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[ Music ] ♪ Every effort ♪ ♪ Stay down here, my ♪ ♪ Temptation loses power ♪

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♪ When I'm all alone ♪ ♪ We need you, Lord, we need you ♪ ♪ Every hour we need you ♪ ♪ Oh, bless me now ♪

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♪ My Savior, Lord, come to me ♪ ♪ I need the area ♪ ♪ Enjoy your pain ♪ ♪ Come quickly and abide ♪

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♪ Our life is in danger ♪ ♪ Every hour in torment and pain ♪ ♪ Come quickly on above ♪ ♪ Our lives in danger ♪

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♪ 'Cause only one ♪ ♪ Oh, make me, Vanity ♪ ♪ Of the blessed innocent son ♪ ♪ Make me, every man ♪

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♪ 'Cause only one ♪ ♪ Oh, make me, Vanity ♪ ♪ Oh how blessed is the time ♪ ♪ I need thee ♪

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♪ Oh I need thee ♪ ♪ Oh I need thee ♪ ♪ Oh bless me ♪ ♪ Oh bless me ♪

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♪ Bless me my blessing ♪ ♪ Bless me my blessing ♪ ♪ Oh I need thee ♪ ♪ I need thee ♪

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♪ Oh, I need Thee ♪ ♪ Every hour ♪ ♪ Oh, I need Thee ♪ ♪ Oh, let me make the life ♪

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♪ That's right ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ To Thee ♪ ♪ When this wicked life is over ♪

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♪ I need Thee ♪ ♪ I need Thee every hour ♪ ♪ When life is over ♪ ♪ When pain is near ♪

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♪ When temptation loses power ♪ ♪ Enjoy your pain ♪ ♪ Oh come now quickly ♪ ♪ When life is over ♪

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♪ When thou art nigh ♪ ♪ When life is over ♪ ♪ When pain is near ♪ ♪ Enjoy your pain ♪

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♪ When life is over ♪ ♪ Come quickly ♪ ♪ I need thee ♪ ♪ I need thee everywhere ♪

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♪ When life is gone ♪ ♪ Come quickly and revive ♪ ♪ I need thee ♪ ♪ Oh bless me now ♪

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♪ When I myself ♪ ♪ Am gone ♪ ♪ When I myself ♪ ♪ Am gone ♪

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♪ To me ♪ ♪ To me ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ (audience applauding)

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- Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's all say amen again.

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- Amen. - Amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] I want to invite our prayerful attention to this word, which

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is found in Acts chapter 1, verses 12 through 15. And then returned they unto 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

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and John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus and Simon, Zolotys and Judas, the brother of James. These all continued with one accord

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in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. And in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples.

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The number was 120. The subject of the message is who is in the waiting room? Who is in the waiting room? The waiting room is a place today

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where people gather as patients to wait for the doctor. It's a place where travelers tarry, waiting for the bus, the train, or plane. The waiting room may be in a hospital

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where one waits to visit a patient, or where one is concerned with the ministry of healing and with new birth. The waiting room is where people stay or rest

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in expectation. They may remain in a state of repose in action until something expected happens. Those who wait are conscious of time

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because they wait for the right time for that particular moment which is filled with meaning. An enthusiastic band of devoted followers of Jesus are gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem, waiting.

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They are waiting for something wonderful to happen. They are waiting for God's Spirit to invade their lives. They are waiting to be caught up in the Spirit, waiting to be guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

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They wait for a miracle. They meet in a familiar place. It is known as the upper room in Jerusalem. It's a place where Jesus met with his disciples

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and observed the Passover and instituted what is called the Lord's Supper shortly before his crucifixion. It's the same place where Jesus met with his disciples after his resurrection. Now, it is here in the upper room that this band of disciples gather to wait for the promise.

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Because Jesus their Lord and teacher, their commander in chief, had said to them that They should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father to send his spirit to be with them. They are in the waiting room.

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waiting room is in Jerusalem, a half-mile journey from where Jesus has ascended to heaven. It's in the upper room, so-called because it is located above the ground, it's upstairs. In order to receive the gift of the Spirit which comes from above, it's necessary to wait upstairs.

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Not on the ground floor, not in the basement, but upstairs. Above base human desires and impulses, upstairs. the call of the ordinary. It's necessary, I say, to wait upstairs. The key to receiving what is promised by the Father is to know how to wait. The Father promised to pour out

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his spirit upon his people, but they must wait for it. Waiting permeates our life. We wait to be born. We wait for each meal.

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We wait to grow up. We wait to marry, we wait for a job, we wait for our dreams to come true, we wait for death, we wait for our ultimate destiny. This band of believers waits for something wonderful to happen in the upper room.

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I say waiting is the key to living. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow in "Psalm of Life" says that the individual who lives triumphantly must learn to labor and to wait. And Rudyard Kipling in his "If" where he emphasizes courageous

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manhood says if you can wait and not go tired in waiting, waiting. Well, who is in the waiting room? That's the question.

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Who is waiting for the promise of the Father? God has promised to do great things in the lives of those who wait, but who's in the waiting room? God has promised to manifest himself in an unusually meaningful and powerful manner in

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the experience of those who submit to being servants of his word. God has promised to reveal his spirit to those who believe in the power of the resurrection and who are witnesses of the resurrection. The question is, who is in the waiting room?

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Who is waiting for the fulfillment of the kingdom of God? Yes, who's waiting for the kingdom of God to come in its fullness? Who waits for the promise? Who waits to be used of God to tell his story to a dying world?

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Who is in the waiting room? Luke gives us the list of those who were in the upper room in Jerusalem, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled in their lives. He says that there were disciples.

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He uses the word disciples. Those who were students of the master teacher, those who were learners, those who were followers of the Lord, disciples. The disciples are there.

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The apostles are there, the 11, who occupy a position of leadership because they have not only been with Jesus, received his teaching and preaching, served in his healing ministry, and have become witnesses of his resurrection. They are commissioned, which means that they are sent out.

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An apostle is one who is sent. So they are sent by him to proclaim his will and way. The apostles are there. Disciples, yes.

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Learners and followers, apostles. Those who are sent are there. And then Luke tells us that the family of Jesus is there. The family includes Mary, the mother of Jesus, his brothers and sisters.

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The Lord's family is present in the waiting room, and that's true today. That the family of the Lord is in the waiting room. We are waiting for something wonderful to happen. We are waiting for him to return.

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We are waiting for him to manifest himself in a marvelous way in our lives. The family of the Lord is in the waiting room. Luke tells us that the number in the waiting room is 120. This is a somewhat strange number because it is said that wherever there was to be a

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meeting, there was to be one leader for every 12 persons, or every 10 persons rather. And so the disciples or the apostles are 11 now because Judas has committed suicide. The traitor has committed suicide. And so here they are, this great company of 120.

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You know, we may call them the company of the committed because here they are waiting for the promise of God. They are being obedient to the word of the Lord and they have gathered in the upper room to wait.

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They are waiting because they're committed. They're committed to Jesus Christ. This is the company of the committed. These are they who constitute what D. Elton Trueblood calls the fellowship of the concerned.

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This is the nucleus from which new life comes to God's people. They're in the waiting room. And we may ask the question of ourselves, who is in the waiting room? Here we are some 2,000 years removed from that day.

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among us is completely open to God, to be used of God in his divine plan? Who waits as an instrument in the hand of God to be used of him? Who among us waits to be servant of the eternal Word, committed to doing whatever God says. Who is in the waiting room? And the way to know who is there is to be there ourselves. That's

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the way to know who's there. Luke is the historian of the first century and he's writing a new history and this history has to do with changing the world. And here are those who are sitting waiting for this wonderful something to happen that will enable them to go out and change the world.

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Who's there? That's the question. Who is in the waiting room? Oh, we like to ask who was there whenever there's something wonderful that happens and

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someone else is giving the report we always want to know who was there? Who was there? That's the question we often ask, who was there? And then we also want to know after we've given the names of those who were there, we'd like to know what were they doing? Well, this is what they were doing, they were praying. They were praying. If we really want to understand

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understand what the work of the church is about. If we really want to understand rather what the nature of the church is, we have to go back and look at the model that is provided for us in the Bible. To see that early church and how it developed. That's our model. And here we find them first of all, this group in the

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waiting room and they are engaged in prayer. Prayer. Prayer. Is that a lost word for many of us? Prayer. They prayed for ten days. Ten days. Some people find it difficult to pray for ten seconds. But they were in prayer. And you know You know what disturbs me often is when we get ready for someone to pray, we like to

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select certain people, you know, when we have certain programs, we'll get so and so. When we get down to the prayer part, you know, it gets very, the volunteers are few. And we somehow feel uncomfortable, but there are all 120 of them in the waiting room praying. They don't wait for the preacher to pray, or the deacon to pray, or the missionary president

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to pray, none of those. They were all praying. They were all in the waiting room praying. Ten days.

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And the strength of the church and the strength of every church, the strength of every organized band of believers is in prayer. You pray a little, as far as your resources are concerned, you're going to receive a little. Your life, your everything. So now, it's determined by how you are hooked up

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with the eternal. And that's in prayer. They're praying. 10 days, they're praying.

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But they don't just sit there and pray. They're going in and out of the waiting room. They're going to the house of prayer. They're going to the temple to pray

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during this 10 day period. And during this time, as they are in the waiting room, they have a business meeting. A business, that's the first business meeting

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we find in the church. Business meeting. But it happens in the context of prayer. Most of our business meetings, people don't wanna pray,

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they always got some idea, you know. And some come with rocks in their jaws. But when we look at the church, I'm talking about those who are faithful to Jesus Christ, who are learners, who have somehow caught his way of life.

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They are engaged in prayer. And the first business meeting is, well, Peter says, "Now look, we got a vacancy here. Judas is gone and we need to fill his vacant seat, or the vacant seat that's created by his absence. And so they pray about it. That's the way every decision that's made in the church ought to be reached.

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It ought to be reached through prayer. In other words, what they are really doing is they are seeking the guidance of God. That's what prayer does. You know, when you really pray, you see God's guidance. "Lord, what do you want me to do?

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"I don't know what to do, "but will you give me a sense of direction? "Will you guide me in the way that I ought to go?" So then, pray.

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So, well, look, we have two men here. There's Matthias, there's Barthelus, and we don't know which one. Guide us.

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And it is through the guidance of God in prayer that they cast lots and the decision is that Matthias is to fill that spot. Now they have some requirements. They have some requirements. You know, who's going to fill this office? It's rather strange, you know, how we fill offices today. We just ask somebody, "Will

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do this, no prayer, many times. It doesn't require much, honey, just do it. Just say yes, it doesn't require much. That's not the way the church, the New Testament church, developed on prayer. And you know what the problem is? The church was strong in the beginning beginning because the church demanded a great deal of its members and the church

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is weak. Many of our churches today because we demand such little. But that's not, Now, whoever feels the sea must be a person who has been with Jesus. He must have seen the risen Lord. That's the first requirement.

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So in other words, he cannot hold his office, he cannot be a leader, he cannot be an apostle unless he has seen the risen Lord. That's the first requirement. He must have seen the risen Lord.

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And then secondly, he must have received from him this divine mission, this sense of divine mission. That having seen the Lord, he has also received from the Lord a sense of his divine mission. That's the requirement.

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These two things must be considered. Well, now the circle is complete. 120 they are in the waiting room, waiting for the promise, waiting for the coming of God's Spirit,

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waiting for the manifestation of the unseen spiritual presence in the waiting room. in the waiting room. I know many of us have had varied experiences in a waiting room somewhere at some time in

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our lives. I can remember going to a waiting room in 1956 at Hillcrest Hospital in Waco, Texas. They ushered me into the waiting room. My wife was in the delivery room.

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You're waiting for the unexpected. We were waiting for the birth of our last child, Ria. Now she had sort of been there as an unseen presence, but it was on this occasion that the unseen presence manifested, was manifested and was revealed.

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So this is what the waiting is all about. The Spirit has always been here. The Spirit of God has always been, but the Spirit which is the unseen presence

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is to manifest itself as the miracle working power of God as they wait in eager expectation. Something new is expected. We ought to wait like that every time we come

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and engage in a worship service as we wait for the Lord come in our lives anew, we ought to wait for something new to happen. We ought to wait for something wonderful to happen. We ought to wait for God to reveal himself. And that's why we often speak of ourselves when we gather on occasions

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like this as the waiting congregation, the waiting congregation. When the time came, something wonderful happened. So the main thing is to learn how to wait, learn how to wait on the Lord, learn how to wait on the Lord.

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One young lady said to a minister a number of years ago, as she saw a young man walking along with a young lady, an attractive young lady, they were moving along and she said to her pastor, she said, "You know, I would be walking along there with him if I had had the patience to wait."

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Now a lot of things that will happen in our lives if we have the patience to wait. God wants to bless us and God wants to use us in a marvelous way, but we must wait on him. The word is, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.

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They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." And the psalmist says, "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me.

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He answered me." Well, Luke is able to write this story, this new history, because he's a part of the story. And I want to ask you today, each one of you gathered here under the sound of my voice, is it are you in the waiting room?

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Are you somehow waiting and pleading and entreating God to do something wonderful in your life? Are you praying that God will somehow use you as his instrument, that somehow God will direct your life? Are you in the waiting room?

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You see, Luke is able to write this story because he is identified with the movement himself. He's familiar with the Jesus story because he is a part of that story. And so we must answer this question, who is in the waiting room when we are a part of

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the story? You know, too often people say they, and sometimes I can tell how people are related to the family of God by how they talk when they say they are doing this, they do this, or what are they doing in that connection.

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But when you read Luke, when you read the story, and I hope you'll be reading the book of Acts, but as you read it you'll see that on so many occasions Luke is saying we, he's saying we. You can tell he's a part of it, that he's involved in it, that somehow he's wrapped

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up in what's happening and so he can say we, not they, but we. And the most important journey that most of us have to take is the journey from I to we. That's the most important journey in your life. Some people don't ever take it, but that's the journey to be able to say that yes, this

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is my story. This somehow is my life. This is Jesus' story. It's my story because I put my hand in his hand and he walks with me and he talks with

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me. This is my story. And when we're in the waiting room, we have a story to tell.

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We have a story to tell of the goodness of God. When we're in the waiting room, we have a story to tell. For the Lord has promised good to me. His word, my hope secures.

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He will my shield and comfort be as long as life endures. While I'm in the waiting room, I'm waiting for God to somehow to manifest himself in a new and marvelous way. What about you?

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Be in the waiting room, in the upper room, waiting for the manifestation of the Spirit of God. Well that's the kind of assurance you ought to have as you make this journey through life. And as I say, we invite you to come to accept the invitation that God extends to every person.

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We invite you to come now to accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, to identify with the family of God here at Ebenezer as a member of the household of faith. We invite you to come. (gentle music)

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We invite you to come. (gentle music) The Spirit says come. Spirit waits for you to come.

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This is the invitation. It's yours. It has your name written on it. To accept him for yourself.

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[MUSIC - "Blessed Assurance"] Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine, ♪ Bearer of salvation ♪

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♪ Purchased of God ♪ ♪ Born of his Spirit ♪ ♪ Spirit washed in his blood ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪

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♪ This is my song ♪ ♪ Long ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪ ♪ All the day long ♪

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♪ This is my story ♪ Glory, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst open. ♪ Thou burst on my sight ♪

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♪ Angels descending ♪ ♪ Ring from above ♪ ♪ Echoes of mercy ♪ ♪ Whispers of love ♪

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♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ My soul ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪

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♪ All the day long ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪ ♪ Praising my Savior ♪

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♪ My Savior ♪ ♪ All ♪ Now this verse, I sort of like this verse because having prayed about it, you can rest on it.

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♪ Perfect ♪ ♪ Submission ♪ ♪ All is at rest ♪ ♪ I in my Savior ♪

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♪ Am happy and blessed ♪ ♪ Yes ♪ ♪ Watching and waiting ♪ Watching and waiting.

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♪ King ♪ ♪ Looking ♪ ♪ Above ♪ Fill with his goodness.

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♪ Fill with his goodness ♪ And lost in his love. ♪ Lost in his love ♪ This is my story.

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Is it yours? Can John end this? ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪

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♪ Praise ye my Savior ♪ ♪ Over and over ♪ ♪ This is my story ♪ ♪ This is my song ♪

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♪ Praising thy Savior ♪ ♪ All the day long ♪ - We wish you God our Father, we thank you that you have provided a place for every one of us.

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