Amen. Well, let's then take our Bibles, and we're going to turn to one preliminary passage today, and then our text is going to be from Acts 1, chapters 4 and 5. But we'll begin in Volume 1 of Luke's Gospel, that is in Luke 24. For those of you who are joining us online or for those who are visiting with us here today, we've just begun a long-term study in the Book of Acts. And so last week we made the point, and I wanted to illustrate this today, that there is a linkage, that is, there is a unity between Volume 1 of Luke's writing, that is what we know as the Gospel according to Luke, and Volume 2 of Luke's writing, that is the Acts of the Apostles, or I'm arguing that this is really the Acts of Christ and the Holy Spirit. And so tying two stories together, like tying two movies together, there are certain movies that I have in my mind, maybe you have some as well, that do a really masterful job of tying the first movie The origin story, they're usually the best ones. And then you have to build on that and have another interesting, engaging story that is linked to the first story. And that some of the story arc continues even as then that second volume has to stand on its own. And so we're probably, most of us, used to reading in the Book of Acts. And so I assume, I'm assuming in the teaching that I'm going to be doing, that you've at some level learned to see the Book of Acts on its own. I do want to remind you that there are several places throughout the building of the Bible project summary of the Book of Acts. And this is really giving attention to the overall structure of the Book of Acts. These are about the right size to be placemats on your table. Or you could have your children color this and frame it and put it up on the wall. We'll be using this at various points over the next year. And so I would really encourage you, take some time. Remember, it's not your word have I hid in my notebook. It's your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. And so anyway, these things have been helpful. So my goal today and in this reading is for us to see more and more of the connection points between volume one, the gospel according to Luke and volume two, the acts of the apostles. So our reading will be from Luke chapter 24. And we'll begin at verse 44 and read through the end. So notice the themes that are being touched on here by Luke the evangelist. Then Jesus said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." And, key verses now, "'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.' And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God." So notice this reference in verse 49 to the promise of my father. Notice who is sending that promise. Notice how that promise comes to you as a believer. I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. And then notice also that Jesus directs them to stay in the city. What city is this? This is the city where Jesus rose from the dead. This is in Jerusalem. All right, now let's turn over to our text today in Acts chapter one. And again, just so you know how I'm intending to approach this book, I'm not going to be in a hurry. The elders have kind of budgeted that while we will take some breaks, and I do want to do some other things over the course of the year, I'm kind of settling in to study the Book of Acts over the year of 2025. I don't know exactly how quickly we'll go and, you know, we'll slow down sometimes, we'll speed up other times, but I'm kind of settling in and I want you to just really become familiar with the rhythms of the Book of Acts. I want you to understand the beliefs of the writer of this book. Remember, these men are carried along by the Holy Spirit, such that what they're writing is the Word of God, and yet they have convictions. And I want you to get to know Luke as he tells the story. Look for the author's perspective. What are the things that he's emphasizing? What are the things that he's not emphasizing? One of the things that I'm struck with is how little the emotions and the feelings of biblical characters are in the story. Not always. There's times that that's certainly not the case. But one of the things that I've been struck with is it's God's will that's being worked out in the drama of redemption. And we need to see that in our lives too. That God is at work in us. both to will and to work for his good pleasure. I was reading one commentary this week pointing out that Theophilus is probably a student. I'd never thought of it in quite these terms before. Some people would say Theophilus is like a supporter, possibly a financial supporter of Luke. But this commentary had the perspective that Theophilus is no doubt a student of Luke. That is that Luke has been doing with Theophilus what the Apostle Paul has done with Luke. And so we can see some spiritual generations at work here. I thought that was an interesting perspective. So we're gonna read Acts 1, verses 1 through 8. Again, I hope these are very familiar words to you. But today we'll be focusing on verses 4 and 5. So let's give heed once again to God's word. In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 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 have heard from me. For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power. when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. This once again is the Word of God. What is the deepest promise that you've ever had made to you. Words that are exchanged, that are permanent, that mold and shape your life as the recipient of that promise. And you see and you respect how that promise has shaped the life of the one making the promise. What a wonderful thing it is to be a receiver of a promise. Children, I wonder if you watch how promises shape the lives and priorities of your parents. I'm fascinated at how much we take promises for granted until those promises are either broken or abandoned. Then we begin to really appreciate just how precious promises are. But I want us today to turn our eyes to God, the triune God, and to see how we are the recipients of a promise. It's called today in our text, here in verse 4, the promise of the Father. And I want you to notice that there is something in particular attached to the promise of the Father, and that is baptism. But it's not only baptism with water, but it's baptism with or in the Holy Spirit. You'll notice in the ESV there at the end of verse five that that word with could be translated with or it could be translated in. I don't know how you think of the Holy Spirit. Are you baptized with the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is coming upon you? Or are you baptized in the Holy Spirit? That is somehow you are going, if the Holy Spirit is like a big tank of water, and you're going into the Holy Spirit. I don't think it's a big deal, but I think that both of those ideas, both of those prepositions are really at the heart of what we're talking about today. Notice, that the apostles are commanded to sit still, to stop what you're doing, and to wait for something to come to them. Namely, the promise of the Father. Well, just like he did in Luke 24, Jesus here reveals the plan for the Father and the Son to send the Spirit. I've included John 16-7 here, where Jesus says, unless I go, the Spirit cannot come to you. And if you want to write down another proof text that it's the Father and the Son that sends the Spirit. I hadn't even thought of this one until I had already sent the bulletin in. But verse Luke 24, 49. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. Well, that's the same promise in volume one that now Luke is returning to. There's some variation, but there's a unity. There's a reinforcement of this dimension of his teaching. The divine person, and here, We need to think about this promise of God. It is not merely some words. I promise that I will do this for you and provide these things for you. Here, here's my promise, written. It's not that. It's not even Someone coming before you, I promise that I, forsaking all others, I will keep myself unto you alone till God shall separate us by death. That's a promise, that's a marriage promise. But it's not, it's even something more deep and profound than a marriage promise. I want us to see today that the promise of the Father is a divine person. Or that the divine person is the promise of the Father. He, that is the Holy Spirit, is the life and the pledge of the new covenant. If you're going to be a participant in the New Covenant, you really need to understand the promise of the Father. That is, you need to be baptized in or with the Holy Spirit. My question today is, how do we enter, by faith, into this wondrous promise of God? I wonder if we took a show of hands and everyone was 100% honest. Do you envision yourself as a recipient of the promise of the Father? We're not going to fully answer this question today, and I wanna give you a little peek here into how I'm thinking about this. When I first read the book of Acts, I was taught the Holy Spirit was poured out in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost. And I thought, oh, great, that's a nice, clean event. And I have since abandoned that view. The Spirit was poured out in a remarkable way in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. We're going to get there. But now I'm thinking a lot more about the pouring out of the Spirit like ripples rippling out from a rock thrown in a lake. And those ripples are going backwards into the Book of Acts, and those ripples are going forward, sorry, into the Book of Luke, and they're going, they're rippling forward all through the Book of Acts. I'm going to argue, not today, but I'm going to argue that there are no less than four Pentecosts. in the book of Acts. I wonder if you know where those other Pentecosts took place and why we can legitimately and biblically call them Pentecosts. Not because they happen on the day of Pentecost, but because of the nearly identical character of them to the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. And in fact, these four Pentecosts correspond to the four sections of the Book of Acts as what began in Jerusalem is then rippling out throughout the known world. So we're not going to fully answer this question today, but we want to think about it. I want to call you today to learn what it means to live in the spirit And for me, one of the most exciting phrases about the Spirit in all of Scripture, to keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5 verse 25. So let's look at this text today. Verses 4 and 5, and we're going to break it down into four distinct parts. The first is the place that the promise would be given. I want you to see that central to Jesus' command, while he was yet upon the earth, before he ascended into heaven, don't leave Jerusalem. There's a reason that I brought you all with me down here to Jerusalem for the Passover. Remember, there were large numbers, far more, I think, than simply the 12. And I think probably even more than the 120 that had come from Galilee up in the north down to Jerusalem for the Passover. And there were many who were there and there was a spiritual sense of foreboding as clearly Jesus was amping up his ministry. And now suddenly he's gone. And then suddenly he's appeared. Now he's preparing to go away as he promised to do in the upper room discourse, John 17 and following. But Jesus wants them to know the ministry of redemption is not completed yet. Stay where you are. I have more work to do to accomplish once for all the fullness of your salvation. And the place is Jerusalem. Did you see that back in Luke 24? Take a look just briefly. I want you to just tie this in here. Luke 24 verse 47. that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations. Here's a worldwide vision, but notice where it starts, beginning in Jerusalem. Now, why is this so important? Well, God had promised in the Old Testament, and here if you want to at least write down, Jeremiah 3 verse 16, God, through the prophet Jeremiah, had indicated a distinct development in the history of redemption. He says, and when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed. It shall not be made again. So, sorry, the Raiders of the Lost Ark, that's never gonna happen, besides in Steven Spielberg's mind. But the Bible has distinctly moved our attention through the prophet Jeremiah from the ark in the tabernacle and then in the temple To what? It says here in Jeremiah chapter 3, it says, at that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. So I want you to see the significance of Jerusalem. This is the place that was chosen by God in the Davidic covenant. It is in this place where the faithful followers, those who are Jews not only according to the flesh, but who are Jews inwardly, they go to Jerusalem. And now it's in this place in Jerusalem where the next epoch of God's covenant theology will be unfolded. And it's in Jerusalem where the Holy Spirit is given not to Peter as a Pope, not to elders even in their plurality, but is given to the people of God. We're gonna see in Acts chapter 2 that ultimately, this is to include all flesh. Someday, there will be a worldwide embrace of the gospel. That's the big news. But right now, Jesus is saying, stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. This leads us to the second point this morning, and that is the person who would give the promise. There's this place, but what's really significant is that Luke is now using very explicitly the name of Jesus, the name of the Holy Spirit, and the name of the Father. The person is what makes the promise so special. And we're not going to take the time today, but we could go back and look at, there's relatively few places, but they are there where God is called the Father in the Old Testament. Particularly toward the end of Isaiah, there is a particular attention to the working of God as the Father. and His work as Father with His children. And so remember that as soon as we hear this word Father, we need to think about our relationship to Him. Is He simply some Father, out there, over there? Or is He our Father, as Jesus taught us to pray? Indeed, is He my Father? in which case I am his son or his daughter. I belong to him and he belongs to me. Friends, do you see how already Luke is pulling us in? He's like, guys, I'm not just telling you, oh, once upon a time and then they lived happily ever after. I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you, Theophilus, and everyone else who will read this story, because I want you to wrestle. Is the promise of the Father a promise that I possess? And I'm realizing, friends, we truly are living in many ways in a post-Christian America. Particularly because of educational decisions we've made. We have an entire generation that has simply never heard the name of Jesus. Has never heard the practical gospel. The call to believe and to walk in the ways of God and friends. It's killing us. But it's not enough to simply have heard. Right? A promise isn't given by handing a piece of paper to someone. A promise is received by being believed. It's from a person for a person. Promises don't just float around in the air. Promises are commitments made by rational beings made in the image of God to other rational beings. And the promise is the word that ties them together. So the Father made the promise. But amazingly, the Son gave us the promise. Look at what it says in the second half of verse four. 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 now, who did you, who's the promise from? Is it from the Father? Well, yeah, it is the promise of the Father, but it's the promise of the Father through the Son. Jesus is critical to this promise being enacted. And amazingly, Jesus is the Word. Can you make promises without words? Does a feeling in your heart for someone else, and maybe even their feeling, does that constitute a promise? Or is a promise love put into words? Love expressed. The Father expressing His love for us in the Word. And us hearing that Word and believing on it, Him, the Word. Friends, do you see the parallel that's being laid here? The Father made the promise. The Son made the promise known. And let me pause here. I want to read. I found a great quote this week. Matthew Henry is looking at this promise. in terms of what the disciples had heard with their ears. This promise of the Father they had heard from Christ many a time, especially in the farewell sermon he preached to them in the upper room, wherein he assured them again and again that the Comforter should come. This confirms the promise of God. and encourages us to depend upon it. I want you to see the Father made the promise, the Son made the promise known, and now, most remarkably, the Spirit is the promise. Notice, they're commanded to wait for the promise, but Luke does not allow you to simply then begin to speculate on what is this promise. You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And again, this is very similar to what we read in Luke 24. So really, point two, you have to flesh this out. The person who would give the promise is the Father. But the person who would give the promise to us is the Son. And the person who would give the promise, what is the promise? It's God Himself. Do you see what's happening here? Luke is introducing us to this biblical matrix of what I would call covenant theology. This is stated again in 2 Peter 1.3. God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them, the promises, you may become partakers of the divine nature. Friends, how do mere human beings With eyeballs and eardrums, living in a normal, everyday, run-of-the-mill world, how do we become partakers of the divine nature? Acts 1 verse 4 is the key. Don't do something. Stop trying to do something and wait and cry out for the promise of the Father. What does that look like? Well, when it knows, when it happens, you'll know. Now this is not a sermon today on regeneration. But just know that John chapter 3 is the correspondence to all of these things. The Bible very clearly teaches that we are unable by our by our willpower, or by our good deeds, or by living in harmony with nature, or by being super nice all the time, we are not able to accomplish what needs to happen in us. We need, brothers and sisters, the promise of God. So we see the place, we see the person, And now look with me at verse five, the primacy of the promise of the new covenant. Again, I'm thinking a lot these days, and I want to mention again that this wonderful article by Carly Koenig in the RP Witness. She came to this church, we sat in the back pew right over here, And she had one burning question. Pastor Brad, can you answer a question for me? Okay, I'll do my best. No pressure. What is covenant theology? And I thought, wow, that's quite a question. I don't know if you can even, could even answer that question. But basically, if you think of the Bible like a timeline, like a story arc, the covenants are the chapters of that story. And there's these, and what's happening, it's not that one is getting thrown out and then a new covenant is being established, but rather it's that they're building on top of one another. The story is gathering momentum. In his book, The Christ of the Covenants, there's one author who talks about how he emphasizes the unity of the covenants. That these are not just different chapters, but they're different chapters of one story. And then what we see is the unfolding drama of redemption with Adam. First, before the fall, the covenant of works. And then after the fall, in the Proto-Evangel, Genesis 3.15, we see this story then unfold in God's covenant with Noah, and God's covenant with Abraham, and God's covenant with Moses and the people of Israel, and God's covenant with David. And along the way, God had been making promises that he would make a new covenant. And so these words aren't used here, but I would point out that in the gospel of Luke, this covenant is, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. That is that Jesus is consciously now setting a new track. He's saying, okay, there's a break here. And now what's coming is what all of those other covenants had been prophesying. I'm the seed of the woman. I'm going to crush the head of Satan. I'm going to be the one who accomplishes in your heart what you cannot accomplish by your own efforts at self-improvement. Friends, we need to see that what Luke is doing here is he's taking a highlighter and he's saying, do you see what's happening, friends? Do you see that the Messiah has come and now the Messiah is going to give Himself to us? Or the Father to us? Or the Spirit to us? It doesn't really matter because all three of them are one. And the one is three. Do you see how Luke is drawing us in to the mystery of the promise. And here I want you to see that in the New Covenant, there is a primacy not of our religious activity. It's going to change everything in the New Testament Church. It's not circumcision. It's not bloody sacrifices. It's not washing your hands a certain way. It's not keeping Sabbath as an end in itself. All of these things, friends, are eclipsed. There's something now that is supreme. Believe my promise, says the Father. It's a wonderful and a beautiful thing. So this leads us then to the fourth point this morning, and that is get prepared for the coming promise. We're not going to flesh out this promise a whole lot today, but this promise is coming inexorably in Acts chapter two. And we're gonna have plenty of time to think about what that promise is. but I want you to see that there is a preparation. Stay in the same place, wait, listen to how Jesus, once he's taken up, will give commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles. It's a wonderful thing. The New Testament describes the initiation into the fellowship of the Spirit from two basic perspectives. One is the divine perspective. God is giving his promise to his people. But then there's the human perspective. It's not that the promise simply flattens us. It's not that the promise somehow takes us over, turning us into robots. No, the human response to the promise of God is receiving. If God is giving the Holy Spirit, humans receive the Holy Spirit by faith. It's a wonderful thing. And I'd like to close today by asking you to turn with me to Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter 5. This could well be the first or the second book written in the New Testament. This is the first of Paul's epistles, very early in his ministry, and he is talking about the Spirit in Galatians 5, beginning at verse 16. This is the very famous fruits of the Spirit are here in verses 22 and 23. But I'd like to read verses 24 and 25. Listen to the word of the Lord. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, Let us also keep in step with the Spirit. The Spirit is coming. The Spirit is coming upon all of God's people. The Spirit is always the Spirit of holiness. It's not the Spirit of permissiveness. It's not the Spirit of the flesh. It's not the Spirit of the nation. It's not school spirit. It's the Spirit of Holiness, friends. And the Spirit of Holiness is not an idea or a practice. It's not us thinking or us doing. The Holy Spirit is a person. And we're going to try to demonstrate that definitively in weeks to come from the pages of Scripture itself. The Holy Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates our souls and gives us a new identity in Christ. But second of all, the Spirit walks with us. I remember one time watching a father walking rather nonchalantly. He wasn't walking particularly fast. But I watched as his son turned and looked at him and then began to try to keep step with his dad. And his dad was just walking, but this little boy, he had his hands in his pockets. I wish I had a picture of it. And then he began to take these huge steps really fast to try to keep in step with his dad. And I think that's what we're talking about here. The promise of the Father is for us. The promise of the Father is from a person to a person, and the promise itself is a person. It's a personal relationship with a personal God. Friends, we need to be baptized in and with the Spirit. This is what your water baptism symbolizes. You ought to improve that and think about that which is symbolized in your baptism every day. And don't stop at the Spirit. Don't stop at the Son. Go to the promise of the Father. Let's pray. O Lord, how we thank you for your word. Thank you for the encouragement that you give to us in it. We pray, O Lord, that you would help us to live in the promise of the Father. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.