Pastor Ben is a Bivocational Pastor. He has been at Grace Baptist Church since July 15, 1990. He is a Nurse Practitioner by trade, with a specialty in Orthopaedic Surgery. He attended Wytheville Community College, and The University of Virginia and finished the Nurse Practitioner program there in 1979. He works with Paul Morin, M.D. in Wytheville, Virginia. Bro. Ben has a passion for The Word of God. He is aware that God is working in the church and in medicine and has joined God where He is. There have been souls saved as a result of that twofold ministry.
Pastor Benny Haga
I want to say from the start that I use a lot of sources and I read a lot of challenging messages. I claim no originality for any message you may read on this page. I credit only our Lord and Savior for any message that will challenge our hearts and draw us to Christ.
UPPER ROOM PEOPLE
Lets get acquainted with the people who gathered in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. So much happened as a result of their experience. Maybe we can learn something from these folks.
They were ordinary people who believed in the Lord. Sometimes we tend to make people of the Bible look like they were unusual. We tend to make them bigger than life. But they were just like you and me. Jesus bypassed the universities and places were the elite met and walked the streets and docks to gather up the people who would carry His message.
We need to be careful not to spiritualize their experience to the extent that we consider them beyond our reach. Perhaps we can have a visitation from the Lord that would help us see another Pentecost. It is hard to conceive that we could have a visitation from God that would impact the world 2,000 years after this meeting is over. But that is what happened in the Upper Room. What was special about these people?
THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS
A. Many saw His works, heard His teachings, yet went their way.
1. These 120 people continued with Him.
a. They saw as He ascended into heaven
2. Over 500 individuals saw Jesus after His resurrection.
3. No count is given of how many heard His command to wait in Jerusalem
for the promise of the Father.
a. They & the others who obeyed returned to Jerusalem from Mount
Olivet, the site of the Ascension, and went into an upstairs room.
B. People who are in obedience to the Lord can accomplish a lot for God.
THEY WERE PEOPLE WHO PRAYED
A. Jesus told them to tarry, & they knew this meant more than biding time
1. They understood they were to tarry in His presence
a. This is done through prayer - fervent prayer.
b. They all continued in one accord in prayer and supplication.
B. They endured seasons of fear and dismay. Danger was not past
1. The days ahead posed a real threat. So in prayer, they waited for power
from on high.
. 2. For days the prayer meeting continued. They waded through distractions
and the usual personal needs with hearts turned to prayer with one accord,
with minds in full agreement.
a. They knew their need: Holy Ghost power and the authority of Christ.
b. Only through prayer! How could these people have known?
3. They continued many days and the prayer meeting was kept alive by
earnest men and women.
4. Where are those today who will pray and continue until the answer
comes?
5. This would not be the only time the Upper Room people would give
themselves to effectual prayer.
THEY ACKNOWLEDGED LEADERSHIP AND SOUGHT GOD'S WILL
A. Peter stood in the midst, unchallenged. He who denied stood up.
1. His message was this (Acts 1:16)
a. God's Word was important to the Upper Room people.
- No room for theory or speculation, No argument. No debate. No
hesitation.
b. They moved deliberately to follow God's leader and do His will.
- They already were learning to depend on God completely.
THEY RECEIVED THE PROMISE
"They were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4)
A. Where was doubt, uncertainty, and human failure?
1. Their faith (the evidence of things not seen) opened their hearts to the
Holy Spirit.
B. No one had experienced this before. Just people who believed Jesus would
give the promised Holy Ghost.
1. These Upper Room people walked where none had gone before - but
where multitudes would follow. What faith!
THEY RESPONDED TO THE SPIRIT
A. They responded to the Spirit's control, continuing in the apostles doctrine
and prayer, breaking bread and selling possessions, continuing with
singleness of heart and gladness, praising God and having favor with all the
people. (2:42-47)
B. The Holy Spirit can use yielded people who will respond to His leading.
THEY FULFILLED GOD'S PURPOSE AND PROPHECY.
A. Peter didn't hesitate. He declared Joel's prophecy had been fulfilled that the
Holy Spirit would be poured out upon all flesh in the last days. It started
with the Upper Room people.
B. Jesus honored their obedience when He added to their number about 3,000
souls in one day.
1. the Lord continued to add to the church daily "such as should be saved"
These Upper Room people are our pioneers, the champions of the faith in NT times. There is no complete roster. No roll call was taken in the Upper Room. There is not even a sure number of how many were present - just an estimate of about 120.
Yet, in them, I see hope for the church on the threshold of the 21st century. This decade is ours, with all its challenges and opportunities. Are we ready? Will God fulfill prophecy and his purpose through us?
When we cultivate the attitudes of the Upper Room people toward Jesus Christ, toward prayer and the authority of leadership and the Scriptures, we will move toward an outpouring for our times. With hearts and minds in full agreement, we will receive the promise of our day - the mighty Holy Ghost power.
When we respond without restraint and with joyous enthusiasm and unswerving commitment to His purpose for His church and His world, we too can see the mighty fruits of our harvest.
Can we do it? Oh, yes, we can! The Lord will equip His church. He will confirm His Word with signs following. He will send conviction before His Spirit filled army. He will challenge the forces of darkness, the awful powers of hell, through His church empowered by the Holy Spirit. He will lead trembling souls out of darkness into His marvelous light through the preaching of the gospel.
That's our calling, our assignment, our conquest.