Acts 1:15-24 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it; and, Let another take his office. Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen.”
We have all done it. Make a hasty decision without first going to the Lord in prayer and seeking His direction. Many of us are living today with the results of those hasty and impulsive decisions.
Here in the Book of Acts chapter 1, Peter stands before the congregation of those who have believed in Jesus as their Savior and Lord, and announces that the Scriptures predicted the fall of Judas and that they should find “Another to take his place.” That statement was true, the problem was that Peter had not yet received the empowering of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised, and this decision was made without that power or purpose.
The empowerment of the Holy Spirit was not given by Jesus until Acts chapter 2. Jesus had told the disciples to “Wait for the promise of the Father…” in Acts chapter 1:
Acts 1:4 And being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me...”
Acts 2:1-3 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…
The decisions we make directed by the flesh and not of the Spirit, are always doomed to be wrong and to fail.
Anyone ever hear of the Apostle Mathias?
That is because Peter’s assumption that one of the two; Joseph or Matthias would be the Lord’s choice for the twelfth Apostle to replace Judas, was wrong. Since we read nowhere in scripture that Matthias took any prominent place in the church as the twelfth Apostle, it is obvious that he was not Jesus’ choice.
It is clear that Paul was the Lord’s choice by the amazing role that he played in the writing of the New Testament and the early formation of Jesus’ church.
How could Peter make such a mistake? It is easy when we venture out into any area where the Lord has not directed us. We might be absolutely convinced that we know exactly what we are doing, when in fact, we are absolutely wrong. Without a careful searching of the heart and will of the Lord in prayer and waiting upon Him, we will fail.
John 15:5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
In our walk today with Jesus, there will be decisions to be made. Directions that we will need to take. Problems that need to be solved. If we come to Jesus with the sincere desire to know His will in all things, He will certainly reveal what direction and which decision is the correct one.
If we believe that the Lord has led us in a particular direction and we discover later that we were wrong, that becomes part of the learning process. The Lord will not condemn you, nor cast you aside for making any wrong decision when you did it in faith.
Rob Robinson
