Would you join me this morning
in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1 as we continue
our study here of this great book. There's so many things
that are going to be brought up in this book of Acts that
we deal with and almost all of the things that are brought up
in the book of Acts that are new in a sense, the disciples
always use them or were given those gifts to declare the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not to honor themselves,
it was not to display themselves, but it was used to declare the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here in the book of Acts
chapter 1, we find here, begin reading with verse 4. And we're
going to cover a couple of points today, but the title of my message
is Wait, because that's the word that's used here in verse 4.
And to us, to a natural man, wait is an onerous word. Wait
till school starts. Wait till school gets out. Wait
till your birthday. Wait for Christmas. Wait for
this. Wait for that. We're always in a kind of a wait
mode. Well, here these disciples are
going to be called on to do that very same thing after the Lord
ascends back. You go to Jerusalem and wait.
Acts chapter 1 verse 4, and being assembled together with them,
the Lord Jesus is with them at this. He's not ascended, it's
just going to happen momentarily. He says, He commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait Wait for the promise of the Father,
which he, saith he, ye have heard of me. I've given you the same
promise, but the Father's gonna do it. For John truly baptized
with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many
days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked
him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the
kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father
hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses
unto me in both Jerusalem, in all Judea, and in Samaria, and
to the uttermost parts of the earth. And when he had spoken
these things, while they beheld, he was taken up in a cloud, and
received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven. Then returned they unto Jerusalem,
from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath
day's journey. And when they had come to it,
they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James,
and John, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotus, and Judas
the brother of James. These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary, the
mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." We're going to stop
there for our reading, because a situation arises that Peter
brings up, and we'll look at that at another time. But would
you back up with me there to verse 4, where the Lord Jesus
told His disciples, but wait for the promise. This word, wait, is a word that
is used often, not particularly exactly the same word because
in the Old Testament it would be a Hebrew word, but there is
a principle about this that God calls on His people to do, and
that is to wait on the Lord, wait for the Lord, wait for the
Lord's action in this. And it is such a comfort when
it comes to preaching the gospel, wait, don't get involved in it
any further. The rest belongs to God. Turn
with me if you would back to the book of the Psalms. In Psalm
27 we read this principle that is brought up that the Lord gave
through the Old Testament as well as the New Testament that
don't get involved in Highly spiritual issues that belong
to God and God alone So here we find in the psalm psalm 27
verse 10 these these words are brought to our attention psalm
27 and verse 10 the scripture shares this I When my father
and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
lead me in the plain path because of my enemies. Deliver me not
over into the will of my enemies, For false witnesses are risen
up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted unless
I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the
living." Verse 14, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. He shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. What better counsel, what better
information could be given to believers than those words about
spiritual matters? Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. He shall strengthen thine heart.
Wait, I say, on the Lord. And that covers so many subjects,
but when it comes to the salvation of people, that is an essential. we can t go past a point. We can only deliver the message,
and we cannot go past a point. And once we want to go past that
point, the Lord says, Wait! Stop right there. Don t go any
further. You can t get there from here.
And another passage of Scripture we d like to look at is found
in the book of the Psalms, Psalm 37. In Psalm 37, there, verse
7, this subject again is covered by the Lord. He said, rest in
the Lord. Psalm 37 verse 7, rest in the
Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because of him
who prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices to pass. Wait patiently for him. You know, God never said how
long waiting patiently is. God never said how long to wait.
He said, you wait till you see Me active. You wait till you
see Me do the activity. You know, as we visit with folks
and we talk to them about the gospel, there's always someone
that says, well, how much progress have you made? You know, I can't
measure it. It's beyond measure. Itís only
known to God how much progress thereís made. If someone continues
not to believe the Gospel, it is a sign that God has not given
them belief. And when God gives them the belief,
then they will confess Christ. That is what we find in the Scriptures.
Well, as we follow this again, turn with me to the book of Lamentations,
chapter 25. In the book of Lamentations,
we find Jeremiah lamenting over the problems that are in Israel,
brings up this wonderful subject, and that is to wait on the Lord.
In the book of Lamentations 3, verse 25, Lamentations 3, verse
25, prophet, the weeping prophet,
the prophet that went through all kinds of problems over the
gospel by his own people. He said, the Lord is good unto
them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is
good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord. I was probably 10 or 11 years
old, and a friend of mine talked my twin brother and I into going
to picking apples. He knew where there was an orchard,
and we went up there and picked four or five boxes of apples
and took them home to my mother, and they were about this big.
They were green as grass, and you know what happened to them?
They all rotted. they were picked green. And that
is so often what happens in religion. People are picked green, and
there's no hope for them in that green condition. But here we
have the Lord sharing with us through Jeremiah, the weeping
prophet, It is good that a man should both hope and quietly
wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that
he bear the yoke of his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth
silence, because he hath borne it upon him. What a statement
the Lord makes to us about waiting on the Lord. You know, we're
going to look and we'll find out that the Apostle Paul was
saved when it pleased God. Not a second before, and I'm
sure there were a lot of people praying, take this man out of
here and put him in hell because he's been a terrible guy to us.
And then there were a few that were praying for him, Lord, open
his eyes that he may see. Another passage we want to look
at is found in the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah chapter 40,
we read these words again about waiting on the Lord. And it is
hard to do. It's against our nature. We have
to come to the point that God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Help me to wait on you. And here it tells us in the book
of Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 31. These words are recorded
for our benefit, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength. Now, last night about 8.30 I
went to bed to renew my strength. I do it every night. You know,
you figure out how much time you spend in bed over your lifetime?
It's probably about a third. Why? To renew our strength. We rest to renew our strength. And if we don't get enough rest,
We donít act like we should. So he said here, ìWait on the
Lord, and the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint.î And I follow that through the
life of the Apostle Paul, he truly was. Man that had was on
the wings of eagles. He had the gospel He was going
to get it out But there were times that we find that the Lord
said wait upon me wait upon me So this subject that the Lord
brings up here about waiting What did the Lord tell Abraham
about the children of Israel entering into the promised land?
They will wait 400 years in Egypt 400 years in Egypt, they will wait. What did the Lord tell the children
of Israel as they entered into the 70 years of captivity? You're
gonna wait 70 years in captivity. Now we think 70 years, that's
almost all my lifetime, and 400 years is five times my lifetime. And here we find, what did the
Lord say to the people about coming of the Messiah? You know, in the book of Daniel,
there in chapter nine, verse 24, if I was smart enough, I
could give you the date that the Lord came into this world,
but I'm not going to figure it out because it can't. It can't
do it from here. And if we could, we'd worship
our ability to do it. But the Lord said from the declaration
of going forth to build or go back to Jerusalem, there's going
to be 483 years to the ministry of the Messiah. For 483 years, people waited
for the Messiah to come. Now, they've been doing that
since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, verse
15, they begin to wait for the coming of the Messiah, and He
came at exactly the right time, as we find at the appointed time,
He came to this earth as the babe wrapped in a manger. And
what do we read about the salvation of the Saul of Tarsus? It says
there, when it pleased God. Now, that's just how we're going
to find the book of Acts, when it pleased God. There he's asking
those disciples to sit there in Jerusalem with their Christ,
their leader, their Messiah, gone. He�s gone, and the promise
of the Lord is going to be ten days away. Sit there and wait
on the Lord, and then I�ll give you the promise that God has
given to Israel, or given to the church, that we�ll look at
in just a moment. So, from the book of Genesis
to the book of Malachi, there was a period of wait. And from
the time Malachi was finished to the time that we find the
book of Matthew is 400 years that the children of Israel,
the church, waited for the Word of God to come by the Spirit
again. Now, the preaching was going
on all that time. The gospel was being declared
all that time, but not one word was given as we know it, which
makes up the Bible. When the time came, God started
having people write the Bible we know as the New Testament
again. When were you saved? When it pleased God. not a second before and not a
second after when it pleased God. And we're not educated into
the kingdom. We're not scared into the kingdom. We are born into the kingdom
and that is holy of God. So he said, wait on the Lord. Don't get involved in this. Leave
it to God. He does good when He does it. It is salvation that is absolute. It is salvation that is from
beginning to end, belongs to Him. And the people that God
saves will always boast in the salvation that God gives and
not what they contributed to it. If we have to contribute
something, we were picked too green. this wait for the promise
of the Father. It tells us, going over there
to the book of Acts again, if you join me there, in Acts chapter
1, we say the Lord told him to wait. But this particular instance,
it was wait for the promise of the Father. Here in the book
of Acts chapter 1, verse 4, the Scriptures share this. He says,
wait for the promise of the Father. which saith he, ye have heard
of me." Now, there's three verses of scripture, three passages
of scripture, John chapter 14, John chapter 15, and John chapter
16, that lend themselves to this promise that God had given to
the church. Now, there is no way in this
world that the Bible ever says that people in the Old Testament
were saved differently than the people in the New Testament.
Whoever was saved in the Old Testament was saved by hearing
the gospel. They had to hear it first Abel
was saved by hearing the gospel from his parents Now, it doesn't
have a message that they said, it doesn't have the words that
they said, but nobody has ever been saved without hearing the
gospel. And we may have rejected it or
refused it to begin with, but God is faithful to continue to
bring the gospel to us, the message of Christ, Christ alone, Christ
crucified, giving himself a ransom for many, the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace, we must hear that message. God gave
that message. He declared it to Adam and Eve
when he covered them with the skins of animals. He declared
it to Abel and Abel offered an offering more acceptable than
his brother did. Why? Because it depicted salvation
in a picture, in a shadow, in a type. I need a substitute,
someone to take care of my sin. Well from then on I everybody
that has ever saved in the Old Testament, we read that they
were saved by grace. They were saved by grace through
faith. They were saved by the grace of God. God came to them
in some manner, some form, and preached the gospel. Someone
came to them with the Word of God. We read that had to happen
with Ruth. Someone came down there that
knew something about the gospel and preached the gospel to those
two daughters-in-law, and one of them heard and one of them
did not. God's grace is sufficient. Well, Through the Old Testament,
people were saved, just like they are today. The Holy Spirit
indwelled them, just like He does today. The Holy Spirit was
with them, convicted them of sin, of righteousness, of judgment.
God was with them. Salvation was the same. Nobody
was saved ever by those sacrifices. It wasn't the blood of bulls
and goats that saved any of them. Nothing was changed. But we're
going to find out that there is a a capacity here in the promise
that the Father gave, a capacity that the Holy Spirit is going
to come that is different than He ever came before. He's going
to come in a special capacity, and the book of Acts records
that special capacity. He is preparing people to go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
Now, when it came to the twelve, who did He send the twelve out
to? Don't you go to any place but the lost sheep of the house
of Israel. A very narrow commission. And they went. He sent the seventy
out. And they had a narrow commission.
But there in the last part of the book of Matthew, it shares
with us that his commission now is to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature. Well, here in the book of Acts,
we're gonna have some people prepared to do that. And they're
going to be leaders in that very special gift that God gave. When
we follow Paul and Barnabas, when we follow other missionaries
that went out, they went to the Gentiles. They preached to the
Jews, but they went to the Gentiles. God blessed them in a capacity
to take that, and this is that gift that God gave them, prepared
them for a worldwide ministry to go into all the world and
wait on God's salvation. Preach the gospel and wait on
God's salvation. Well, God tells us here on the
day of Pentecost that there was thousands of people saved on
that day and nobody, none of those 12 said, well, guess how
many I want to the Lord. God saved them and they rejoiced
in God's salvation. Now in the book of John chapter
14, if you turn there with me, John chapter 14, John chapter
15, and John chapter 16, this promise of the Father is brought
up. And the promise that God, the Son, brought up is mentioned
here in John chapter 14, John chapter 15, and John chapter
16. He wanted them to understand, and then, before He went back
to the Father, He said, you go into Jerusalem, and you wait
there for the promise of the Father. And that's exactly what
they're going to do. John 14, verse 26, we read these
words. John 14, verse 26, But the Comforter,
which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth,
give I unto you. But let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto
you, I go away, and I come again unto you. If ye love me, ye would
rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father, for my Father
is greater than I. What did he say there in verse
26? But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name. Now, every one of those disciples
that he's speaking to has the Holy Spirit. They've had the
Holy Spirit in regeneration and sanctification. They have the
Holy Spirit in every gift and every goodness that God has,
and yet God had a special thing He's going to do here in the
book of Acts, and that's preparing them for going into the world
and preaching the gospel to Gentiles. It is going to be difficult for
Peter to go to the Gentiles, but God brought him through that. And God is going to use his word
to teach those people, those disciples, that there is nobody
exempt from preaching the gospel to. They are all candidates for
hearing the gospel. They're not all candidates for
salvation, but they are candidates for hearing the gospel. And if
they say, I am not interested, that's what they said. But if
they said, I would like to hear some more of this, as we read
in Acts chapter 13, and then those who were ordained to eternal
life believe, we say hallelujah with them. God worked a work
of grace there. So God is in charge. All right.
Chapter 15 of the book of John, verse 26, we read this. John
chapter 15 verse 26, as the Holy Spirit in a special capacity.
And we'll look into that more as we go through the book of
Acts. That the special capacity, it
is the Holy Spirit that is moving in the church today. The Son
sits at the Father. The Father sits beside the Son,
but the Holy Spirit is in active working today. And the Holy Spirit
has every attribute that the Father and Son have, and that
is He's omnipotent. He has all power and he's on
the present. He's down there in Papua New
Guinea and in France and here at the same time. And he's omniscient. He knows everything that is going
on. And he knows everyone that he
is commissioned to go and find and get the gospel to so that
God, the Holy Spirit could save them by the new birth. He has
this all in his mind. So here in the book of John,
chapter 15, verse 26, it says, But when the Comforters come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me. So if we have a spirit that is
not testifying of the grace of God, we have a spirit that is
not testifying of God's salvation in Christ Jesus, we do not have
the Spirit of God. We need to find out where that
Spirit is, because the Holy Spirit is going to testify of Christ,
going to testify of His death, burial, and resurrection on the
behalf of the church, going to testify of sovereign grace, going
to testify of grace abounding to the chiefest of sinners. not
going to be out here in left field and saying, get along with
everybody, but he's going to be testifying of the ministry
and person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in John
chapter 16, this is brought up again, John chapter 16 and verse
seven, it shares with us there. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth. John chapter 16, verse seven.
It is expedient for you that I go away. Well, and just, we
just read about that in the book of Acts chapter one, him going
away. And he has told his disciples, you wait in Jerusalem until the
promise of the father. Survival depends on that. Your
survival and the preaching of the gospel depends on it. Wait.
And you know what? in an upper room. They waited. Acts chapter 2, the Spirit came
in a gracious manner and they preached the gospel in 12 different
languages. God gave those disciples the
ability of speaking in languages. That's another thing we're going
to cover here in the book of Acts. God never gave gibberish. He always gave a language. We do hear in our own language
the wonderful works of God. And we get over to 1 Corinthians
when we get on the subject of tongues, we find in there that
the translators supplied a word that has now became theology,
and that's an unknown tongue. The word unknown is not in the
original language. There's never been a tongue that's
gibberish. There's always been tongues that
people didn't know for sure. I am amazed about people who
God calls to a place to preach the gospel, how quickly they
can learn Spanish, or how quickly they can learn pidgin English
so they can talk to people. God gives them a gift to do that,
and we find out that that's how God does His business. That's
a language. A gift of tongues is a language
that God gives. And we'll find out that if someone
comes here and speaks a language that we don't understand, we're
going to have them sit down. Now, if there's an interpreter,
we wanna hear what you have to say. But there must be an interpreter. So it's, I went to hear a service
one time, Brother Milton Howard preaching Spanish. I think I
mentioned this, I got three words out of it. One of them was the
word God. I was just sitting there. I didn't
hear anything but three words. Now, if he'd had an interpreter,
Now the whole congregation was Spanish, so he did his job. All right, John chapter 16 verse
7, Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you
that I go away. For if I go not away, what's
that word expedient mean? It's going to be the greatest
thing for me to get out of here. I'm leaving. I'm going back to
the Father as promised, but I will send you the Comforter. The Comforter
will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto
you, and when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. You mean to tell me I don't have
to get on the subject of specific sins? I had a man the other day
ask me, how many times have you preached against homosexuality?
I says, not once. He says, why not? I says, when
you preach sin, that covers it. I don't have to get specific.
Sin is sin is sin. And God saves sinners. So, ruined by the fall covers
the subject. There is so, I can't count all
the sins. I can't count all the sins that
I've done. Not alone what you've done. So, we'll just keep it
to that one simple word. We are all sinners. Some are
saved by grace. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father and you see me no more. And judgment, because the
Prince of this world is judged and thank God for that. taken
care of by the blood of Christ. So we wait. We know that the
Word of God, that the Lord is speaking of a day, then that's
going to be Pentecost, when the Spirit would be given in an extraordinary
measure. I cannot explain it all. But
it's not something that is going to be so different and so radical
that the disciples are not going to be able to recognize the grace
of God in it. They're going to see the grace
of God in the gift of the Holy Spirit to them. They're going
to be used as instruments in the hand of God in a capacity
in taking the gospel to the known world at that time. And that
same gift is going on today. That's what takes missionaries,
real missionaries, true missionaries to foreign fields. Those who
do not say, well, I need $5,000 before I go, I'm not interested
in talking to you. I'm going to go because the Lord
has called me. All right, let me talk to you
about that. That's the difference. All right? The apostles and others
that believed in Christ and were given the Spirit in regeneration
and sanctification, they had been illuminated, they had been
converted, they had faith, and they had been adopted. That already
happened. So the Spirit was active with
them. Already, but there's going to be a special capacity. The
saints have always been raised to salvation in every age the
same way From the salvation of Adam to the last lost sheep that
is ever saved They're going to be able to say saved by grace
and grace alone saved by the Lord What's going to happen here
in the book of Acts is a special event. Now there's two times
in the Old Testament that gives us some insight about this, that
gives us some understanding about what's going on. One has to do
with the tabernacle, one has to do with the temple, and when
these events happen, nobody can be in there. But when we get
to the book of Acts, we find out that the Holy Spirit came
upon them as individuals in a very special capacity, and they were
willing that day to go out and preach to a whole bunch of people
that they had never heard of. Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Exodus chapter 40. When the tabernacle was completed,
It was ready for operation. Everything was in order. All
the parts were made. It was made after the pattern
that was in heaven. That's what we read with regard
to the tabernacle. It was a pattern of a spiritual
tabernacle. The Lord Jesus Christ in heaven
brought down to this earth and built and represented, every
part of it, represented some aspect of our Savior, the Lord
Jesus. In the book of Exodus chapter
40, we read these words about the completion, the finality,
just before it goes into service. There in verse 34 of chapter
40, it says, Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation,
and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was
not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the
cloud above thereon and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Now this is a man-made structure. And when this influence came,
when the Lord came in this capacity, nobody could be in there. Well,
let's travel just a little further, and quite a few years later,
over in the book of 2 Chronicles 7. 2 Chronicles 7, upon the completion
of the temple, and that again was a pattern given to Solomon
by the Lord of what it needed to be, because it's going to
represent the Lord. In the book of 2 Chronicles 7,
beginning with verse 1, it says here, Now when Solomon had made
an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed
the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled
the house. And the priest could not enter
into the house, because of the glory of the Lord had filled
the Lord's house. There was in some way a capacity
here that the The Holy Spirit, represented by the smoke and
by this fire, came into those buildings. But when He did, at
their completion, when He did, nobody could go in there. Moses
couldn't go in there. Solomon couldn't go in there.
But thanks be unto God when it is a spiritual house that's recognized
in the book of Acts chapter 2. When it's a spiritual house,
when it's the church, it comes on people. That Holy Spirit came
upon them as we read with regard to that. Turn over with me to
the book of Acts chapter 2 if you would. The book of Acts chapter
2. Wait on the Lord. Be of good
courage. Acts chapter 2 and verse 1. This is the day of Pentecost,
50 days after the Passover. The Lord Jesus had spent 40 days
with them, so we have about 10 days that they went and waited
on the Lord. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place, and
suddenly There came the sound from heaven as a rushing mighty
wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like unto fire, and it
set upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and
began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. What does it say? Suddenly the,
and it filled the house where they were sitting, Let's see
and there appeared cloven tongues and verse 4 and they were filled
with the Holy Spirit so Different than the tabernacle and so different
than the temple in the Old Testament man-made structures pictures
types and shadows But when that great influence came on them
to demonstrate it was completed No man could enter. But this
spiritual house, it says the Holy Spirit came and filled with,
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak
in languages the wonderful words of God. Let's back up here to the book
of Acts chapter 1 for just a moment. Chapter 1, verse 5. Jesus brings a subject up. It
says, For John truly baptized with water. He wants them to understand that
John truly baptized with water. You know, there's something new
in the New Testament era. We don't have this in the Old
Testament. We have all those sacrifices
going on, but we don't have this in the Old Testament. The Lord
Jesus, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave this symbol
to the church. It's a symbol of Jesus Christ's
death, burial, and resurrection on their behalf, baptism. When we get to the book of Acts,
chapter 8, Philip and the eunuch went down into the water. Philip
and eunuch come up out of the water. They didn't get some water
in their face. They went down in, they came
back out. John's baptism was the same as
that. It was immersion, it was a symbol,
a type, a shadow, a picture. And it's still carried on in
our day that God, when God touches the heart of someone, when He
raises someone from the spiritual dead, when they acknowledge Jesus
Christ as their Savior, when they are saved by the grace of
God, they will want to have baptism. This symbol, that's the command
of God. The Holy Spirit John's baptism
was filled with symbols. Water baptism, for those that
God has saved, they are saved, they will want to follow the
command of the Lord and have that. But the Holy Spirit's baptism
is filled with life. It has the gospel in it. It has
Christ in it. It has the forgiveness of sins
in it. It has repentance. It's a covering of this baptism
by the Holy Spirit. It's such a influential covering
that God gives to His people. And he says here, John truly
baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence. Go to chapter two, you find out
what that is. The Holy Spirit came with power. Well, we're gonna stop there
for today and we'll look at that next verse six. Because the disciples
are so concerned They've been educated and educated and educated
into thinking that Jesus, the Messiah, is going to establish
their old kingdom back. And he wants them to know, no,
that's not going to happen. And then they're going to get
glad that it didn't. Because he's going to instruct them in
the ways of the Lord more perfectly. Their teachers, since they've
been born, have been telling them, you know, part of the Messiah's
job is to get rid of the Romans. No. Didn't happen. The Messiah's job was to get
rid of sin. That did happen. Nathan, if you'll
come.