[2] Decisions, decisions, decisions. What an important part of our life. You know we make literally hundreds of decisions every day. Some over the mundane things in life and some over the important things in life. But making good and wise decisions is so important.
Especially if we’re going to being the church in this world. If we’re going to be the church every day, every where and to everyone we see, we need to be able to make good decisions. The decisions we make chart the course of our life and the lives of others, so making wise decisions determines the direction life takes. Ever made a poor decision?
[Leaving cell phone and running out of gas story.]
You know, some of the decisions in life are quite easy to make. Take your cell phone wherever you go. Pay your taxes. Do your best at school or work. Mow your grass when it gets long. Don’t shave on Saturdays. Some decisions are easy to make.
But some decisions aren’t so easy and take lots of effort to make. Who should I marry and spend the rest of my life with? What career should I train for? Where do I send my kids to school? Does God want me to go into the ministry? Those are the kinds of decisions that keep us up at night weighing all the options.
[3] Do you ever feel like this guy when trying to make a difficult decision? You pull over to the side of the road and try and figure out just which way to go. [4] You look down the long road of decision trying to find some hope that you’re heading the right way.
Some of you right now are facing difficult decisions but are finding yourself stuck in indecision. The rest of you will find yourself having to make difficult decisions in the future. It’s just a part of life. The good news is that there’s help for this integral part of life. God is here and He wants to give you the tools to be able to make wise decisions. Decisions that will guide your life to be the best that God has for you.
As we continue our studies in the book of Acts we’re going to see the early church facing it’s first major decision, and the way they handled it gives us great decision making principles to live by.
The first thing we’re going to see is that [5] wise decisions are born in our devotion to God. This is where wise decisions are birthed – in hearts devoted to the Lord.
Let’s remember where we are in the book of Acts. Jesus has just spent forty days with His disciples after He rose from the dead. He gave them some final instructions on reaching out to the world and then He ascended into heaven. That’s where we pick up the story.
[Read Acts 1:12-15.]
Everybody’s there – and they’re all united in devotion and prayer to God.
There’s 120 people there which included the disciples and probably their families, Jesus’ mother and brothers, all the other Mary’s, and other close followers of Jesus. And the amazing thing is that they are of one mind.
Now don’t think that this is some kind of shallow cliché used to describe these people. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, Luke described this gathering of 120 people as being totally united in their minds evidenced by their continual prayer together.
Now how does that happen? How do you get 120 people to have one mind? Well, all of them must be devoted to the same thing. Then can they be one in mind. You can’t get 120 people to sit around and discuss everything out and hope they all come to the same conclusion. It just doesn’t work that way. But if the 120 people are all personally devoted to the same thing, unity comes natural.
And that’s the point I want to make, the unity shown here is a beautiful thing. But it all starts with everyone being devoted to the Lord. And when a person is completely focused and devoted to the Lord, that’s when wise decisions are birthed.
[Prayer room idea from DCLA story.]
From within the complete devotion those girls had towards the Lord, an idea was born that has become a reality and a blessing to many. This is where wise decisions begin.
[Read Psalms 37:3-6.]
God will give us the desires of our heart. He implants godly desires within us when we’re fully devoted to Him. And with those desires, He enables us to make decisions concerning the desires He’s birthed within us. But it all starts when we focus on Him.
So what was the big decision the early church faced that was born in the upper room? A replacement was needed for the betrayer Judas Iscariot. Where there once was twelve apostles, now there was only eleven. So the Lord prompted Peter to announce to the group that they needed another man to take Judas’ place.
So while this decision was birthed in their devotion to God, it’s now going to be [6] formed by the Word of God.
[Read Acts 1:15-20.]
Peter knew that all of these events were foretold in Scripture and any action taken accordingly needed to follow the Scriptures. Let’s look at what He’s referring to.
The Savior betrayed by a friend – (John 13:18-19, quoting Psalm 41:9)
“Field of Blood” – (Matthew 27:6-10, quoting Psalm 69:25)
“Replace his office” – (quoting Psalm 109:8), [Read Matthew 19:28.]
Peter’s announcement that they needed to replace Judas wasn’t just an emotional decision born out of the moment. It was something birthed from within their devotion and was now being shaped or formed by an understanding of the Scriptures. Peter wanted to make sure that in whatever they did as a church it aligned with the Word of God.
Wise decisions must always follow the Scriptures. When faced with a decision make sure that your options don’t violate any Scriptural commands or principles. The Lord doesn’t lead you to do anything against His Word. Anything! He leads you to fulfill His Word.
[Compare two divorced men stories.]
The decisions we make must be in accordance to God’s Word. And the great news is, this wonderful book lays out principles for every area of our lives. If you need to know what the Lord thinks about a decision you need to make, this Book has His will imprinted on every page. It talks about how to handle relationships, money, recreational choices, work-related issues, politics, *marital intimacy, church, home, stress, insecurity, and anything else you can think of.
Now you might say to yourself that you don’t know where to find all that stuff. Maybe you need to make a decision concerning your marriage but don’t know where to look. That’s when you seek some counsel from another Christian and ask them for some guidance. Just make sure they’re giving you biblical advice and not talk-show advice.
So if we’re going to be the church in this world decisions that are birthed from within our devotion to God should be formed by the Word of God.
The final step is when [7] wise decisions are confirmed by the Spirit of God.
This final passage shows an amazing confirmation of their decision by the Spirit of God by a means that’s quite foreign to us today in the church realm.
[Read Acts 1:21-23.]
So they’ve decided that the replacement apostle for Judas needed to be someone who had been there all along and who was a witness of the resurrected Lord. The decision boiled down to two men – Barsabbas and Matthias.
These were probably two good men, godly men, reputable men who both were equally qualified for the position. How were they going to decide which one it was? Were they going to flip a coin? Were they going to arm wrestle for it? Were they going to take a vote? Were they going to draw straws? Well, kind of.
[Read Acts 1:24-26.]
They drew lots for it! Throwin’ dice in the church – can you believe it?! Let me explain just what they did.
Casting lots for important decisions was common throughout the Old Testament times. (If you want to check out some other times God’s people practiced this go to Leviticus 16:8, Joshua 18:8, I Samuel 14:41-42, Nehemiah 10:34, and Jonah 1:7.)
[Casting lots demonstration.]
Now this might seem like a risky way to make a decision. But actually it was an incredible act of faith. They trusted the Lord so supremely that they believed He would bring out the proper lot according to His will. He was the one rolling the dice, not them.
[Read Proverbs 16:33.]
When Peter shook that bowl with those two stones in it, He and everyone else there believed that the Spirit of God Himself would draw out the lot that reflected the very will of God. And that’s exactly what happened. The decision to replace Judas with Matthias was confirmed by the Spirit of God drawing that lot out of that jar.
Now this is the last time we see the church casting lots to make a decision. That’s because the Spirit of God would come and personally fill their very being in just a few days. (We’ll get into that next week.) So after the Spirit came to live in them they no longer had to rely on the Spirit to do something on the outside of them to confirm His will. The Spirit of God would now do something on the inside of them to confirm His will. And that’s where we find ourselves today.
When we choose to believe in Christ He places His Spirit within our very being. That Spirit confirms within us the wise decisions we make according to the prompting of God and the Word of God. When we come to a place of peace and resolve concerning a decision we need to make, it’s because of the Holy Spirit working in us in a supernatural and even mysterious way.
[Picking of a Compassion kid story.]
God will through His Spirit confirm within your heart right decisions. Along with that, God will also disturb your heart when you’re about to make the wrong decision.
If you’re praying about something and you just can’t get peace, then may the Spirit is disturbing your heart as if to say the timing is off, the idea is wrong, rethink things. Don’t just push through a decision because you want to get it over with. Take your time, seek the Lord and His peace to confirm the decision is right.
[8] Remember, the decisions we make chart the course of our lives and the lives of others. We want and we need to make wise decisions. Decisions that are born out of devotion to God, formed by the Word of God, and confirmed by the Spirit of God.
What decision is weighing heavy on your heart? Trust God to help you make the right one. He’s here to help and to guide and to give you an awesome life! [9]
