The Promise of the Father - Acts I
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The Promise of the Father
The Promise of the Father
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
As we begin a new sermon series in the book of Acts, I want to first give you an idea of where we are headed for the year ahead. We will be in acts till just before Easter, Then we will have 3 weeks of Easter followed by about 8 weeks in 1 John, then our Summer Psalms series will continue. In the Fall we will be starting a 4 yr journey through Genesis and complete the year with an Advent series again.
This will be pretty much the same pattern for the next 4 years until we have completed Acts, Genesis and 1 John.
As we begin today in looking at the Book of Acts there are some themes that I would have you notice over the next 12 weeks.
Obedience in Action - Fearing God not Man - Boldness in Evangelism - Repentance - Resurrection Of Christ is central - the Trinity is everywhere (Acts isn’t just about the Holy Spirit) - the early church
Waiting until the HS comes
Fearing God not Man
As we preach and teach through Gods word we want you to know that there were more than just “these eleven” Though we highlight the few at the front, there are more.
Boldness in Evangelism
More than just “these eleven” Though we highlight the few at the front, there are more.
There were 120 gathered - Don’t discount yourself just because you aren’t “at the front”Sovereignty of God
Acts is the beginning of Welcoming all types of people into the family of God The dividing wall of hostility is torn down.
Welcoming all types of people into the family of God The dividing wall of hostility is torn down
The dividing wall of hostility is torn down
We will see Filling w/ Holy Spirit come and then a gift of Tongues will be explained
Tongues More about the hearers understanding, than about the speaker speaking.
A constant theme you will hear from me is The miracles are there to validate the message of the Gospel!
It isn’t for the person doing it, but the person receiving it.
Tongues, the healing of the blind beggars
And we will always see the Spirit is working WITH the word.
So let’s begin our study inActs with a brief understanding of the context.
First of all I need you to know that this book is not a letter written to the church like other epistles are. In Ephesians and Galatians for example, Paul is writing the churches there to bring correction and instruction in life and worship. they are full of rich theology for the church today and were written with specific ideas for their original audience.
In Acts we have a narrative story being told from an eyewitness to a Gentile, or non jew - Theophilus.
SO while there is obvious stories about how the Early church started, and there is a lot of Rich theology, meaning we learn a lot about God from this book, It is not something that was written to an encouragement for these specific things to be repeated or attempted to be relived in our experience.
I would actually submit to you that this is the number one thing most of the modern church gets wrong about Acts… And I humbly say that as a former Assemblies of God credentialed pastor. I know how this gets twisted because I am guilty of it. I can articulate the Charismatic argument better than most and I am most excited to share this book with you in an effort to help clear some confusion and show you what the church has historically believed, no matter how that has changed in the last 100+ years of the 2,000 yrs of church history.
Let’s start by look at these opening verses...
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
While the author does not introduce himself here, we have a huge clue to who is writing this book, that is a narrative story of the early church.
The Author is none other than Luke the Physician. So what do we know about him...
We know that Luke was the Apostle Paul’s special friend who accompanied him on multiple journeys. He is mentioned by name in 3 other letters - Colossians, Philemon, and 2 Timothy. We know he was a highly educated man who had a special attention to details of names, events, geography, and more than anything healings done by both Jesus and his Apostles. Luke has interviewed eyewitnesses of every event he is describing and his work was recieved by the Apostles as the best history of these events and so were circulated by the Early church as historical truth.
How do we know it is Luke? Because he starts by making an address to Theophilus, and noting his first book, which is reference to the Gospel of Luke, written to Theophilus. let’s look at it quickly...
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
So here we have Luke admitting that he has been following these things closely, and his intentions are to write an orderly account so that Theophilus and the readers can have Certainty of what they have been taught. But taught about what?
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,
All the things that Jesus began to do and teach.
So we know it is Luke writing, we know he wrote the Gospel to be an orderly account for us to have certainty of what we have been taught about Jesus, all that he did and taught.
But who is this Theophilus? While we cannot say with exact certainty, what we do know is that he was not a Jew. His name means “Friend of God” and he is addressed as “Most Excellent Theophilus” in Luke, which is a similar greeting Paul gave to Felix and Festus the roman governors. This would cause us to conclude that Theophilus was of the ruling class, and he had been converted to Christianity, yet needed to know exactly what happened.
So, Luke writes a 2 part book… the Gospel of Luke and Acts.
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
In this short beginning we see 3 things
The Ascension, His Instructions, and His Election...
His Ascension
His Ascension
We will talk more in depth about this next week, but he is telling Theophilus here that his last book was written up to this point.... When Jesus was taken up… Which is found in vs 50-53...
It is important to note that this means that they were currently at Bethany outside of the city of Jerusalem at this point, because we know from other places that this is where the Ascension happens. Hold on to that thought for later… This is happening in Bethany outside the city of Jerusalem.
With the Ascension narrative, Luke ties together the Gospel of Luke and Acts… he ends the Gospel that way and will begin this book that way. This is like when we watch a movie in 2 parts. Usually the start of the second movie gives you a quick review of what happened in the first movie.
Without making too much of this right now, I would say that the Idea that Jesus Ascends into heaven as a living resurrected person in bodily form is one of the most distinguishing trademarks to the Christian faith. Christianity unlike other religions, believe that we worship a God who is 3 in1, and that the second member of the Triune God, Jesus Christ, was raised from the dead and is alive and bodily departed from the planet Earth to go sit at the right hand of the Father in heaven until he bodily returns! His going is called the Ascension.
Next we see His Instructions.
His Instructions
His Instructions
In that second verse it says, “after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit”...
A command is an instruction to be followed. It seems as though Luke is connecting the Ascension to the great commission at the end of … “Go and make Disciples, baptizing and teaching them everything I commanded you...”
What we do know from scripture is that there is a 40 day period between the resurrection and the Ascension, and that Jesus taught them many things about the kingdom. But the Gospels are full of Instructions from Jesus to his followers and especially to these Apostles. We will see more specifics next week when they are told to Wait for the Holy Spirit, but there seems to be emphasis put on his instructions to his Apostles here, because the Book of Acts carries a theme of Obedience in it.
If I may take just a moment to briefly touch on an important fact that we will see over and over in Acts, it is the idea on God’s Sovereignty and mans responsibility.
While God is Sovereign and knows everything, and orchestrates everything according to his predetermined will, it never releases us from being responsible for acting accordingly.
So, By his Grace we are Saved and that is a gracious gift that we do not work or earn, yet there are still instructions for us as believers who are now following Christ. And we are responsible for following those instructions, as these Apostles were.
but finally we the doctrine of Election...
His Election
His Election
While Luke is telling of Jesus’ choosing of the Apostles, there is an important Doctrine we see here and I would be remiss if I brushed over it...
The questions is Did Jesus choose the Apostles and then is is did he choose us? For that answer let us look to scripture...
In Jesus is speaking directly to his Apostles...
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
But we see this language repeated when the Apostle Paul is talking to believers in general…
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
Before the foundations of the world means before creation God knew you! Way back then, God choose you!
And again from Peter in teaching believer about their salvation...
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
It is undeniable that God has chosen those who are believers in Jesus. But why? Is there something special about me that led God to choose me? The short answer is, no, God did not choose us because of anything inherent in ourselves. He chose us out of His love and mercy, and for His glory.
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says, “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” says, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” It is undeniable that God has chosen those who are believers in Jesus. But why? Is there something special about me that led God to choose me? The short answer is, no, God did not choose us because of anything inherent in ourselves. He chose us out of His love and mercy, and for His glory.
eph.14-6
look again at Ephesians...
5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
We see that God’s choosing of us is linked to His love. God’s choice is something that gives Him pleasure and brings Him praise. God’s choosing of us highlights His gracious character, not our merit.
goes on to say, “In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” (verses 5–6). We see that God’s choosing of us is linked to His love. God’s choice is something that gives Him pleasure and brings Him praise. God’s choosing of us highlights His gracious character, not our merit.
And here is Acts we see this Doctrine of Election, Gods choosing being reintroduced to a new Believer Theophilus… He is being told that God specifically choose these men to be Apostles, which will become more significant the more we read in Acts, but for us now I thought it was fitting to show that this is a doctrine the church has historically believed and where is comes from. Scripture!
The 5 solas… We are saved by Grace alone, through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone, and this is to the Glory of God Alone and all of this is found in Scripture Alone! If your arguments against this doctrine come from outside scripture we would redirect you to the scriptures.
lets continue...
3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
What Luke is telling his audience here is that it has been recorded many times about Jesus’ Post-resurrection appearances. there are at least 10 we see in scripture… here they are...
the women at the tomb - Matt. 28:9-10
Mary Magdalene - and john 20:11-18
2 men of Emmaus - and Luke 24
Peter in Jerusalem - luke 24 and 1 cor 15:5
10 disciples - and
11 disciples - john 20 and 1 cor 15
7 disciples fishing in Galilee - john 21
11 disciples in Galilee - Matt 28 and mark 16
500 people most likely in Galilee -
James the brother of the Lord -
And in all of these that leaves out the final appearance when Jesus ascends into heaven, but we will see that next week.
And while he was proving to his followers he was alive during these 40 days, he was also speaking to them about the Kingdom of God… With this statement Luke refers to the Kingdom of God, it is another connection to his Gospel in which the kingdom of God is mentioned some 30 times. As opposed to the kingdom of heaven talked about in Matthews Gospel.
So what is message of God’s Kingdom? If you read through Luke and Acts you will see that this phrase summarizes the heart of Jesus teaching. Simply put...
The Kingdom is God’s rule in the hearts and lives of his people
The Kingdom is God’s rule in the hearts and lives of his people
People who as citizens of God’s kingdom have recieved Remission of Sins and Eternal Life!
Beyond that, for the Apostles and for us the phrase Kingdom of God mean the preaching of the Good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the making of disciples of ALL nations!
This message of the Kingdom of God is taken by the church and is at its core our main message to the world! It is the Gospel, the good news! God’s kingdom has come in his son and is now here by His Spirit!
If you have not recieved the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ his Son who died for you that you may be forgiven by a Holy God who created everything and will judge everyone, then today we implore you to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and repent of Sins, so that you may be washed by His Spirit and cleansed from all unrighteousness!
That is the message of the King of God! Let’s continue
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
So at the end of these 40 days, Jesus reminds his Apostles to be obedient to his former command to stay in Jerusalem and Wait by telling them again to stay in the city to wait.
49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
luke24
Why did Jesus tells them this once and again here? remember I said earlier to remember that they were at Bethany outside the City where Jesus Ascended back up to heaven… They would’ve naturally gone back to Galilee if they had n’t been explicitly told by Jesus to stay put. Why?
First thing you need to know is that they needed to be told to stay put and wait because they did not want to stay in the city where the Jews had just killed Jesus. Of course they would want to leave the city, but Jesus Has other plans, even though it is a hostile environment.
But the bigger idea here is what they are waiting for… to be clothed with Power from on high
This was the Promise of the Father! The Holy Spirit
The Promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit
The Promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit
It is funny to me that most people think that the Books of Acts is all about the Holy Spirit and yet fail to recognize that the Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity… The Holy Spirit is the Promise from the Father and Jesus is reminded them that he spoke of the Holy spirit and that the Holy Spirit would speak of Jesus… What am I saying… The Holy Spirit may be distinct in its operation in the life of the believer but He is never not God, Just as much as Jesus is God and the Father is God.
God’s Spirit being poured out on us and filling us is a promise from the Father!
The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and finds its roots in the OT… Let me show you… From Isaiah the prophet to God’s people...
15 until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
is
and again
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.
God is encouraging his Children that there is day coming when he will pour out his Spirit upon them...
And it would be easy to go from here over to the Prophet Joel, but we will save that fro when Peter quotes him in … Yet there is another spot in the OT that speaks of this day I would draw your attention to...
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Eze2
In my humble opinion, more than other areas of scripture I believe this is the best way to see a promise from the OT fulfilled in us to even this day. Before I was Saved I had no desire to walk according to Gods statues, I had a heart of stone, Yet he put His Spirit in me!
The Promise of the Father… His Spirit IN us, causes us to OBEY him
The Promise of the Father… His Spirit IN us, causes us to OBEY him
Because the Holy Spirit is in us, it causes us to Obey! Think about it, why could we not please God before we knew him? Because we need him to give us the desire to care enough, we were dead spiritually in our sins Ephesians says, in Corinthians it says we were blinded by the god of this world, and the gospel was veiled to us… But when the promise of the Father comes, we get a new heart, our eyes are opened and we go from Death to life. In Jesus explains this to Nicodemus as a new birth spiritually… The world cannot get him from there owns works, but God gives him to us...
That is what the Father Promised us, and Jesus told his Apostles the same… the Spirit would be IN us...
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
john14.
Jesus told them the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, would be IN them… and Again in vs 26
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Please also notice that Jesus mentions in the same breath, the Father, The Son, and Holy Spirit...
Receiving the Holy Spirit is not a subsequent emphasis after conversion, but it is a conversion that comes from a Triune God! The Holy Spirit is not all about miracles, liver quivers and goose bumps… The Holy Spirit point us back to Christ and comes from the Father...
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.
The problem with the book of Acts is when we read it without the Gospels being connected to it… moreover the problem with the book of Acts is when we read it without knowledge of the OT and the Gospels. We make it all about us and then fail to see how the same Triune God from the beginning of the Bible is working in his people right through the end and has now been carried to us. The Holy Spirit should be pointing us to Christ… His finished work on our behalf and his life and teaching to us about the Holiness of God.
The promise of the Father Points us to Christ
The promise of the Father Points us to Christ
The best way to know if you have received the Promise of the Father is if you now care about God and his statues and if you are constantly being reminded of Jesus and his teachings.
Do you only think of what Jesus did for you when you gather with Gods people? Do you think of the Work of Christ when are sinful and need to repent? that is the Holy Spirit working in you… that is the promise of the Father.
Do you never really think about Jesus? NO???
If not, let me ask you...
Do you care about your Sin? Do you care about righteousness? Do you care about judgement?
If not, you are not a believer, you do not have the Holy Spirit inside of you, you are just religious.
8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
This may sound scary but… for the believers We think about Sin and thank God for the work of Christ on our behalf… We think about righteousness because Jesus ascended to God and took our sinfulness and gave us His righteousness in which we now stand… And we think about judgement because people we care about will be judged like the devil himself if they do not hear and receive the Gospel...
This does not scare believers but reminds us of why we must not keep this message to ourselves.
And that will lead us to what the promise of the father will also bring… Empowerment to be witnesses… yet that is for another week. one more verse, lets look at it...
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
What Jesus was saying is that John’s baptism was one of preparation...
Baptism was a washing and symbol. in the OT if someone desired to convert to Judaism they had to perform ritual washing to present themselves as clean, since Gentiles were considered unclean.
John came along and declared that everyone Jew and Gentile should be baptised or be cleansed to prepare the way of the coming Kingdom of God...
What Jesus is saying here is that the preparations are done, the kingdom is no longer coming, but has now come and when the Holy Spirit baptizes them that Kingdom will be inaugurated!
The promise of the Father was the beginning of the Kingdom of God being received by His Children
The promise of the Father was the beginning of the Kingdom of God being received by His Children
for 2,000 years the church has maintained that the Holy Spirit is present at conversion and continually infills believers as they live for Christ everyday until he brings them home eternally.
It started when the first believers received it at Pentecost, (Which we are getting to) and it continues to this day.
Our Hope is that you are hearing this and it will rem ind you of the great task in front of you and every believer… to preach the Gospel and make disciples of all nations
Our desire is that everyone who God would bring into contact with this Gospel we proclaim, would hear it and repent of Sin and freely receive forgiveness in Jesus Christ!
Is that you today? Have you believed in the work of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins before God Almighty?
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Let us pray today that you would receive the good news of Jesus Christ and have the Holy Spirit make you new and alive on the inside if you haven’t been before… and if you have, let us pray that we would be refreshed and re-motivated to share this Gospel with all!