5-21-23 Sermon "Unity and Continuous Prayer" 15 Minutes

Acts 1:6-14

This morning I'll be reading Acts chapter 1 verses 6 through 14. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Acts 1:6-14 Luke the physician—who traveled with the Apostle Paul,,, wrote the gospel of Luke to tell the story of the earthly ministry of Christ,,, and then,,, Acts continues that story after His resurrection and ascension,,, focusing on His work accomplished through His disciples in the power of the Holy Spirit. It also includes a short portion about the end of the Gospel of Luke,,, speaking of an event that took place prior to Jesus’ ascension,,, that we will look at this morning. Acts 1:6–14 (HCSB) 6 So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. 10 While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 All these were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at John 14:15-21 and learned that God loved us so much,,, and still loves us in spite of our daily failures,,, and He wanted us to have the help that we would need to accomplish His demands!

We also learned,,, since it was mother’s day,,, that a Mother’s love for her children are a wonderful model to help us understand the love of God!

Because,,, a mother's love for her children,,, is like the love of God.

It's an unconditional love that will never end for her children as God's love will never end for us,,, as we see in Lamentations 3:22 that says: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.”

Because of God’s love for us,,, especially since we don’t deserve His love,,, we should be able to follow His commands each and every day!

But God knew that we would need help,,, that’s why He sent the “Counselor”,,, the “Spirit of Truth”,,, the “Holy Spirit” to help us and guide us in the way that we should go!

We should remember that we show God’s love to all,,, and by doing so,,, we show “God”,,, that we love “Him”,,, by obeying His commandments!

This morning we will look at these verses in Acts 1:6-14 and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verses 6-7 said: 6 So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, are You restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by His own authority.

These verses that we will look at this morning,,, as I told you at the beginning,,, are from the end of Luke’s gospel.

These 2 verses show that even after 3 years of following Jesus,,, and then 40 days of instructions after His resurrection,,, the disciples still have questions!

The disciples had been thinking about the coming of the Spirit.

They remembered that the prophet Joel spoke of the outpouring of the Spirit in connection with the Messiah’s glorious reign (Joel 2:28).

Because of that,,, they wondered if Jesus would set up His kingdom soon,,, since He had first said,,, earlier in Luke 1:4-5,,, that the Spirit would be given “not many days from now.”

Their question revealed that they still expected Christ to set up His literal earthly kingdom immediately.

Jesus did not correct them for expecting His literal reign on earth.

Such a hope “was”,,, and is,,, “justified”.

He simply told them they could not know when His kingdom would come.

The date had been fixed by the Father,,, but He had “not”,,, chosen to reveal it.

It was information that belonged exclusively to Himself,,, and no-one else.

___________________________________ Verse 8 said: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After Jesus answers their question,,, He turns their attention back to the job that He has planned for them,,, and for us today as well!

They were to spread the “Good News” by being witnesses of the things that He had done while He was here,,, and to spread that news to the people,,, first in Jerusalem,,, then Judea and Samaria,,, and then,,, to the end of the earth.

But first,,, they must receive power—the power of the Holy Spirit.

We know that they were supposed to wait in Jerusalem together until this happened.

___________________________________ Verses 9-11 said: 9 After He had said this, He was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. 10 While He was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen Him going into heaven.”

These verses describe Jesus’ Ascension,,, but they also anticipate His return.

He will come back in a cloud,,, bodily,,, in view of people (Revelation 1:7), and to the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4)—the same way the apostles saw Him go.

The Ascension of Christ marked the conclusion of His ministry on earth in His bodily presence.

It also exalted Him to the right hand of the Father.

At the same time,,, the Ascension meant that the continuing work of Christ on earth was now placed in the hands of His disciples.

It was imperative that the Ascension occur so that the promised Comforter could come.

The Holy Spirit would give the disciples the power and knowledge that they needed to spread the “Good News”,,, and,,, wait for Jesus’ return.

___________________________________ Verse 12 said: 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called the Mount of Olives, which is near Jerusalem—a Sabbath day’s journey away.

According to my commentary,,, a Sabbath Day’s walk was about 3,000 feet,,, or a bit more than half a mile.

The Faithlife Study Bible says,,, the Mishnah,,, sets this at about three-fifths of a mile,,, the longest distance Jews were allowed to walk without breaking the Sabbath.

The Mount of Olives is this short distance,,, east of Jerusalem.

___________________________________ Verses 13-14 said: 13 When they arrived, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 All these were continually united in prayer, along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

Once inside the city,,, they went up into the upper room where they were staying.

Large groups normally would meet in upper stories because the largest rooms were upstairs.

The lower stories had smaller rooms so that their walls would bear the weight of the upper stories.

Luke lists the names of the disciples for the fourth and last time,,, along with the women,,, Mary the mother of Jesus,,, and,,, the brothers of Jesus,,, who apparently were convinced that Jesus was the “Promised Messiah”,,, after His resurrection.

And they were all,,, continually united in prayer!

This is proof that,,, by being,,, united,,, and continuing in prayer,,, this is one of the keys that unlocks the secret of answered prayer!

Now,,, as then,,, God works when people pray.

A lot of times,,, it seems like,,, we would rather do anything than pray.

But it is only when we wait before God in desperate,,, believing,,, fervent,,, unhurried,,, united prayer,,, that the reviving,,, energizing power of the Spirit of God,,, is poured out.

It cannot be emphasized enough,,, that unity and prayer,,, were the prelude to Pentecost.

___________________________________ That’s what is very important for us to remember today.

We should continue to be united in things that we need God’s help with,,, and through our unity,,, and our continuous prayer,,, we can confidently come to God in prayer,,, through faith,,, that God will answer us as we pray!

We come to Him in confidence and rejoicing that our prayer will be answered,,, just as the disciples did in obedience to Jesus’ command!

We are learning from our Bible study on prayer,,, that we must come to God with confidence and praise even before we have received an answer to our prayer!

And if we can master this important,,, but easy to miss,,, point,,, it will help us to even greater things in our church,,, our personal lives,,, and our communities,,, as we continue each and every day,,, in obedience to God’s word!

As we spread the “Good News” of Jesus Christ,,, to all the ends of the earth!

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