If you could open in the word of God to Acts chapter 1 please, Acts chapter 1. It is again just to say and underline the privilege that it is for me to be here and for my wife and children to be here. I want to thank you even behalf of the church in Calgary because We've been there for 18 months, and it's been 18 months. Intense preaching, you know, three times the Lord's Day, Tuesday evenings, then Friday, every other Friday with the young people, and various other occasions as well, and it can get pretty intense. To just sit and be a boy among men listening to the word and benefiting. My soul has been thrilled. So I know my congregation will benefit from me having been here over these few days. And I just want to thank you and thank the goodness of God in sovereignly even giving us this opportunity. We want to read in Acts chapter 1, trusting that our Lord will bless His word to us. As we read from verse 1, we are considering the public means of grace and obedience. So we're thinking about what goes on within the church, within the framework of the body gathering together. So Acts chapter 1, reading from verse 1, The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he, through the Holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven, Then returned they on to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord and prayer and supplication with the women and marry the mother of Jesus and with his brethren. Amen. We'll end at verse 14, trusting the Lord will give light in his word. Let's just momentarily bow before the Lord in prayer. And every child of God praying in the desire of Samuel that the Lord would speak to our hearts. God and Father, we thank Thee sincerely from the depth of our hearts for Thy goodness toward us. By Thy grace, we will never cease to praise Thee. It has been good for us to be here. Here we have met with the Lord. Father, we pray that Thou wilt continue to cause what we have heard to resound in our hearts, to echo in our beings and reverberate throughout all of our lives that we might not merely be hearers of the word, but doers. We ask that the blessed spirit will continually apply what we have learned and what we have yet to learn as we sit at thy feet and hear thy word. And so come now in this season, And throughout the rest of the day, we pray that the blessed Spirit of God will come and pour out power and grace and mercy upon the church here gathered. Be with us then. Fill me with wisdom, with power, with grace. Indeed, fill me with the Holy Ghost and grant that Christ may be honoured and the hearts may be edified. In thy name, lifted up and presented as preeminent, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Just as it is impossible to read the New Testament and come away believing anything other than the need to be saved through Jesus Christ alone, so it is impossible to read through the New Testament and come away and think that there is not a necessity to be part of a local church. At least that's my conviction and I think any honest reading of the scriptures will come to that conclusion. We need to be part of a local body. The church is the God-appointed structure to cultivate a God-glorifying life. We've heard a lot about obedience, a lot about the word, a lot about the law of God and its essential nature in cultivating in our hearts what brings glory to his name. But the structure that God has given in order that we might continue in that manner of glorifying him, the structure that he is given in order to aid that life that brings glory to him is the church. It is the gathering of the people of God together. Those who were saved in the New Testament were subsequently added to the church and the need for the public means of grace to sustain life in the believer is not optional. It's not. It's absolutely essential. And while many of you have met, perhaps even have been, or have been tempted to think on occasions, I trust it's not the case at present, that you don't need to be part of a local church If you have met such professing believers, at best they will be those who will have stunted growth with clear evidence of spiritual malnourishment. Certainly has been the case in my experience. I've met those and I'm not going to say they're not the Lord's. The Lord knoweth them that are His. But at the same time, I can see very often, if not on every occasion, spiritual malnourishment and often theological lopsidedness, where you see this emphasis in some little area and you realize that the whole gamut and spectrum of Scripture is not being presented to them. They are going online, they are reading books according to their own will and choice, they're going online to hear sermons of their own choosing, instead of having no influence, in what they hear and what they're being taught because that's what the church is. You come and hear what is God going to say not what am I going to learn. There's a place for that of course and we look at the word and we say I want to study this out and so on and that's fine but that doesn't supersede the need to come under and simply wait to see what God is going to tell me from the pulpit in the way he has ordained. Aside from the verbal denial of the gospel, and perhaps a few other things, avoidance of public worship is one of the greatest evidences of an unregenerate heart. If you don't gather with the saints, if there is a reluctance to be with the people of God, gathering for worship together in the name of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, you're evidencing. It's not the full and final proof, but you're certainly giving evidence to the fact your heart's not regenerate. To despise the church is to despise what God has instituted for the growth and development of Christ's body. That is plain. And there are many passages that teach us this. We'll turn to a few before we get into Acts chapter 1. Consider firstly Hebrews chapter 3 where we find language there as the Apostle is endeavouring to keep the Hebrews from going back into their former ways and their false religion of Judaism. And he says in Hebrews chapter 3, we'll read from verse 12, he says, take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. So there's an exhortation to the individual. Look to yourself, look to your heart, take heed my brother. Examine and make sure there's not in you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God. But what's the antidote? But exhort one another daily while it is called today. How are you going to do that unless you're part of a body? Unless you're part of a local community where you're all aiming for the same objective, likeness to Jesus Christ, glorifying God in His appointed way, how are you going to exhort one another? You can't do that. You need to be part of a community. And so here we are. And we all know that there is a propensity even within those who profess the name of Jesus Christ to have at times the sense of temptation to depart from the living God. What is one of the things God has instituted to prevent it? Gathering together. That we might exhort one another. Encourage one another. Flip over to Hebrews chapter 10, and you see something similar that's echoed by the apostle. Hebrews 10, just take time to read from verse 23. Hebrews 10, 23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful at promise. So again, there's exhortation in a similar vein as in chapter 3. Holding fast the profession of our faith. We profess to be Christians. We profess to be followers of Christ. We want to hold fast because there is the danger, there is the possibility of wavering. Verse 24, and let us consider one another. We are a community. We gather together at any given moment someone may be wavering. And in the midst of their wavering, they come together with the saints. And we consider one another for what purpose? To provoke onto love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching. This is what God is saying. I know you will struggle at times believer. I'm aware of the difficulties that will be experienced as you live as a pilgrim in a world that is not a friend of grace to help you on to God. but will seek to pull you down and destroy you. And one of the structures I have given to prevent that is gathering with the saints. Because in all likelihood, in a good fellowship, in a properly ordered fellowship, local community called the church, will not all be wavering at the same time. Some brother, some sister will notice That there is, perhaps, a little problem spiritually. They might not even say anything, but they'll be praying. And other times they'll come to you. And furthermore, there will always be the instruction, or at least there should be, the instruction of God Himself from the Word. Ephesians chapter 4, we again see the importance of the local body coming together, being part of a local body and how it plays a significant part in glorifying God and advancing his purposes within all of our lives. Ephesians chapter 4, we'll read from verse 11. And He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. Why? Why would God do that? Just to give them some occupation? To keep some people busy that can't be busy in other things? Why would He do that? What is the purpose? Is it for the benefit of themselves merely? No! For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Some people, they have an idea of the ministry that, well, I'll be God's gift to the church. And they see that then as an elevated place. They think, look at me, I'll be God's gift to the church. I'm tremendously gifted in theology or even oratory or some silly idea that has laid hold upon their mind. And they think that the gift is all important. Listen, I don't know where this comes from. When you fall in love and you go through the process of seeking to gain the affection of a young lady, and then it comes to the point where you want to ask her to marry you, then you give a token of that in a ring. Now that's like a gift and it's a token of your desire to ever be in union with her, in marriage, in that covenant. But if I said to you that the ring is more valuable than the one you're giving it to, you'd say, that's crazy. It's just a symbol. It doesn't really have that much of a value. It's just a, it's a little symbol, a tiny, it doesn't even, it isn't even a fraction of what she really means to me. It doesn't really mean anything. It's just kind of like a little reflection of how much they mean to me. The gift isn't the thing, you see. In this context, it's not about the men. It's about who the men are given to. The Lord has given apostles, prophets, why? Not because they're to be elevated. Not for the benefit of them. But they're objective. What does Iguana say? Verse 12, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. But we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body hears the church fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth. We're all coming together, we're all supplying something according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. The body is the objective. It's serving the body of Christ. And within that there are members set aside to give themselves entirely for the benefit of the other members. edifying itself in love, in a spirit of love toward the head. That's what it's about. It's what we are called to do and how we grow, how we develop, how we become these mature believers growing up into Him in all things. You see that? That the goal the Lord has isn't that, you know, maybe some will make it to be more mature, but God doesn't intend all Christians to be mature. No, that's not what it's saying. We are all, we are all to grow up into Him in all things. We're all to be hungering to be more like Christ and growing and advancing. One other reference. We could turn to others. I'm thinking of 1 Corinthians 12, but we will not turn there, but 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. All of this is showing the community. All of these references are showing the importance of gathering and working toward one another, serving one another and preventing ourselves from going away from what God has called us to be. 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8. You can't do that at home. How can you have fervent charity among yourselves? You're sitting at home in front of sermon audio with your Bible open thinking, I'm the church. You're not the church simply by doing that. Fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Ah, there's something. You see, you're coming to a body that still has sin. You're involved in a body that's not quite fully there. But that doesn't mean to say we avoid it. I'm not going to church this week because brother so-and-so didn't talk to me last week. Well brother so-and-so is a sinner and I don't know whether he meant not to speak to you or not but you need to be there because you can't show fervent charity among yourselves sitting at home. You can't. It's impossible. Verse 9, use hospitality one to another without grudging. Can you do that? Without others to show hospitality to, can you do that? No, you can't. Are you seeing how important, how much of the scripture is given over to our working toward one another, being part of a community? Do it without grudging. Verse 10, As every man hath received the gift, even so minister. You haven't received gift just to sit and think about it. And imagine how you might use it if circumstances were different. If only the church would recognize I'm a tremendous preacher. Well, if you were part of the church, they might recognize it or they might take a different view on your so-called gift. And they might realize, actually, brother, we see that you're gifted in another way and we encourage you in this direction. They might have more wisdom than you do, by what God wants you to do. Even so, minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Ah, there's something to challenges, is there not? You have been given grace, the grace of God, not to sit at home, not to isolate yourself from a community, but that you might show forth that grace as a steward of the grace of God. But others may see it. and glorify God. That's what Jesus said. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. Not just outside the church, but in the church. Verse 11, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth. Yes, we're all different. that God and all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. I have just went through a few of these passages, there are others, to give you an idea of how important it is that you're part of a community. All we've heard about obeying God, fulfilling the law, Being obedient in all things in that regard. It's not just something I can take and personally say, right, I'm doing this, doing that, doing the other to the exclusion of the community. Can't be done. Oh, I'm praying at home. Good for you. I'm reading my Bible at home. Good for you. I'm listening to sermons. Excellent. I encourage you. I'm reading good books. Well done. Continue on. But we must be part of a body. We must be. As we said at the very beginning, it is impossible to read the New Testament and come away thinking you don't need the local church. Impossible. Cannot be done. So as we come to Acts chapter 1, I want to see two main points with you, or look at two main points with you here, as we consider this public means of grace and obedience. There are, of course, the sacraments. I'm not going to be dealing with the sacraments, not because I want to demean them, just because there just isn't the time. And I trust you understand the importance of being baptized and as well as participating in communion. One of the greatest encouragements for me, actually, well, let me begin with the discouragement. Very often through my Christian experience, before I ever came to Canada, was sitting in churches and the call to the communion table. I'm watching professing believers get up and leave. I just sit there in disbelief. What are you doing? What are you doing? You think you're wiser than God? He's called you to sit at the table and remember? You think it's sufficient just to come and hear the word, maybe do a few other things. But you know, I don't know, you don't have time because you need to get the dinner on or something else. You can't sit at the table according to his command. I can't believe this. Thankfully, thankfully, and I praise God and I trust it will ever be, that the folks in Calgary are in no hurry to leave. They preach the word, and then we have our gathering around the table, sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the morning, but always there are those, and seldom, seldom, and I don't think I've seen anyone who knows it's taking place yet, and has got up and left. The only time is maybe visitors who weren't aware it was on or something. But we've had, on every occasion, I don't think anyone's got up and went away that knows the Lord. And that has thrilled my heart more than they realise, just to see them come and participate in that way. So we're not dealing with the sacraments really, but in Acts chapter 1, as Luke writes here, there are things for us to learn. Firstly, the public use of the word. The public use of the word. Christ had spoken on to his people continually. You can see Luke as he continues from what he has already written in his gospel according to Luke. And he continues in the flow in verse 1 of chapter 1 of the Acts of the Apostles. The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Yes, Jesus did a lot, but he also taught a lot and he gave to his people instruction continually, repeatedly. He went everywhere declaring the truth of the kingdom. He was always instructing his people and you can see the word teach come out here in verse 1. You can see commandments come out in verse 2. Verse 4. So a big part of Christ's ministry toward his people is to give them instruction, give them words, give them teaching, give them commandments. As we think about it corporately, in the public use of the word, we want to see here, firstly, that they collectively obeyed it. This body of people to whom he's instructing as the apostles are being commanded various things, but they are to reflect of course these things to the others. And there are others then that gather around as we see there in verse 14. We'll get to that in just a moment. But there was this instruction given to those who were to be left behind once Christ ascends up to the right hand of the Father. And they collectively obeyed it. They collectively obeyed it. In spite of the fear of the Jews that they had, which was very real and felt by the believers, the disciples did not allow that fear to keep them from their duty. They had seen what they did to Christ. And they knew there was a reason for them to be afraid. We find it in John 20. They're all gathered together, huddled in one room for fear of the Jews, it tells us. They're frightened. They're afraid. But in spite of the fear. And that fear, of course, set in even before Christ ever went to the cross. You'll find that in John chapter 11, whenever Christ says, let's go to Judea, and they're heading there to raise Lazarus, they're like, you realize, they just wanted to stone you, Lord. Are you sure you want to go down there? And then whenever they finally resign themselves that this is what the Lord wants, then Thomas says, let us go that we may die with him. So they know what's ahead but they have a fear. They have a fear that they too must pay the ultimate price. But it doesn't cause them to run from the instruction that the Lord had given. The Lord had given them commands, instructions, specific requirements and it was important that they obeyed. Now we read about it in Luke 24 verse 49. We'll not turn there because we find it reiterated by Luke in verse 4 of Acts chapter 1. When it says, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith he, ye have heard of me. So he gives this specific instruction, waiting for the promise of the Father. I'm not going to get into that really today, but there's a command, you can see that. On the surface there's a command given. And they had to shelve whatever other personal plans they had. They had to be shelved, weren't important. Whatever desires they had, maybe to go back fishing or to go back home or to whatever they might have had in their mind, it became irrelevant. Christ had given a command. That command must be obeyed. And that's what they did. Collectively, they gathered around what God or what Christ has said to them and they obeyed it. They waited, they tied, they stayed in Jerusalem even in the midst of the fear that they felt within their hearts. They have to stay. They have to obey the word. We read from verse 12, they returned. Onto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room where abode, both Peter and James and John and so on. They abode, they stayed, they tarried is the idea. That's what Christ had called them to do. Tarry in Jerusalem. Don't depart from Jerusalem. Tarry is what Luke says in the end of his gospel. Tarry, stay there, stay in Jerusalem. So that's what we read in verse 13. They did what they were told to do. Abide, stay, remain. Sorry, stay there. They're fulfilling the command collectively. You know I get sick and tired of the obsession Christians have today in their destiny rather than their duty. I wonder do they get it at all? It's all about their destiny. What is my destiny? God is a great destiny for me. I don't know what their ideas are sometimes, but they almost slave over this idea of destiny rather than duty. They have a high view of destiny and often a low view of duty. Why? Because they have a high view of self and a low view of service. These apostles understood if Christ has given instruction, we do it. We may have had other plans to head back to Galilee, go and see family, go and whatever. I have no idea. You can imagine they may have had other plans. Do we have other plans at times? Do things come up in our lives? Sure they do. Sure they do. Sure at times family come to see us and they come for the weekend and then they stay and they're there on the Lord's day. And we say, well, they're here and we'll give church a pass because they're here. No! You get yourself to church! Why? Because Pastor Mooney will be wondering, where are you? Sure he will, sure he will, but there's a higher commandment. You're called to forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, to gather round the word, to hear what Christ has to say. It doesn't matter who's visiting from out of town. If you say come with us, if they won't come with you, say we'll be back in a couple of hours. Simple. Simple. Obeying the command of Christ. They knew the importance of that. We've had many references to the importance of this through the various sessions and I don't want to go over all of it, just to remind you within the context of just this message, 1st Samuel 15.22, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord, does he? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fatter branch. Obey, just obey. Solomon, in all of his wisdom, and all of his perception of the vanity of this life in many regards. He closes up Ecclesiastes in a way that has always struck me as he summarizes the whole thing in Ecclesiastes 12, verses 13 through 14. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Tell us, Solomon, what is the conclusion of the whole matter? Fear God. And keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every word into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Your whole duty. Your whole duty. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Luke 11, 28. We are warned there, blessed are they which hear the word of God and keep it. Keep it. Not just hearing. Oh, I got myself the church, but I must hear it. Or to put it in the words of James, not being mere hearers, but doers of the word. John Bunyan once says, what God says is best, is best. The wall, the man, and the world are against it. What God says is best, is best. Doesn't matter what the wisdom of this world says. Doesn't matter what your family says. Doesn't matter what anyone says. If God's word is instructing in a certain direction, you do it. You do it. It isn't even up for debate. It's not on the table for consideration. In fact, it amazes me. I think of committees. Committees have their purpose. Of course they do. But I always remember the words of A. W. Tozer. And I'm paraphrasing here, but he had this, he came across in one of his messages I listened to years ago, it never left me. If there's just one man filled with the Holy Ghost, he could just know the mind of God and just state it out. But we have these committees and we... debate and deliberate and we wonder about all the wisdom of man and so much is just that, just the wisdom of man. Debating and it's about who comes across most wise, not what is the mind of God. What has God said? We have reached a point in the Christian church where we have reinvented God. and the church looks different than it did in the past, not because of obedience, but because of convenience. Ask yourself, why do you have more loose views than previous generations? Why? Why is my manner or my frame of mind appear to be more loose than previous generations? Is it out of devotion to the truth? or love of ease. How seriously do you take Romans 12 verses 1 and 2? I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, for it is your reasonable service. So we look at that and say, I'm to present my body. But what does a body upon the altar look like? What is envisaged in the mind of the apostle there? That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. A life on the altar is a life fulfilling the will of God. Whatever he says, I do it. Whatever he commands, I obey. And so we are to be those who are constantly trying to hear, what are you saying Lord? What are you saying to me? What am I to do? Here they were together and yes certainly at times the Lord came with individual instruction, with individual commands, came and spoke to them one to one. But many times he spoke to them collectively. He said here is my will for you, here is my command to you, do it. And that's what happens every Lord's Day, beloved. That is what happens. You come and gather here, or for some of you, it's elsewhere, and you gather around the Word. And it is not, what does our pastor have to say? Certainly, there's an element of that, but it is in the understanding we trust if they are faithful men, they are echoing the voice of God. They're just reflecting the will of God for your life. So we come and say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? What is your will for my life? What are you saying? Let me hear your instruction. This is a solemn thing. Very solemn. And the way in which we come together and gather with the saints, being assembled together as verse 4 says. Assembled, they're gathered together to hear what Christ has to say. They're all gathered there according to his instruction that he had given to them to come and meet with him. And they're listening. He's giving instruction. It's so sad to see Christians struggle because they won't just do this. And I know none of us are perfect. We are all flawed and we're all growing and learning. But so often I've said, even in the last 18 months, I've said to some of the ones who come and you just see there's a real lack of maturity in their lives because of their upbringing or the context, so-called Christian context from which they're coming. My instruction to them very simply is get to the house of God as often as you can. You will find a lot of things will just work out if you just get to the house of God. A lot of things will will not be a problem anymore or at least God will deal with them. And this was what we find here in Acts chapter 1 where they come together and Christ gives command and they obey that word that was given to them. It wasn't isolated, was it? I mean, following, of course, we have the day of Pentecost, the outpouring of the Spirit. The Lord saves some 3,000 souls. And what is the result of that? What do we find in Acts chapter 2 and verses 41 and 42? They that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added onto them about 3,000 souls. So they're saved, they're added to the church, Verse 42, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. So Christ isn't here anymore. He's not on the earth anymore. But he has his appointed representatives. He has those he has given instruction to teach, to feed the sheep, to feed the lambs. They are the apostles. And those who are saved immediately put themselves under apostolic instruction to hear what they have to declare. And they listen. They take heed. Now, did they have busy lives? No doubt they did. In fact, their lives had all of a sudden become very, very complicated. Because, no doubt, there had become divisions in homes. Because some of those 3,000, no doubt, had to face the tragic but very real experience of one being saved, one spouse being saved, and the other not. of having to go home and say, I received Jesus Christ, the Messiah. I received him into my heart. I believed him. I've trusted in him. I've become a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. And those at home, they maybe haven't received that as yet. And so there's this conflict. And those others perhaps who have to go about their businesses, and all of a sudden business ends. Once, when people came and flocked to get their business, and they had all the support of the Jewish community, now they're being forsaken because it's become public. They've accepted Christ. Did they have problems? You bet they had problems. But every time the apostles were gathering them together, they were there, continuing steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, listening to what they had to say, doing what they declared, None of them assumed they could study their Bibles at home. None of them thought, well, I'll just take my Torah and just sit at home safely. No! And none of them got upset that, oh, who's given you all the authority? Can we not have more of a dialogue? Why is there this kind of declaration of the word where it's just the apostles standing up and preaching? Can we not all get involved and have group discussion around these things? No, they sat there, listened and obeyed the instruction from God's Word that came through the Apostles. That was what God had appointed as the primary way of feeding his church. And that's what they did. Nobody had a problem with it. At least not at this point. The Apostles' Doctrine. I love that little phrase, the Apostles' Doctrine. Essentially it's just the New Testament in many ways. Because much of the New Testament is essentially that. The apostles were sitting there before the people with what? The Old Testament scriptures. They opened up the Old Testament and they taught. They gave light in the Old Testament according to the fact that the Messiah had now come. And they give light to the Old Testament on that basis. And that's what the New Testament is. The New Testament is light on the Old Testament on the basis that the Messiah has now come. That's what the Apostles' Doctrine is. So we have it here. The Apostles' Doctrine. Say, I don't have the Apostles' Doctrine. My pastor's not an apostle. Well, that's a good sign at least. There's one indicator you're going to a good church. But He comes, doesn't He? And He takes this, and He opens sometimes in the Gospels or the New Testament letters, and He opens it up. He is preaching from the apostles' doctrine, their instruction to the church. They, then as a group, collectively obeyed the Word. I don't want to take any time dealing with this, but they courageously proclaimed it as well, didn't they? The Lord had said, that they would be witnesses. Acts 1 verse 8. Acts 1 verse 8 is the key text of course of this entire book. It is a summary of what the book is about. Here the Lord is saying this is what's going to happen. You're going to wait. The Holy Ghost is going to come. You'll be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea, Samaria, onto the uttermost part of the earth. That's the book of Acts. We see it first in Jerusalem, then throughout Judea, then Acts 8, Samaria, and then continuing throughout the uttermost part of the earth. The whole book of Acts is an exposition of that verse or an explanation of how that all came to pass. But they would be witnesses. They would go and courageously proclaim the Word of God. And when they did that, something very interesting took place. When the people decided that this is our command to bear witness to the Lord, and be a witness for His glory, they went everywhere preaching the Word, as Acts 8 puts it. And something interesting happened. Everywhere they went and preached the Word, Jesus was there. Jesus was there. We have this idea, well, Jesus has gone into heaven. And when we gather together, and we gather around the word together and like we are, you know, we're called to be witnesses and part of that witness is to the church and you know the churches gather and where they witness then the church gathers around that witness and another church is established. That's what happened in the book of Acts. One of the witnesses would go somewhere preach and then the church would gather around them like Philip and Samaria and so on and so there'd be a little church would gather and that would be established because a witness went to that place But it wasn't just Philip and it wasn't just Paul and it wasn't just Barnabas and it wasn't just Silas and so on. It was Christ. It was Christ. I'm not making an assumption there. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2 just so you see this. Ephesians chapter 2. Jesus Christ being where he is preached. In Ephesians chapter 2 we are, just for the context because time is running on here, but in verse 13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ for he is our peace and so on. They start speaking about Christ, verse 15, having abolished in his flesh. Then go down then to verse 17 and the flow of it. What is it saying? And came and preached peace to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh. What's Paul saying there? He is not saying that he went to Ephesus and preached peace to the Ephesians. Of course that's what he did. He went and he preached the gospel to them. But verse 17 of Ephesians 2 is saying this. Jesus Christ, who we know physically, was never in Ephesus. When Paul went to Ephesus and spent three years preaching, Jesus was in Ephesus. He was there. Jesus Christ was there in the form of his witnesses preaching peace to men, calling them to reconciliation with God through the gospel of himself. The point is this then. If you want to be near Jesus, If you want to hear from Jesus, one of the ways is when his witness gets up behind the pulpit and opens up the word. Jesus comes and preaches the peace of the gospel to your heart. That's why I say the corporate gathering is essential. It is not up for debate. And if someone was telling you Jesus, in his physical form, is going to be here, would you be wondering, will I be there or not? You know, it's just Jesus of Nazareth, so what? You'd be like, no. It is my beloved! I want to be where he is. And that's what happens every time the word is opened. Not just the Lord's Day, but every time. Every time. Isn't it wonderful? How hardened of heart we are, how slow to believe what the scriptures say. Jesus is here. Even now. The second main point is the public use of prayer. Not just the public use of the word, but the public use of prayer. Here in Acts 1 we have a prayer meeting and there's a few things I want you to see here. Note the company in prayer. We're turning our minds to verse 14 specifically here. It tells us in verse 14 of Acts chapter 1, these all continued with one accord in prayer. These all. I want you to see in this company first the experience of the company. These. Who are the these? Well, those mentioned in verse 13, isn't it? All those in verse 13 are the these in verse 14. The apostles. And here we are told that the apostles were gathered in that time of prayer. In other words, the prayer meeting had the most experienced believers attending it. The most experienced believers that were there on God's planet at that time were there in the prayer meeting. And when it comes to prayer, it is not enough that I just say to myself, well, I pray at home. No. One of the ways you learn to pray is gathering together with the experienced. Gathering with those who have already learned from their, the ones who have gone before them. The apostles had come, one had come in fact, it tells us, and on behalf of them all said, Lord, teach us to pray. And they were instructed, and they began to learn to pray. In fact, on occasions the Lord would bring them in so that they could observe Him in prayer. Peter and James and John had unique experiences of that in the garden being brought very near in order to wait with him while he agonized before his father and they learned the power and the efficacy of prayer. They learned what prayer was all about. And here they are. My, if I'm in the first century, I want to be in a prayer meeting where these apostles are, so I can learn. Jesus isn't there anymore. I can't go to him and just say, Lord, teach me to pray. Now I can in prayer, certainly, that's an aspect. But wouldn't it be helpful, as we were hearing just a little while ago, having an imitator? Having someone to learn from? Here's an apostle. Here are several apostles gathering together in a prayer meeting. I want to learn to pray. I want to be where they are. To hear them call upon God. Every prayer meeting needs experienced people in prayer. Now if you're one of the experienced ones in your local church, you need to be at the prayer meeting. You need to be there. Or if you want to become one of the experienced ones, you need to be there. Because there you will learn to be experienced in the place of prayer. Every prayer meeting benefits from the mature, when the mature are there. When I look back on what God did for me, very graciously, you come to faith in Christ, you've literally no idea. Certainly I didn't because I wasn't coming from A family where I was nurtured in the gospel, so I had no idea what Christian life looked like, no idea what a Christian home looked like, or anything like that. But there was a hunger for prayer among the young people, but not just among the young people. God was very graciously visiting our local congregation. But I never once, it was never up for debate about whether I attended the prayer meeting. Our prayer meeting was on a Thursday night. I was studying prayer Thursday night, I was there. We had a prayer meeting also at 8am on a Sunday morning on the Lord's Day. I was there. We had a prayer meeting before the evening service. At 6.30 before the 7 o'clock evening service on the Lord's Day. I was there. We had a prayer meeting before we went on outreach. I was there. He went to the prayer times. He went to prayer. And not just there, but as I say, God was moving among some of our young people. and they were all having a hunger for prayer. So after their youth fellowship on a Friday night, their gathering together of the youth, there were some of them saying, we want to stay for prayer. Now that had already come up before God had ever saved me. But I came into that environment where after young people's meeting, they were staying for prayer and they would stay for an hour. I remember on one of those prayer meetings, if my memory does not fail me, there were 27 stayed for prayer, 26 who prayed. called upon God, many of them with tears. And I sat there and I learned to pray from those. They weren't mature Christians, but they were more mature than I was. And I learned to pray with them. Then some of them, just a handful of them, would come back to our home. We would pray on. We would pray into the small hours of the morning, calling upon God. The best way to learn to pray, of course, is to do it. But it certainly helps whenever they're immature. And there were occasions when our brother who serves the Lord outside Madrid, Uncle Alvarez, he was just finishing off his studies in Northern Ireland and very often stayed with a family in our congregation. And occasionally he was there to come and be with us in our times of prayer and to listen to him pray so eloquently, even with the Spanish accent. But to pray so intelligently, I was just learning constantly what it was to pray. Experience of the company. We need experienced people in the prayer meeting. Calling upon God. The equality of the company. The women were there as well. Yes, we can have our men's prayer meetings, that's fine. But it says, with the woman. Isn't that right? The woman were there. Our woman should be there. Woman should be in the prayer meeting. With the men, calling upon God. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was there, along with the other woman who loved the Lord at that time. There was the expansion of the company too. What does it tell us in verse 14? And with his brethren. The half-brethren of the Lord. James and so on, they're there at the prayer meeting. Now why did I say the expansion of the company? Because according to the Gospels, they didn't believe initially. John 7 tells us that very explicitly. Neither did his brethren believe on him. His own half-brothers didn't believe. Something has happened since the cross. Since the cross and the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. is half brothers have believed. So among the company aren't just experienced, and there isn't just woman there as well, but there is expansion of the company, there's growth in the company. New converts are in the prayer meeting. They're there praying, seeking God together. They're not adopting this philosophy, I can learn to pray on my own. No, James, Jude, all of you, you were Jewish, just like Peter and James and John who realized when they saw Jesus pray, they hadn't the first clue how to pray. And they're in the same position, new converts, children in the Lord. Jewish, yes, but children. And they need to learn how to pray. And they're there with experienced. with women who knew what it was to sacrifice like Mary and break that alabaster box and sacrifice it and worship to Jesus Christ. People who knew how to worship. They're there. And we need this too, don't we? Have new converts in our prayer meetings. If anyone ever comes to Christ, you encourage them to get to the prayer meeting. So that they very early learn you're meant to be there. It's not something you say, well, a couple of years down the road, then I'll mature, and then I'll be found at the prayer meeting. No, no, no, no. You tell them early on. Young brother, young sister, maybe they're older, whatever stage of life they get saved at, you tell them. You instruct them. You encourage them. It'd be great to see you at the prayer meeting. Come to the prayer meeting. But with the people of God. This is vital. This is vital. This gathering. together in prayer to God. This company that we find here in verse 14 of Acts chapter 1 shows to us various aspects that cannot be replicated on your own. You can't do this at home by yourself or even with just your family. You need to be part of a body so you have that experience, equality and expansion that we can see in these verses. but also not only the company in prayer, but the continuity in prayer. Should someone question the legitimacy of having prayer meetings that are perhaps separate even from the Lord's Day services, we need not look any further than the Book of Acts. They were continually coming together to pray, always coming to pray. I would encourage you actually for the benefit of your own study to go through the book of Acts and Mark prayer. Not just the actual times it tells us that we gathered together but even kind of quiet little references to calling upon God or various things that reflect a spirit of prayer in the lives of the believers who were there. Prayer permeates this book. They were always praying. And the lack of corporate prayer meetings is a lack of true spiritual life in a church. And a church gets to the point where it relegates prayer meetings, thinks that coming together to pray is some take-it-or-leave-it option in the church life. They've lost it. I honestly believe that. There must be a gathering together to pray. There must be a sense of that kind of fellowship before the throne of heavenly grace. Again, as I say, this book is full of it, full of references to gathering together. Note chapter 4, very quickly, verses 23 and 24. Whenever the disciples are threatened, they are commanded not to speak at all or teach in the name of Jesus. Verse 23 of Acts 4 says, being let go, they went to their own company. They went home. Went to their wives and their children and so on. No, no, no. They went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. Who's the company? It's the church. It's God's people. There will come a time where my family, will no longer have the attachment to me that they have at present, where family relationships, connections, as we understand them here on earth, that are all legitimate and right and God-ordained, will not exist the way they do right now. There's a wider sense of family in the mind of God. It's his family, his people, his company. This is a little heaven on earth right here. An understanding that my own company isn't just my home. Yes, I'm not denying that. I'm not saying that home is irrelevant or not important. Don't get me wrong there, but in a spiritual sense, my true own family that's even reflected within the boundaries of my own house. That I have a relationship with my wife, for example, that isn't merely based on the covenant of marriage. But she is a member of the body of Christ. She will always be that. So she is my own company. But so is the body here. That's why it's great to come here. And be able to say, as I stand before people, you maybe barely know, say, it's my own company. This is my own company. It's the church of the living God. And what did they do? They hear of the persecution. They hear of the threat. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice. These are the children of God. They lift their voice up to their father, which art in heaven. And said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is, and so on. They pray. They pray. They pray. You know what's great about the family and God is that we can come and pray about our individual problems that become collective problems as the body feels the pain that we all may be individually under. We had someone very recently, a gentleman who's in our church and he made it public that his granddaughter had went missing and had been missing for over a week. 14 years old, just disappeared. And that was Tuesday morning or Tuesday afternoon, I found that out. We have our prayer meeting on a Tuesday evening. Why did I do that Tuesday evening? Did I ignore it? Did I just announce it as a matter for prayer at home? No, no. I forgot about preaching. I read from Luke 15, reminding the fact that Christ alone goes after the lost, seeks them out. I reminded them of Luke 15, and then we got straight to pray, to enter seat for the mercy of God in her life. She was found two days later, thank God, unharmed, as far as I'm aware. That's what the church does. We weep with those that weep. They come together. We are a people then who are called to pray. We have another example in Acts chapter 12 of the same thing. I'm just highlighting this. I know many of you will be aware of these scriptures, Acts 12. We were reminded of it yesterday, I think. Again, a critical issue. One leader in the church has been killed. Another leader is about to be killed. What do we read in verse five? Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. We have to pray for Peter. The church needs to pray. If you are a professing Christian without a legitimate excuse for avoiding the prayer meeting, the spirit of God would have you know today, you are as far away from New Testament practice as you could possibly be. That's what people say nowadays. I want there to be something like the New Testament church. I want to get into the spirit of what happened there in the first century. But you're not at a prayer meeting. You're not interested in the spirit of the New Testament Church. You're not. You're interested in excusing yourself from duty. So when the pastor says, we encourage you to be at the prayer meeting, you say in obedience, not to him, but to the voice of the master through him, you say, I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll move heaven and earth to be there. This is indispensable. We should not allow anything to keep us from the public prayer meeting. It isn't optional. It is vital. If you begin to complain about the church, you have a problem that you're not being fed or some other issue in the church that's causing an issue. Are you at the prayer meeting? Are you praying at all? Are you? There's this faithfulness that we note going back to verse 14 of Acts chapter 1. There's a faithfulness in continuity. It tells us they continued. That is, they were steadfast. There was a faithfulness, a perseverance in their spirit. They were here for 10 days, praying. When it comes to seeking God for His blessing, very often we're more like those in the garden, aren't we? Fall asleep in Gethsemane. We asked the question, well what was the difference between Peter and James and John here where they're waiting for 10 days versus not that long ago when they fell asleep in the garden. What was the difference? What was the difference? It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ seeing the risen Lord. A view of the risen Christ will give life to your prayer. It will give you steadfastness in the place of prayer. There was fervency in their prayer as well. It tells us they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. Prayer and supplication. A multiplying of terms to reflect the fervency in beseeching God. So it wasn't just a prayer meeting for the sake of a prayer meeting. It was a meeting with God. It was calling upon His name. It was urgent. We are so comfortable, we know little about urgency in prayer. It's part of the problem of a comfortable life. It's one of the downsides of a comfortable life. It's losing the sense of urgency. Ever been urgent in prayer? Had God come quickly to your aid? Isn't it wonderful? We don't have that half enough. But this is the most effective kind of prayer. Urgent, prayer and supplication, calling upon God. They had a promise, you see. Never pleading it before God. Jesus has said, tarry, and you'll receive the power. And that's part of the reason why we bring the word before we pray, because we remind people of things we can pray about. Here's the word. Jesus here says something to them. There's a promise. There's a command. There's an encouragement. There's a promise from the Lord. Let's get to prayer to see it happen. So when we gather for prayer, our pastor opens up the word and he instructs us. Then we take something. We take gems. We take what the Lord is teaching us from the passage and then we offer it back up to God. One of the things I've been encouraging our people, especially on the Tuesday nights, reminding them, as occasionally we take a psalm, I'm saying, look, if you don't know what to pray about or you find yourself praying the same things all the time, open up the psalms and pray down through the lines of the psalm and reflect the prayers, the desires, the longings of the psalmist back up to God within the context of your own circumstances. Use God's word. That's the prophet. He's putting the prophet Isaiah. Put him in remembrance. Put him in remembrance. There's fellowship and continuity. They continued with one accord. That is, they continued in harmony. You know, biblical fellowship has little to do with having common interests in employment, hobbies, and status of life. And that's what many people think. And there is a connection there. I understand it. But what united these people? What was it? Verse three, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs. That's it. It was an understanding of Jesus Christ, the one who showed himself alive after the cross. This is why they're here. Because the one who lived and died and rose again has given them a sense of unity together. He has saved them. And so they are magnetized. They are drawn toward one another. And that's why they enjoy fellowship with each other. They're not just coming together because I go to that church because, well I like golf and they have a men's golf club thing, a men's gathering, they all go out for golf. Look, you may have that and that's fine to a degree, but if that's what's drawing people in because there's guys there who like golf, then there's a problem, isn't there? Because they were drawn together because of their unity in a crucified and risen Christ. Let's tie this up. I said yesterday you can't serve Christ without serving his body. You can't. I firmly believe that. And the church is a structure. that is under the blessing of Christ. It is. The church is under the blessing of Jesus Christ. The gathering of the community of the saints. What was the lasting vision that Jesus gave of himself to his followers? We have it in Luke chapter 24. I'll read it to you. Verses 50 and 51 at the end of Luke's gospel. He led them out as far as to Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Jesus Christ ascended, not thinking about His glory, not thinking about the position He would have at the Father's right hand. He ascended up to glory with His mind on His body. with his hands outstretched, blessing the church. That's how he went to heaven. Why did he do that? Why did he do that? So that the lasting vision in their mind was, he is thinking about us. He is thinking about the church. His mind is toward the church. He is not leaving in the sense that goodbye and turning his back on us and heading up into heaven. But facing us, he ascends to the Father's right hand, looking upon us, thinking about us, praying and interceding for us continually. So where do you receive the blessing of Christ? In the church. In the church. Psalm 92, verses 12 through 14. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, Yes, I want that. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Yes, I want that. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. And not just when we're young. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. One of the fears of old age is becoming irrelevant, isn't it? Thinking that there's nothing else you can do. What does the Lord promise? Stay in the church. Be planted in the church. You will be bringing forth fruit continually. Is that not the case, beloved? Has that not been true? Look, if you have any spiritual perception at all, you will have received tremendous blessing from the aged. You'll have watched them as they persevere coming to church when they are in aches and pains and suffering, but they must be at the house of God. You'll have learned from their perseverance being at the prayer meeting, even when their whole body is crying out just to stay in bed. You will see them quietly talking to individuals, sharing the gospel with new people that come into the church when you're caught up in your fears and you can't break breath to them. But there's this old deer, some old saint of God goes up and just so warmly welcoming them into the house of God. And you're learning from them because they have purpose when they're planted in the house of the Lord. In old sense, you're cut off, sitting at home, doing nothing, complaining about the church, writing dissertations to all the issues about the church. They're as dead as could be, doing nothing for anyone because they're not in the body. May God help us to love His church, the public means of grace, prayer, preaching, and all the gatherings of the saints. For his name's sake, let's bow together in prayer. Our God and Father, we thank thee for thy wisdom that has given to thy people the enjoyment of being a community together. of all that we learn from one another and all we can share with one another and how our experiences in the Christian life are so tied into our experience in the local body. Thank you for our churches and we pray you'll continue to purify them and cause them to mature Grant, Lord, there might ever be the expansion of the church, new converts coming in, learning from the experienced. As we pray and preach thy truth, hear us and receive our thanks in Jesus' name. Amen.