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ABSENTEES IN THE UPPER ROOM

Written by Dr. Larry Petton

One of the curious questions I have always had concerns the people who actually saw Christ after His resurrection. I would love to have been part of that group to see Jesus in His glorified, resurrected body!

But, for some reason, that incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience didn’t seem to make a difference in many of those people. Paul says in I Corinthians 15 that over 500 hundred saw Christ after His resurrection. Jesus told them to go and wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come (Acts 1:8-11). They were to worship and wait for 40 days.

The problem here is........only 120 were in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came in power. The question I have is: where were the other 380 plus believers who saw the resurrected Christ personally? Those believers had been with Christ to the Cross.......they had experienced His resurrection power........but they were not partakers of Pentecost!

How many believers today have been to the Cross.......they know Christ as their Risen Savior...........but they have not been endued with the power of the Holy Spirit. They are like the Israelites in the Wilderness ---- they were brought OUT of Egypt, but they have not been brought INTO the Promised Land of victory.

What is the problem? Christ is only RESIDENT in their lives. He is not PRESIDENT.

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