Acts 1:15 And in those days Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples, and said… In this paragraph we have — I. THE LAW OF LEADERSHIP IN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES. 1. Society without leadership sinks into confusion. 2. In the long run leadership resolves itself into a question of personal qualification. Sooner or later unqualified men have to resign positions they ought never to have assumed. 3. In a great leader many elements are combined. Others may excel him in detached points, but taken as a whole, he rules not by one dominant faculty, but by a noble proportion of gifts. 4. The position of leader is not so easy as it seems to unreflecting observers. Men see the elevation, not the strain and responsibility. 5. The only sound rule for promotion is wisdom which should be recognised irrespective of age or position. 6. He leads best who knows the art of wise following. The leader is often, as here, but the mouthpiece of the whole community. 7. All human leadership is to be subjected to the Headship of the Divine Redeemer. II. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 1. It was required that the successor to the vacant bishopric be a man who had known Christ. Those who now sustain the office of witnesses for Christ must be men whose spiritual intimacy with Him is intense and fully tested. Every minister must have seen Christ and known the power of His resurrection. 2. It is clear from the election of Matthias that there is in the Scriptures a distinct claim to apostolic succession. Who then are in this succession? Those who are animated by the apostolic spirit. It is not question of ecclesiastical descent, but of spiritual illumination and sympathy. 3. The twelfth minister was chosen by the whole Church subject to a distinct expression of the Divine Will. The election was not determined by personal taste, much less by the industrious canvassing of ambitious candidates. The minister was sought by prayer and as a consequence was received with submission and thankfulness. (J. Parker, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) |
    |