The Promise Of The Father Series

Acts 2:1-4, 14-21 The Promise of the Father

It happened on the day of Pentecost – a Jewish festival on 50th day after Passover, also known as the Feast of Firstfruits (Harvest).

• So they waited for 10 days, after Jesus’ ascension.

• According to Acts 1:15, there were 120 of them. They believed what Christ said and waited for the Holy Spirit to come.

Just as the Lord said, when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they were become witnesses for Him.

• They experienced a power, a boldness that they have never seen or experienced.

• It didn’t come from them, it was given to them. His arrival overwhelmed them.

• They were not drunk; they had just received a gift from God, one whom the Father promised.

And Peter said this was prophesied, by the prophet Joel.

• God will pour out His Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters, young men and old men. Even on my servants, both men and women.

• And Peter repeated this after his sermon – 2:38-39 “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far of – for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

Man can now relate to Him like never before.

• In the past, the Holy Spirit does come upon men, occasionally, for special tasks.

• But now He is permanently here, dwelling WITH us and IN us, according to Jesus.

If we come to adore our heavenly Father, and love our Saviour Jesus, then we need to appreciate the Person and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

• If He is not an impersonal force, but the third Person of the Godhead, then we ought to appreciate and love Him the way we love the Father and the Son.

• Without Him, we won’t be saved; we won’t be able to know Christ.

Someone said that most of us are bogged down between Calvary and Pentecost.

• We have been to Calvary for pardon, but did not really move to Pentecost and experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

• If we do not know Him, then we are on our own. Or at least, we feel that we are on our own.

• Yet the Lord says He is WITH us and IN us today (John 14:17).

And His presence gives us the power to be witnesses for Christ.

• So we are going to acknowledge His presence. He is there each time we talk about Christ with our friends.

• He is there speaking to us each time we worship and pray. Let us recapture the power of His presence, each time we draw near to God.

We believe He works in and through us.

• If God the Father plays a predominant role in the OT before Christ, and then the coming of Christ and His dominant role in the Gospel era, then today, the Holy Spirit is playing the dominant role in our world and in our lives.

When Jesus was on earth and the disciples had a problem, they would turn to Him for advice.

• But when Christ returned to the Father, they would have to turn to someone else.

• Jesus says God the Father will provide a Counsellor (Comforter).

• Jesus tells them: “He will guide you. He will comfort you. He will counsel you and will remind you of things I have told you.”

Listen to what Jesus said about the Spirit, in John 7:37-39.

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

• The Holy Spirit is the source of the overflowing life

So let’s acknowledge His presence more.

• He is present but usually our sense of the Father and Jesus is often stronger than our sense of the Spirit’s presence.

• We know the Father, we know Jesus, but not so familiar with the Holy Spirit.

• Let us acknowledge His presence in FAITH - in worship, in our sharing with one another, in our prayers and our time with God.

We need to recognize His voice when He speaks.

• Jesus says, He is “the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what he hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. 14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” John 16:13-15