What Now — Acts 1

0:01 Okay. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this time. Thank you for your word. It's your voice.

0:09 Thank you for your holy spirit, the author, the inspirer, the one who breathed life into these scriptures. Thank you for your spirit who lives in every believer, our teacher, our guide, almighty god, the lord himself inside of us. Minister to us, we pray. In Jesus name, amen. Time is cut short, so I'm gonna put it in high gear, hopefully.

0:43 I'm going to kinda do just some reading from the, first part of acts and go back into first Luke. Acts could be called second Luke. We call the letters of John. Right? First John, second John, third John.

1:02 Luke wrote both the gospel of Luke, first Luke, and we'll see that he wrote second Luke, which we call the book of Acts. The book of Acts or the book of Luke, they're not inspired. It's not what God wrote in the Bible, but it's how we recognize where we're at in the Bible and what it's about. I want to just kinda whet our appetite for our journey we're gonna start in the book of Acts. This will be very much a life changing study for individually, us individually, and as a church.

1:42 An a sem... An an an assembly of God. So, basically, I could almost just say, let's pray. Let's go home. We just sang the introduction of acts.

1:56 Jesus died, rose again. Now what? Well, he's coming back again soon. Now what? You'll receive power when the spirit comes upon you.

2:06 You'll be my witnesses until he comes back. Awesome choice of songs this morning. So I just wanna whet our appetite, and, so we're gonna look right now at acts chapter one verse one. So there will obviously be plenty of room for the brothers after me to come and do more in-depth introduction even and things like that. Paul exhorted Timothy.

2:32 He said, give your attention to the public reading of scriptures. When Paul wrote his letter to Timothy, and Timothy, probably the one of the elders leaders at the church in Ephesus. He gets this letter and he says, hey, this letter is from Paul and he got up and he read it and there's this is where the power is. It's in the scriptures. So, we're gonna read a few verses in Acts and we're gonna back up, as you'll see in just a moment, to the last chapter in Luke so you can maybe, get ready for that.

3:08 Acts chapter one, the first account or first letter or first historical endeavor study, Luke is a historian, excellent historian, and he's really meticulous on direction... On, details. He's a physician. Maybe that has something to do with it, but he's real meticulous on details and helps us. He's writing a history as we'll see.

3:32 The first account, first letter, I composed Theophilus about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had, by the holy spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. Luke starts his letter. He's writing to excellent Theophilus. That's Luke's first letter that he's referring to here. And he says in my first letter, what we call the gospel of Luke, god had Luke be the pen, the author, and write down, what does it say?

4:15 All that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had, by the Holy Spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. Pause there. Go to Luke 24. You could title this if there was gonna be a title. I don't usually throw one in there, but, basically, now what?

5:08 And so Luke 24 verse one, I'm just gonna read this long portion of scripture, but I want us to enter in to god's writing these two books, two letters. They're really one account, but two different... The holy spirit chose to divide them up into two different letters for us because there... One was before Jesus ascended, and Luke just told us in the book of Acts, he wrote that in the book of Luke in his first letter until Jesus ascended back up, went to heaven. And then from there on, he's gonna pick up the story back in the book of Acts.

5:47 So enter into the story here. True story, but story nonetheless. His story. And Jesus had been crucified. The disciples were not getting it.

5:59 They were all Jews. The Jews did not understand the Old Testament coming of Christ. They were waiting. Is it at this time you're gonna set up your kingdom? They didn't understand the Old Testament until you'll see that Jesus opened their understanding.

6:15 And then on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and even made it more clear, they're living the whole time out to Jesus' death. Remember Peter? Jesus just gets done telling, foretelling that he's gonna go to Jerusalem and be crucified. What does Peter say? Lord, it'll never happen.

6:34 I won't let this happen. What does Jesus respond? Get behind me, Satan. This is shortly after Peter made that great declaration that Jesus, you're the Christ, the son of god. The Jews, even the disciples, they didn't grasp the concept of two comings of Christ.

6:53 They were only looking forward to the physical return of Christ, which is gonna happen. We're waiting. We call it the second coming of Christ, the millennial kingdom. They combined them somehow just like Jews do today. They overlook Isaiah 53, his first coming, that he would be pierced through for our transgressions.

7:11 He would be crushed for our iniquities. And so the Jews here, Christ dies on the cross. He had told them at least three times. You go back to Matthew 16, 17, and chapter 20. He's teaching the disciples on the journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, days away from his crucifixion.

7:30 Now he's really narrowing in on his mission. They're thinking, messiah's here. Messiah here. Are... The kingdom's gonna get set up.

7:37 Right? The Jews will be set free from Roman rule, and we're just gonna all live happily ever after. Well, they didn't understand that Jesus' real mission was for a greater need, and that is to save and rescue lost sinners from their sin. And so the disciples, when they see Jesus hanging on the cross, bloody. Isaiah records you couldn't tell that his face was human.

8:07 His form was human anymore. He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And so now it's Sunday, the first day of the week, the resurrection Sunday, we call it. Jesus had been in the tomb for those three days and nights.

8:25 Now let's pick up the story, verse one of 24. So you could say, now what? He's gone. We thought he was our king. We thought he was the messiah, but he's dead.

8:38 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared, and they found a stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they entered, they did not find the body of the lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, where did his body go? What happened? Behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel.

9:08 Obviously, two angels described in other appearances when they take on human form. And as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men, the angels, said to them, why do you... I love this verse. Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has risen.

9:31 Remember how he spoke to you while he was still in Galilee? Remember he said there will be suffering, The crucifixion, the beating, the mocking, the scourging, the piercing of his hands and feet, and then finally, the resurrection three days later. Remember how he spoke to you while he was in Galilee saying that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified in the third day, rise again. Ah, lights beginning to go on, and they remembered his words. Could have been just a few days earlier Jesus spoke those words and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the 11 and to all the rest.

10:16 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. Tomb's empty. Two angels were there. He said he's not here. He's risen.

10:34 Remember, they told us to remember... Does... Remember what Jesus told us he was gonna get crucified? Now the lights are... Now they're going through radical transition.

10:43 They're thinking the kingdom... Physical kingdom's gonna be established. Then they see the crucifixion. They fully don't understand it. They're in horror of seeing it happen.

10:53 And now they're beginning slowly to put some of the pieces together from the Old Testament. Verse 11. And there... These words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in.

11:13 He saw the linen wrappings only, and he went away to his home marveling at that which had happened. And behold, two of them... Now we shift gear. In acts, we're gonna see that Jesus reveals himself resurrection with many convincing proofs for 40, and these are some of the appearances. And behold, two of them, two of the disciples, were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, was about seven miles from Jerusalem.

11:48 And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place, meaning at the resurrection, yet they didn't see that. They didn't understand that. They're just thinking the crucifixion. Three years of Jesus teaching, doing miracles. They're overwhelmed, again, with joy that the messiah is here, but all of a sudden, the messiah is murdered on the cross.

12:30 And he said to them, Jesus said, what are these words that you're exchanging with one another as you're walking? And they stood still. In modern day picture and lingo, you might go, duh. What do you mean? What are we talking about?

12:47 And he picks it up. Verse 18. And one of them named Cleopus answered and said to him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days? And Jesus said to them, what things? And they said to him, the things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to the sentence of death and crucified him.

13:16 They didn't understand the crucifixion, the necessity, his mission, the Old Testament scriptures. God's whole plan of the whole Bible from Genesis... As soon as Adam sinned, god promised that the seed from the woman would come and crush Satan's head one day. The whole Old Testament prophesying the messiah would come. Verse 21.

13:42 But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem Israel. Again, there's that physical kingdom gonna set Israel free from Roman rule. Indeed, besides all this, it's the third day since these things happened, and it's just, multiplying all this this this this, sorrow and grief and and and and and truths that have just happened, but also some women among us amazed us when they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body. They came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb, found it just exactly as the woman also had said, but him, Jesus, they did not see.

14:30 Tomb was empty. And Jesus said to them... Again, they don't understand. They are blinded at this point still, prevented from understanding. This is Jesus talking to them.

14:40 O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? So the angels asked them to remember. Now Jesus is saying, wasn't it necessary? You guys know the scriptures.

15:01 You're Jews. Messiah had to go through this suffering before he enters his glory. And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. Don't you love that? From Genesis to Revelation, it's all about Jesus.

15:28 And they approached the village where they were going. Emmaus. He acted as though he would go farther. And they urged him saying, stay with us for it's getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over. And Jesus went in to stay with them.

15:46 And it came about that when he had reclined at the table with them, he took the bread and blessed it. And breaking it, he began giving it to them, and their eyes were opened. Poof. Miracle. God opens their eyes.

16:04 It's Jesus. They recognized him. And then this next statement, poof. He vanishes. He's gone from them, from their sight.

16:14 And you can only imagine the awe and the surprise and the... I imagine just silence looking at each other and just we reckon it was him. And now they begin to talk with each other. Were not our hearts burning within us? While he was speaking to us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us, They understood it was Jesus alive back from the dead.

17:03 He is alive. They returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the 11. Judas had hung himself. There's a... So now there's only 11 apostles and those who were with them saying, now this is not the two speaking you'll see in a moment.

17:20 34, this is the group of disciples, the 11 there that he... They went to meet, and the 11 with them, they started saying, the lord has really risen. He's appeared to Simon. And they, meaning the two, they also begin to relate their their experience on the road and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. Awesome.

17:44 And while they were telling these things, they're just... It's like a a beehive now. The disciples go, Simon Peter saw him. He is alive. These two guys said they saw him.

17:55 The the women went to the tomb earlier today. It was empty, and the angel said he's alive. Could it be true? It is true. And they were startled and frightened.

18:09 I'm sorry. Thirty thirty six. And while they were telling these things, he himself, Jesus, stood in their midst. He appears to them. But they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a ghost or a spirit.

18:24 And Jesus says then, why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands, my feet? It is I myself. Touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

18:44 Christ died, raised from the dead in a touchable, physical, real body, his body yet glorified, and we'll keep reading. When Jesus had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling again, they are just processing all this. Now we know this all. We got the whole bible.

19:10 We've heard it. Even if you're not a true believer yet, you've heard all this. Christ died. He rose again the third day, and he died for our sins and etcetera etcetera. They're just brand new to them in a real sense.

19:24 They weren't... They forgot. Jesus was telling them his first coming was gonna be about his death, his sin sacrifice for our souls. And now they definitely didn't understand the resurrection, and here he is in front of them, and some were reaching out and touching him. Wow.

19:46 They still could not believe it for joy and were marveling. So Jesus says to them, have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish. Some translations say, and and some honeycomb. Some food.

20:01 He took it and what? He ate it before them. It's me. I'm alive. You saw I was dead.

20:08 You saw they put the spear in my side just to make sure I was dead. I... Even though I already died, no one takes my life. I give it up myself. It's finished.

20:16 He freezes last. Then the soldiers came to break the other soldier... The other thieves' legs. They did that with the thieves, but they came to Jesus, saw he was already dead, but just to make sure they puncture his side, but that was to fulfill scripture that he was pierced through, that, they're gonna behold him who they pierced. Wow.

20:37 Amazing. Amazing. And they're just processing this, all this Old Testament prophecy. Jesus had taught them this, but they weren't getting it because here he is healing everybody, raising Lazarus from the dead, and just his kingdom and joy riding in the Jerusalem on the donkey. Everybody's shouting, Hosanna.

20:57 Hosanna in the highest. Glory to the son of David. Blessed be the son of David. And and now he's hanging on the cross, and we're overwhelmed with the deepest of grief. I mean, we've all lost loved ones and how horrible that is, but I don't think there's ever been a deeper grief than these disciples who saw Jesus die.

21:16 They lost everything, their hopes, their dreams, their god, their messiah, their friend, the one whom they loved and respected so much. Now Jesus said to them, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Notice how god is just radically changing, giving them understanding to understand. No. The Old Testament did prophesy his suffering first.

21:58 We're seeing this now, and we're part of it. We're living in this time. This is okay. He is the messiah. And they're just beginning to get overwhelmed with joy, like we said, in marvel.

22:11 Then he, Jesus, opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he, Jesus, said to them, thus it is written that the Christ... Look at this. Couple things here. It's written in the Old Testament scriptures that the Christ, the Messiah, should suffer, should rise again from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations.

22:45 It just happened in Jerusalem, the crucifixion, the lamb being sacrificed, lamb of God, Jesus being sacrificed for the sins of the world. But this was a message that was to be taken out to the whole world, And God is gonna use these first witnesses to do that. Just think, everybody in this room indirectly got saved by these first witnesses. They witnessed to somebody. They witnessed to somebody.

23:13 They witnessed to somebody. Two thousand years later, somebody witnessed to us. Wow. Thus, Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures. He said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name, Jesus' name, to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.

23:40 You... He's speaking to the disciples there. You are witnesses of all these things. You saw me crucified. Now you're seeing me raised from the dead.

24:11 His spirit, he said, I'm gonna give you a new spirit, my spirit, Ezekiel thirty six twenty five and following. And he's gonna live in you so that you can follow and keep the commandments of God. Wow. Another promise about the holy spirit being poured out, and we're gonna see in a moment, Luke refers to that in acts in the book of Joel chapter two that there's coming a day when God is gonna pour out his spirit, pour out his spirit. And I will see in a moment that that is the pouring out of spirit to be...

24:42 To give us the power for witnessing. So, Devin gave last week a nice good study on the holy spirit and some things why why he's so important, who he is, what he's done, what he's doing for us. And now we're adding just a couple things here that he's gonna be the power source for us to be a witness of Jesus Christ. And behold, I'm sending forth the promise of my father upon you, but you, the first Jews there, we're gonna see it's a 120 approximately, eventually, in the upper room. You are to stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high.

25:24 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came about that while he was blessing them, he parted from them. He's taken up into heaven, and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising god. That's first Luke. Let's go to second Luke or the book of acts.

25:54 Dave Nicholson gives a a good summary. He he put it together in a sentence so I didn't have to bangle around with it, but he did it nice. The book... The title acts was given by men later. We're not sure when, maybe a couple hundred years later it seems perhaps.

26:14 And, some in your Bibles might say the acts of the apostles. I never thought that was... It's only human anyway, so it doesn't matter. But, James says this, these are the ongoing acts, actions, activities of Christ. Right?

26:30 That's what he's gonna say. All that Jesus began to do. Well, in the book of Acts, Jesus is still doing. The ongoing acts of Christ by the spirit through his church, through us, through us. He's the one who came to seek and to save that which was lost, and he sends us on that same mission, not to save them, obviously.

26:49 He paid the price, but for us to go out and be fishers of men. The holy spirit's reference, Gabe goes on 54 times in the book of acts more than any other book in the bible, being full of the holy spirit and led by the holy spirit was the secret of the believer's success. Acts chapter one verse one. The first account I composed Theophilus. Now these are two separate letters.

27:17 He sent one. We're not sure how much later. We don't know how much later. Probably somewhat nearby. He sends him this second letter to continue the true story of Jesus coming to Earth.

27:30 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus, what, began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had, by the holy spirit, given orders to the apostles whom he had chosen. And we just read that in the last... In the end of Luke where he ascended. He was taken up from them, and he had given them orders to go and wait in Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. To these, Jesus also presented himself alive after his suffering by many convincing proofs appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

28:14 So, again, we read that in the end of Luke there. Some of his appearances, there were more. At one time, he appeared to over 500 believers at once. Wow. And most of them, Paul says, were alive still at this time.

28:27 They saw him, and many of them, I wanna say most of them, were murdered, killed because they would not deny the truth that Jesus rose from the dead. So he presented himself alive after the suffering, many convincing proofs. He ate the food with him. He let him touch him. He heard him.

28:47 They heard him. They spoke with him. They watched him. Verse four. And gathering them together, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem.

28:56 That's what we just read in in Luke. But to wait for what the father had promised, which he said, which Jesus said, you heard from... Heard of from me, for John baptized with or in water, but you shall be baptized with in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And so when they had come together, this is the disciples now, continuing this story from the end of book of Luke's there, they were asking Jesus saying, Lord, is it at this time you're restoring the kingdom to Israel? Repeating again the end of book of of Luke there.

29:41 Jesus said to them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons which the father has fixed by his own authority. But... So it's... We don't know the time. We don't know when he's coming back.

29:54 It definitely... We have clues. Jesus said when you see all these things beginning to happen, what? Look up. Redemption draws near.

30:01 He gave us plenty of clues that... He says he's coming like a thief in the night. In Thessalonians two verses after that, he speaks to the believers. He said, but he will not overtake you as a thief. In other words, we're gonna know that his return is near, near, near, near.

30:18 Two thousand years approximately nearer than it was when these first disciples. Could be today. Could be today. Not for you to know, but here's the program. Jesus speaking.

30:51 Spirit comes upon his church, every true believer. They now have the power to come out like roaring lions, Peter does, without the holy spirit. Peter's a coward. He's ashamed even to say to some servants, I don't even know the man. I...

31:06 Like, god curse me if if if it's not true, that I don't know him. But now in Pentecost, he comes out and he preaches as the holy spirit brings thousands of Jewish people to come and celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Means fifty, fifty days after the resurrection. Forty days of his appearing. Fifty minus forty is ten.

31:32 Ten days the disciples are waiting together. Now we don't have to wait for the power of the holy spirit. This is a one time happening. However, we can ask and receive a refilling, a recontrolling of the holy spirit. That's what god wants us to do according to Ephesians five.

31:53 Be being filled with the holy spirit. Be being controlled, not by wine, but being controlled, filled with the holy spirit. And here, don't miss this part. The pouring out of the spirit is also big time according to Jesus' own words here to enable us to be a witness for Jesus Christ. Verse nine, after Jesus had said these things, he was lifted up while they were looking on.

32:17 That's what we read back in Luke. And a cloud received him out of their sight. Maybe the Shekinah glory. He just... He's gone.

32:27 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, maybe the same two angels, maybe two different angels. And I picture him almost tapping everybody on the shoulder because they're just in awe. They're filled with joy. Jesus is alive. They've seen him.

32:46 They touched him. He ate food. He spoke with him. He's teaching him about the kingdom. Yeah, I'm coming back again but you're gonna receive power when the spirit comes upon you.

32:54 You're gonna be my witnesses. This is the whole plan from Genesis to Revelation. They're filled with joy and then he leaves again. And they just watch him all of a sudden start rising from the ground until finally he disappears into the cloud, it says. And I just imagine them there with their mouths open, silent, just again, just in awe, trying to put it all together.

33:17 And I almost pictured the angel saying, men of Galilee, verse 11, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, some of the translations say the same Jesus, it is gonna be the same Jesus who rose, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way. Same Jesus, same place, Mount Of Olives, same way, gonna be visible, gonna be in the clouds, same way as you have watched him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet. Jesus ascends.

34:03 Angels come and remind him, why are you guys standing around? He told you what to do. So they come back. And, again, 40 minus 50 is 10. So for ten days, Luke tells us they're in the temple rejoicing daily.

34:18 And here, we're gonna see something a little different. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath's day journey away. And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room. And what were they doing? Where they were staying, that is, first, he names them Peter, John, the 11 disciples there, Judah, son of James, verse 14.

34:40 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer. And it goes on along with the women, Mary, mother of Jesus, and with his brothers who are now converted. They're convinced he's the Messiah because of the resurrection. And at that time, Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren, a gathering about 120 persons. We'll stop there.

35:06 And the Luke says they're in the temple daily rejoicing, filled with joy. Why? There are Jews who are waiting for messiah, but they're not waiting anymore. They're believers. They saw him die.

35:17 They saw him raise from the dead. They saw him and touched him, and they saw him go back up into heaven. They are filled with joy. Jews go to the temple to worship, so they go to the temple. But I can only imagine all the rest because there's only a 120 mentioned here, but there are thousands of Jews in the area and coming to the temple daily and especially toward the feast of Pentecost, which is coming up.

35:41 And all of them, they're just doing it out of tradition and ritual because they don't have Jesus. They're not truly converted yet. And then here, it tells us what the disciples were doing there. So, apparently, they're going to the temple, and they're going up into this upper room. A 120 crammed into a room.

35:59 And I'll just read what they're doing. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer. Can I give us an idea? I know you've heard this. It's an acronym for prayer, and it's so appropriate for we're studying the book of a CTS.

36:21 Maybe we could remind ourselves of this as we're walking through acts. I imagine it's gonna take us many months at least to go through, and God's gonna be speaking to us. The churches... This is the blueprint for the New Testament church. Within a couple hundred years after, well, churches started getting established, and I I believe Doug Toric reminded us that then a few decades, not hundreds, a few decades later, the church is now thriving and it's multiplying.

36:52 Goes from a 120. All of a sudden, in one day, you turn the page to chapter two, there's 3,120 believers. Couple, chapter or two later, there's 5,000 added. Then there's multitudes added. How many wanna be in a church like that?

37:11 Yeah. And the church like that. I don't mean necessarily just this little building, our little group, but the lord saving souls is the blueprint for the local church, and he's gonna go into that much, much more. I handed you a nice handout sheet there. It's great.

37:26 William McDonald does a great job of just what we can learn. What we can learn. What we can put into practice. What we can experience from the book of Luke. Because what does God say?

37:37 Be doers of the word, not hearers only, and just returning to the simplicity of Christ. He died for us. By faith, we see him. By faith, we know him. By faith, we know he rose from the dead.

38:00 Adoration. Praise. Right? It lines up with how Jesus taught us to pray. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

38:09 That's praise and honoring and worshiping. I don't know about you, but my own personal prayers and in some of our local gatherings, unfortunately, I gotta confess with myself and and and the church sometimes. It's just us offering up our quick grocery list to God. And, yeah, he commands us. He wants us to ask.

38:30 Right? We pray for the sick people. We're praying for missus Torrick for sure. But God wants us to pray with the excitement, the anticipation of knowing that Jesus Christ is what? Coming back at any day soon, and there's work to be done.

38:47 And the first work is prayer. The work is prayer. Prayer for what? Focusing on the great commission. Please read through read through that handout.

38:57 I like what, William McDonald says that you you learn from the early disciples, they were addicted to prayer. And they're always gathering to prayer and praying for boldness to preach his word no matter what happens. Boldness to preach his word. Boldness to go out and share his gospel, to be a witness of Christ. Adoration and praise.

39:17 See, spoke with the elders a few days ago about this, And we're talking about prayer, confession. Sometimes our prayer time individually and together is flat out boring. I've been there. I'm contributing to it sometimes. My mind is wandering all over the place.

39:35 Well, part of that, the bible says in Psalm 66, god won't hear if I'm cherishing or treasuring or having sin in my heart. God wants us to confess our sins. It's one of the fruit that you're saved according to first John. Unsaved people, first John one eight, I don't have any sin. You're calling god a liar.

39:57 But if we're confessing our sins, verse nine. Let's quote that verse. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The original writing, the Greek verb tense there is if we are confessing. This is one of the fruits of a Christian.

40:12 We're constantly confessing our sins individually and when we come together. That's... We can talk about that more, but adoration, confess our sins. The reason sometimes prayer is boring because god has to... He's not like, please, Christian, you're you're selfish.

40:30 You're proud. You're lusting. You're this. You're that. You're...

40:33 Got bitter today and this and that. You know, deal with that. Then we can have our fellowship restored. Right? And then his presence, adoration, confession, tea, thanksgiving.

40:47 Thanksgiving. Giving him thanks constantly. And then s, supplication. And again, from the book of Acts, we can read what they're praying about. They're praying about God's kingdom and how I can be changed and filled with his spirit to have that power, that boldness to be a witness.

41:06 Can we remember that? A c t s a Separation. C Blessings. T. S.

41:17 A fancy word for asking. And... But it really means to beseech. It means to come with honor. You're gonna come before a king and supplicate.

41:41 A. B. Nicholson also says that we've each got kind of our own little chapter, but the story does not end there, Jabe says. It still continues until today, each of us adding his own chapter. Lord, would you reignite a passion in our hearts to...

41:59 Like you said, like the disciples ask you, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. Teach us how to pray. Lord, I think... I know I would definitely say, Lord, I need to...

42:09 I wanna pray effectively. I wanna have fellowship with you. I wanna see you answer prayers for your glory. I wanna see people saved. I wanna see them disciple, baptized, and growing in the in the name of the lord Jesus.

42:21 Thank you for your word. You've given us everything we need. You've given us your spirit. We do wanna confess, lord, that we we, sometimes are so quick, short with you, our time alone, and then we turn you on, turn you off, Lord. May our conversation even now and the rest of this lunchtime together, be focused on you and and and who you are, what you're doing, what you've done in our lives.

42:46 Thank you for the food, Lord. We bless you. Thank you for those that have provided. Thank you for this assembly. Pray your richest blessing, outpouring of your holy spirit upon this group of believers for your glory.

42:58 In Jesus name, amen.