Participants:
Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000714S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B714 - The Upper Room 00:21 Dr. Byrd: Today, we have entitled our message, The Upper Room. And I invite you to take your Bibles 00:29 and turn with me to the Book of Acts, Acts chapter 1. 00:34 Acts chapter 1 and we often read verses 1 through 11, but today I want to focus on The Upper Room. 00:46 And so in focusing on the upper room, I call your attention to verse 12, verse 13, and verse 14. 00:55 Acts chapter 1 verses 12, 13, and 14, the word of God says- 01:00 and I am reading you are hearing from the King James version- "Then returned they unto 01:05 Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath Day's journey." 01:13 Verse 13, "And when they were come in they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, 01:21 and James, and John, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, 01:26 James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes the Zealot, and Judas the brother of James," 01:35 not to be confused with Judas Iscariot. Verse 14, "These all continued with one accord in prayer 01:42 and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." 01:51 Before we talk with you about the upper room, let us talk with the Lord Father in heaven today. 01:56 We have sung, prayed, and had children's time - Sabbath school - but now we need a word from You. 02:07 If we do not hear from you Lord, what will we do? So speak today to Your people. You had done it in the past, 02:15 You did it last time, You did not stop before that, but Lord, we need a fresh anointing of your spirit today. 02:21 Speak. And we promise we will listen. 02:27 Now hide me behind Your cross, forgive me of my sins, and as we get to the end of this message today with the appeal, 02:34 I pray that Lord, men, women, boys and girls would make their calling and election sure with Thee. 02:41 We thank you and we love you. Open our hearts and minds and illuminate us to what You have for us today. 02:48 In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. 02:55 The Upper Room. Jesus has been crucified. Jesus has risen. Jesus has ascended back to heaven. 03:13 But just before Jesus ascends and returns back to heaven, He has a message for His disciples. 03:22 He is getting them ready for what is about to happen. Jesus has spent much time preparing His disciples for this day; 03:36 leading His disciples, guiding His disciples, teaching His disciples. 03:47 They watched Him turn water into wine. They watched Him feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves of bread. 03:57 They watched Him walk on water. They watched Him healed the paralytic at Bethesda. They watched Him raise Jarius' 04:10 daughter from the dead. They watched Him raised Lazarus from the dead. But now Jesus tells His disciples: 04:21 it is your turn, it is your time. It is your turn to go and share the gospel to the ends of the Earth. 04:32 But the good news about Jesus is He is not asking them to do this on their own, 04:37 because Jesus never calls the equipped but He always equips the calls. Are you hearing what I am saying? 04:45 Jesus tells His disciples that they will receive power from the Holy Ghost and they shall be His witnesses. 04:55 He tells them that even though He is gone, they will not be alone but He will live with them, the comforter, 05:04 the Holy Spirit. 05:06 In the text, Jesus has returned to heaven. 05:11 The disciples have just returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives where Jesus ascended 05:17 and now they have come to Jerusalem. The Bible says that it is not a long journey, 05:26 but the Bible says it is a Sabbath Day's journey. 05:31 But do not let that confuse you. The Mount of Olives is less than a mile away from Jerusalem. 05:38 A Sabbath Day's journey was the distance that Jews were legally permitted to travel from their home on Sabbath without 05:47 breaking Jewish law. So the fact that the distance was a Sabbath Day's journey does not mean that the Ascension 05:55 occurred on the Sabbath. And listen to me: a Sabbath Day's journey was simply used to describe how far they traveled. 06:05 Now when they arrived in Jerusalem, the Bible says that they gathered in what is referred to as the upper room. 06:16 Now some people think that this upper room was the same room where Jesus shared his last meal, 06:22 the last supper with the disciples. But the Bible does not tell us that. Read the Bible closely. 06:30 The Bible just says they gathered in the upper room, which reminds me today, let the Bible speaks for itself. 06:34 Back to the upper room. In the upper room, the disciples are there. In the upper room, some women are there. 06:41 In the upper room, Mary the mother of Jesus is there. In the upper room, there were Jesus' brothers who were there. 06:51 In the upper room, there are more people there, 06:54 because the Bible says in verse 15 that there were 120 people in the upper room, which lets us know the upper room had 07:01 to be a large room. 07:03 The upper room was not a bedroom. The upper room was not a bathroom. The upper room was not a living room. 07:11 But the upper room was a prayer room because verse 14 tells us that all the 120 people that were there were all there 07:18 in one accord in prayer and supplication. In other words, they prayed with one mind and they prayed with one purpose. 07:26 They engaged in corporate prayer rather than private prayer. 07:32 Now you need to understand today that there is a time to pray all by yourself. 07:38 Sometimes it is just you and Jesus in your secret closet. Even Jesus himself, the Bible teaches, 07:43 had to go alone sometimes and pray by Himself. 07:47 But you need to also understand there is a time for corporate prayer or praying with other people. 07:54 And while everybody may not be comfortable praying publicly or praying out loud, 07:59 everybody can join in the prayers of others in their hearts. So whether it is silent prayer or audible prayer, 08:06 everybody ought to pray. You do not have to have a degree in Theology to pray. 08:12 You do not have to quote the best cliches to pray. You do not have to know the original Hebrew 08:17 or Greek language to pray. All you have to have is a sincere heart, a genuine need, an earnest plea, 08:26 a belief in Jesus, and friends, you can pray. 08:31 Some people pray these flowery, well-articulated prayers, and people think that they are the biggest Saint 08:39 or the biggest Christian in the world. But let me tell you something. They may say the finest prayers 08:45 but that does not make them the finest Christian because the devil talks to the Lord, too. Remember, 08:51 it was in Job chapter 1 that the devil talked to the Lord. 08:56 There is a difference between church members and Saints. 09:00 We have got a lot of church members today but there is a major difference between church members and Saints. 09:07 Back in the day, you could tell the Saints something and they would not gossip about it, but they would pray about it. 09:14 The Saints would come together in agreement and they would come together and pray for you. I am used to Saints 09:20 and I am getting weary because we got a lot of church folk now and not Saints. 09:25 You see, some folk know that back in the day when you were in trouble 09:30 and the Saints got ready to come over to your house, they would do the cooking, they would do the cleaning, 09:35 they would do the washing, and they did not ask for or want money. But today, if folks make you a cookie, 09:41 some of them are talking about, well, flour is high, cookie mix is not what it used to be. 09:49 But I am used to Saints who loved you, who cared for you, who prayed for you, 09:55 who ministered and did things out of their heart, out of their spirit for you. 10:00 When you came into their presence, there was something that emanated out of their Spirit. 10:06 They did not have to tell you they were praying but you can look at them and you knew they were praying. 10:11 And then sometimes, they will come and get you and they will tell you to stand in a circle, 10:16 and they will tell you to kneel down in the circle, and then they would surround you in a ring of prayer, 10:22 and they would put their hands on you and they would call on the name of the Lord. 10:26 They touched, they agreed, they prayed and they were praying for the same thing. 10:32 And one of the reasons we do not see the power of God manifested in our midst today is 10:36 because we have allowed petty differences to divide us. But when the people of God come together 10:42 and they touch and agree, and the people of God are on one accord, 10:49 there will come a sound like a mighty rushing wind from Heaven. The sick will be healed, 10:56 the dead will be raised, the lame will walk, the dumb will talk, and souls will be one for God's kingdom. 11:06 Talking about engaging in prayer and praying together, let me tell you about praying together, 11:12 what corporate prayer does. 11:14 Number one, I have learned that corporate prayer takes out the individualistic assumption that Christianity is only 11:20 about me and my relationship with God. Corporate prayer makes us aware of the person who is sick, 11:27 the person who is unemployed, the person who is fighting cancer, the person who is fighting the Coronavirus, 11:34 the person who is fighting bad habits and demonic strongholds. 11:38 Corporate prayer helps us discover that our lives, as followers of Jesus Christ, are tied up with one another, 11:45 that we are stronger together, that we have more power together, that we have more energy together. 11:52 Even though we are in this Coronavirus season and space, and the enemy wants to stop us from being physically together, 11:59 I am so glad that the enemy cannot stop us from praying together. He cannot stop the prayer team. 12:06 He cannot stop prayer time. He cannot stop its intercessory prayer at church. We are stronger together in prayer. 12:15 But number two, I have learned that corporate prayer strengthens compassion for one another as we hear the cries from 12:21 others. You see, hearts are stirred for one another. When we hear prayer needs in times of sickness, 12:30 times of suffering, challenge, job challenge, financial challenge, addictions, marital problems, grief, 12:39 loss, kids who are in rebellion, friends who have wandered from the Lord, people who are lost without Christ. 12:48 But number three, corporate prayer strengthens courage as we hear other people praying for us. 12:54 You see, it is a good feeling when you hear somebody else praying for you to be bold as a witness for Christ, 13:03 praying for a specific situation you are dealing with, praying for you in a new direction you are doing in your life. 13:09 We are stronger together in prayer. 13:13 But the number four, I have learned corporate prayer strengthens our resolve against sin as we hold each other 13:20 accountable through praying together. Now, let me be clear. Sometimes, we need a Christian brother. 13:28 Sometimes, we need a Christian sister to help us, to hold us accountable, to tell us yes, to tell us no. 13:36 Sometimes, not even to tell us anything but just to give us the look. We are stronger together in prayer. 13:45 But the number five, corporate prayer strengthens worship as we praise God together, exalting Him, 13:51 acknowledging who He is, thanking Him for what He has done, asking Him to move in our lives and on our behalf. 13:58 We are stronger together in prayer. The 120 in Acts chapter 1, they were in the upper room praying. 14:09 But what were they praying about? Again, let the Bible speak for itself. 14:14 The Bible does not specifically tell us what they were praying for 14:17 but I am sure they were asking God for protection from their enemies, provision for their needs, 14:23 straight for their path, and direction for their future. 14:28 The last thing Jesus told them was that they were going to receive power from the Holy Ghost. 14:34 And once that power came, they were going to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, 14:42 and the other ends of the Earth. 14:45 But you know what? They are praying and they do not know how long, or have an idea of how long, 14:52 they are going to have to wait to receive the Holy Ghost. Were they going to have to wait for a few hours? 14:58 Were they going to have to wait until tomorrow? Were they going to have to wait for a few days? 15:04 Let me remind somebody today that God's timing is not your timing, that He may not come when you want Him 15:11 but He is always right on time. You just have to be ready when it is your time. 15:18 So at this exact moment, many of use do not know when our churches will reopen. 15:27 We do not know when we are going to go and return back to full in-person Church. 15:33 And during this time, during this Upper Room time for us, we are asking ourselves: 15:42 How are we going to minister in a post-COVID environment? How are we going to be relevant? 15:51 We are living in a new normal. Church will not ever be the same. Church cannot be the same. 16:00 How are we going to do it? 16:03 There are so many things changing right now in many areas of our lives and most of us hate the word change, 16:09 by the way. But yet we are all being forced to deal with change in some major way in our lives; 16:14 kids not physically being in school this year, some people not being able to go to work this year, 16:19 sports venues at less than 1/4 capacity, families cannot see each other, people sick 16:26 and dying in hospital rooms across the country by themselves, 16:29 churches trying to figure out how to keep reaching out to our communities and our world with the gospel. 16:34 When will we ever be able to gather again together? And when we are able to gather, 16:40 will we be able to do it like we did before COVID? 16:45 Will we have to stay in small groups? Will we have to wear face masks when we have to socially distance in our seating? 16:54 Will we have to have temperature check stations? Will we have to have multiple services. 17:01 Will we be able to shake hands? Will be able to hug? And while we may not have the answers to all of these questions, 17:09 there is one thing that it means for all of us who are Christ's disciples: that the Church must pray. 17:16 We are in our upper room right now and we must pray. 17:21 And the good news is Jesus has promised us that when we take the gospel, the Holy Ghost will be with us, 17:27 but we must pray. Yes, the gospel is going to the entire world, but we must pray. Prayer is the first step in revival. 17:37 Prayer is the first step in our relaunching. Prayer is the first step in evangelism and church growth. 17:43 Prayer is more important than money and workers. Prayer is more important than budgets and strategies. 17:48 Prayer is more important than policies and procedures. Prayer is the key. 17:54 And let me tell you this right now. Do not just pray for people to come back to church. 17:58 But pray for the outpouring of God's Holy Spirit on the church. Pray for a revival like never before. 18:05 Pray for courage for our leaders to do a new thing. Pray for us to understand the need for relevancy and not inertia. 18:16 We have got to pray. 18:19 But then the text tells us. After the prayer meeting is over in the upper room, 18:25 we need a business meeting in the upper room. We pray, but after we pray it is time to plan. 18:34 The apostles, the women, Mary, Jesus's brothers, and the remaining 112 had a prayer meeting. 18:46 But then if you read verse number 15, you will discover that they then had a business meeting. 18:53 The disciples spent time first with an inward focus, but it is followed now by an outward focus. 19:01 They came together for prayer, but now it is time for planning. 19:06 But let me be clear unless somebody try to misquote me. Do not get it twisted. I love prayer and we need prayer. 19:14 But after we finished praying, we have got to get up and do something. Faith without works is dead. 19:24 Yes, we need prayer revival. Yes, we need prayer summit. Yes, we need prayer workshops. 19:30 Yes, we need prayer conferences. Yes, we need prayer calls. 19:35 But after we pray, we have got to get up and we got to go to work. Acts 1 teaches that after they had a prayer meeting, 19:42 they went into a business meeting. They had to then discuss how they were going to take the gospel to the world. 19:48 They had to discuss how they were going to execute revival. Peter gets up in verse 15 19:55 and he calls the business meeting to order, and the first order of business for the disciples was they needed another 20:02 disciple to replace Judas. 20:05 They cast lots and the lot fell on Matthias and he replaced Judas. But after they had done that, 20:13 they then began to lay the groundwork for the gospel to go forward. But this time, things would be different. 20:22 Jesus would not be with them. Jesus would not be physically walking beside they. They had, yes, the Holy Ghost, 20:31 but they knew things were going to have to change. 20:35 And that is just like us. We are in an upper-room experience right now. For the past year, we have been praying 20:44 and asking the Lord: God, how are we going to take the gospel? We know we have your Holy Ghost, 20:50 but how are we going to take your gospel? How are we going to do ministry after COVID? 20:55 And the Lord has made it very clear that we cannot do ministry the same way we did ministry before COVID. 21:02 We cannot just go through the motions. We have got a lot of motion but no movement. 21:09 We have got a lot of talk but no action. We have got to change. Ministry must go beyond the four walls of the church. 21:20 Ministry must continue in the digital space. Ministry can no longer be seen as local but it has to be seen as global. 21:30 Ministry must go to the people and not simply the people coming to us. Ministry must be relevant and not antiquated. 21:40 Let me be clear. CDs are a thing of the past. DVDs are a thing of the past. 21:49 If you are buying a DVD duplicated for your church, save your money. 21:55 If you think you are social media savvy solely with Facebook and Pinterest, think again. Instagram, TikTok, 22:05 Twitter, Zoom, StreamYard, Ecamm, Restream, they are the norms for the day. Online ministry is not an option, 22:16 it is a necessity. It is a new day. We are in the upper room, we prayed. 22:22 But now it is time to plan so we can execute, and we must execute in excellence. Nobody wants a sloppy Church. 22:32 Nobody wants to be a part of a sloppy Ministry. And if you offer sloppy, ill-prepared, irrelevant ministry, 22:40 people are not going to argue with you anymore about change. 22:44 They are not going to come to upper-room business meetings and advocate their points. 22:50 They are just going to vote with their feet, and they are going to vote with the click of a mouse 22:55 and find another online or in-person ministry that meets their needs. 23:00 Church, change is tough. But the only alternative to change is eventual obsolescence. 23:08 We need good in-person ministry, as well as good online ministry. And I am clear that if you do not offer that, 23:15 your ministry will be left behind. We are in the upper room. 23:20 and the Holy Ghost is in the room. We have moved from a prayer meeting to a business meeting. 23:28 The disciples understood this. The disciples did as Jesus commanded. The disciples understood that they had to change. 23:40 The disciples understood that Ministry modalities had changed. 23:45 The disciples understood Jesus had ascended back to heaven 23:49 but they went for sharing the good news in the power of the Holy Ghost, 23:55 sharing that what Christ had done for them 23:58 and what Christ could do for others, 24:00 sharing that God so loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten son to give His life so that ours might 24:08 be saved. 24:09 But this was not an easy task for the disciples. Record says they experienced violence. 24:16 They experienced mocking and teasing. They were talked about. It cost them their lives. 24:26 But because of their faithful dedication, Christianity grew, 24:32 Christianity prospers. And Christianity is now the most populous religion in the world. 24:38 Followers of Christ are in every corner of the world. Jesus never wrote a book 24:47 but yet all the libraries in the world could not hold the books that have been written about Him. 24:52 Jesus never wrote a song but He is first the theme of more songs than songwriters combined. 24:58 Jesus never founded a college but all schools together cannot boast of how many students he has. 25:05 Jesus never practiced psychiatry but He has healed more broken hearts than doctors have healed broken bodies anywhere. 25:12 Jesus never marshaled an army, never drafted as a soldier, never fired a gun, but no leader has made more volunteers. 25:23 No leader has made more soldiers who have under his orders made rebels stack arms to surrender without a 25:31 shot being fired. 25:34 The disciples did their job. But today, are we going to do our job? We have had time for prayer 25:50 but it is now time to plan. And then after we plan, we have got to execute. 25:58 Jesus is calling us to do the work of sharing the gospel. Jesus is calling us to be His witnesses in the world. 26:09 Jesus is saying that it is our time to go and tell others about the love and forgiveness that He so freely offers. 26:17 Jesus is calling us but we have got to do it in a relevant Christ-centered, excellent way. 26:23 And the good news is we do not have to do it by ourselves. But we have got the Holy Ghost. 26:32 Will there be times we meet opposition? Yes. Will there be those who do not listen to us? Yes. 26:46 Will people brush us off? Yes. But could you meet somebody who needs to hear the gospel? Yes 27:02 Could you help change somebody's life? Yes. And that my friends are what God has called me and you to do. 27:19 Invite someone to meet Christ. Invite someone to follow Christ. Invite someone to hear Christ. 27:31 Invite someone to surrender to Christ. We are in the upper room, we have been praying. 27:43 But God has given us the power of the Holy Ghost and it is time for us to plan. And then after we plan, 27:53 we have got to execute. That is what Acts 2 is about; it is about the execution. Acts 1 is about the preparation, 28:01 praying as a preparation. 28:03 But now after that, we got to get to the execution, because God wants to use you. God wants to use me. 28:16 This is our Upper Room. So my answer Lord is yes. Lord, yes. 28:28 [END] |
Revised 2021-04-15