Sunday, July 10, 2022 AM

["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Good morning, everyone.

Come on in, have a seat. It's good to have you here to worship with us this morning at Sunnyside Baptist Church.

A few announcements as we get started this morning. We have a fairly normal -looking week ahead of us, it looks like.

Come back for our evening service tonight. Starts at 5 .30. We're going to be starting a new

Sunday night study on a theology of fear. So, just a little tease for you.

We're wrapping up a Kingdom of God study that Michael's been doing for a while now, but theology of fear.

Looking ahead to this Wednesday, our meal's at 5 .45 in the Fellowship Hall prayer meeting for the adults starting at 6 .30

and Children's Choir for the kids. Looking ahead toward the end of the month, Wednesday, July 27th at 6 .30,

that's our summer Children's Choir concert. So, looking forward to that. Truth Group for the young adults, that's going to be on Friday this time at the

Barnett's Home, kind of an end of the summer Truth Group meeting there. Sunday, July 31st, communion,

Lord's Supper that morning during church. Alright, any other announcements before I read our fighter verse?

Alright, our fighter verse for this week comes from the Psalms, Psalm 91, verses 1 and 2.

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the

Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. We're going to have time to prepare our hearts for worship this morning, just in silent prayer.

And at the conclusion of that, Randy will come up and open us. Father, how good it is to come today and to worship with other believers.

I just thank you for this body of believers. I pray that you'd encourage our hearts today as we worship you.

And I pray that you would be glorified in song and in the message. I pray that you'd give

Michael just the freedom to share what your Spirit has put on his heart. I pray that we would receive it.

And Father, I pray that throughout this week that we would be faithful to tell others of the hope that we have in Christ.

I pray that you would just encourage us this morning. I thank you for your Word. I thank you most of all for Jesus.

And I just thank you that we can come to Him and take all of our cares and cast them upon Him.

Thank you for how you care for us. I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you stand with me for our call to worship?

We're continuing in Psalms chapter 78. We call a retelling of God's powerful deliverance of His people in the land of Egypt and delivering them with the ten plagues that were placed upon Egypt and Pharaoh and then how

God led safely them through the

Red Sea and then eventually to the promised land in Canaan. So if you would, read with me verses 51 -55.

He struck down every firstborn in Egypt, the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.

Then He led out His people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

He led them in safety so that they were not afraid. But the sea overwhelmed their enemies and He brought them to His holy land to the mountain which

His right hand had won. He drove out nations before them. He apportioned for them a possession and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

So if you would, turn to your Psalms for Worship hymnal. We'll sing this passage we just read, 78H.

We'll sing both verses. ♪ Then He struck down in Egypt's land their firstborn sons, their bride.

Until then all the tents of Ham, their heirs of strength, had died.

Then led His own people forth like sheep

He brought with guiding hand. And led

His people like a flock across the desert land.

He led them safely, unafraid.

The sea engulfed their foes. He brought them to His holy land the hills

His right hand chose. Before them

He drove nations out from lands and from nations allotted things to Israel's tribes for their inheritance.

Then our next two songs is on page 38. I will call upon the Lord. In 215,

Alleluia, Alleluia. ♪

There shall my head be exalted and blessed be the rock.

And let the God of my salvation be exalted. The Lord live in heaven and bless the rock.

And let the God of my salvation be exalted. Sing to God, He who once saved your voice and bled,

Jesus Christ. Now that I am alive,

I stand triumphantly confident.

If you have your

Bible with you this morning, I would encourage you to turn to Isaiah chapter 29. Be reading verses 1 through 8.

So Isaiah 29 verses 1 through 8. I will be reading from the

English Standard Version. Isaiah 29 verse 1.

Ah, Ariel, Ariel, the city where David encamped.

Add year to year, let the feasts run their round. Yet I will distress

Ariel, and there shall be moaning and lamentation, and she shall be to me like an

Ariel. And I will encamp against you all around and will besiege you with towers, and I will raise siege works against you, and you will be brought low.

From the earth you shall speak, and from the dust your speech will be bowed down.

Your voice shall come from the ground like the voice of a ghost, and from the dust your speech shall whisper.

But the multitude of your foreign foes shall be like small dust, and the multitude of the ruthless like passing chaff.

And in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a devouring fire, and the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her, shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.

As when a hungry man dreams, he is eating and awakes with his hunger not satisfied.

Or as when a thirsty man dreams, he is drinking and awakes faint with his thirst not quenched.

So shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion.

This is the word of the Lord. Would you pray with me? Lord, as we read this morning in your word through the prophet

Isaiah, Lord, we are reminded that you will judge the nations.

You have judged your people for their false worship of just going through the motions, offering sacrifices, offering praise that is merely from the lips but not from the heart.

Lord, you are just in your judgments. You are righteous in all that you do.

And Lord, when nations fall, your glory is revealed.

As you poured out your wrath upon Israel for their unfaithfulness and their judgment spoke to nations around them of your righteousness.

And yet, Lord, in this passage, we see that in your judgment, you remember mercy.

You did not make a complete devastation of the nation, but that you reserved a remnant through whom you work.

Lord, as we look at the world around us today, we see the unrighteousness and the wickedness. And we, as your people, as your holy nation, a priesthood who has set apart to declare your praises,

Lord, may we be faithful in the midst of unfaithfulness.

Lord, preserve us with your grace. Make us a light to the nations.

Help us to walk, Lord, in holiness. Help us to praise you with glad and sincere hearts.

Lord, we desire more than anything to exalt Christ our

Savior, the one who has endured your righteous wrath against our sin.

And it is in Christ alone in whom we put our trust. So may we give you praise today because Christ has conquered and will return victorious.

Lord, we look forward to that day. We long for that day. Keep us,

Lord, in your care that Christ may be exalted. We give you thanks in Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated. Not only is

Jesus Christ Savior and Lord, he's also a friend.

Whether we're going through joyous, blessed times or through trials and tribulations, what a friend we have in Jesus.

Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.

Oh, what peace we often fall in this pain we not care to God as a true temptation.

It should never be discouraged. Take it to the ocean.

Jesus knows our every weakness.

Take it to the holy lake.

Conquered with the blood of Christ, your

Savior's still our refuge. Take it to the

Lord in prayer. Take it to the

Lord in prayer. His arms will take you to me.

Thou will find a solace there. I really appreciate the hymn writers that we have.

And this is just another classic example. They're giving praise, glory, and worship to Christ and Christ alone.

I was reminded today that this song was sang at Ryan and Haley's wedding.

It's also a favorite song amongst the praise team here. So let's all together worship and praise in Christ alone.

In Christ alone my hope is found.

He is my light, my strength, my song.

This cornerstone, this solid ground. Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

The world exists in Christ alone.

Scorned by the ones he came to save.

Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.

For every sin on him was laid.

Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay.

His body lay. Been urged he forth in glorious day.

Up from the grave he rose again.

And as he stands in victory, sin's curse has fallen.

This is the vow of life's short cry to final breath.

Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man can handle me from his hand.

Till he returns or calls me home.

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, I thank you for gathering us here today.

What a joy it is to come together and to sing your praises. To confess together and to one another your goodness and your truth.

The preeminence of your Son, Jesus Christ. The blessings of your Holy Spirit.

I thank you for providing us this time and this place.

And the grace to worship you. We ask today that as we open your word and we read what you have provided to us concerning your

Son and by your Spirit. That we would take of this meal and that you would nourish our lives.

That we would rejoice in what you provide to us here today. I pray that as we see your

Son, Jesus Christ, revealed to us in this word. That you would conform us to him, our head.

That you would grow us up into him. That we would look like him in this world.

We pray all of these things asking for these mercies for the sake of your

Son, Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well pleased. Amen. I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to the book of Acts. And we will be reading Acts chapter 1 verses 12 -14 here in a moment.

Acts chapter 1 verses 12 -14.

The title of the sermon today is Prayer Meeting. Prayer Meeting. We spent a few weeks looking at the first 11 verses of the book of Acts.

An introduction to Luke's second volume. We have the

Gospel of Luke and we have the book of Acts. Luke's patron, Theophilus, has obviously supplied the means for this massively expensive undertaking to write more material of the

New Testament than even the Apostle Paul. And he writes to Theophilus so that Theophilus would have an orderly account of all that has taken place.

So that he would be established in his faith. That he would know the reality of what has happened with the birth and life, death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

And in the Gospel of Luke we are shown the bringing in of the

Kingdom of God. And in the book of Acts we see the spreading out of the

Kingdom of God. Jesus comes and establishes the Kingdom and His life and death and resurrection.

And from His ascended place at the right hand of the Father, He reigns by the power of His Spirit in the lives of His people and His Kingdom begins to advance from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

And that's what we've been considering in the introduction here in Acts chapter 1 verses 1 -11.

But now we have a prayer meeting in verses 12 -14.

I invite you to stand with me if you're able. And we're going to read this text. This is the word of the

Lord, a word of our Savior and Sovereign, Jesus Christ, by His Spirit, through His servant

Luke. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called

Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying,

Peter, James, John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the

Zealot, and Judas, the son of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. What do you normally do on Wednesday nights?

Sometimes you go to prayer meeting, right? What are we to think about prayer meeting?

We could think of it in terms of perhaps religious history, look back to the 1800s and see how the tradition in Baptist life began in the 1800s to have a midweek service, a

Wednesday night prayer meeting. Maybe we could think about prayer meeting in historical terms.

Maybe we could think of it in terms of productivity.

How helpful is it for a church? What are the statistics? What are the numbers? What is the utilitarian argument for having a

Wednesday night service? And many studies have been done concerning that. How are we to think of the

Wednesday night prayer meeting? Maybe we should think of it in terms of felt needs.

We should have a Wednesday night prayer meeting if people feel like it's meeting a need. How are we to think about a prayer meeting?

I submit to you we should think about prayer meetings as biblically as we can. I think everybody should agree about that.

And see here in our text a prayer meeting. Consider what it means given the facts of Jesus' ascension to the right hand of God and His promise that the

Holy Spirit will come down upon His people in power and in the meantime they're to wait.

You see that in verse 4 of Acts 1. His instructions to His followers is to go wait.

Now He's told them that they are to be His witnesses, preaching the gospel of the kingdom and repentance from sin and salvation in the name of Jesus Christ.

That this is to be proclaimed in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.

Indeed this was foretold by the scriptures, we read in Luke 24, that this would all come to pass. And they have a big job ahead of them, a huge vision of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom.

This is going to take more than just a handful of them. It's going to take thousands of them, indeed tens of thousands, indeed millions.

It will take languages beyond their reckoning. It will take generations beyond their expectations.

They have a job ahead of them that is a big job. The second Adam intends to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the earth with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

And He will do so through His people that are empowered by His Holy Spirit. Boy do they have a job.

There's a lot of work ahead of them. But before anything happens, He says, go wait. Go wait.

Now, you understand there's an expression in the Bible, you've heard it before perhaps, waiting upon the

Lord. It's in Christian vernacular, I'm just waiting upon the Lord. What does that mean?

What does that look like? Well, it's not fiddling away your time.

It's not wasting time. Jesus tells His followers, go wait in Jerusalem for the

Holy Spirit. In other words, wait on the Lord. And when they get back to Jerusalem, you know what they do?

They have a prayer meeting. And we're going to think about that today. About how to wait upon the

Lord. And how we need to have prayer meetings. A prayer meeting is a gospel gathering.

A prayer meeting is not some sort of possible option for Christians.

But prayer meetings are gospel gatherings. And we're going to see that here in our passage. And we're going to think about, first of all, what kind of people is a prayer meeting for?

What kind of people is a prayer meeting for? And then we're going to think about what kind of purpose does a prayer meeting serve?

What kind of purpose does a prayer meeting have? First of all, who shows up to the prayer meeting?

What do we see in the text? Peter, James, John, and Andrew.

Philip and Thomas. Bartholomew and Matthew. James, the son of Alphaeus.

And Simon the Zealot. And Judas, the son of James. Also, look, there's Mary. And the women who were with Jesus for most of His ministry and supporting

His ministry out of their own pockets. Who were there when He was crucified. Who were there when He was buried.

Who were there when He rose from the dead. Also, His brothers. Jesus' own brothers.

Mary's other sons are there in the prayer meeting as well. Look who showed up to the prayer meeting.

How are we to understand these folks? Speaking of church tradition. In some tradition, such folks would be venerated.

Bowed down to. I've even seen across our street years ago, they had a worship service to the mother of Jesus.

And they sang and they danced and they lit fires before her picture on a table.

And danced and they brought offerings to her. How are you to think about these saints?

Peter, James, John, Mary. Wow, look at these names. Let's be biblically minded and think about what the

Bible has said about these folks. Even just reading the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew and Mark and John.

You know, reading through your Bible. You read the four Gospels. You come to Acts. You see these names. What are you to think about these names?

What are we supposed to remember about these names? Well, think about Peter. Peter is known as the one who denied

Jesus Christ. I mean, not so long ago,

Peter was having trouble with Jesus' main message. Jesus prophesied to his followers and he said,

Look, we're going up to Jerusalem. It is necessary that I go to Jerusalem. That the religious leaders there are going to persecute me.

They're going to cause me to suffer. They're going to put me to death. And I'm going to rise again the third day.

And how did Peter receive that message? Well, he didn't receive it. He rejected it. And he said, may it never be.

God forbid. It can't possibly be. We're not going to let that happen. And Jesus recognized the temptation for what it was and the deception for what it was.

And he said, get behind me, Satan. This Peter, who even in the garden of Gethsemane, having slept through the prayer meeting, confronted the soldiers and the religious leaders who came to arrest

Jesus. He confronted them with his sword and tried to cut the head off of one of them and missed and got the ear.

To whom Jesus then said, Peter, those who live by the sword will die by it. This very same

Peter who had said, I'll never deny you. In fact, I'll die for you. Yet on the night of Christ's trial, when confronted by accusations, intimations, that perhaps he was indeed one of Jesus' followers, before the rooster crowed twice, he denied

Christ three times. And look, Peter's at the prayer meeting.

And if his name being first in the list and verse 15 being in the indication, he's the one who's leading the prayer meeting.

Interesting, isn't it? What about these apostles? What about these disciples? James, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, Thomas, all these different apostles.

Weren't these the same guys who kept misunderstanding what Jesus was saying? Often missing the point of the parables.

Weren't these the ones who were always arguing with one another about who was the greatest? And trying to jockey for position of power.

Trying to play off of the name of Jesus to gain power. Weren't these the same group?

And when the shepherd was struck, didn't the sheep scatter? They all forsook him and fled,

Mark says. They forsook him and fled. These are the deserters. Peter's a denier. Here are the deserters.

And look, they're the honorable participants of this prayer meeting. We also see

Bartholomew, a name which means the son of Ptolemaeus.

His other name is Nathanael. Wasn't he the one who said, can anything good come out of Nazareth? A doubter of Jesus.

Look there, Thomas. Thomas, remember his nickname, Doubting Thomas? The others had seen him, he had not.

They told him, Jesus is risen from the dead. He said, I will not believe until I can put my finger in the nail prints in his hand and put my hand in the wound of his side.

And he doubted that Christ had rose from the dead. Notice also in the group is

Mary and her other sons. Mary and the brothers of Jesus. Mark chapter 3 verse 21 says,

But when his own people heard about this, when his own family, that's the expression, his own family heard about the things that he was saying and the things that he was doing in his ministry, they went out to lay hold of him, for they said, he is out of his mind.

So Mary and her sons, her other sons besides Jesus, and perhaps even Jesus' sisters may have come with him if they were still in the home, and they show up, and they're going to try to create an intervention, and we're going to get

Jesus back home. He is out of his mind. They doubted him. So they're also at the prayer meeting.

Look who showed up to the prayer meeting. One who denied Christ, those who had deserted Christ, those who had doubted

Christ. And look, there's a tax collector. Matthew, tax collector.

How many people did he cheat? How often had he labored for the profit of the oppressing government at the expense of his own people?

How often had he cheated them and lied to them and undercut their good?

Classic politician. And then there was one president who belonged to a group that was famous for assassinating such people,

Simon the Zealot, who also brought all kinds of disruption to his own country through radical ideas.

Somehow they're in the same group. Both of them had despised one another, and both of them were despised by the general populace.

And look, the women were with him too. You know, when the Jews got together in synagogue, the men would meet on one level, and the women would meet either on the balcony or in an entirely different room.

But look here. All the men and the women are together in the same room. Right? And one of those women was

Mary Magdalene. You can see this in Luke 8 .3 and the list of the women who were with Jesus.

She had been delivered from seven demons. She had lived as a demoniac.

She had lived under the possession of seven demons. And we don't know the background of how she ended up that way and whatever she suffered and whatever she did while she was possessed by demons.

But Jesus had delivered her, but she still had that background. So we have the deniers.

We have the deserters. We have the doubters. We have the despised. This is who shows up to the prayer meeting.

And we need to ask, how are all these in the same place?

How have these gathered together for this prayer meeting? Given their background, given their failures, given the fact that several of them should be at each other's throats right at this moment, given their backgrounds.

How in the world have these been brought together in the same place for a prayer meeting?

It's not because these are saints worthy of veneration and worship and prayers and sacrifices.

They're not there based upon their own merits. They're there because the lost have been found and the weak have been made strong and the sick have been healed.

They're there because as sinners they've been saved. There's only one reason.

One person has brought all of these together in the same room at the same time to have a prayer meeting and his name is

Jesus Christ. Do you remember his stories about that which was lost and then was found?

The story of the lost coin, where the woman lost one of the ten coins, the silver coins that decorated her wedding headdress and one of them was gone.

And she put everything on hold. The whole family went on hold until she cleaned every last inch of her household and she finally found her lost coin, a precious coin to her.

And she stopped everything and said, now we're going to have a celebration. What was lost has been found.

And the story of the lost sheep, where the shepherd lost one of his sheep and he left the ones he had to go find the one that was missing and he searched all over the place until he found the lost sheep and he brought it home and said, everybody let's celebrate, let's rejoice.

That which was lost has been found. And the story of the lost son, who betrayed his father and sinned against his family and abandoned them and went and ruined his life.

But by God's grace he came to himself and came back and there was a huge celebration for the son who was lost was now found.

What did Jesus say about himself? What did he say about his ministry? Luke chapter 5 verses 31 through 32.

Jesus answered and said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick,

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The religious leaders were using religion for a covering to look good.

They said, we're well, we're righteous. But Jesus came with a religion of communion to love

God. He says, no, you're sick, you're sinful, you're estranged from God and you need to be saved.

And Luke 19 .10, Jesus says, the son of man, the royal title, the king of the kingdom of God, for the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Look at who's in the room. From Peter to Mary, who's in the room?

Those who were lost and they have been found. Those who have been scattered have been regathered and there they are in the prayer meeting.

That's why the prayer meeting is a gospel gathering. Is anybody there in the prayer meeting to come together and to appeal to the

Father as the children of God? In the name of Christ, by the power of the Spirit. This is a gospel gathering.

It's Christ who has made the difference. It's Christ who has made the difference.

That's why they're all gathered together. Romans 5 .6 says, when we were still without strength, in due time

Christ died for the ungodly. Those who did not cohere to the character of God, made evident by the law of God, which is the expression of His holy character.

Those who were ungodly. In other words, those who were made in the image of God betray that uniform every day of their lives.

And they go AWOL and they fail in their duties to live up to the glory of God in whose image they are made.

They are the ungodly. And yet Christ died for the ungodly while we were still without strength.

1 John 4 .10 says, in this is love. Not that we love God, but that God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Our sins matter to God. They matter to God.

When He forgives sins, He does not consider our lying and our thieving and our hatred and our bitterness and our envy and our prejudices and our perversions, our immoralities.

He does not take our sins and say, well, I'll just let you go. And He sweeps it under the cosmic rug like some unjust judge.

Satisfaction of God's holy judgment must be made. That's what propitiation means. And Christ, by His own blood, as the perfect Lamb of God, has made that satisfaction upon the cross.

In this is love. Not that we love God, but that God loved us. How did He love us?

In this way, that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us from our sins.

Now consider 1 Timothy 1, 14 -16. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant.

How is that? With faith and love. Where do you find faith and love? Which are in Christ Jesus.

Hear it again. The grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant. How does this grace manifest?

With faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Not the faith and love that you could conjure up by your own merits and your own strength and your own diligence and your own personal transformation.

But the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. That He brings to us.

He's the one who seeks and saves the lost. Verse 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Coming back to that.

However, for this reason I obtained mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ, might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Paul says this is faithful. This is worthy of acceptance. Double down on this. This is concrete.

This is true. Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners. He did not come in to gather the people who already thought they were okay.

He came into the world to save sinners. And you say, well, I know people who can't be saved. Paul says he was the chief of sinners.

And when it comes to saving sinners, there was none who were farther off, far worse off, closer to hell, more deserving of God's judgment than Saul of Tarsus who had all of the understanding of God's Holy Word, the entire

Old Testament, had taken it all up and twisted it in such a way to attack the followers of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, Jesus when He confronted Saul of Tarsus said, Why are you persecuting Me? And so Saul of Tarsus, day in and day out, breathing threats, breathing anger against Christ and His followers, stabbed again and again and again into the flesh of the bride, attacking the groom.

He was an evil man doing evil things. The chief of sinners.

And God saved him. And He didn't save him in some kind of gentlemanly tap on the shoulder.

Would you please consider this nice brochure? Jesus stopped him on the road to Damascus, knocked him flat on the ground, blinded him for days, said,

You are going to deal with the Lord of glory. You are going to deal with the King of kings and the

Lord of lords. And you are going to stop hurting my bride. For when you hurt her, you attack me.

And Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle. Paul says, this is an example, a pattern to all of those who are going to believe upon Christ for everlasting life.

There are many people in this world, maybe some of you in this room, who have said, there's probably not any reason to hold out hope that God would ever love me, accept me, and say, we're on perfect terms, you and I.

You may know people in your life who you are just about ready to give up hope on. Perhaps you've already given up hope on them, because you see that they are so far gone, and you have said, well, there's no chance for them to be saved anymore.

If God saves Saul of Tarsus, after everything he did to Christ and the church, he can save you, and he can save those that you have a burden for.

Because who shows up to the prayer meeting, deniers, deserters, doubters, and despised, but notice that's not who they are anymore.

Peter is no longer a denier, he's the chief confessor. And he's going to be put in time after time, a test after test, where he confesses

Jesus Christ as Lord, and says, do whatever you want, I'm going to preach the gospel. And consider that John, even his preaching partner

John, who once used to strive to get the better position amongst the disciples, who once, because of an insult from a

Samaritan village, wanted God to incinerate them in fire, now the apostle

John preaches the gospel, and he becomes known as the apostle of love. Look how different things are.

The apostles who deserted Christ are now gathered to him, so that they may go out for him in his name.

And there's Thomas, he's no longer doubting. And there's Mary, she's no longer doubting. They're his brothers, they're no longer doubting.

Do you see the change that has occurred? Mary Magdalene used to be possessed by demons, but no more.

Do you see the change that has taken place? Listen, all the identifiers that we mentioned, those who denied and deserted and doubted, those who were despised, all those identifiers are not their identity.

Identifiers are not your identity. In Christ, there's only one at the right hand, and that's

Christ. So when you're in Christ, He's your identity. That's how

I show up. He's my name tag. He's my place of origin.

He's my destiny. He's my walk -up music. Everything about me is about Christ.

In the Scriptures, those who are left with identifiers as their identity, the thieves, the covetous, the rebellious, the parents, the perverted, the murderers, the haters, those who remain identifying themselves by such things, they're the ones who are left out of the kingdom of God.

They're the ones who are left out of the kingdom of God. But the resounding statement of the Bible is, such were some of you, but no longer.

You're justified and sanctified in the name of Jesus Christ, meaning that's your new identity. Everything has changed now.

And that's why all these kinds of people, from all these kinds of backgrounds, people who should be at each other's throat, eventually we'll see in the book of Acts, Jews and Gentiles, the greatest racial divide, ethnic divide that ever there was, is completely and thoroughly healed together.

And there they all are in the same room, praising the same God because of the salvation that they have in Christ, because He's their identity.

And so we come together, not because we're elite saints. The prayer meeting is not for the elite saints. You show up to a prayer meeting, it's not because you're elite.

We're just children by the Son petitioning the Father for the Holy Spirit, the blessings of the Holy Spirit. Not many noble, not many wise, not many strong.

That's who it's for. That's who it's for. Well, what kind of purpose does a prayer meeting have?

And we say, well, that's obvious, it's for prayer. Yes. And we have more than that in the text.

I want us to take a look at what kind of purpose a prayer meeting has. There's verse 12, and they return to Jerusalem from the mount called

Olavet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. Sabbath day's journey.

What in the world does that mean? That means about 1 ,600 steps. You count your steps when you walk around and say, oh,

I've got 10 ,000 today. You would have broken the Sabbath. 1 ,600 steps, that's about a

Sabbath day journey, three -quarters of a mile, 2 ,000 cubits. Now, Luke, he's a

Gentile, writing to a Gentile named Theophilus, and he tells him, by the way, where Jesus ascended to heaven on the

Mount of Olives, his followers obeyed his instructions, and they went to go wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the

Holy Spirit. Now, the distance it took for them to get from the Mount of Olives to this upper room where they all gathered is about a

Sabbath day journey. Now, how is that the normal vernacular of a

Gentile author? And how is that the easiest way of understanding things for a

Gentile audience, Theophilus? That's pretty strange. All kinds of ways to mark out how far it is from the

Mount of Olives to the upper room. Why does he say it's a Sabbath day's journey?

Maybe it was on the Sabbath. Maybe it was Saturday, seventh day of the week.

In six days, God created all things. On the seventh day, he rested and gave a pattern for all those who would fear the

Lord, to have that pattern of work and rest. And indeed, a pattern that was more fully realized in the

Exodus, when the Jews were delivered from their slavery and their labors to serve the

Lord. And to serve the Lord in the wilderness, they recognized that their sustenance was not dependent upon their own abilities.

Their salvation was not dependent upon their own abilities. They'd work for six days. They rest the seventh and trust

God to provide manna from heaven and provide whatever else that they needed. Maybe it was

Saturday. Was it Saturday when Jesus ascended? Nope. It wasn't

Saturday. It wasn't the Sabbath. It wasn't the Sabbath of the Jews. You know, that day that Jesus was always getting in trouble, healing people.

They always get mad at him for healing people on the Sabbath. He healed someone. No, it wasn't

Saturday. Maybe it was Sunday. First day of the week, as the

Puritans and the Reformed covenant theologians have given to us for generations, that Sunday is the

Christian Sabbath. Sunday is the Christian Sabbath. The Lord's Day. The day that He rose from the dead.

And we're just going to transfer all the requirements of rest from Saturday to Sunday. Well, it wasn't

Sunday either. And this is really going to hurt all the

Baptist traditionalists. It wasn't Wednesday night either. Sorry.

You know what day it was? It was plain old Thursday. Plain old, uninteresting, boring

Thursday. I don't even think Thursday has a name. We don't even have a slang name for Thursday.

That's how boring this day is. And that's the day that Jesus ascended to heaven to the right hand of God, promising the full effects of the blessing to the new covenant by the arrival of the

Holy Spirit. And that's the day they took a Sabbath day journey from the Mount of Olives to the upper room.

Why in the world was it a Sabbath day's journey? Well, it's important to remember what happens to the meaning of the

Sabbath in the new covenant. Everything now is different in the new creation versus the old creation.

The old creation begins and you have six days of work followed by a day of rest. You know what happens in the new creation?

First day of the week in the old creation, first creation, is

Sunday. Let there be light. There was light. First day, it was awesome.

Work begins on the first day. In the new creation, when Christ makes all things new, how does everything start?

It starts with his resurrection from the dead. And this is how the new creation starts. And he comes back to his people.

He comes back to his followers. He comes back into fellowship and they commune together, which is

Christ's definition of the Sabbath. If you want to turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. I want you to listen to the way that Jesus calls,

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What did Jesus tell his followers to do? You have a whole lot of work ahead of you. Preaching the gospel to all the nations.

First thing you're going to do is go wait. You're going to go wait. And what do they do when they wait upon the

Lord? They pray. They commune together, praying to the Lord. Jesus says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

For I am gentle and lowly in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Notice what happens. Notice what happens. There are people who are laboring and heavy laden.

He says, no, no, no. I'm going to give you rest. I'm going to give you rest. And then after I give you rest, what am I going to give you?

I'm going to give you my yoke. I'm going to give you rest first. And then I'm going to give you my yoke. And you're going to learn from me.

And you're going to find out that after finding rest for your souls, you're going to find out my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Do you see how things work in the new creation? That the labor proceeds from the rest.

The labor proceeds from the rest. From the communion with Christ.

To explain this in chapter 12, Jesus and his disciples are going through the grain fields. And the disciples grab some grain out of the grain fields.

And they start doing this with it. And they just reaped. And they just threshed. And then they were cooking it by putting the salt of their hands and the warmth of their hands into those kernels of grain.

And then they were eating them. And you know what the Pharisees said? You're breaking the Sabbath. Your disciples are breaking the

Sabbath. They are reaping and threshing and cooking on the Sabbath. And that is a big no -no. And Jesus says, you know what?

You've never read what happened, have you? When David and his followers went to the tabernacle and ate the bread of the presence that was not lawful for them to eat.

But why was it okay for those with David to eat the holy bread of the presence? Why? They were with David, God's anointed one.

He says, and don't you know that the priests in the temple on the Sabbath work up quite a sweat butchering animals?

If you've ever butchered an animal, you know how much work it is. But why is it okay for them to do all this heavy labor on the

Sabbath? Because they're in the temple. And Jesus says, look, I'm Lord of the Sabbath.

What's the point? It's impossible for His disciples to break the Sabbath because they're with Him.

They're with God's anointed one. They are communing with the one who has come to replace the temple. So it's impossible to break the

Sabbath. Listen, Sabbath is more than one day a week. That's the shadow. The substance is

Christ. And we Sabbath, we should be Sabbathing more than one day a week.

We should be Sabbathing more. This Sabbath is broader and deeper than simply one day a week.

That was the tutoring of the law. But now that we're sons, we live in a free and liberated

Sabbath in Christ. And look, they're Sabbathing on Thursday. How?

It's a Sabbath on a Thursday. They take a Sabbath day journey because they're going from communing with Christ to communing with Christ from the

Mount of Ascension to the upper room of prayer. What kind of purpose does a prayer meeting have?

It has a purpose of Sabbath. That we would rest in Christ before we go work for Christ.

Every time and time again in the book of Acts, prayer meetings pop up. One prayer meeting after another.

And do you know what? It doesn't happen to be on Wednesday nights. It doesn't always have to happen on Saturdays or Sundays.

But prayer meetings show up again and again and again. And what's happening is that the people of God are getting together, communing with the

Lord, and asking Him to do what only He can do so that they can live in obedience and serve

Him and do the work that they've been called to. You see, the service proceeds from the Sabbath in the new creation.

Secondly, it's for sustaining. We read in the text that these all continued.

These disciples and the women and Mary and Jesus' brothers, they continued with one accord.

They continued. We read about that again in Acts 2.

We read that in verse 42. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers.

Verse 46, so continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.

There's a continuing. There's a sustaining. They are praying together. And look, this helps them continue in the work in their earnest, constant, adhering perseverance.

I read a little bit about prayer meetings. About nine in ten

Baptist churches still have some sort of Wednesday night service. Less than half make it a prayer meeting.

But you know, why is it so important for us to put prayer and a prayer meeting as part of our religion, part of the way we organize ourselves to commune and love

God? Why would we have a prayer meeting in the middle of the week? It's because we recognize that we need that for the sustaining of our fellowship, the sustaining of our church, the sustaining of our faith, the sustaining of the work.

It's not us. It's not us. It's Christ who reigns at the right hand. It's not us.

It's the Holy Spirit whom He has given to us. We are needy children. And we need the

Lord. We need His provision. We need His power. We need His direction. We need His wisdom.

We're dependent on Him. And that's a good reason to have a prayer meeting either Wednesday or otherwise.

Also, not only for continuance, and again, Hebrews chapter 10.

Let's just look over in Hebrews 10. Clarify why we need this kind of gathering.

I'm going to back up to verse 19. I think the outline says verse 23. We're going to back up to verse 19 because it's part of the point.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus.

The piece of furniture that transcends the holy place to the holiest of holies is the altar of incense, which prefigures the prayers of the saints.

Entering into the holiest, how do we even get into the holy of holies?

How do we even come in there? And why would we be there? We're there with our prayers. And we come in by the blood of Jesus, by His merits, by a new and living way, which

He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh. That's how we get in through the veil because of who

Christ is in His person. Fully God and fully man. Him representing us as our high priest.

And having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

Let us draw near to the throne of God, which is in the holy place, the mercy seat. Let us draw near with what we have to ask in our prayers, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast to confession of our hope without wavering for He who promises faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

Now this is Sabbath. When we come together and commune with Christ in the most holy place by our prayers, confessing the blood of Jesus Christ, coming together to exhort one another in the truth of God, that's

Sabbath. And it says to do it all the more. We need that.

Not only sustaining, but also synergy. That we would be working together.

This is vitally important as we read that they continue with one accord.

They continue with one accord. They're in unity together. In unity together.

They have the same passion. They have the same zeal. They're working toward the same goal. Ephesians 4 says,

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all lowliness and gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.

There's the ingredients for unity if you're ever wanting to know how to get unity. It's not sacrificing the truth.

It's called humility. We don't slaughter the truth in the streets for the sake of peace.

Here's unity. Lowliness, gentleness, longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one

God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. This is, of course, because of Christ and the

Holy Spirit. Synergy. That's why we need the prayer meeting. When we come together and we share prayer requests and concerns, and come together, what are we doing?

We're praying together for the same things. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. We're praying together for God to provide all that we need and to accomplish all that He must accomplish for His glory to be made manifest, for the kingdom of Christ to be advanced.

And also, of course, supplication. This is an amazing thing, that we can come in prayer and supplication, asking

God for what we need. Asking God for what we need. We have to do kingdom work through kingdom power.

Have you ever noticed how needy we are? How weak and unable?

It's the truth. Philippians 4, verse 1.

Therefore, my beloved, and longed for a brother, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved.

I implore you, Odea, and I implore Assyntike, to be of the same mind in the Lord. There's a call for synergy.

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be made known to all men.

The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. Now watch this. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Now, given the hurdles that these disciples are facing, the problems that they're going to have to overcome, obviously they have many reasons to be anxious.

And even today, we have many reasons to be anxious, but we are instructed here to be anxious for absolutely nothing.

So if you treasure something in your life, and you hold it close to your heart, and it's your special anxiety, and you nourish that and cherish it, and go over it again and again, you're not obeying the scriptures that says be anxious for nothing.

That is not your burden to bear. It is your burden to give to the

Lord, to pray with, look, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let these requests be made known to God.

This is why we should be having prayer meetings. Prayer meetings happen in the home. Prayer meetings happen at work.

Prayer meetings happen in other types of gatherings. Prayer meetings happen at the church.

But the prayer meeting has to be seen as essential to the kingdom of God.

Time and again, as we read through the book of Acts, we're going to see this. In order for the kingdom to advance, a prayer meeting has to happen.

Again, and again, and again. Why? Because we need to be about the

Lord's work, according to the Lord's resources and the Lord's power. Isaiah 40, verses 28 -31 says,

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak. And to those who have no might,

He increases strength. Even ewes shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles.

They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. This Hebrew word for wait means you bind yourself to hope till it comes past.

You bind yourself there. I am leaning entirely upon the promises of God. I will wait upon the

Lord. And how do we do this? How much better way to do this than to pray together.

Our purpose in the prayer meeting ought to be Christ's kingdom purpose. This is why we gather together.

I have heard a lot and have been subject to a lot of cynical approaches to thinking about the prayer meeting, the

Wednesday night prayer meeting. And this can be somewhat understandable. I mean, there has been obvious enough guilt amongst the people of God in gathering together on Wednesday nights for prayer meeting and not praying very much.

Or gathering together on Wednesday night for prayer meeting and gossiping way too much. Right?

But let's be clear. Let's be clear. The old complaint about so -and -so asking for prayer for my great -aunt

Bertha's cousin's sore toe. Hang on. That may weary me.

But it doesn't weary God. And maybe great -aunt

Bertha's cousin needs that toe healed so he can get back to work and provide for his family and do something godly with his strength and be a good witness.

You know? What is the purpose of the prayer? It isn't simply, you know,

God, you are the alleviator of all minor discomforts. What does

Christ have for us to do? What is Christ calling us to? But to make disciples of all the nations.

We have a big job. And we are weak and we are needy. Bring everything to the

Lord to accomplish the will of the Father. To accomplish the will of God.

How does this fit in with the ultimate agenda? That's the question. And that's why in 1 John 5 it says that if we pray, ask anything in His name,

He'll give it to us. We need to ask in faith. Ask in the name of God. May this be unto

Your glory and You accomplishing something great. This is what we have to pray about. This is what we have to ask for.

That gathering, strengthened by His grace and united in His name, petitioning as children for the

Father's blessing by the Holy Spirit in Christ. We pray. We need the prayer meeting.

We need this gospel gathering. We need this kind of Sabbath, be it scheduled or unscheduled.

We need the prayer meeting, folks. Let's pray. Father, we come before You today and recognize our neediness before You and ask that You would help us.

Help us to live as children, walking by faith, knowing that You are a good

Father and that You call us to this kind of life of prayer. Bless us, bless us in this ministry of prayer, in the service of prayer, in the joys of prayer, in the habits of prayer.

May You be glorified in our weakness by Your strength. We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. Oh, how good it is to be able to go to the

Lord in prayer. Hear a message to encourage us in prayer and that God answers prayer.

It's wonderful. I also thank our elders. Our elders, they come here early and pray for us as a congregation.

Brother Randy and Brother Ken prayed for us this morning, prayed that we would be able to worship the

Lord, which we've done, in reading of the Word, preaching of the Word, singing.

So if you would stand at this time. We're going to sing, Oh, how good it is.

And afterwards, Oh, how good it is to be part of the family of God. But we've also got, all the way from Pueblo, Colorado, the

Barnes, from Dallaston, Texas, the Horners. So make sure you greet one another afterwards.

Oh, how good it is to sing one voice to the Lord. Oh, how good it is when the family of God dwells together in spirit, in faith, and unity, where the bonds of peace, of acceptance and love are the fruits of His presence here among us.

So with one voice we'll sing to the

Lord, and we'll see the

Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people.

Oh, how good it is on this journey we share to rejoice with the happy and we with those who mourn for the weak find strength, the afflicted find grace, when we offer the blessing of belonging.

So with one voice we'll sing to the

Lord, and with one heart we'll live out

His Word till the whole earth sees the Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people.

Oh, how good it is to embrace

His command, to prefer one another, forgive as He forgives, when we live as one.

We all share in the love of the Son with the

Father and the Spirit. So with one voice we'll sing to the

Lord, and with one heart we'll live out

His Word till the whole earth sees the

Redeemer has come, for He dwells in the presence of His people.

Well, may the love of the Father, and the grace of the Son, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.