You can turn with me then, if you have your Bibles, or it's also in the sermon insert, to our sermon text for today, which is found in Acts, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, verses 15 through 26. Last week we began this book looking at the introduction and the ascension of Jesus Christ, that he was raised from the dead and then ascended to heaven 40 days later, but not before giving a mission to the apostles to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, even to the end of the earth. Then they returned to Jerusalem, having been on the Mount of Olives, and last we saw them, they were devoting themselves to prayer with one accord in the upper room. Let me pick up then chapter 1, starting in verse 15. In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers, the company of persons was in all about 120, and said, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry. Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called, in their own language, akeldama, that is, field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, may his camp become desolate and let there be no one to dwell in it. And let another take his office. So, one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us, one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." And they put forward two. Joseph, called Pharsavus, who was also called Justice, and Matthias, And they prayed and said, you, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry, an apostleship, from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place. And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the 11 apostles. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Let's pray for God's blessing upon His Word. O Lord, our God, we give thanks to You for Your Word, and we thank You for this Word in particular. We ask that You would guide the preaching, that You would guide the hearing, that we might be built up in this faith, in this doctrine, that we might receive it, that it might bear good fruit. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. When Jesus ascended into heaven, that was 40 days after He rose from the dead. In chapter 2 of Acts, we're going to come to Pentecost, on which the Spirit was poured out, and that was 50 days after Christ rose from the dead. So you have this period of 10 days that take place between those two events, between His ascension and the outpouring of the Spirit. The events of this passage take place in those days, as Jesus has been taken up and yet the Spirit has not yet been poured out at Pentecost. Sometime during those 10 days, Peter arose and said this. But before we get to what he said, Luke adds a note about the early church in Jerusalem. The company of persons was in all about 120. Now the word for persons here is literally the word names, the company of names. The names of this gathered multitude was about 120. That's the way you would speak of a registration. It's kind of an official way to speak of a numbered group. It's speaking of the church as a visible society made up of specific people. It implies a recognized visible membership in the church. Whether or not they had a piece of paper with the names written down or not, that this was a group with a number of names of individuals who belonged to this visible society. Just as Peter would go on to speak of how Judas was numbered among the apostles, that he had that office, that designation, so these people were numbered among the brothers, as fellow saints, as disciples of Christ, and had a share in the communion of saints. It's also probably not all the Christians on earth at the time. We know that Jesus appeared to 500 brothers at once. So, you know, we have 120, there's 500. This is not the full number, but it was the full number in Jerusalem. Perhaps there were more in Galilee or further away places. at the time, but the church in Jerusalem would be very important and central for the early years, and it was made up of names 120 or so in number. There's also something subtle at the beginning of verse 16 I want to point out. Peter addresses brothers. You might expect that he's addressing these words to the whole church, to the whole 120 there. But literally, he says, men, brothers. Sometimes that's translated men and brothers. The word men here is the word particularly for men, not women. Males, we might say. It's very subtle in the ESV. It does usually clarify in a footnote that the word brothers can mean brothers and sisters. And it doesn't have that footnote here because of that combination men and brothers. It does have that footnote for verse 14 and includes 15 but it doesn't include verse 16 because it's combined the word men brothers into just brothers. Now this kind of address where Peter is talking to men brothers might seem odd if you think he's talking to the whole assembly. But as it goes on, it becomes evident that Peter is talking to his fellow apostles in the presence of the rest of the church. That they're all gathered there, but he's speaking directly to his fellow apostles. He speaks of Judas being numbered among us, you know, in this ministry. of potential apostles having accompanied us the whole time, of this new apostle becoming with us a witness to the resurrection. So the us in his speaking is his fellow apostles. That's why he addresses them that way. And then that new apostle is numbered with the 11 apostles at the end of the passage. So then what did Peter say? to his fellow apostles in the assembly of that early church in Jerusalem. There are two points, two main points, one leading to the other. First of all, looking at what had happened already, it had been necessary for Scripture to be fulfilled. And he points to the fulfillment of Scripture. And secondly, looking at what they had to do, that the number of apostles had to be filled up. Scripture had been fulfilled, it had needed to have been fulfilled, and now the number of apostles had to be filled up, that they needed to choose, or really, another apostle needed to be chosen. Christ, we will see, did the choosing. So first, the Scripture had to be fulfilled. what scripture had said of Judas had been fulfilled. What scripture had said of Judas had to have been fulfilled. He calls their attention to the fulfillment of scripture and the actions of Judas and what had become of him. Now, before we go much further, there's a doctrine of Scripture implied in what he says. He says, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas. It's kind of a mouthful, but there's a lot in it. Who spoke Scripture? Was it David or was it the Holy Spirit? Yes, but it was primarily the Holy Spirit here, but by the mouth of David. You have the use of a human author, but it is the Holy Spirit who was speaking Scripture, so that what Scripture said was the Word of God. Holy Spirit spoke this Scripture that had to be fulfilled. and he spoke it by the mouth of David. So those superscriptions in the Psalms of David, Peter took those seriously, that this was written by David. Both of these Psalms that are later quoted are specified as Psalms of David, that David wrote them, but that David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these very words, so that they were also the Holy Spirit's words. Not only that, but Peter is talking about an imprecatory psalms, really two imprecatory psalms as being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Now if you were going to pick certain parts of the Bible that were inspired and certain parts that weren't inspired, this is probably one of those psalms you would think, maybe that one's not inspired, and move on to some of the more cheery ones, right? You know, some people will say, oh these Psalms that invoke God's judgment on the wicked, those must just be man's fallible responses to revelation and aren't really inspired in the same way. But those are the very Psalms described here as spoken by the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David. And at that, the Spirit spoke Scripture Beforehand, concerning Judas, that we have here a speaking of events beforehand, of a prophecy, of something that is spoken before it takes place, that this is something we find in Scripture in various ways, that God, who knows things in advance, inspires Scripture that points to events that had not yet taken place. and thus it was necessary that it would be fulfilled." And this, of course, Peter is getting from Jesus, because what had Jesus just taught them before He ascended to heaven? Was it not necessary that the Christ suffer these things and enter into His glory, pointing to all throughout Scripture, you know, the things concerning Himself? Scripture has taught this, and Scripture has spoken of Jesus and the events surrounding Jesus beforehand. Now what had Judas done? At first he had been numbered among the apostles and he was allotted his share in this ministry. But then he had become a guide to those who had arrested Jesus. He told Christ's enemies where they could arrest Jesus where the crowds were absent. And so they were able to take him because of what Judas did. Now his wickedness was rewarded with 30 pieces of silver. And with them, Judas received a field. And so, with the reward of his wickedness, what did he get for it? He got a field. And then he himself burst open in the middle and all his guts gushed out. Pretty gruesome picture there of what happened to Judas. When this became known to the people of Jerusalem, the field was called the Field of Blood. Now Matthew's account fills in more details that it had been the Jewish leaders who had used Judas's silver to buy that field because they didn't really want anything to do with the money, that it was blood money. And so they bought the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. And Matthew adds that Judas had killed himself by hanging. Perhaps they'd even bought the field where he had hung himself, although that's not really necessary from either account, but that would make sense. Comparing the accounts also helps explain how Judas came to burst open. That's when he was hung or when he fell from where he was hung that this took place. In any case, Judas had betrayed Christ. He had abandoned his apostleship, he met with a gruesome and disgraceful end, and all that he received for his wickedness was a field, a field of blood, a desolate place. Wouldn't even be used as a farmer's field later on, it'd be used as a cemetery. In verse 25, later it's added that Judas had left his place in the ministry and had gone to his own place, that is, his place in judgment, his place in hell. Now Peter points out that all this had fulfilled scripture. In particular, Psalms 69 and Psalm 109 are quoted here as being fulfilled in the actions and end of Judas. Both of these Psalms refer to enemies. As Psalm 109 says, in return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good and hatred for my love. fits perfectly what happened to Jesus and Judas, that as he was praying in the garden, so Judas came as a betrayer of him, returning his Christ's love with hatred. Both of these Psalms call upon God to act against the enemy. Judas had become the betrayer and enemy of Jesus, and had lost his office. His place had become vacant. Now if you look at these Psalms, neither of them are explicitly about the Christ. They don't mention this is about the Christ, although both of them are by David. In fact, Psalm 69 verse 5 refers to the psalmist's folly and wrongs, something that would not be applicable to Christ, except in the sense that our sins were imputed to him. But both psalms are quoted in the New Testament as pertaining to the Christ, especially Psalm 69. It's verse 9 says, for zeal for your house has consumed me, and that's quoted in John's account of Jesus in the temple. Psalm 69, 21, for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink is mentioned in John's accounts of the crucifixion. And then Psalm 69, 22 through 23 is quoted by Paul in Romans 11 to refer to those who rejected their Christ and were thus hardened. So how does the Bible draw these things and apply them to Christ as a fulfillment to this psalm? I think Calvin explains it well when he says that, in that psalm, Isaiah is contained to the common image of the whole church, which is the body of the Son of God. Therefore, the things which are there set down must needs have been fulfilled in the head, which are indeed fulfilled, as the evangelist does testify. And so the Psalms spoke of Jesus and his enemies, since Jesus is the head of God's people, embodying them, representing them, going through this experience for them. In describing the trials of the righteous, the Psalms also foretold the sufferings of their head, the righteous one, par excellence. These passages were quoted then to show how Judas' actions and fate fulfilled this pattern, fulfilled this prophecy. The scripture showed that his place had become vacant. That's when then Peter moved on to what they should do in light of it. They should fill that vacant office. Peter is not saying that they need to fulfill the scripture in acting upon all the imprecations, all the judgments of the Psalms. The point of these calls for judgment in the Psalms is to call upon God to put things right, not to take vengeance yourself, but to call upon the Lord to put things to right. So he's not saying, Scripture has to be fulfilled. We have to take away Judas's office from him, put someone else in it. No, he's saying, this Scripture has been fulfilled. His office is vacant. See, this is God's judgment upon such a person. The office is vacant. Now we need to fill it. Now, one thing we might notice is that the imprecatory psalms are not only against the devil and demons. Of course, that's always a safe application. If you're singing these psalms, that's always a safe application of these to those spiritual enemies. But here they do include Judas, flesh and blood Judas. But we can find also from this that the enemies described are not your personal enemies, not just someone who annoyed you. They are defined as anti-Christ enemies, those who are hostile to Christ and his people as such. We'll find later in chapter 4 of Acts that Psalm 2 is described in the same way, applied to Christ and his people in him. Jesus fulfilled the pattern of these Psalms. It was necessary that he experience these things. And Judas' identity was quite clear by his role in Christ's life. But as the Church sings these Psalms, they are implicitly conditional, categorical. A man might repent and believe, and it no longer apply to him. It only applies to those who persist in their enmity to Christ. Now, in this way, by bringing up Scripture, basically preaching to them, right? Here's the text. Here's the application. It applies to Jesus. What happened to Judas? What Judas did shouldn't shock us in the sense that it shouldn't throw us off as if this had not been the plan. This had been the plan. He was fulfilling Scripture. This had been necessary. He was encouraging the church. As wicked as Judas had been, his deeds were under God's control. Judas had meant it for evil, but God used it for good, to bring salvation to sinners through the death of Jesus. Scripture gives similar encouragements to the church today, that when they see the apostasy of others, or they see the rise of all teachers, do not let that shake your confidence in Christ. Scripture had said all along that these things would take place. The Scripture had warned us that they would take place and directed us to take heed, that you do not fall away, that you be in the faith, that you hold to Christ. See what happened to Judas and his pitiful and disgraceful end and turn, turn from him, turn from that way, turn unto Christ. Peter also implicitly pointed to an instance in which Jesus fulfilled Scripture. Scripture had spoken of this beforehand. Jesus is the one Scripture pointed to and prophesied. He is the Christ. He is the head of the body. He is the righteous one. He was vindicated from the slander of sinners by being raised from the dead. God had fulfilled His word. He had brought judgment upon Christ's enemies. He had delivered Christ, raising Him from the dead. as one who had paid the penalty for sin, who himself was righteous and who now is our Savior in heaven. Scripture is the Word of God spoken by the Holy Spirit and it testifies to Jesus Christ and His salvation. Now this point about Scripture being fulfilled also led to Peter's next point, that another man needed to be chosen to fill the position Judas had abandoned. And that's our second point, too. An apostle had to be chosen. We learned several things about the apostles. The apostles are pretty important in this book. It's called The Acts of the Apostles. That's a pretty good title. The apostles play a significant role. We find that from the very beginning of this book. And let me list a number of things we learn about the apostles from what's done in this passage. First of all, an apostle is an office filled by those chosen by Jesus to be his representatives. Jesus chose his apostles, and he would choose this apostle too. He chose them directly. It wasn't up to the discretion of the church. Back in Luke's part one in the Gospel of Luke, It was after praying all night that Jesus chose 12 men from among his disciples. His disciples were a larger group. He chose 12 individuals to be his apostles. He named them apostles, it says. He gave them this unique office. It was a formal designation. In chapter 9, It says, and he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And so he gave them a charge, he gave them authority, he gave them a message to proclaim, and so they fulfilled that office. And that is why the apostles sought the new apostle from the Lord Jesus and cast lots to decide. The choice was not made by them, but by lot. Other officers of the church would later be called by the church, but not the apostles. They prayed that Christ would reveal which one he had chosen. And so this new apostle would stand on the same authority as the others. And the lot fell upon Matthias. So the use of lots is not a model for us to use today. It was not used to select officers later in Acts. It is not how other church leaders were called by God for their service. But it was used by the apostles in filling this vacant office among the apostles. Second thing we learn is that there was a significance to the fact that there were 12 apostles. That's how many he chose, 12. When one fell away, it was important that his place be filled. There had been 12 sons of Jacob, 12 tribes of Israel, so Jesus would reorganize the people of God with 12 apostles. In both cases, there'll be different ways how to count up to 12, but in both cases they were counted as 12, as a number symbolic for that body. And as the sons of Jacob had been foundational for Israel in the Old Covenant, so the apostles would be foundational for Israel under the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, the Gentiles would be grafted on to this people of God through faith in the Christ proclaimed by the apostles. Revelation 21 points to the unity of the one people of God by envisioning the church as a holy city descending out of heaven down to earth with 12 gates bearing the names of the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel and then with 12 foundations bearing the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. that there is this one people of God with looking back both to the old covenant people, the new covenant people, they are one people, and that there is a parallel here between the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles that we have now in the new covenant age, the twelve apostles appointed by Christ. The third thing we learn about the apostles is that they had to be disciples of Jesus, receiving the message that they would proclaim. The apostles agreed that the new apostle had to be, quote, one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us. They found two men who fit this description. Perhaps they were the only ones on that occasion that fit the description I don't know why it was just these two, but that's one plausible theory that they were they were the only ones that fit That were there Not all disciples of Jesus were apostles, but all the apostles were disciples Are you a disciple of Christ? Am I a disciple of Christ? We are still disciples of Christ today. Disciples of Christ did not end with the age of the New Testament in the apostolic era. We are still disciples of Christ today. The Great Commission was for more disciples of Christ to be made. But we are disciples of Christ through the ministry of the Apostles. That's how we learn about Jesus, is through Scripture, through the Apostles. But the Apostles themselves were chosen from among those who received their message directly from Jesus. The Apostles were taught by Jesus so that they might teach for Jesus. He would send them the Spirit that He might bring to their remembrance everything that He had taught them. teaching and proclaiming the teachings and commandments of Christ was an essential part of that office. As Jesus had delivered it to them, so they would deliver it to the church. The faith was once delivered to the church through the apostles. And so there's a certain unrepeatable, unique aspect here to the apostles delivering the message of Christ to all the other generations of the church. In Hebrews 2, verses 3 through 4, it says, How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. So you have this message, this great salvation proclaimed first by the Lord Jesus and then by those who heard it from Him, the Apostles. And now we receive that and God also testified to that message of the Apostles by signs and wonders and gifts. The fourth thing we learn is that apostles were witnesses to Christ's resurrection, eyewitnesses to Christ's resurrection. That was an essential part of their office. That's how Peter summarizes their office in verse 22. They were to be a witness to the resurrection. Of course, this man would have already been a witness in one sense, He would have had to have already seen the risen Christ to become an apostle. And yet it describes him as becoming a witness of the resurrection. Probably all of the 120 people gathered there were eyewitnesses to Christ's resurrection, or at least most of them. But the apostles had the office of bearing witness to the work of Christ and to his resurrection in particular. They had been appointed for this task, chosen as authoritative witnesses, the proclaimers of this eyewitness testimony to the world. So in other words, the apostles testified to both what Jesus taught and did. They proclaimed his message, and they proclaimed his deeds, especially his resurrection from the dead. That sealed and confirmed all his other deeds and teachings. Notice that what Jesus taught and did is how Luke describes his gospel. And I've begun to tell you what Jesus taught and did. That shouldn't be a surprise, because in the prologue to his gospel, he said he is writing down what the apostles had delivered to the church. He said he gave an orderly account of what had taken place, quote, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us. While there were other eyewitnesses who were not ministers of the word, and later there were ministers of the word who were not eyewitnesses, the apostles were both. Fifthly, the apostles, like other church officers, were men. That's worth pointing out in our day, although it might seem straightforward. But some people grasping at any support for women preachers today will claim that there were women apostles. They'll claim, first of all, a passage in Romans 16, verse 7, in which Paul sends greetings to Andronicus and Junia. Now Paul says that they were well known to the apostles. But some argue that it means they are prominent among the apostles, as if they were apostles and prominent ones at that, which is odd since that's the only time they're mentioned. They are well known to the apostles, as the right translation, both because it makes sense on grammatical grounds as well as fits the context, that they would be well known to the apostles because they were in Christ before Paul, that they were part of the earlier group. Now, other people will appeal to Mary Magdalene and the other women who saw Jesus. They were eyewitnesses to the resurrection, right? They were told to tell the apostles themselves that Jesus had risen from the dead. And that did happen. But they didn't become apostles by this. If that was the case, Judas' office would have been super-filled already to overflowing. Right? Them being sent back to the disciples did not make them apostles. Like many other disciples, they were eyewitnesses of the resurrection. They told others what they saw. But Jesus then came to the eleven, and those were the ones charged with the duties of an apostle. Not only were all the apostles men, but in this passage we see that being a man was a qualification. Peter uses the word that means men in particular, males, when he says, so one of the men. So the people that they were going to choose to be an apostle had to be not only someone who had been a disciple the whole time, but was a man who had been a disciple the whole time. We know many of the women were eyewitnesses, and their testimony was valuable, and it was recorded for us in scripture. But that didn't make them apostles. Christ chose men as apostles, not on a whim, not on a mere prejudice, but because it accords with the way God designed the world, men and women, the household, and the household of God. The sixth thing we learn about the apostles is that Paul later received a very unique call to be an apostle. But he fit the same pattern nonetheless. As we learn about this, we might already start thinking, well, what about Paul? How does he fit into this? We'll come to him later in Acts. And in fact, one major point in Acts, as well as in some of Paul's epistles, is that Paul had a valid call as an apostle according to this pattern. Even though his call was unusual, he himself recognized that he was like one untimely born. But, like them, he was an eyewitness to the resurrection. He saw the risen Christ. In Galatians, he says, he was called an apostle, not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, whose gospel was not man's gospel, nor was it received by him from any man, but he received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. And then having received this from Christ, he was recognized by the other apostles, but he didn't get his authority from them. So Paul was also called as an apostle. I don't think that means that Matthias' call here was invalid. Matthias was numbered with the 11, and we never hear of his removal. But rather, just as you could count the tribes of Israel either with Levi or by omitting Levi and dividing Joseph, so that there could be maybe more than one way to count the apostles, but the significance of 12 remained. Seventh, and I think my last sub-point here, is that the apostles had a foundational ministry for the church without any successor apostles. They were foundational for the church, like we saw in Revelation. They proclaimed the faith, the teachings, the deeds of Christ, and delivered it to the church. And now the church needs to guard that deposit, not adding to it, not taking from it, to contend for it, to keep it, to confess it, The apostles' message was written down in scripture. It was first delivered orally, but then the writers of the New Testament, like Luke, committed it all to writing. This is what the apostles teach, so that it might be preserved for every generation after the apostles passed away. That's what had happened to the prophets of the Old Covenant. They had often preached their message orally, and then had it recorded in writing, and then delivered to the church. as the oracles of God. In both cases, all we need is set down in Scripture so that Scripture is sufficient to teach us what to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of man. Through Scripture, the prophets and the apostles still teach the church today. They did not appoint new apostles after the death of each apostle. when James was killed by Herod. They didn't fill his office because it wasn't vacant. He had been faithful to the end. He had not abandoned his post like Judas. Only the apostle who apostatized was replaced. The apostles ordained other officers for the church, but not succeeding apostles. The other offices were distinct from that of an apostle. Ephesians 4.11 says, and Christ gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers. Earlier in that same book in Ephesians, sorry, yes, in chapter 3, he describes of how the mystery of Christ has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that these were unique offices, oracles of revelation. The job of the apostles was to deliver the faith to the church, to establish that church, then built upon that faith among the Jews, among the Samaritans, among the Gentiles. And so as Ephesians 2.20 says, we are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being the cornerstone. And so quite relevant to us today. Their ministry continues even though they are dead, yet they still speak. So a few points of application to that. There's no new apostles today. There's no eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Christ still living today. And that was one qualification for being an apostle. So we don't choose new ones. Nor are there successors of any particular apostle, like the Pope claiming to be the successor of Peter. There was not a succession in that sense to the apostleship. We also would see that this makes sense then why the signs of the apostles had passed away with them. That they received certain authority and power and signs accompanied them to verify them as oracles of revelation, as those delivering the faith. as Hebrews 2 said, that were poured out then upon the church to mark them as true apostles, and that having delivered then the faith, having done their task, and there being no more living apostles today, that those sign gifts, we might call them, passed away as well. Perhaps the most important application is to keep the faith once delivered to the saints. to confess and contend for the testimony of the apostles, to build upon that foundation, which is done by receiving what Scripture says with faith, and to then act by faith according to that word. If it's a promise, to embrace it. If it's a command, to obey it. If it's a warning, to heed it. that we receive the whole Word of God by faith, and especially, just as the core of their message and the cornerstone of the church is Jesus Christ, to receive and rest upon Christ alone for your salvation. receive their testimony that He has risen from the dead. And therefore His death is effectual to salvation. Therefore He lives in heaven to apply that salvation to you. Therefore He is Lord and Christ and King. Therefore He will also come again to judge the living and the dead. So it had been necessary for Scripture to be fulfilled It had been fulfilled in the apostasy of Judas and the betrayal of Jesus. Judas met with his gruesome and horrible end, but Jesus suffered and then entered into his glory. Judas' office was vacant. Therefore, an apostle had to be chosen to take his place. And this was done so that they would be ready when the Spirit was poured upon them and they received power to be Christ's witnesses in all these areas. They bear witness to Christ, to his resurrection, And their testimony resounds now from one end of the earth to the other and still spreads. Christ is risen. Christ died for our sins. Christ rose from the dead. Christ will come again. And in his name, repentance and the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to all nations. To him be the glory. Let's pray. Dear God, we give thanks to you for delivering us this mystery, this proclamation of your will for us, for our salvation, which is in Christ, that having seen our distress, our danger, our doom, that you sent your Son as the Redeemer, We ask that you would work among us a grateful reception of Christ, that we might believe in him with all our hearts, and so live by that faith, following him as his disciples. We pray that you would continue to teach us through your prophets and apostles of old. We pray that you would make their word powerful even to the end of the earth. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.