The Upper Room Events

After the resurrection of Jesus, he spent time with His Apostles instructing them as to what they should do pertaining to the kingdom of God. Jesus told them that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days and would receive miracle-working power to aid them in their ministry. He told the apostles they were to witness for Him throughout the world spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom, but they were to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them.

Acts 1:2   “Until the day in which he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments unto the apostles who he had chosen: Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard of me. Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Acts 1:8 And you shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

The point needs to be made here that Jesus did not meet with all of His disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty at the time; He met only with His eleven Apostles. Jesus told these eleven they were to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with power, but they were to wait at Jerusalem until it happened.

After Jesus had been taken up into Heaven, the apostles returned to Jerusalem and went into an upper room and continued with prayer and supplication with some of the Women who followed Jesus’ ministry, with Mary His Mother and His brothers, the other children of Mary. All of the disciples of Jesus were not in the upper room, just the ones named in the following verses.

Acts 1:12 “Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey. Acts 1:13 And when they had 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. Acts 1:14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers”.

During those days, the apostles met with all of the disciples, who numbered about one hundred and twenty to select someone to take the place of Judas. A disciple named Matthias was selected.

            After this, when the day of Pentecost came, the apostles were gathered together in one accord waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them just as Jesus had commanded them to do. To be noted once again, this commandment was to the apostles only and not to all of the disciples of Jesus.

Acts 2:1 “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

After the multitude came together because of the phenomenon that was occurring, Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles present and began to explain to the onlookers what was happening. Note again that Peter stood up with the eleven and not the one hundred and twenty.

Acts 2:14 “But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said to them, You men of Judaea, and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known unto you, and hearken to my words: Acts 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;”

After Peter finished speaking to the multitude and explaining to them what had occurred, the multitude spoke to Peter and the other apostles and said: “men and brethren, what shall we do”? Note that the multitude that were listening addressed the apostles as “men and brethren,” asking them what they should do, they did not say brothers and sisters and were not addressing the whole company of about one hundred and twenty disciples including the women.

Acts 2:37 “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do”?

That same day, because of the signs and wonders performed by the apostles, about three thousand of them were baptized and without a doubt, just as Peter had told them, received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Note that God vindicated that He had given the apostles the bap­tism of the Holy Spirit by providing signs and wonders by their hands as a testimony. Notice that it says by the apostles and not by the whole church.

Acts 2:41 “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there was added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”

Many times I have heard men preach that when the apostles returned to Jerusalem, after the Lord’s ascension into Heaven, they gathered together into an upper room, with the women and His brethren, and they were all baptized with the Holy Spirit. One even preached that Mary, the mother of Jesus, received the Holy Spirit, and she went out into the street, speaking in tongues and dancing in the Spirit. This to me sounds good and wonderful and I believe that it was possible, but I do not read this in the scriptures.

Now I’m not saying that the whole group of one hundred and twenty did not receive the Holy Spirit, as a matter of fact I’m sure they did because God had promised they would. But what I say here and what the scriptures tell me is that only the apostles, at that time, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is a difference in receiving the indwelling Holy Spirit that comes to a believer as part of the conversion process and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The Lord Jesus had called these apostles together to learn His Word and prepare them to go out and preach the gospel. He did not call the whole church to preach, just the apostles. Even after He had called them, He knew they needed something else to prepare them to be effective in their ministry, and that was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For He told them they would be bap­tized with the Holy Spirit not long after He left them (Acts 1:5), but they were to wait upon their ministry until the Holy Spirit came and gave them the supernatural power needed to be effective in their ministries.

The apostles were called by Jesus to follow Him and learn of Him, but they were not sent out to preach until they were ready, both by the knowledge of His Word and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

If this was true then, and it was, then the same applies today. Many men are called to prea­ch the gospel today, but few are sent. Why is this? Because they do not wait upon the real baptism of the Holy Spirit to give them the power to be effective in their ministry and/or they fail to follow the instruction of Peter, to repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God will vindicate the calling and ministry of those He sends out to preach with signs and wonders just as He did for the apostles, if they will be patient and wait upon God to prepare them. This is not for everyone in the church, just those who He selects by a calling and the sending out.

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