And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty). Acts 1:15
More than 28 percent of the world’s population claims to be Christian; that’s about 2.3 billion people. Most of those are actually not Christians at all, but are merely members of the so-called Christian religion, affiliated in some way with one of the dozens of denominations within that religion. But among those billions of people exists a relatively small number of true believers, those of us who by virtue of our new birth have entered into eternal life. Throughout the world, from many different backgrounds and situations, that number of genuine saints will be in the millions. A nice increase from the 120 mentioned in our text today.
The 120 who were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem included the disciples, Jesus’ mother Mary and her other sons, the faithful women who had followed Jesus throughout His ministry, and some other faithful followers. As Peter assumed the defacto leadership, these people occupied themselves with prayer and discussion as they obeyed Jesus’ command for them to await the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Probably very few knew that this small company of disciples even existed. But God used that faithful nucleus to transform the world.
From the 120 came the preachers and missionaries and Christian testimonies that have spread the Gospel throughout the known world. From the teachings of the Lord Jesus, as proclaimed and transcribed by His followers, came societies that recognize the principles of honesty, decency, and fairness that make our world fit to live in. All because the 120 in that Jerusalem upper room obeyed their Lord.
Faithful Christians today – that’s you and me – still make a difference as the Lord uses us. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/Ywlc5vSjpl8