Appoint Mathias in the Church

Acts 1:15 - 26

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.” 18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ 21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

Why the disciples have to choose Matthias? Can't they do the ministry with out the 12th one? What is the necessity?

Have you ever thought of it?

When I was meditating on this, the revelation I received from God is this. The answer is in verse 15 itself. Peter said "the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David".

"It is for the fulfillment of the word of God" . To that reason they had chosen Matthias.

If we think about this little deeply, the 11 disciples were together praying and waiting for God's direction. There were already as a group. It is possible that God could have fulfilled His work with just 11 men, but yet to fulfill His word, the Lord used Peter to choose Matthias.

Even today, we need to appoint Matthias in our Churches. I know at this point you might ask me as, we don't have to follow that, because God has not given us any specific number or something else for our Church. True. The Lord may not have said anything about the number of disciples but it is possible that Holy Spirit would have spoken to you to form different groups in the Church to take care and oversee different activities.

In the early Church, the Lord has led the disciples to do such things. We read this in Acts 6 as well. They appointed group of men to take care of the widows in the Church.

So it is applicable to today's Church as well. Whether it is small or big, the responsibilities needs to be shared. I understand that there will be issues, but I firmly believe that God will definitely guide us.

So pastors, please do not take up the entire responsibility of the Church, but share it with the other members. Only then they will also get the sense of responsibility.

God bless you