Where a Car Is Mentioned in the Bible

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 2:1

Where a Car Is Mentioned in the Bible

by Robert T. Cooper

Years ago a joke went around: Where is a car mentioned in the Bible? They were all in one Accord.

After the Ascension, the believers in Jesus spent 10 days in a 24/7 prayer meeting waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t know it would be 10 days. They just started praying and kept right on praying until the prayer was answered.

After Pentecost, there would be too many people for everyone to meet together in one room. There just were no rooms in Jerusalem at the time that would accommodate over 3000 people (and that number was probably just the adult men). Then, a meeting of all the believers would require going to the mountainside outside of town.

But during this time, there were 120 (again, that number is probably just the adult men, and we know for certain there were women in addition; don’t know about children 12 and younger) who all met together. It is traditional to think this was in the Upper Room at the home of John Mark’s parents. But it is unlikely a private residence would have had an upper room that would hold that many people. A more likely location for this room was in the Temple complex. It being the Pentecost season, it was possible such a room could have been reserved and used.

Note that they were all together. Not many churches can boast of a 100/% attendance for a single hour of any meeting anytime. And it is probable that during the 10 days not all of the 120 were present at all times. But when Pentecost morning rolled around, those who had prayed all night and those who were coming for the morning prayers were all 100% present and accounted for. All together in one place.

When the KJV says they were in one accord, it also implies that there was no dissension among the group. There was no party spirit. Everyone was in perfect agreement as they prayed together. Again, it is rare for a church of any size to be in one accord regarding any particular thing. But on that day, at that time, the 120 were in one accord.

Unity in the local congregation is a condition that allows the Holy Spirit to be free to do His work. Discord hinders the complete, free work of the Holy Spirit.

Take a moment to pray. Ask the Lord whether there is anything for which you need to repent so that your congregation may be in one accord. Ask whether there is anyone with whom you need to be reconciled so that your congregation may be in one accord. As far as it depends on you, seek this Acts 2:1 condition in your church life.

Has your congregation ever been in one accord? Please share about it in the comments section.

One Key to Answered Prayer

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                        Acts 1:14

One Key to Answered Prayer

by Robert T. Cooper

There was this person in the community. His whole attitude toward God had to do with God being there for him. There was this woman who felt like she just couldn’t get God to give her answers to her prayers. Then there was this other fellow on social media who was upset with God because God didn’t ever do what he wanted; he felt that God was never there for him. There are lots of people like these I have mentioned.

Perhaps you can identify with these acquaintances of mine. Yet do you realize there are some keys to answered prayer? If you applied these keys to your prayer life, you just might find you had more answers to prayer. Even when your prayers seemed to be unanswered, use of these keys would perhaps allow you to better understand what was going on and why things were the way they seemed.

So, what can we learn from Acts 1:14?

The verse begins with the word “they”. The people who were praying in this verse were disciples of Jesus. They had been following Jesus for as long as 3½ years. And it wasn’t casual following. These were people who were known by the fact that if Jesus told them to do something, they did it. Lesson for us: To have your prayers answered, you must be a long-term committed follower of Christ who will do whatever He says, even when you don’t understand, even when no one understands.

The next word in the verse is “all”. We aren’t talking about one person praying. We are talking about a group of people praying. Lesson for us: Find you a dozen or more people who are praying people. Be part of a group like that.

The verse says they were joined together. The notes say that a literal rendition would be that they were continuing with one mind. This group of praying committed followers of Christ had agreed as to what they should pray and they stuck with their agreement. That way everyone in the group was praying the same thing, not necessarily with the same words, but essentially the same request. And this agreement as to what to pray went on over an extended period of time. Lesson for us: Get with your prayer group; agree what everyone in the group is going to pray; then stick with that agreement for an extended period of time.

The verse says they were constantly in prayer. Most people pray a little here and a little there. Not this group of committed Christ followers. They were together frequently and often. In this case, the prayer meeting was 24/7 for 10 days. They had to sacrifice certain other things in order to pray like that, but they were intent on getting an answer from the Lord. Lesson for us: Be with your prayer group as frequently and often as you can. Pray in such a way that your group prayer would be termed “constant” by an outsider.

Leave a comment now about which of these “Lessons for us” you are already employing and which you intend to adopt. If you also want to share your object of prayer, feel free.

Come back in a few days and share what has resulted from your change in prayer strategy. Remember, prayer doesn’t work; our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ works. He is the One Who answers prayer.

Anything But Solitaire

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                Acts 1:12 – 14

Anything But Solitaire

by Robert T. Cooper

In Christianity we put a lot of emphasis on making a personal, individual decision of your own for Christ. Yet when one reads the Bible, one gets the idea that while I have to decide for Christ myself in order to be saved, Christianity is not supposed to be an individual affair.

In the 21^st century one constantly runs into people who claim to be Christians, but they live their lives as individuals and not in intentional, continuing fellowship with a group of fellow believers. This is not the Bible way.

Looking at Acts 1:12 – 14, we see that the apostles, who had been together for the ascension of Jesus, stayed together as they returned to Jerusalem. They were all staying together in an upper room (probably the same place the Last Supper had taken place, probably the home of John Mark’s family). To emphasize the group nature, the passage lists the names of the Eleven. It is emphasized that they all prayed together. It even mentions additional people, men and women, who took part as they all prayed together.

Now is it possible that God has directed one or more people of your acquaintance to not join a local church? I suppose so. It is not my place to judge. Those people are accountable to the Lord, not to me.

Yet that would seem to be the exception, not the rule. Since we are to study together, to pray together, to be in fellowship with one another, to break bread with one another, since we are to form ministry-evangelism groups together, since there are no “lone ranger” Christians in the Bible, it seems that most all of us should be active in the fellowship of a local church.

With respect to being part of a local church, please leave a comment as to how God led you to your current situation.

Don’t Forsake the Assembly

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                          Acts 1:6

Don’t Forsake the Assembly

by Robert T. Cooper

I’ve been hurt at church and by church people. It seems that many of the people I talk with have had hurtful church experiences. There are even those who say the election of President Obama to a second term is the direct result of so many having been hurt by church people. When we began the church of which I am a part, one of its distinguishing characteristics was (and is) that it is a church for people who have been hurt by churches.

Lots of people will not attend church services because of those hurts. Others will not attend because they have simply allowed themselves to become too busy with other things in life they deem to be more important. Some people don’t see what the big deal is; they believe one can be a fine Christian, or at least a fine person, without the commitment.

Acts 1:6 deals with a special time in the lives of the Apostles. Jesus had risen from the dead. He was meeting with them frequently to give them final instructions. The Apostles didn’t realize the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth would not take place in their near future. They didn’t realize Christ’s Ascension was to come before Pentecost. They were simply fixated on continuing to meet with Jesus and with one another as often as possible.

After the Ascension, 120 disciples set up an around-the-clock prayer meeting. They kept the meetings they had with Jesus before His Ascension going. Jesus was no longer meeting with them in the flesh, yet they knew they were supposed to keep on meeting. After Pentecost, the meetings continued. Many of the meetings were regularly scheduled meetings—at the Jewish prayer hours and at set times between the prayer hours. Many of the meetings were spontaneous as they kept inviting one another to spend time with each other—for the Teaching of the Twelve, for fellowship, for meals, and for prayer.

As the decades went by it became evident that some people were not keeping up with the meetings. Perhaps they were hurt. Perhaps they were overscheduled. Perhaps they were frightened by the persecution that came their way. In fact, the unthinkable happened. Some people were getting to where they didn’t attend any of the meetings at all. Using the terminology of the author of Hebrews, they forsook the assembly.

I know how it is. The situation is such that if something were to happen to my current church or if the politics there drove me away, I don’t know that there is any congregation left in our county I might attend. It would be hard to find a place where I might fit in with the fellowship.

And yet I need to continue meeting with believers. There is a special sense in which “where two or three are gathered” Jesus continues to participate in meetings of believers in ways beyond the manner in which He meets with individuals. It isn’t just me; all believers need to participate in the life of a local congregation.

Questions: Have you ever been through a period of your life in which you didn’t meet regularly with a local church congregation? Why do you think it is so important for disciples to meet together? What can you do to prevent yourself from dropping out?