"This "upper room," we should remember, was the forerunner of every church and cathedral which has been reared in Christendom within the last 18 centuries. St. Paul's, and York, and Lincoln, and all the stately ministers of our own land; St. Sophia at Constantinople, St. Isaac at St. Petersburg, St. Stephen's at Vienna, Notre Dame at Paris, St. Peter's at Rome, all are descendants from this "upper room." Not one can trace its pedigree beyond that little chamber. Here it was that professing Christians, when left alone by their master, first began to pray together, to worship, and to exhort one another. This room was the cradle of the infant Church of Christ, and the beginning of all our services. From this room, the waters of the everlasting gospel first began to flow, which have now spread so widely throughout the world, however adulterated and corrupted they may have been in some ages and in some parts of the earth.
I invite my listeners, then, to come with me and examine this upper room as it appeared on Ascension day." (J. C. Ryle)
The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times
(Tags : The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times (Unabridged) J. C. Ryle Audiobook, J. C. Ryle Audio CD )
