5

Acts 1:20-26 THE QUALIFICATIONS OF AN EFFECTIVE WITNESS FOR JESUS

Introduction:

In our previous text the Apostle Peter gave two reasons why the church

should select a new apostle. The first reason was that the office of

apostleship had been left vacant by the death of Judas Iscariot. death of Judas

had left a vacancy in the office which he had held. The second was that Old

Testament Scripture instructed that his office should be filled. In our text

today the Apostle Peter sets forth the qualifications that one must have in

order to be chosen to fill this vacancy.

Now none of us will ever be elected as an apostle. But what Simon Peter

says about the qualifications for apostleship teach us something about the

qualifications that one must have in order to be an effective witness for Jesus

Christ.

I. A look back at the Scripture which Peter cited

Verse 20 of our text today was included in the text last Sunday, but there

are some things in that verse which were not covered in the message last Sunday

and so I want us to briefly examine that verse again. V. 20, ?For it is written

in the book of Psalms...? Then Peter proceeded to tell what was written in the

Psalms which had reference to the office of Judas Iscariot. Actually what Peter

did was to take two different verses of Scripture from the Psalms and combine

them together into one statement. The first part of Peter?s statement, ?...Let

his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein...? This was taken

from Psalm 69:25. Then he added ?...and his bishoprick let another take.? This

was taken from Psalm 109:8. Peter combined the two together into one

statement.

If you were to closely examine those two verses of Scripture from the

Psalms you would find that David did not intend for either of these two

statements to refer to Judas Iscariot. David knew nothing about Judas

Iscariot. David knew nothing about Judas betraying the Lord. He knew nothing

about the dwelling place of Judas being left desolate. He knew nothing about

the office of apostleship which Judas would leave vacant. David was talking

about something altogether different. But Peter said that the Holy Spirit of

God knew about Judas and that the Holy Spirit intended that David?s writing not

only apply to what David meant to apply to in his day, but that it should also

apply to Judas Iscariot and the office he would leave vacant. The Apostle Peter

said that through these Old Testament Scriptures the church was being instructed

by the Holy Spirit to fill this vacancy left by the death of Judas Iscariot.

II. A look at the question which Peter asked the church

V. 21-22, ?Wherefore of these men which have companied 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.? Simon Peter then asked the church

which one of all the qualified men which were in the church would they have to

fill the vacancy left by Judas.

Now this is a strange question if, in fact, the Apostle Peter was a pope

and had the authority to appoint a man to fill this vacancy. If Simon Peter

thought himself to have that authority, he would not have asked anybody who

should fill the vacancy. He would have just appointed someone and that would

have settled the matter. But Peter knowing that he did not have this kind of

authority from the Lord, inquired of the church whom they would select. He

asked the church to vote and to select the man to fill this vacancy.

III. The qualifications which one must have in order to be selected to be an

apostle

Note that the Apostle Peter did point out some of the qualifications that

one must have in order to even be considered for this office. He pointed out

that in order for one to be considered for this office that he must have been in

the company of disciples dating back to the baptism of John. That is, he must

have been saved under the ministry of John the Baptist and he must have been

baptized by John.

From this statement we learn some important things. First of all, we

learn the importance of electing only those who are saved. At least the must

have made a profession of faith and claim to be saved. It helps tremendously if

one who hold and office in the church is genuinely saved and has not merely made

a profession of faith. If one is going to be an effective witness for Jesus he

must be one who is genuinely saved.

We also learn that baptism is very important. The Apostle Peter said that

in order to be elected as an apostle one must have been baptized by John the

Baptist. Now one could be in the church without being baptized by John the

Baptist. Many of the members of the church had been baptized by one of the

apostles under the direction of Jesus. John?s baptism was valid baptism just as

baptism by the apostles under the supervision and direction of Jesus was

certainly valid baptism. But it was necessary that the man who would replace

Judas in the apostleship must have made a profession of faith under the ministry

of John the Baptist and must have been baptized by him. That is the kind of

baptism that all of the other apostles had and that is what a replacement must

have.

Peter said further that the replacement for Judas must have not only have

been saved and baptized under the ministry of John the Baptist, but he must have

continued in the group of disciples right up to that present time. He must not

have been one of those who followed Jesus for a little while and then dropped

out. Even though one who had dropped out he may have returned and started

following Jesus again, yet if he had ever dropped out he would not be qualified

to be an apostle. An apostle needed to be a man who had been loyal and faithful

to Jesus all the way through His ministry. He must not be an on-again-off-again

Christian.

Furthermore, only by remaining constantly with Jesus and with the other

disciples would a man have heard all of the teachings of Jesus. It was very

important that the apostles must have sat under all of the teachings of the Lord

from the very earliest part of His ministry.

Jesus was a very strict doctrinal teacher. Many people who had started

following Jesus pretty soon stopped following Him because they did not like what

Jesus taught. If anybody stuck it out all the way through His ministry it was a

very good sign that this man was sound in the faith. He was doctrinally sound.

Otherwise he would have likely dropped out.

John specifically mentioned that he must be a man who was a witness to the

resurrection of Jesus Christ. He could not be an apostle who had not seen Jesus

in the flesh after His resurrection from the grave. Today we can witness about

the resurrection through the record of New Testament Scripture. But the New

Testament Scriptures had not been written at that time and in order to be an

apostle one had to be an eye witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He

had to be able to say, ?I know that Jesus arose from the dead. I saw Him die

and I saw Him after He arose from the grave.?

IV. The election of a new apostle

V. 23, ?And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed

Justus, and Matthias.? Two of the men of the church were nominated by the

people of the church to fill the vacancy and to serve as one of the twelve

apostles. There surely must have been more than two men who were well

qualified, but there was no need to nominate all of the qualified men. Only two

were nominated.

Yet out of these two only one would be elected. V. 24-25, ?And they

prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all [men], shew

whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry

and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his

own place.? Luke said that they prayed and sought the will of God in the

outcome of the election. They did not have the attitude, ?If the man I vote for

does not get elected I am going to stop coming to this church.? All that they

asked was that the man that God wanted in the office be elected. Even in their

prayers they acknowledged their own weakness in knowing just who to vote for.

They could look at the outward appearance and outward conduct of these men, but

only God could look at their hearts. So it was their heart?s desire and prayer

to God that the man whom God wanted to fill this office would get the most votes

in the election.

V. 26, ?And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias;

and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.? When the votes were all counted

Matthias got the highest number of votes. Luke does not tell us the name of the

other man. Neither does he tell us the number of votes. He does not tell us

whether Matthias got all of the votes, the vast majority of the votes or just

merely a majority, but Matthias got the highest number and he was elected.

V. What it takes to make a good witness for Jesus in our day

I call your attention again to the words of the Apostle Peter in verse 22.

Peter said that they were electing a man who would be a witness with them of the

resurrection of Jesus. As I said earlier: None of us will ever be an apostle.

We can never meet the qualifications set forth in this scripture. But we can

and we must be witnesses for Him. We should take careful notice of the

qualifications that are required to be a good witness for Jesus. They are much

the same as those required to be an apostle.

First of all one must be saved in order to be a good witness for Jesus.

To recommend Christianity to others without being a Christian is like

recommending a food dish that you have never eaten. It is like recommending a

product you have never bought. One who is not a true believer in Jesus Christ

can deliver the truth of the gospel to others. Judas Iscariot did. But one who

is not a true believer can never put his heart into the gospel message. Only

after one personally trusts in Jesus Christ for his own salvation can one

recommend the gospel to the unbelievers.

This is an important truth for parents. You may want your child to

become a Christian, that they be Christians, but until you are a Christian you

are not likely to persuade your child to be a Christian.

You may invite a neighbor or neighbor fellow worker to come to church

with you, but until you place your faith in Jesus Christ to take care of your

own eternal destiny, you are not going to make much of a witness for Jesus

Christ.

Furthermore, one must be baptized to be a good witness for Jesus. Baptism

does not leave a visible mark upon you when you come out of the water. But it

does make a mark, that while invisible to the eye, is nevertheless, visible to

the heart of other people. If you do not believe in Jesus enough to follow Him

in scriptural baptism, then you are not going to have much influence in leading

others to become Christians. You may be interested in influencing your children

or grandchildren, your neighbor or somebody else to be saved, but if you really

wish to have much influence on them you need to be baptized. Follow Jesus in

baptism and church membership and you will have a much better chance of

influencing your family and friends to be Christians.

One must be a praying Christian in order to be a good witness for Jesus.

Praying to God is like turning on a great light that can direct your path.

Prayer is like plugging in an electrical cord to the power that comes from

heaven. Prayer is like as S. O. S. when you need help. Prayer is not a luxury.

Prayer is a necessity in the life of every child of God and especially in the

life of one who is attempting to witness for Jesus.

In addition, one must be faithful to Jesus in order to be a good witness

for Jesus. One cannot be an on-again-off-again Christian and make much of an

impression on others for Jesus. One cannot come to church once in a blue moon

and be very successful in leading others to Christ. You may be genuinely saved

and on your way to heaven. But unless you are faithful in your attendance at

church and faithful to live a godly life, then you will not be worth two cents

as a witness for Jesus.

A good understanding of the Bible is also very helpful in being a good

witness for Jesus. A few people have become great soul-winners who knew very

little about Bible truth. For instance the woman at the well in Samaria was

most certainly not learned in the Scripture, but she became a great soul-winner.

But this woman was an exception. As a general rule one must have a workable

knowledge of the Bible in order to be soul winner. The more you know about the

Bible and the more doctrinally sound you are, the more likely you are to be a

good witness for Christ. The Apostle Paul is a prime example. Paul was a

scholar in Old Testament Scripture and he was also one of the greatest soul

winners of all time.

One of the greatest lessons that most modern day Christians need to learn

is that we must become witnesses for Jesus. Most modern day Christians are

willing for somebody to get saved if he wants to be saved. But if he does not

want to be saved, they are willing to let him to hell. Jesus said to His

disciples in Acts 1:8, ?...and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the world.?

Let me put that message this way, other words, ?We are to be witnesses for Jesus

to the members of our own family, to the neighbors nearby, to the people we work

with, to the people up and down the road that we are acquainted with, to the

people we are not acquainted with, to the people throughout the community,

throughout all the cities around and to people throughout the entire nation and

throughout the entire world. We are to take advantage of the opportunities

that we have to witness for Jesus. We should make opportunities to witness for

Jesus. We should make it our prime objective to witness for Jesus.

Conclusion:

I want to call upon you to pray right now for God to use you to witness of

Jesus. I want you to make it your goal to witness for Jesus. I want to ask you

to make it your goal to witness to somebody this week.