Last Shabbat meeting we have been talking about the first 11 verses of Acts chapter 1. We kind of deviated from our regular meeting dealing with the book of Hosea. We're going to get back to Hosea, but I would like today to continue in Acts chapter 1 and to speak in additional information that we all can have concerning what early 1st century Jewish believers believed in. This is very important because what they believed in 2,000 years ago is the same thing that you and I, as Hebrew or non-Hebrew Christian or Messianic Jews and Gentiles, we are also exalted to believe in today. 2,000 years ago. 2,000 years already passed by since Yeshua have come and finished the work on the tree for us.

And what they have held to years ago is the same thing that you and I are exhorted to hold today. Today, nothing changed, beloved brothers and sisters. When it's come to the word of God, nothing changed except the fact that we live in a different era, 2,000 years later, that the church as a church is in this state of the Laodicean age, Laodicean stage that we have it in the book of Revelation. But nevertheless, the fundamental ABC of God's Word still remains in every generation, including for you and I today. When we reach Acts chapter 1, the church was not formed yet. The body as believers united into one body was not yet in existence.

And yet these Jewish believers have come to trust in Yeshua, the Messiah, and they believed in things that you and I today are exhorted to hold on to. I want you to see it. They perhaps in their generation, they say, "Lord, how much we need your help and how much we fail to keep what you have taught us in the world." And you and I can say the same thing today. And so in Acts chapter 1, we're going to continue today to begin from verse 12 on towards the end of the chapter. Let me read you those verses and we will take them one step at a time.

In verse 12, we read, "Then returned they," this is those disciples, "to Yerushalayim from Mount that is called Mount Olives." In Hebrew, we call it Har Hazetim, which is from Jerusalem about a Shabbat day journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room where abode there Peter and James and John and Andrew and Philip and Thomas, Barthalmai and Matthew and James, the son of Alphaeus and Shimon, Zealots, and Judah or Yehudah, the brother of James, the brother of Yaakov. "Eleven disciples are here." "All these continue with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Yeshua, and with his brethren." In those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and he said the number of the names together were about 120 people and men.

And he says to the men and brethren, "This scripture must need to have been fulfilled which the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of David, spake before concerning Judas." "This is Judas Iscariot, which was a guide to them that took Yeshua, that took Jesus." "For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part in 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 in Jerusalem inasmuch as that field is called in their proper tongue or proper language, akal damah, that is to say, the field of blood." "For it is written in the book of Psalm, Tehillim, let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein." "And his bishopric, or his overseer, let another take." "Wherefore, of these men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of Yohanan, 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 to Yosef, called Bar-Sabbas, who was Sermon Justus, and Matthias, or Matityahu." "And they prayed.

"And they said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou have 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." "And they gave forth their lots; and the Lord fell upon Matityahu, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." Note how many times the word apostles are mentioned here, at least twice in verse 25, apostleship, and 26, he was numbered with the apostles. "We're going to get to them in a moment, but I would like now to just go back for a moment, and you remember, in the last ministry meeting, the first eleven verses of the book of Acts, we have learned a few things about those disciples, that they were taught by the resurrected Messiah." "By Yeshua the Messiah, who was resurrected already, before he went back to the Father's house, before he was taken out from before them, he was speaking with them, and he really taught them the truth concerning, number one, the resurrection of the Messiah, number two, the coming Messianic Kingdom, number three, the power of the Holy Spirit, Ruach HaKodesh, and number four, the second coming of the Messiah." "They have held to these principles, to these truths, they have learned those things from the Lord Yeshua himself." "How important!

The resurrection of the Messiah, the coming Kingdom of Israel, the Messianic Kingdom, the Holy Spirit of God that will give them power to preach the word and share the message of the Gospel, and finally, before he was taken, the promise of his coming again." "The same Yeshua, who was taken up from you, will come back, will come again in the same manner, in like manner, which you have seen him going into heaven." "And so, he have gone to heaven! He was taken away from them, he have gone to heaven, so what are they to do?" "They didn't remain in Mount Olives, in Harazetim, but they turned back, and they worked down the Mount of Olives and up to Mount Moriah, and they went back to the city of Yerushalayim." "Now, just to make sure that you understand the sight that Mount Olives, Harazetim, is really not far from Mount Moriah, where the Temple was.

The distance is very short. You can do it in maybe 20 minutes, half an hour walking.

Mount of Olives, Harazetim, going down the slopes of the mountain, through the valley, and going up to Mount Moriah, and you find yourself right in the Temple Mount, where the Temple have existed." "Every time, when we take groups of believers to visit the land of Israel, we show them the beautiful sight of Mount Moriah for Mount Olives, and the beautiful sight of the area where once the Temple stood." "And so, those disciples now remember, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, is not with them." "He has gone." "They had the statement from these two men, the angels who told them, this same Yeshua will come to them." "The same Yeshua will come again." "In the same manner."

"He is going to come." "They had this assurance." "They had this understanding." "And we have been speaking about it last time." "Yeshua is coming back." "He is going to come back." "He is going to establish what He promised in the Scripture." "The Messianic Kingdom." "Where He is going to rule as King of Kings and Lord of Lords." "Those verses now that we have just read." "Verses 12 all the way to verse 26." "There are verses that in between chapter 1, before the Lord have gone." "And chapter 2, where the Holy Spirit of God was going to come to form the church, the assembly, the body of Messiah." "And in between, they had these Hebrew, Jewish,

Israeli believers had to deal with certain issues." "And you can see what they believed in those next verses that we just read." "First of all, I want you to notice that those disciples, even before the body of Messiah was formed." "They believed in the unity of God's people." "Now I tell you, that when we look at the condition of the church today, and we have to speak of ourselves." "We don't want to point it to somebody else." "We see how we have failed to maintain the unity of the body of Christ." "Now I know the body was not yet formed." "It will be formed in Acts chapter 2." "But they believed that every believer is

part of a company that is redeemed, that belongs to God, that belongs to Yeshua." "And you can see it in what they have done." "You notice that if you follow with me those verses 12, 13 and 14." "It says they returned to Yerushalayim from Mount of Olives." "And it was a Shabbat day journey." "And when they were come, they went up into an upper room where they abode Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Barthalmai, Matthew, James, James, Simon, Zelot, Judas, the brother of James." "And listen to them." "They all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Miriam, the mother of Yeshua and with his brethren." "Those three verses show us

what they did." "They have left Mount of Olives, Harazetim." "They went down the slopes of the mountain and they went to the city of Jerusalem." "And there, beloved brothers and sisters, they gathered together." "Now, I want you to see." "There was no titles there, pastors, shepherds, bishops." "All these titles that we often think about." "But there were leadership of those whom God had raised to lead the believers as shepherds." "They gathered together in the city of Jerusalem." "And it says in verse 13, it says they will come and they went up to an upper room." "Now that's interesting because many suggest that this upper room in verse 13 of our chapter is the same upper

room of chapter 14 of the Gospel of Mark." "In verse 15 when Yeshua said to the disciples when they asked, "When do you want us to prepare that we will celebrate the Passover that was in the Gospel before the Lord Yeshua died on the tree?" "And he said to them, 'You go to the city,' meaning the city of Jerusalem." "And there shall meet with you a man bearing a pitcher of water." "You follow that man." "And wheresoever he shall go in, you say unto the good men of the house, "The master saith, 'Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?'" "And he will show you a large upper room,

furnished." "And he said, prepared, there you make ready for us the Passover." "So many suggest that the upper room, it must be a higher room above, maybe on the higher floor of the home." "He says there in the upper room Yeshua celebrated Pesach, the Passover with his disciples." "There Yeshua introduced to the disciples the fact that he is the cup and the bread, he speak of his death." "That he is going to suffer, that he is going to shed his blood and he is going to give his body for the redemption of mankind." "And in the upper room was the place that he is gathered with these disciples." "And they all came back to the

same upper room." "Suggestion by some, we do not know." "It's not an accident that they have gone back to the upper room." "And their beloved brothers and sisters," "It says in verse 14, they all continue with one accord." "Can you imagine the sight?" "All those disciples," "and many more than just the eleven." "We'll find this out that there were more than just the eleven." "They were there in one accord." "There was harmony." "There was unity." "There was nobody that was assigned to say," "Oh, you're going to be leader number one and you're going to be leader number two." "But there was a measure of order," "because they were all had one purpose and one goal

in mind," "is to have the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah before them." "And they were with one accord in that upper room." "Now, what a sight it must have been." "You know, there is a verse, a psalm that we often sing," "and we sometimes sing it in Hebrew here." "Une ma tov u manaim shevet achim gam yachad." "Beautiful psalm." Psalm 133.

"Behold how good and how pleasant it is for achim," "for the brethren," "to dwell together in unity." They believed in that, beloved brothers and sisters. By the way, Psalm 133 is a prophetic psalm that is looking forward for the restoration of Israel, our nation. It is there where we read it is a psalm of degrees. Shira Ma'alot. David wrote it and he said, "How good," "echze tov," "how good it is and how pleasant it is when brethren dwelling together in unity." You know how pleasant it is? You know when there are friction among the people of God, the heaviness that we have in our hearts, the sorrow that we have in our hearts, the sadness that comes upon us, the fact that we have no liberty, we have no power, because friction among the people of God takes away from the liberty of the Holy Spirit in the midst of God's saints, God's people.

But David said many years ago, "looking forward for Israel's restoration," "and we can apply it to any generation," "how pleasant," "how good," Psalm 133:1, "and how pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity." How pleasant it is! You know if we gather together in a meeting, and we have a united hearts, listen, I'm not talking about uniformity, I'm talking about unity. Uniformity means that everybody have to dress the same, everybody have to talk the same, everybody have to hold the same Bible, everybody have to walk the same, the same shoes, the same shirts, the same makeup and all this, whatever it is, that is uniformity.

But we are not called to have uniformity, we are called to have unity. There is a difference between uniformity, I don't expect and I don't think it's right to push somebody to be exactly like me. And I don't think it's right for others to press another person to make him exactly like them. Because we are not called to be exactly like somebody else, we are called to be like the Messiah, Yeshua. And everyone is called to seek to be conformed, not to the image of each other, but to the image of God's beloved Son. And so, how beautiful it is. You know, it is different, that when you come to a meeting and the brothers and sisters are united, and you leave the meeting with a freshness in your own heart.

You wish to come back, because that's the place where the gather saints are, where the believers are, and there is a harmony and unity. But you know, when there is no harmony, and where there is no unity, you don't want to go to that place. You don't want to be with that person. You don't have any intention to be there, and especially if you are wrong as well. You know yourself, you should not be, if you have not this type of heart desire, to be a part of the people of God, where you are being a blessing to the people of God. That's what the believers in early century believed.

The church was not even formed, beloved brothers and sisters, in Acts chapter 1, but they believed in the unity of the people of God. Now, not on expense of truth. Not on expense of fundamental truth of the Bible. We cannot be united with someone who say, for example, that Jesus, the Messiah, was not born to the virgin Miriam. We cannot be united with a person who denied the fundamental word of God. Or somebody reject the deity of the Messiah. Or somebody reject the promises of the scripture. Whatever it is, we cannot unite on other basis or on other ground, except the ground that we have in God's word.

Now, I know we deviate. There are all kinds of views about many, many things. But I'm speaking, beloved brothers and sisters, among the people of God, the necessity of believing in the unity of the body of all believers. And so, you know, Psalm 133 goes on and says, "It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard of Aaron's beard and went down to the skirts of his garments." You know, Aaron is a type of Yeshua, the Messiah, the great high priest. And when the oil came upon Aaron's hair, came down the side, down to his beard and all the way down to his skirts and to the garment, and all the way down to the bottom of the skirt of the garment that he had.

And it's a picture of the Holy Spirit of God that poured upon the head, speaking about the Messiah, and all the way down to the rest of the people of God. It's a future, it's a picture of Israel's future restoration, where the Messiah will be restored, when he will be restored to his place, and when Israel will acknowledge him, and they will receive the blessings from him, because the blessings are going to flow to every Israeli individual in a messianic age. And we can receive that blessing as well as believers today. The blessings of the headship of the Lord Jesus in the church age can fall, can come down upon all believers, and it should come down upon all believers, if those believers are submissive to the Word of God.

He continues, and he doesn't speak also about Aaron and Aaron's beard, but he goes on, and he says in verse 3, "It is like the dew of Hermon." And as the dew that descend upon the mountains of Zion, and you notice that, you know, the dew is again another picture of the Holy Spirit of God. Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in the land of Israel. It's again another picture of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who is the head, who is the king, who is superior than anyone else, and the blessing flow from him to the rest of the mountains of Zion. Again, I would like to suggest, brothers and sisters, that it takes us to the future day when Israel is going to be restored, when the messianic kingdom is going to be established.

But the people that believed in Yeshua the Messiah, even though they were anticipating the future day, they believed in the unity of the people of God. And they were working towards it. Sometimes we have to be ashamed when we see that we have participated and have been part of dividing the people of God. And we don't realize that God knows everything. And God hates divisions. And we failed Him so much. We know it. And God does not look at this and be pleased. He is grieved over this. And He helps us, allow us to experience this in our own life. Lack of joy. Lack of power.

Lack of shalom. Lack of peace. Because we have been part of these things. Now we fail. And the Lord knows it. There is always room for restoration. Always room to confess before the Lord and say, "Lord, help me that I will be used to be part of that which unify believers, rather than scattering the people of God." You know, it says at the end of Psalm 133, "There the Lord commanded His blessing." The Lord's blessing is when the people of God are united together. And when the people of God are in a spiritual state, they desire to be a blessing to God's people. And so, they came back.

They left Mount Olives, Harazetim. They walked and they went all the way after coming down the slopes, going up to the mountain in Jerusalem. And then they went to the upper room. And the Bible tells us in this verse, "And they all continue with one accord in prayer and supplication." And notice there, by the way, "With the women and Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, and with his brethren." Apparently, his brethren, who early in the Gospels did not believe on him, later on they became believers that Yeshua, that Jesus, is truly the promised Messiah. And so they gathered together there, and they have one accord, united together.

How far today we are from Acts 1, when they all began in one accord. And we look at the state of the church today, and you can see how far are we from where we began. I want to read another verse, if you turn with me to Ephesians chapter 4, for a moment. And you ask, and I may ask, "Well, how dear brother Gideon, how do we practice? How can we maintain? How can we seek to do, to build or to unite the people of God?" And the Lord is giving us an answer, the apostle Shaul, Paul, giving us an answer in the book of Ephesians. And he tells us, it is a hard work.

He tells us, notice that he says, in Ephesians chapter 4, verses 1 to 4, he said, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, I beseech you, that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in bond of peace. There is one body, there is one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all." Verse 1 to 6. I don't know if you caught this one word here, that the word is in verse 3.

Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in bond of shalom, in bond of peace. Endeavouring means that you seek hard to do that, you work at that. You see, we never are called to keep the unity of the body. Because the unity of the body is a positional truth that everyone who have accepted the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, he is part of the one body, universal body that Yeshua have formed. He keeps this body. You and I are never called to keep the unity of the body. But we are called to keep the unity of the Spirit. That means that we are called to endeavour, to work hard, to seek, to pray, to be really working hard, laboring hard, to maintain unity, practical unity among the people of God.

We have to admit to our own shame. Every one of us in his own area of life, we somehow, instead of being a cause of unity, we end up to be a cause of dispersion. Look at the church today. How do you think all this happened? Of course, I know, Acts 1, we are not talking yet about the church, because the church did not start as yet. It started in Acts chapter 2. But when you just imagine, where we started there, just before the church, just in the beginning, in the foundation, there up till today, 2,000 years later, look at the condition that is existing today. The scattering of the saints, the divisions of all sorts of groups of Christians, all kind of names that have been given.

You never have one name here that the church received, except they call themselves believers in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. The Hebrew name for Christian, it began with the word Christian, come from the Greek word Christos, come from the Hebrew word Mashiach, Messiah. They were called Meshichiyim, Messiah followers in first century. They knew them because they followed the man from Nazareth who was proclaiming to be the Messiah, the promised Messiah. And they surely did, they believed in the unity of believers. And so, Paul, in Ephesians chapter 4, he says, how are you going to be able to practice this in some sort of way? He says, listen, you walk worthy of the vocation where you were called.

You yourself, first of all, walk in a way, in humbly, in a humble way, in submissiveness to the word of God, with all lowliness, with all meekness, with all long-suffering. You see, we do not need long-suffering with someone who is easy. We do not need long-suffering with someone who doesn't cause me and allow me to suffer. Only with those that cause us hard time or we cause them a hard time, we need long-suffering. Long, and how long is long? It doesn't tell us how long, but long-suffering. Long-suffering, lowliness, meekness, forbearing one another in love. That's what we need, beloved brothers and sisters. That's what the early first century Jewish, Hebrew, Israeli believers held to.

They gathered together in one accord, in the same upper room, and there they were waiting for direction from the Lord. And so they believed in that. They believed in the unity of believers. And so in verses 12, 13, and 14, we see this expression there mentioned in one accord. By the way, that word, one accord. If you notice in chapter 2, it says there were always one accord, chapter 2, verse 1. And if you will notice, you move on in verse 24 of chapter 4, it's as well mentioned there. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice with one accord. One accord is mentioned. Often time in the scriptures, one accord.

In chapter 5, and also, if you will notice, chapter 5 and verse 12. It's also said there, in one accord, by the hands of the apostles, with many signs and wonders wrought among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. One accord. There were many times the Bible teaches that they were in one accord together. They were gathered together in seeking to glorify Yeshua, the Messiah. The last verse in the book of Acts is verse 25 of chapter 15. It seems good unto us being assembled with one accord. That were the first gathering of the church in the city of Jerusalem, the assembly there. They gathered themselves in one accord.

Many times you could see this expression, one accord, is mentioned in the book of Acts. May the Lord really help us to see this as well, to be motivated to seek the unity of the people of God. So, not only this now. Since they have believed in the unity of the people of God, but they didn't only believe in this. Notice that in the next verses, verses 15 to 23, this is a bit longer section. They also believed, those disciples, in the written word of God. What you hold in your hand, and I hold in my hand what we call the scriptures. The Tanakh, this is the Old Testament.

The Brit HaChadasha, this is the New Testament. What they held in their hand, they believe in it. Of course, they didn't have the New Testament. The Brit HaChadasha is yet. So, they believed in God's word. Whether it is the Old Testament, or whether it is the New Testament that was going to be written. Now, I heard many times people who said, you know, why do you believe in the Old Testament? This is old. That's why. We don't believe it. This is for the people of the past. But we have the New Testament. You see, the Old Testament is old. It's no longer important, no longer valid.

Some will say. But you see, notice that. That these early Hebrew believers believed in the Tanakh. That this is indeed the word of God. And so, look what they've done. Moving on to the next verses. In verse 15, all the way to verse 23. You'll notice how Peter directing the attention of the people to the scriptures. It says in verse 15. And here we get how many people were there in the upper room at that time. In those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples. And then it says in brackets. The number of the names together was about 120. Apparently, this large upper room there. If it is the same upper room where Yeshua celebrated the Passover with his disciples.

Had enough room there for about 120 disciples to gather together. And those 120, it included the 11 apostles. It included many of the women. It included Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, and the brothers of Yeshua. About 120 people were there gathering together. And it is interesting that Peter take the leadership here. Interesting. You notice that Peter takes the leadership because the Lord have already called him and challenged him before. That he is to be the one that will lead and feed his brethren. In fact, Peter in the scripture is called the apostle to the circumcision. Meaning, the apostles to the Hebrews. The apostles to the Israelis. The apostles to the Jewish people.

He takes the leadership. You notice that in verse 13 that his name is mentioned first. It says in verse 13 they were all gathered together to the upper room where both. Peter, his name first. James, John, and Andrew, and so on. And all the rest of the 11th name unmentioned. Peter took the leadership and he began to direct the people, the 120, to the word of God. And notice he takes such a verse that you and I might look at that and say, where does he apply this verse? How does he know that that's applied to this man by the name of Judas who sold Yeshua the Messiah?

So he's standing there. He stood up, verse 15, and in the midst of all these disciples there in this upper room. And then in verse 16, Peter speaks of the scriptures concerning Judas. And I want to remind you again, the word Judas is simply the Hebrew word Yehuda. We mentioned Judas in the English scriptures to identify him differently than the other Judas. But it is really the same name. It's Yudah Ish Krayot. Yudah, the men of the suburbs. And so Peter is speaking of him. And notice that he said, men and brethren, verse 16. This scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake concerning Judas, which was a guide to them that took Yeshua.

Now, it's amazing how much insight Peter, the Galilean, had concerning the word of God. Even though the Lord Yeshua was not in the midst right now, he went to heaven, he was going to come later on, and he's going through the Holy Spirit of God to guide the nation, to guide the believers there. And yet, Peter had an insight concerning the word of God, the scriptures. And he takes this and he says, look, David, already in the Hebrew scriptures, spoke concerning this man, Yehuda Ish Krayot, Judah Iskaryot, that was a guide to them that took Yeshua. He's directing them to the scriptures. He's directing them to the scriptures.

Interesting, brothers and sisters, that Peter believed in the word of God, in the simplicity of the word of God. And he directed them to what David had said in the Psalms concerning this man by the name of Judas. Now, you and I might ask, how did he have this insight? I would like to suggest to you that already earlier in the Gospel of John, let's just turn for a second to the Gospel of John. John chapter 20, Yeshua the Messiah was there with his disciples. And if you remember, in John 20, he gave the disciples the Holy Spirit. You remember that? Look at this. In verse 21, "Then said Jesus to them again, 'Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, even so I sent you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them." This is verse 22.

"And he says to them, 'Receive ye the Holy Spirit.'" Now, that's an interesting passage because, remember, we said that the Holy Spirit only came later on in the next chapter, Acts chapter 2, and yet he had given to them the Holy Spirit of God in a unique way. Now, I would like to say, beloved brothers and sisters, that the way in which they received the Holy Spirit of God, in verse 22, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit," they received it in the same way under the Old Testament or the economy of the law, they received the Holy Spirit of God in the same way that other men of old, like David, received the Holy Spirit for a special vessel, in a special way, for a special time.

And so they had the Holy Spirit of God, of course, not yet indwelling them in the same way that it will be later on in the New Testament, when the body was formed, but they had the Holy Spirit of God to guide them, to enlighten them, to help them to understand the Word of God. And so Peter received the same like the others, the Holy Spirit of God to enable them to understand the Scripture for that season, for that time. Later on, the Holy Spirit of God is going to come upon them, Acts chapter 2, going to unite them and to indwell them and never to leave them anymore.

That will be in a new way, under the new economy, under the new covenant. But here they received the Holy Spirit of God, in verse 22 of John 20, by the Lord Yeshua himself for a special service. And so Peter, he rising up in the midst of those disciples, these hundred and twenty believers about, And he's saying to them, "Brethren, this Scripture must need to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, which was a guide unto them that took Jesus." And you know what he did? He directed them to Psalm 69. And he there, notice that I'm reading verse 17, for he was numbered with us, Judas was numbered one of the twelve, he was, and he had obtained part of the ministry.

He was part of the ministry of the twelve apostles. But he said in verse 18, "This man," this is Judas Ischariot, "he purchased a field with a reward of iniquity, and falling down headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out," and I'll continue verse 19 and 20, "And it was known unto all that dwells in Jerusalem inasmuch as that the field is called in the proper tongue akaldama," that is to say the field of blood, and now verse 20, "For it is written," here's the Scripture, "In the book of Psalm, "Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein, and his bishopric, or his overseeing, let another one or another man take." In verse 20 we have a quotation of two verses in the Psalms that were written by David.

Psalm 69 and verse 25, and Psalm 109 and verse 8. And I would like you for a moment to turn to Psalm 69, which we have also read today. Psalm 69 deals with the sufferings of the Messiah. In fact, it was told, or it's been taught often time, that Psalm 69 is a psalm that deals with the Messiah's suffering and as the trespass offering. You know, we have five offerings in the book of Leviticus, we have the burnt offering, we have the meal offering, we have the peace offering, we have the sin offering, and we have the trespass offering. every offering is a picture of the Messiah Yeshua in his life and death.

And there are five psalms that really goes a line in the same line with each of the offerings that are given to us in the Bible. The burnt offering is Psalm 40. The meal offering is Psalm 16. The peace offering is Psalm 85. The sin offering is Psalm 22. And the trespass offering is Psalm 69. And every one of these psalms, if you read them in connection with the five offerings, you will see how beautifully they speak of the sufferings of the Messiah, the life and the death of Yeshua the Messiah. Psalm 69 verses 1 to 21, which we read today, speak to us of the sufferings of the Messiah. But then it's continued, which we didn't read today.

And I'm just going to read you just a couple of verses after verse 21, where it says, "They gave me also gall for meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." This is what the Lord Jesus has said in Matthew chapter 27. And then we read in verse 22, all the way to verse 28, this is called by Bible teachers, "impercatory verses." Verses that kind of speak against the enemies of the people of God. Impercatory verses. Very harsh and strong verses. One of those verses, in Psalm 69, verse 21, the psalmist David says, "Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tent." In Hebrew it says, "Hei tiratam neshama, ubeoha lehem al yehi yoshev." He took this verse, Peter, interesting, and you notice it says, "they," in Psalm 69:25, "their habitation," and "their tense," it's the plural, "replied to judas ish kraiot." And there, you notice, I'm back now to Acts chapter 1, and I'm in verse 20 now.

"It is written in the book of the psalm, let his habitation," notice he uses a singular here, in verse 20, "let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein." He took Psalm 69:25, that applies in plurality, to the enemies of the Lord, and he took it, and he changes to a singular form, and he applied it to Judas Iscariot. And he says, as it is written in the book of Psalm, "Let his habitation be desolate, let no man dwell in his habitation." In other words, he took it and applied it to Judas Iscariot. Psalm 109 and verse 8 continue that says, "And that his bishopric let another take." Bishop simply means his episcopal, in other words, his oversight somebody else supposed to take.

Now what I want to emphasize here, brothers and sisters, that these verses shows us that these early believers believed in God's Word, and they took it seriously. They believed that what God said in His Word is true, God's Word. Everything that was said in the Scriptures, whether it is Old Testament, or whether it is New Testament, it is indeed the Word of God. And we are to take it literally, and accept it for what it says. And that is exactly what Peter directed the people, the believers in the upper room, to the Word of God. Where he told them, he stood up, in verse 16, this Scripture must be fulfilled.

The Scripture concerning Judas, who was an enemy of Yeshua, who led him, who sold him for 30 pieces of silver. He is truly the one that is applied to him. Psalm 69 verse 25, Psalm 109 and verse 8, it is applied to this person by the name of Judas, who sold our blessed Lord for 30 pieces of silver. And you remember that we said, that 30 pieces of silver is really the cost, the price of a dead slave. It takes us from the book of Exodus. He sold the Lord. This story, how he sold the Lord, is taken, we can read it in Matthew chapter 27. How you remember, he brought the leadership, the elders and so on, he brought them to the Garden of Gethsemane, and he kissed Yeshua, and Yeshua said to him, "Do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?" And then they took Jesus, and you remember how they brought him before the Sanhedrin, and later on they took him to Pilate.

He sold the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He could never be part of the 12 apostles that are going to represent here the Lord among the people of Israel and the rest of the nations of the world. And so what they did here, they believed in the Word of God, just some highlights about this man by the name of Judas. You know what happened with Judas? He was numbered with us, Peter said. His leadership has to be changed, somebody else has to take his oversight. And then he said about this man, about Judas. He purchased a field with a reward of iniquity, verse 18, and it says, "He fell down headlong, and he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels were gushed out." Apparently, if you read the text in Matthew chapter 27 and the first 10 verses of this Gospel, you will notice what happened with Judas.

Judas, after he betrayed the Lord, when he saw that he was condemned, that the Lord Jesus, the Messiah was condemned, he repented. In other words, he was remorse. He felt sorry for what he had done. So you know what he did? He went and he took the 30 pieces of silver, he brought it back to the chiefs and the elders. And you know, he said, "I have sinned that I have betrayed an innocent blood." And they said, "What is it to us? You see it for yourself." And so he cast the 30 pieces of silver in a temple there, and he departed, and the Bible tells us in verse 5 of Matthew 27 that he hung himself.

Now some people have a problem between verse 5, that it says that he hung himself, and between Acts 1 and verse 18, that it says that he fell headlong, and his whole inwards gushed out, all his bowels gushed out. And they ask, in Matthew 27:5, it says that he hung himself. In Acts 1:18, it says that he fell down. Well tell us, is the Bible not correct here? Well the suggestion, and it probably very well may have been, that he hung himself somewhere on the mountain, and after he hung himself, by the weight of his body, the rope cut, and he fell down, and ultimately, totally, his guts or his bowels gushed out, and he burst asunder in the midst, and so on.

We do not know, but people just to deny the scriptures, saying you see, there is a description here, there is no truthfulness between Acts 1 and Matthew chapter 27, and yet the Bible is clear. He hung himself in one place, it says. In Acts chapter 1, it says that he fell headlong, and his inwards burst out. And we accept both things, and we know something must have happened, for this to come about, to be in such a way. And so beloved brothers and sisters, they believed in the fact, that there must be the Word of God to hold, to teach us, to instruct us, concerning everything in life.

And we too, need to take this literally. The Word of God will instruct us, the Word of God will teach us, the Word of God is that which will give us guidance in our life, and will help us in many areas of our life. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16, it says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Every Scripture is given by divine inspiration. And we are to believe the Tanakh, as much as we are to believe the Brit HaChadashah.

We are to believe what God said in the Old Testament, in the Psalms, in the Prophets, in the writing, and we are to believe what God said in the Brit HaChadashah, in the New Testament. It is indeed the Word of God. Peter said, "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." That is the Word of God. And the first century believers believed also in God's Word. So they believed in the unity of believers, verses 12, 13, and 14 of Acts 1. They believed in the written Word of God, verses 15 to verse 23. And thirdly, and finally in this chapter, they also believed in the power of prayer.

Oh, how we have to admit that we have a problem believing in prayer. We said and we hear many times, "Oh Lord, I've been praying for this issue in my life for so many years, and I don't see an answer. Lord, I've been praying for my husband, my wife, my children, my parents for their salvation for so many years, Lord, and there seemed to be no answer. Lord, I've been praying for my health. I've been praying for my job. I've been praying for my friends, for the relationship, and Lord, it doesn't seem to have an answer, Lord. Should we believe in the power of prayer?

The Bible does teach us and exhort us to pray without ceasing. The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, taught, He says, that people should pray and never cease, never stop, and He gave us many illustrations of the importance of prayer. Look at these disciples. In our chapter where we are, in Acts chapter 1, they did believe in the power of prayer. And you will notice that. Look in the next verses. We finish verse 23. And now notice at the end, verse 24, verse 25, and verse 26, you can see that the disciples believe in prayer. And it says in verse 24, and they prayed. If you go back to the earlier verse 14, all they continue with one accord in prayer and in supplication.

They prayed. They continued in prayer. They continued to talk to the Lord and asking Him for guidance. They asked Him for something that you might say, why do you ask God? You make a choice yourself. Don't pray about it. You and I might say, but look at it. They prayed. It says in verse 24, the disciples prayed for the Lord's help, that He says, and they prayed and they said, "Thou, Lord, you know the hearts of all men. Show whether of these two you have chosen." And you see, they needed to replace Judas. See, Judas was not a child of God. Judas Ishkrayot was really not part of the 12 apostles.

He was temporary in the midst of the 11, was chosen by the Lord to be part of the 12 in his life here, but he was not part of the redeemed 12. And therefore, this one have ultimately sold the Lord and died, hung himself, and his body fell and burst asunder, and they needed to replace him. And so they prayed for the Lord to give them guidance. Who is the one that is going to replace Judas? And notice that there is an instruction. You know, we hear a lot of people who say, "Listen, there's a new apostolic church today, and there's more apostles." There are not only the 12 apostles, but there are many, many more apostles.

I think I told you that once that I've been invited years ago to go to an apostolic church group. And then I went there, and I was sitting there, and all of a sudden the apostle came. And, you know, they have a special way, and all of a sudden he's coming in the front, and he, you know, the apostle. Well, the Bible teaches us there were only 12 apostles. And there is a unique apostle by the name of Paul, Shaul, who never included himself among the 12. There must be only 12 apostles. And Judas must be replaced by one that was suitable for that ministry of apostleship. And in order to be an apostle, there is a qualification.

Not everyone can say, "I'm an apostle." Let me show you the qualification in this chapter. Here, look at this with me. Please bear with me in these verses. Look, he gave them instruction how one can be qualified to be an apostle. Look, it says in this, I'm reading verse 21. "For of these men which have company with us all the time that the Lord Yeshua went in and out from among us." The first thing for a qualification for someone to be called an apostle, he must have been part of the company that was with Yeshua the Messiah from the time, all the time that the Lord Jesus was among the believers.

In other words, for a person to be qualified to be an apostle, must have been here 2,000 years ago, walking with the Lord Jesus, specifically doing his ministry that he had upon the face of this earth. Number two, in order for someone to be considered to be an apostle, he must be, notice that verse 22, "Beginning from the baptism of John unto the day that he was taken up from us, must one, be ordained to the witness with us of his resurrection." For a person to be considered to be able to be an apostle, he must have literally seen the resurrected Messiah. He must be with the disciples when the Lord Yeshua was baptized all the way to the time that he was resurrected.

And so what happened, there were two that had the qualification, at least there. Joseph and Matthew, in verse 23. Joseph and Matthew were the only one, at least that they were brought to the surface, to be qualified to be one of the apostles to replace Judas. And so they prayed. Which one? You know, it's so important to pray and to ask the Lord for guidance. We cannot just make a decision around, we need to ask the Lord to guide, to help us to make a wise choice. And so we read here, in this verse 24 they prayed, In verse 25, there has the Lord to choose one for this apostleship.

He said that he may take the part of this ministry of apostleship, for which Judas by transgression failed, that he might go to his own place. And so the Lord gave them the answer. In verse 26, they gave forth their lots. And you know, they were casting lots at that time. Casting lots was not like today, gambling. Casting lots in the time, in the Old Testament economy, prior to the church age, was really part of the life of the people of Israel. Proverbs 16 tells us, We cast the lots, and the answer of it is of the Lord. The Lord is the one that would give the answer.

And though they cast lots. And it says here, at the end of this chapter, And the Lord fell on Matthew. And Matthew was numbered with the eleven apostles. Now they have the eleven apostles, plus Matthew, and they have twelve apostles. And I would like to say, brothers and sisters, that it was important to have twelve apostles, because these twelve apostles were going to sit on twelve thrones in the coming days. And they were going to govern the nation of Israel in the coming day. It was the Lord who said, and I'm going to end with this right now, in Matthew chapter 19. These are the last verses that I'm going to read.

In Matthew chapter 19, The Lord himself said, Matthew chapter 19 and verse 28. Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on his throne, on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. You see, there is a promise of a future kingdom, where the twelve apostles are going to sit on twelve thrones, and they are going to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. That's why it was important to replace Judas, and not to leave it with eleven apostles. That's why they had to choose another one, and God had chosen Matityahu for them, and Matityahu joined the eleven, and to gather the twelve.

They were the ones that are going in a future day, to sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So what we learn from this chapter, Acts chapter 1? We have learned that the early disciples, even before the church was born, these early disciples believed also, not only that they believed in the resurrection, and in the kingdom, and in the power of the Spirit, and in the coming of the Messiah, but they also believed in the unity of all believers. They believed in God's word, and they believed in prayer. And you and I also, today, need to hold on to these things. We have a Bible in our hand, praise the Lord for that.

We have an opportunity to pray, we often encourage the sisters to pray, and we also need to pray, we need to get a hold of it, and believe in the power of prayer. And also, brothers and sisters, let us work hard. Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit, in bond of peace. Let's work hard at this, even though it's not easy. easy people, all of us. Let us work hard, to try to maintain practical unity, even if we're not seeing everything eye to eye. But let's be vessels, that seek to maintain the unity of all believers. You agree with me? Can you say amen to that?

Amen. May the Lord help us in this, and may the Lord use us, for His own glory, and for our own blessing.