Before He ascended up into heaven, Jesus told the apostles to wait in Jerusalem until they were endued with the power of The Holy Ghost. During that ten day period of time, we find the apostles assembling a
prayer meeting of about 120 disciples that included women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. We read that during this period of time, Peter stands up in the midst of the disciples and tells them that
Scripture foretold that the vacancy left by Judas needed to be fulfilled. This reveals to us that the apostles believed in both the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture.
How vital it is for the body Christ to adhere to the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture. We find that after casting lots, the brother by the name of Matthias was numbered with the eleven. That is the last time in Scripture that we find the church casting lots to find the will of God. We discover the will of God for our lives through prayer and the Word of God.
As we read ahead in the New Testament, we discover that this is the last mention of Mary in the Bible. Evidently, she really did not have a prominent or leadership kind of a role in the early church. There is no mention of her death or of her miraculous ascension into heaven, without death. Nothing is mentioned in the scripture. It is silent. No doubt Mary was a blessed and chosen vessel of The Lord. Her own lips declared, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior (Luke 1.46,47). We also find that Acts confirms the gospel record that Jesus had brothers and sisters. Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? (Matt 13.55,56).
My point in bringing out these two points is to remind us that as we work our way through the Scripture personally and congregationally, may we be wise Bereans who received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so (Acts 17.11). May we receive the teaching of Scripture as the final authority and solid foundation of what we believe. Selah
