Sunday, October 28
In the last hours spent with the disciples before His death, Jesus promised that He would not leave them alone. Another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would be sent to accompany them in their ministry. The Spirit would help them remember many things Jesus had said and done (John 14:26), and would guide them in discovering more truths (John 16:13). On the day of His ascension Jesus renewed this promise. “You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. … You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:5, 8, NKJV). The Holy Spirit’s power will be given to enable the disciples to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Read Acts 1:12-14. What did the disciples do during this period of ten days?
We can imagine these ten days as a period of intense spiritual preparation, a kind of retreat during which these disciples share together their memories of Jesus, His deeds, His teachings, and His miracles. They were of “one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14).
“As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief. As they called to remembrance the words that Christ had spoken to them before His death they understood more fully their meaning. Truths which had passed from their memory were again brought to their minds, and these they repeated to one another. They reproached themselves for their misapprehension of the Saviour. Like a procession, scene after scene of His wonderful life passed before them. As they meditated upon His pure, holy life they felt that no toil would be too hard, no sacrifice too great, if only they could bear witness in their lives to the loveliness of Christ’s character. Oh, if they could but have the past three years to live over, they thought, how differently they would act! If they could only see the Master again, how earnestly they would strive to show Him how deeply they loved Him, and how sincerely they sorrowed for having ever grieved Him by a word or an act of unbelief! But they were comforted by the thought that they were forgiven. And they determined that, so far as possible, they would atone for their unbelief by bravely confessing Him before the world. … Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship.” - Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 36, 37.
What things do you wish you could do over in regard to your faith? What can you learn from your regrets about the past that can help you make a better future?
