A Promise Fulfilled!

May 16, 2024

A Promise Fulfilled!

Pentecost Sunday is the day when the Christian Church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in a fresh and new way.  In Acts 2, Luke describes how the Holy Spirit came upon, filled up, and stirred in the midst of the believers who were waiting in Jerusalem.

In Acts 1:4 Jesus gives a word of instruction to the disciples prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit.  We hear that Jesus “…ordered them (the disciples) not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.”  It is this “promise of the Father” that is fulfilled with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

The “promise of the Father” was part of a series of prophesies or promises about which we learn through the prophet Jeremiah and Joel. 

In Jeremiah 31:33-34 the Lord God says; “But this is the covenant (i.e., promise!) that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:  I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”   

In Joel 2:28-32 we hear the promise of the Father; “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.”

Following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Apostle Peter addresses the now Spirit filled, Spirit anointed, and Spirit empowered believers in Jerusalem. 

In Acts 2:15-17 Peter says; “Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.  No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel.  ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see vision, and your old men shall dream dreams.’”

On Pentecost, a new day and a new way is ushered in for those who are Christ-followers.  No longer do we depend only upon our strength or our wisdom or our dream.  Instead, we have the Holy Spirit living in us and through us as we walk with Jesus.

Jesus spoke about the coming of the Holy Spirit.  In John 14:16-18 Jesus says; “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

Here are a few promises that are fulfilled when we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us.

Isaiah 40:28-31

“Have you not known; have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; and they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.”  Our strength is renewed when we wait for the Holy Spirit. 

II Corinthians 12: 8-9

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”  The power of Christ comes through the Holy Spirit. 

Ephesians 3:16-19

“That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  The Holy Spirit strengths not only our body, but also our heart, mind, and soul.

Philippians 4:6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  The Holy Spirit guards our hearts and our minds (maybe even our mouths!). 

Philippians 4:13

 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”  The Holy Spirit fills me with strength and courage.

The “Promise of the Father” is something about which I did not know about for a long time.  Only in my deeper reading of Acts 1:4-5 and Acts 2:15-21 did I begin to understand the coming of the Holy Spirit on the believers in Jerusalem was prophesied and promised hundreds of years before Jesus lived, died, and lived again.

I am grateful the “Promise Of The Father” has been fulfilled.  I am thankful that when you and I ask the Holy Spirit will live in us and with us and through us every day.  I give praise to Jesus for taking His place at the right hand of our Heavenly Father so the Holy Spirit could empower you and me with strength and courage.

Maybe today is the day for you to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with power…not for your glory but for God’s glory.  When the Spirit fills you, your heart will be filled with more and more delight in our Lord Jesus. 

Take Delight In The Lord!

Doug