been with you and I told you these things but later a helper will come and they will remind you of the things that I said and it's at this point now after Jesus has been crucified and buried and was risen again that these things are starting to come back in Peter's mind and in the apostles mind of what exactly

[27:44] Jesus was teaching them and these are things that's coming back to them we see that he was not ready before the cross but now the Holy Spirit is bringing to Peter and to the others remembrance of all that Jesus had said while he was with them the gospels end with a great commission go therefore and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and of the holy ghost did the apostles do this well we're going to see as we open up the book of acts that this did not take place at this particular time because those apostles stayed right there in Jerusalem they didn't venture very far from see that they did not go out and witness to the world so that ends the gospels and with the twelve apostles and since I'm highlighting just the twelve apostles you can't stop with the four gospels you got to go on into the book of acts and that's where

[28:44] I'd like to go now and as I get into the book of acts I'm not going to do too much detail at all I'm just going to go from chapter to chapter and get a feeling for what these apostles did during this time in the book of acts and I think that during this book of acts this 30 period 30 years of period that the apostles were there of this ministry is the most important part of the Bible probably because this is where the saving grace that we know of today comes into being this is where the nation of Israel had a chance to accept their savior and to become this kingdom that Jesus had been preaching about but what we see as we get further into the book of acts that they rejected it and at that rejection Jesus turns it over and gives it to the Gentile population and that's where the churches begin and that's of course where all the epistles were written during this 30 year period so chapter one the book of acts

[29:47] Jesus and the eleven disciples were together again and they asked him is it at this time that you're restoring the kingdom of Israel they've been given new information they see now what Jesus was talking about and they say now Lord is this the time Jesus said it is not for you know the times but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you then Jesus was lifted up while they were looking on another part of chapter one the apostles are named again but this time without Judas Iscariot so there was only eleven named the apostles here chose at the end of chapter one a replacement for Judas Judas as we read we'll know that Matthias was the one that was chosen to replace Jesus there in Acts one verses twenty one through twenty six Acts chapter two the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles and he spoke in all known languages so that everyone present could hear this important message that

[30:50] Peter was about to preach we see here that tongues are used and we also see here that tongues was there for a very good purpose and that purpose was for language and I think that whole purpose for tongues was just a language and that's what these apostles were given they were given a gift to speak in all the different tongues of all these Jews who came in Jerusalem for Pentecost these men could not have understood Peter sitting there speaking because of the foreign language which they spoke Peter was given the opportunity to speak to all these people and to show them what Jesus Christ was going to do so they spoke in tongues and I'm sure it sounded very strange I'm sure it sounded strange just like if we went into a congregation today and tongues was being spoken during that service myself myself I've been in several services where tongues was being spoken

[31:53] I need to be speaking or spoken right speaking right to me it's a very frightening thing to go in and to hear all this garbage which is what I think it is but there it had a purpose and these people and I know the people were sitting on the sides those who were not Jewish and some of the Gentiles that may have they must be drunk what is going on all these weird sounds coming from these people standing up here preaching and of course we know what it was Peter was able to speak in the language of all these men that were standing there the Holy Spirit fell upon them and they had the capability to speak in different languages Peter preached saying this men of Israel this man Jesus who you saw and heard who performed miracles and wonders among you what was they for for a sign you nailed him to the cross but God raised him up again putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for him to be held under its power

[32:58] Peter then said therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain whom you crucified and they knew exactly what he was talking about they knew Jesus he had been there he had been preaching and he knew that these leaders put them on a cross and they crucified him some were pierced to the heart and asked what shall we do Peter said repent for each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and at that point 3,000 believed we move on into chapter 3 Peter and John give a lame man the ability to walk as they were going into the temple they preached at the temple adding to their number over 5,000 in chapter 4 as the people listened believed the priest and the Sadducees laid hands on John and Peter and put them in jail next day the rulers understood that they could not discredit

[34:05] Peter and John and told them to stop mentioning the name of Jesus but they say we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and what we have heard at that point the Pharisees and the rulers were wanting to put an end to these things that Peter and John were talking about they wanted to discredit them but they couldn't here there was a lame man lame from birth who was healed in front of all these people and again the healing was a sign and these people were taking it and people believed and these men could not deny what was going on these common men were just out there bringing all these new people to Jesus Christ as a new congregation comes together to support one another a man named Barnabas sells his apostles and this is the first time we hear about Barnabas and as these new churches started they all came together in a communal type living situation and they gave they sold their properties they sold everything so they could have shared food and shared lodging and what was the reason for doing this again they thought this kingdom of heaven was coming they expected it to be here anytime so they were talking about then we get into chapter five we see a man named

[35:33] Ananias and his wife and what do they do they're selling their land they were doing what they were other people were doing but what did they do that was different well they lied and when they asked him is this the amount of money that you received for your land and they said oh yes this is exactly what received for our land and at that point they were stricken dead and they were not together at the time the man died and the wife came in and gave the same story and of course at that time she was also stricken dead chapter six the twelve apostles appoint seven deacons to help so they can spend more time preaching and I think that's just a sign of how when the church is growing you are going to have more people so at that point they were doing deacons at that point there was women and some widows that was not being taken care of the apostles said we do not have the time to be able to do all these things so let's appoint some elders or deacons and that's where we get the leadership for the church that we see today we see our deacons we see elders whatever we want to call them here in our church we call them elders but they are to help the one that's the teacher of the church to run the church and to do things that they do not have time for so we see the same thing starting here in the book of

[36:59] Acts and they appoint 12 deacons Stephan Stephan is one of those deacons and at this point we're going to see that Stephan will go before the leadership and they will have a great sermon probably one of the better sermons in the Bible and we see Stephan get up before all the elders and all the leaders of the church and as Stephan gets up Stephan brought up he's brought up on false charges is why he's there to begin with because he's out preaching and as he's brought up before these rulers he gets up and he gives this great sermon his rebuke of Israel leaders and he highlights the Old Testament and describes their disobedience and unbelief and then states that Jesus the one they crucified was their Messiah this chapter and the next chapter he just outlines the whole Old Testament all the way from Abraham all the way to

[38:00] King David and all the way up to Jesus Christ being crucified and he says you the nation of Israel are the ones that put this man Jesus the son of God on the cross he called them betrayers and murderers and when they did it they just went hysterics and they said crucify kill this man stone this man is exactly what they did they sent him out into the court and they all took off their tunics and they stoned Stephen to death and that's when we're going to see the apostle Paul come on the scene a man named Saul was in hearty agreement to put Stephen to death and at this point in chapters 8 and 9 persecution starts for the church and the believers are scattered and they go and many start to preach and this is one of the things people say that some of these Jewish people had believed when this persecution started and they started spreading out and dispersing they would go to these towns and some of them would also be preaching so

[39:10] Jesus used all these people in chapter 9 Saul asked for a letter for the high priest so he can bring back believers to Jerusalem for trial and on the road to Manascus we see this is where Paul and Jesus says Saul Saul why are you persecuting me after Saul's conversion he immediately starts preaching Jesus Christ the son of God Jesus Christ crucified buried and resurrected the Lord said he is my chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the sons of Israel in chapter 10 we see we're going to see that Paul is for about a 14 year period he goes and he is taught by Jesus and he also goes to Jerusalem and he's brought along board by Barnabas and he is introduced to the 12 apostles but of course some of them still do not trust the apostle Paul but he is growing in that 14 year period then chapter 10

[40:13] Peter the apostle Peter has the vision of unclean food he goes to Cornelius a Gentile and this is something that Peter never thought that he would do in his lifetime he believes in others of his household believe Cornelius who is a Gentile he goes to the council Peter after this point after he baptizes them and he sees that these Gentiles through faith are believing that Jesus Christ is their Lord Savior and the Holy Spirit came upon them and Peter was just astounded how can this be Lord how can this be but he couldn't deny it because he is a witness he goes to the council and they cannot deny his words and they accept the fact that the Gentiles also received the word of God and they could also be saved now this had to take a lot of courage for Peter to go before the council because here again a Jew going to them and see them always going to the

[41:48] Jew first again the gospels all the way through where do you go first you go to the Jew first but when they do not believe they also go to the Gentiles because Paul had a special ministry to the Gentiles and Paul being a Jew said I'm going to go to my brothers first but if you don't believe I'm going to the Gentiles I'm going to the Gentiles we see that in the first missionary journey and after that journey well also there in Luke or not Luke but in Acts 14 we're going to see that this is the place where Barnabas is called an apostle in Acts 14 14 Luke the writer of Acts calls Barnabas an apostle chapter 15 council of Jerusalem some felt the Gentiles should be circumcised Peter defends Paul and Barnabas about the fact that these are Gentile believers and they should not have to go through the rite of circumcision and of course after lengthy discussion the council agrees with that later we're going to see that although

[43:00] Peter is up there defending this and Galatians as Galatians starts off Paul is criticizing Peter here's old Peter he's saying to the council of Jerusalem yeah I witnessed it these Gentiles accepted no circumcision is not required and they're just like us but when he went to Galatia or in Galatians Peter comes down and as he's there with the church he does not eat with the Gentiles he goes and just eats with his brother Jews and of course that's where Paul criticizes Peter and tells him that you're just you're walking the fence you're sitting on the fence or you're sitting in the middle of the road Peter you've got to get out of the middle of the road what what happens what happens in the middle road road kill Peter get out of the middle of the road because you're hurting the gospel you're hurting this new message that Jesus Christ died for all that all can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ you cannot put this

[44:01] Jewish law upon these Gentiles so at the court the council of Jerusalem we see that and we also see that that the James defends Paul and Barnabas about the circumcision of the Gentiles Paul's second missionary journey starts with a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas they split and go different ways Paul takes Timothy and Titus and Barnabas goes on his different way at that point of course the reason for that was because of the Mark and Mark went with him on the first journey and for some reason he disrupted the journey and said that he was quitting and going back and as they started the second journey Barnabas wanted to take I believe was a relative of Barnabas he wanted to take him along but Paul completely disagreed with that so an argument occurred and they decided just to separate and go different ways which was probably a good thing because then the message got done two different ways from these men

[45:04] Paul writes in 14 letters that go out to our canon of scripture today he wrote nine church letters written on his journeys and his first imprisonment he also wrote three pastoral letters while he was in his second imprisonment and he had two personal letters we also see that the apostle Paul although he said he did baptize another distinguishing factor here is in the book of Acts and as Paul writes some of his letters he wrote to the Corinthians and first Corinthians these people were separating each other by Peter said this Jesus said this Barnabas said this they were having divisions among themselves and one of the big divisions that they were having was about baptism and Paul here makes the statement I was not chosen to baptize although I baptized a few of you that is not my mission my mission is to preach

[46:13] Christ crucified buried and risen again that is my mission so baptism was not a part of Paul's mission as he went out and taught the Gentile population and that's pretty much where you're going to see the last of the apostles being preached again these apostles started James was the first apostle to die there and I forget which chapter it was I think it might have been chapter 12 or 14 of the book of Acts James was killed was he one of the original 12?

[46:52] no he wasn't one of the original 12 but well no I'm sorry he was and as he was killed we don't see any other apostles that were chosen at that point so one of the questions I had asked at the beginning was is there apostles today and we'll get into that a little bit later but I think if there were going to be apostles like the 12 apostles that Jesus Christ had chosen when James was killed I think they were chosen another apostle but at this particular point we see that the the acts ending up and as it was ending up the letters were being written the church letters were being written and the word of God was being finished and we see that the reason for apostles is probably coming to an end as we know it today so that pretty much ends the thing on the 12 apostles when I started I said I was going to ask hopefully answer some questions and I hope I've answered some of those questions during these two weeks one of those who were the original 12 apostles

[47:56] I think we answered that very well were the 12 called because of their special talent I don't think they were called because of special talent at all God chose the common man to go out and do this the 12 believe but did they understand and we found Jesus said the spirit would come Jesus chose a traitor among them traitor why and hopefully we answered that we're more called apostles other than the 12 and yeah we have to say there was Matthias was the one replaced by Judas of the original 12 Paul was called an apostle and we know that he was an apostle and Jesus Christ chose the apostle Paul so we can't say Paul was never an apostle would say that Barnas was called apostle there in Acts 14 14 James the brother of Jesus is called an apostle in

[48:56] Galatians 1 19 Jesus himself is called an apostle and a high priest of our confession in Hebrews chapter 3 so are there apostles today well by the definition of apostle I'm sure there's people out there today that said yes there's apostles today I know there's one religious group that have 12 apostles appointed which would be the Mormon church I believe had 12 apostles so yeah there's churches out there today there's religions out there today that say there is apostles out there my answer would be the apostles that we see here in the New Testament the apostles that Jesus Christ gave he gave them special talents he gave them gifts that I don't think today would be necessary and so I don't really think that we have apostles chosen today like the apostles were back in the New Testament that Jesus or that God appointed at that point well

[49:58] Judas Iscariot or Mathus be among the twelve to rule the twelve tribes and have their names upon the walls of the new Jerusalem I think that's pretty much the answer in itself when he called him the son of perdition I just cannot think that this man could ever be put on the twelve walls and that Mathus would be one of those twelve that would be doing this in conclusion Jesus meld his chosen ones with different personalities together with one common goal the advancement of God's kingdom Jesus used each apostle's abilities his strengths his frailties and failures for his purpose in the end these twelve apostles joined forces to proclaim Jesus Christ and glorified God Jesus included men of all types and all temperaments strong charismatic leaders and quiet personalities each member of the group was able to complement the other strengths and weaknesses to form a complete and functional unit back there in the

[51:05] New Testament and I think that's exactly what Jesus Christ is calling us to do today as a church he calls all kinds of us he gives us all gifts and they're all different gifts we are to use those gifts to benefit the church the body we have one body many many members and that's exactly the way the church is today each man except for that betrayer contributed to the best he had to offer and from the gifts God had given him God acts no less of us today any comments or questions I hope I answered those questions for you I know that I learned a lot doing this preparing for these lessons about the apostles and of course it always greatly benefits those who are doing that to teach and it helps a lot so if no questions we'll close in prayer father we just thank you today father we thank you for molding these twelve apostles in such a way that today we can understand your gospel and know for certain that we can have eternal life because of the death burial and resurrection of

[52:20] Jesus Christ we too will rise with him amen