The Gift that Jesus called the “Promise”

Friday  1-26-16 (Home in Modesto, California)     

Scripture reading for today:    Exodus 14 – 16    Acts 2

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

Acts 1:4  And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father...

Acts 2:39 For the Promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call." NKJV

O.  Luke binds his two books (Luke and Acts) together with a similar introduction and with the words of Jesus leaving His disciples with a “Promise.”  Now Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 are repenting and being converted to Christ, recognizing Him as their crucified and resurrected Messiah.  And now Peter connects the dots by announcing that this “Promise” is not exclusively for 120 in an upper room.  It is for each of you and for your family and for all who are afar off. 

A.  Oh! That includes me!  So... what is this wonderful “Promise” that our Lord is sending me?  Jesus describes it in Luke 24 as “being endued with power from on high...” and again in Acts 1:4-5 saying, “...you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”  ...then again in Acts 1:8 lest I should misunderstand, Acts 1:8 “...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." NKJV 

P.  Lord Jesus, You considered this gift from Your Father, the gift that You called the “Promise” to be important enough to postpone all evangelistic activity... to tarry until... to hang in there until... to not leave town until... Your disciples have received the “Promise”.  But now armed with the gift of the “Promise”, You prophesy that we will become Your witnesses, Your martyrs, giving our very lives to take Your message to the ends of the earth.  Your “Promise” is mine today... and You are calling me in the sunset of my days... to spend what is left of my life, to carry Your message to the ends of the earth... one more time.  Amen.

Ralph