This article on Acts 1:15-26 looks at the function of the apostles.

Source: Clarion, 1994. 2 pages.

Repairing the Apostolic Foundation

… one of these men must become with us a witness to His resurrection.

Acts 1:15-26

To build a house you need a good foundation. You pour concrete in a form or you place concrete blocks firmly in the ground. Only then can you build your house. You cannot build anything upon a faulty foundation.

When Judas defected he damaged the foundation of the church.

The foundation had to be repaired. The church had to fill the vacancy. The apostle Peter said that this “must” happen (v. 22).

Out of the large group who followed Him, the Lord Jesus had chosen twelve men whom He named apostles (Luke 6:13). These He sent out to preach the gospel of the kingdom. They were to bear witness to all that Jesus Christ had said and done from the time John had baptized Him to the moment He ascended into heaven. Christ chose these twelve men to serve as the foundation blocks of the church of the New Testament.

The apostle Paul spoke about how the church is built upon this foundation. In Ephesians 2:20 he said that we are built upon the foundation of the apostles of which Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone. Paul did not include himself as part of this foundation. He was not an apostle in the restricted sense of the word like the twelve were. He was not an eye witness of the baptism, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. He was speaking about the twelve.

Christ is the cornerstone of the church. The twelve foundation stones are laid square with the cornerstone. Christ, then, proceeds to build His church.

The apostle Peter spoke of this as well, in 1 Peter 2:4ff. He calls us to be living stones built into the spiritual house which is founded upon Christ, the precious stone, and the apostolic proclamation about Him.

The apostles are important to the church. They are the foundation of the church. We come to faith in Christ the only Saviour through the apostolic proclamation of Him, the risen Lord.

Because the apostles are so important to the church, Judas' defection was a terrible thing. Satan was behind this. He was trying to frustrate the work of Christ by forcibly removing one of the twelve foundation stones. Destroy the foundation, and the future of the church is precarious. How can Christ build a church upon a crumbling foundation? Before Christ can pour the Holy Spirit out upon His church, the foundation must be repaired. Before the apostles can begin fulfilling their mandate of bringing the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth, the foundation must be made sound.

Two men were put forward – Joseph and Matthias. After prayer they cast the lot which fell to Matthias whom they then enrolled as an apostle.

In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ repaired the foundation. Now He could go on. A few days later, He poured the Spirit of God out upon the church. The twelve apostles went out to bear witness to the risen Lord and to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

We have the written record of the apostolic proclamation – the New Testament. Let us pay attention to it. Through it Christ builds us into His spiritual house. We become citizens of the beautiful city which has twelve foundations upon which are written the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (Revelation 21:14).

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