The Promise of the Father • Luke 24:48-49
1:01:39 Teaching begins
Notes
Luke 24:48-49
You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The gospels prove that God is the only true God. They document that Jesus came to fulfil the promises in the Scriptures, to bless the whole earth, to raise up the Messiah, to take away sins, and give new life.
In these scriptures Jesus refers to one more promise that He came to fulfil, the promise of the Father, and its result is that Jesus’ disciples would be clothed with power from on high. That is to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to have the life of God in the soul of man.
1. God’s promise is recorded in the five books of Moses.
A. Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Now, that’s pretty general. Blessing is great, but what kind of blessing are we talking about?
B. In Numbers we see the great longing of Moses and God.
Numbers 11:24-29 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the LORD. Also, he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people, and stationed them around the tent. Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to him; and He took of the Spirit who was upon him and placed Him upon the seventy elders. And when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do it again.
But two men had remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the other Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (now they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. So a young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Then Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, “Moses, my lord, restrain them.” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’S people were prophets, that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”
2. God promised His Spirit to come in the Prophets.
A. Joel 2:28-32 It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
B. Isaiah 44:1-5 “But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus says the LORD who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; and you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’S’; and that one will call on the name of Jacob; and another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD’, and will name Israel’s name with honour.’”
C. Isaiah 59:21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”
3. Jesus repeated the promise of His Spirit in the gospels.
A. All four gospels note that John the Baptist pointed out Jesus as the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit.
1. Matthew 3:11 “As for me, I baptise you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
2. Mark 1:8 I baptised you with water; but He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”
3. Luke 3:16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptise you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
4. John 1:33 I did not recognise Him, but He who sent me to baptise in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptises in the Holy Spirit.’
B. John 14:16-18 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
C. John 14:23-26 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 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 said to you.
D. John 15:26-27 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
E. John 16:7-15 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
4. Acts shows the promise fulfilled.
A. Acts 2:16-17 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;
B. Acts 2:33 Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear.
C. When the disciples receive the promise of the Father, their witness is led by the Spirit. The effect comes from the Spirit.
D. Acts 16:14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
5. The Epistles explain the promise of the Father.
A. Galatians 3:13-14 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
B. Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
C. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
D. Romans 8:9-11 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
E. Romans 8:26-27 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
F. 2 Timothy 2:1 You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
G. Ephesians 5:18-21 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.
H. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
5. So what?
A. God promised that He would bless His people. That blessing is to live with His people forever. He saves you so that you will live together with Him and be clothed with Him.
B. Jesus fulfils that promise.
1. He came to the earth and died in our place to take away our sins.
2. Then He gave those who trust in Him His Holy Spirit to live in them forever.
C. That makes you the dwelling of God in the Spirit. You are His holy temple. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, He lives in you.
D. God wants you to be aware of Him.
E. When you live with someone and they act like you don’t exist, it’s weird. But it happens!
1. There was a disconnect in the church in Corinth. Some of the believers in Jesus were not aware or counting on Jesus being in them. They were seeing things only from their perspective, not thinking like Jesus would think, so they were living just like everyone else in the world, and there were conflicts, just like in the world. They were cheating one another, defrauding one another, having lawsuits with one another, and committing sexual immorality with one another.
2. So Paul reminded them of their true condition. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
F. Be aware of God, and especially, be filled with His Spirit. You ask Him to fill you, and you trust that He will. You don’t wait for a feeling, you thank Him for fulfilling His promise. This is what God has always wanted. He’s not going to leave you hanging like He doesn’t care. He’s promised this for thousands of years. He’s waiting on you.
G. Give Him your full attention.
1. This is a challenge.The world wants your complete attention. Things in the world want you to be absorbed, engaged, spellbound.
2. Instead, be absorbed in the things of God, and especially, His Spirit who lives in you. Let Him have your interest and attention and obedience. If you engage with Him, He will engage with you. Seek Him, He will be found of you. This is His promise to you.
Let’s pray.