Or write first of all that passage
in the first chapter of Acts, our subject being Pentecost,
and look at verses 4 through verse 8 of chapter 1. And being assembled together
with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem,
but wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of
me. 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 of 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 time or the seasons which the
Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after
that the Holy Ghost, or Spirit, is come upon you, and ye shall
be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria,
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Now look at chapter
2, 1 through 4. And when the day of Pentecost
was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled all the house
where they were sitting. There appeared unto them cloven
tongues like as a fire, and it set upon each of them. And they were all filled with
the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as
the Spirit gave them utterance. Now today, we'll be looking at
the subject, the promise of the Holy Spirit as it is promised
by God, the prophets, the Lord, and such like. Now in order for
us to get a better grasp of the necessity and the place of the
book called Acts and its importance in relation to the New Testament
canon, Let's get a quick relative look at the book of Acts. It seems safe to say, as we study
it, that this book called Acts takes up where the gospels leave
off concerning the ministry of our Lord. In the four gospels
we have in all of them, an infallible record of the birth, of the ministry,
of the suffering, the death, and the resurrection of our blessed
Christ of God. Now it is true that the Gospels
both of Mark and of Luke end their Gospels with a very brief
account of the ascension of our Lord into heaven. And in this
sense there is therefore a slight overlapping of the Gospels and
the following book, that of Acts. And so Acts picks up there and
gives us then the spiritual history, yea, and inspired history of
the extension of the ministry of Christ and of the gospel,
of the establishing of churches in many places, first among the
Jew, the chief apostle overseeing that being Peter, and then among
the Gentile, and the chief apostle overseeing that being the apostle
Paul. Now the great event that is the
heart and the soul of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
is the birth of the God-man in his incarnation. When the Word
was made flesh, when God was manifest in the flesh, when the
eternal Son of God assumed real and true humanity and human nature,
and because of His incarnation, and then by means of His incarnation,
the Son of God tabernacled or dwelt or walked among men, and
carried on an earthly ministry upon the earth of approximately
three years. Our Lord then was put to death. He was buried. He rose again
out of that grave of death. Then the great event then in
the book of Acts is the special coming pouring out or shedding
forth of the Holy Spirit of God and the ministry of our Lord
carried on by and through the power and the influence of God's
Spirit. And the history of that we have
in the book of Acts carried on. Now in reading from Thomas Goodwin,
a Puritan expositor this week, he made a very good connection,
I thought, between the coming of Christ and the coming of the
Holy Spirit of God. And that is that God has bestowed
two great inestimable gifts upon His Church, pursuant to the accomplishment
of the salvation of the elect ones. Number one, the sending
of his son into this world. What an event was that. What an impact has it had on
history and on the world and on the salvation of the elect. And the second great gift and
marvelous wonder is the giving of the Holy Spirit. And that
man, Thomas Goodwin, goes on to draw some parallels between
the promise of the coming of Christ and the promise of the
coming of the Holy Spirit of God. And that point is this. that each one of them, Christ
the Eternal Son and the Holy Spirit, the Eternal Holy Spirit,
that each one of them were not only present but also active
in and under the old economy, not yet as fully as they would
be under the new economy or under the new covenant. Both of them
were promised of old by the prophets and the scripture, so that Christ
had at a set time a manifestation and an appearance among men. When our Lord was born of Mary,
we read, especially in Luke, that angels sing praises at His
birth. The Holy Spirit anointed Him
publicly at His baptism. The Father proclaimed Him an
object of his great love, and John, his forerunner, proclaimed
him as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Even so, the Spirit of God was
to have an appearance and a manifestation and a formal and a visible coming
among men. Not that he could be seen as
his coming was not exactly an incarnation like that of Christ. But as Goodwin wrote, that as
to his work, he was to have a coming in state in a solemn and a visible
manner evident unto many, and it was to be accompanied with
visible effects that might be seen and known, whereof there
were many witnesses to the pouring out, to the coming, to the shedding
of the Holy Spirit among men. And it was with this incarnate
Son He gave evidence of the divinity of the great signs and wonder
displayed in great power in the present and in the sight of men. Our Lord gave evidence that He
was from God. He gave mighty evidence and testimony
that God had sent Him into the world. Even so, the power and
the presence of the Holy Spirit of God was evident in His working,
His miracle, and His might among the early disciples and apostles
of our Lord. As for example, In Acts chapter
2 verse 4 that we read, they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit of God. In chapter 6 and verse 3, we
read that the Holy Spirit gave wisdom unto those into whom he
entered. Chapter 9, verse 31, By the Holy
Spirit came comfort unto the saints of God in those ages. Chapter 13, verses 2 and 4, The
Holy Spirit led in the selection and the sending forth of ministers
to preach the gospel of our Lord. In Acts 16 and verse 6, the Holy
Spirit it was that acted to block Paul from going to a certain
place and instead sent him in another direction. Chapter 20
and verse 23, the Holy Spirit gave witness as the disciples
made decision, the Spirit of God sealed that witness that
it was right. In Acts 20 and verse 28, the
Holy Spirit had made some men overseers of the churches and
of the congregations of our Lord. And so in considering the coming
of the Holy Spirit, there is a clear two-fold connection between
the work of the Spirit and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the saving ministry of Christ. And we'll never lose sight of
this relation and connection. between the atonement of Christ
and the coming and the work of the Holy Spirit. First of all,
we find that the coming and the work of the Holy Spirit is a
continuation of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
salvation of men. Bruner, in his book on the Holy
Spirit, called it, quote, the extension of the ministry begun
by Jesus and now continued by the Spirit of God." In other
words, the works of the ministry of Christ. is then carried on
in his absence through the agency of the Holy Spirit of God, working,
guiding, leading, regenerating, and such like. Then secondly,
here is a very, very vital point, and that is that there is and
unbreakable. There is an unservitable connection
between the atonement of Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit
of God. We can never lose this connection. It is one that is in Edelbe joined
together. The connection between the atoning
death of Christ, the coming and the work of the Holy Spirit. And Christ taught both of these
things during His personal ministry. You can see especially John 14,
15, and 16. In those chapters, in what we
call the upper room discourse, our Lord spake many things to
His disciples, preparing them for His departure and giving
them the promise that the Holy Spirit would come. We'll say
more about that shortly, but one thing to notice about the
coming of the Spirit and not to be overlooked by us in studying
our Bible. And this is, may I emphasize,
an all-important matter, is stated by the Lord here in Acts chapter
1 and verse 4, and that is that the Spirit's coming, the giving
of the Spirit was according to promise. The Spirit was given
as the fulfillment or in fulfillment of a promise, a promise both
of God the Father and of His Christ, and also of the Old Testament
prophets of God. Thus we see in Acts 1 and verse
4 repeated what was said in Luke chapter 24 and verse 49. I send the promise of my Father
upon you. And in both places there is the
command to tarry, to set still, to stay where they were, to sit
or abide. Remain in Jerusalem. Do not scatter to other places
and do not leave. Let's spend some time here contemplating
the fact that the Holy Spirit of God on Pentecost was given,
was poured out, was shed forth, as you have it in Acts 2 and
verse 33, it was by and in accordance with promise. See the last half
again of Acts 1-4. Wait for the promise of the Father
which, said Jesus, you have heard of Me." It is the promise of
the Father. It is a promise that you have
heard from Me, which I also told you. Now, they were to wait for
the fulfillment of the Father's promise that was to be given
unto them. Now, the question is, what promise? What's the nature and the essence
in what consists this great promise? Well, it is the promise of the
Holy Spirit of God. Another comforter, as it is stated
in John chapter 14 and verse 16, a parakletos, literally,
an intercessor, an advocate, a consoler. For this word, according
to Vine's New Testament dictionary of words, means one that is called
in alongside to be of aid or to give help or to assist. And you might find this word
in a judicial setting, for it speaks of one who is able and
who does act as an advocate. Now the Spirit is also called
in John 14 and 17, the Spirit of Truth, probably
because He, in John 16, when He has come, He will speak truth
unto you. He will guide you into all truth. He will hear things of God. He will speak them or teach them
unto you. All of these things are from
the pen of John the Apostle. Four times in his gospel, chapter
14, 16, chapter 14, 26, chapter 15 and verse 26, Chapter 16 and verse 7, he speaks
of the Jew. And in 1 John 2 and 1, of Christ
Jesus as an advocate, as one called in alongside that he might
help. But let's go back to the fact
in Acts that the Spirit was by promise. And this is highly significant
as we try to develop a theology of the Holy Spirit with regard
to the Scripture, with regard to His work in our life. For in the New Testament, We
find that the word promise has what one called, quote, a pedigree,
unquote. The word promise has a pedigree
in the New Testament and generally will be used after this meaning,
will generally mean what is promise. to be given or what has promised
to be done are given in accordance with a promise that God has made
in regard to that subject. When the Scriptures say such
a thing is by promise, it is expressing the gratuitous nature
of that thing. That is, that it is given without
merit or condition or worth or any of that. for that a thing
is given by promise means that it is a free gift, that it is
of God's design only. It's not something that is or
can be acquired by negotiation, nor by fulfilling the law or
the condition. It is most often expressed as
an act of grace as contrasted with works of any kind, personal
works or the keeping of the law. Now, let's offer a couple of
proof texts to confirm the freeness of the promise of God. The first
one will be Romans 4 and verse 13. You will remember that it
concerns the promise that Abraham was promised by God that he would
be an heir of the world, that he would be an heir of the world,
that it was neither to him or to his seed through the works
of the law, but through the righteousness of faith. The promise that Abraham
was to be heir of the world was made through the righteousness
of faith. Then there's Paul's great statement. in Galatians chapter 3, verse
16, verse 17, and verse 18. Looking at them quickly, in the
16th verse, to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. In the 17th verse we read, the
giving of the law could not dis-annul the promise or make it of none
effect. And in verse 18, it is clearly
stated, God gave it to Abraham by promise. Now, concerning the
promises, plural, of God, we read, Titus 1, verse 1 and 2,
of the promise of eternal life, promise before the world began. Hebrews 4, verse 1, a promise
of entering into rest. Hebrews 9 and 15, the promise
of eternal inheritance. And in addition to that, there's
also the promise of the promised land, the promise of His coming,
the covenants of promise we read about and much more in the scripture. Now, concerning the promises
of God, whatever they be, however unbelievable they might seem,
yet they cannot fail. And they cannot fail because
God cannot fail and because God cannot lie. And God cannot, will
not, and does not promise beyond His ability to perform as to
the validity and the stability of the promise of God made to
Abraham. We read, and it's in Hebrews
chapter 6, 13 and 14, when God made promise to Abraham because
he could swear by no greater. He swore by himself saying, surely
Blessing, I will bless you, and multiplying, I will multiply
you. Again, look at Acts 1, 4 and
5, the promise of the Father. You have again in Acts 2 and
33, Another mention of the promise of God to send forth the Holy
Spirit in the manner that He came at Pentecost. God had inspired
the Old Testament prophet to speak of the outpouring of the
Spirit of God. And one such prophecy, given
as a confirmation that the promise of the Spirit had been fulfilled
is cited by the Apostle Peter in Acts 2 verse 16 through 21. It is a reference to Joel chapter
2 and verse 28 through verse 32 and it says this in part,
it shall come to pass afterward I will pour out my Spirit upon
all flesh, and upon my servants, and upon the handmaids. In those
days will I pour out my Spirit." Isaiah 44 and verse 3, I will
pour my Spirit upon thy seed. Ezekiel 36 and 27, I will put
My Spirit within you, and therefore marking them as the children
of God. But another point, a second point
in Acts 1 and verse 4, which promise of the Father, Jesus
said, you have heard of Me, or from Me, literally, For the Lord
had spoken in their hearing, and often, of the promise of
the coming of the Spirit, and especially in that upper room
discourse that we made mention of a moment ago in John 14, 15,
and 16. Jesus is telling them in those
discourses that soon he would no longer be personally or physically
present with them. He would go away. And this, he
said, is expedient. John 16, verse 7. It's necessary for you that I
go away. It was necessary for their good,
and for their profit, and for their benefit. For the Christ,
the people of God, and the work of God, it was expedient that
the Lord go away. Christ had been during those
three years of ministry upon the earth, a blessed paraclete
unto them. He had been a blessed helper,
a blessed teacher, and a blessed counselor, a blessed guide, and
a strong anchor in time of trouble. Many things they had asked him
which he had answered, and he had enlightened them upon many
things and many spiritual truths. But now he says to them in John
14, 15, and 16, after these years as their mentor in the things
of God, John 16, verse 5, I go my way to him that hath sent
me. Again, in John 14 and verse 12,
I go, or I'm going unto my Father. John 14 and verse 28, I go unto
my father, I go away. However, I will not leave you
comfortless. And you find that in John 14
verse 18. I'm going away. I'm going to
leave you. It's necessary and expedient. However, I will not leave you
comfortless. Now, almost all expositors that
I have read and studied recognize that this particular word, comfortless
here, is one and the same word that is translated as fatherless
in James chapter 1 and verse 27. Same word. I will not leave
you comfortless or I will not leave you fatherless. And it's interesting that the
word is from that word Orphanos, practically meaning orphan or
a bereaved one. I will not leave you without
comfort. Another word might be the word
desolate. I will not leave you desolate. And see the verse here. I will
not leave you orphans. I will come unto you. And as John Brown noted, orphans
or young children who are bereaved because of the loss of their
parents. Christ had been their constant
and their faithful paraclete. His leaving them would for a
time cast them in much the same category as orphans or the fatherless. They would be grief stricken.
They would be discouraged. They would be without support. They would have the loss of their
guide. They would be unable to sustain
themselves. They would be exposed to dangers
and to all manner of deceivers. And what John Gill called, quote,
a very desolate and comfortless situation." But the promise of
their Lord was, even though I go to my Father, and even though
you cannot follow, at least you cannot follow now, yet I will
not leave you orphans. And he adds, look at those words,
I will come to you. I'm going away, but I won't leave
you orphans or comfortless. I will come unto you. As you might expect, there are
several different views and interpretations of the word, I will come unto
you. J.C. Ryle and others say, that
the word uses the present tense. I do come. My marshal's interlinear,
for example, has it. I am coming to you. It is the same in buried. So
some say it refers to the Lord's resurrection. His meeting them
after coming up out of the grave. Others say that it has reference
to the second advent of the Lord, His coming in great clouds and
glory. Still others think that the Lord
had in mind the pouring out of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost
according to the promise of God and of Himself. And believe it
or not, some good expositor see it as a combination of these
things that we have mentioned. If I had to pick one of the views
as more prominent than the other, it would be the third, the coming
of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost to take up His great
work. Yet, as John Brown said, something
can be said far and against each one of these views that we have
mentioned. The text does not indicate that
it was the Lord's leaving them by going unto the Father that
would for a time constitute them as orphan. During this time,
His going away and His coming unto them, it was a sad and dreary
time. They were downhearted, they were
downcast, They were scattered. They felt their hopes had been
dashed by the disappearance and the going away of their Lord. They had stood there in the garden. They had seen the Lord arrested
and taken away, dragged before the council, condemned and taken
yonder to Golgotha and put under debt. But the Lord's promise
was I will not leave you orphaned." The mighty spirit of adoption
would come, indwell them, and testify to them of their sonship. But then from Acts 1-4, there
were other such things which you have heard of me, such as
John 14-16, in light of his coming departure, and their sorrow,
he said, I will pray, I will entreat, I will request the Father
as mediator and intercessor, I will do that, and He will give
you another Comforter who will abide with you forever, who will
never leave you. For the Son can ask what He will,
and the Father will grant it. For the Son is the beloved Mediator,
yea, the only Mediator between God and men. And may we say that
He can never, will never, ask amiss. And as Martha said to
the Lord in John 17, And verse 22, I know, she said to her Savior,
I know that even now whatsoever you ask of God, God will give
it unto you. John 14, 16. This Comforter, this Paraclete
will abide with them forever. Never leave them. Never, never
leave them or go away. Though their Lord must go away,
their Lord must leave them by necessity and according to the
purpose and the plan of God Almighty. The other paraclete would dwell
with them in, quote, let's call it perpetuity, unquote. The other paraclete would abide
with them in perpetuity. What's more, in John 14 and verse
7, it identifies the special comforter as being the spirit
of truth. John 14, 26. is even plainer. The comforter is the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of God, the third person in the divine nature. And notice, is sent by the Father
in the name of the Son and will be a teacher of the things of
God unto them. He will take the things of God
and will show it unto them. Then let's not fail to see that
this Comforter, this Paraclete, this Spirit of Truth is spoken
of not as an it, but as a person. That He is spoken of as a divine
person. Many times referred to as He. Being divine, He is also eternal. We see that in Hebrews 9, And
verse 14, the eternal spirit. What's more, this is one and
the same spirit that brooded upon that mass in Genesis chapter
1 and verse 2. This is that same spirit that
David said in Psalm 139 is omnipresent. This is the same Spirit that
Job 26 said garnished the heavens in verse 13. This is the same
Spirit that conceived the humanity of Christ in the womb of the
Virgin, Luke chapter 1 and verse 35. And this is the same Spirit
of God that inspired the scripture to be written without error.
This is the same spirit that is active in the regeneration
of the elect. And as such, he teaches, and
we read in Acts 13 and 2, that he speaks And I don't mean that
with an oral voice, but in a way that it is clear. We read in
Acts 5, 4 and 5 that he may be lied to, as Ananias did. He appoints ministers, Acts 20
and verse 28. He makes revelations. 1 Corinthians
2 and 10, of things that the heart of man has never conceived. Yes, the Spirit is a divine person. Now I want to emphasize that.
We're not to think of Him as just an influence or some kind
of independent force, as we hear that word used sometimes, not
just an attribute, not just a principle, not just an idea, not just a
thing, and not an it. But being a person, he has personality,
by which I mean he has those distinct personal and social
characteristics that mark his personhood, that makes him a
person, not a thing and not an it. Now John Brown in his very
extensive writing that he called the Discourses and Sayings of
Our Lord from the Gospel, gives evidence of both the personhood
and the personality of the promised Spirit of God. That is, that
he would teach them. that He would testify, He would
guide them into truth. He would summon up things to
their remembrance that they had heard. He would abide with them
forever. He would show them things to
come and make revelation of it. So, let's close with a look at
Acts chapter 1 and verse 5, referring to the promise and testimony
of the Lord's forerunner John the Baptist. He predicted a coming
immersion in the Holy Spirit and fire. In Matthew chapter
3 verse 11, and he said that it would be at the hand of Christ. In Acts chapter 1 confirms the
command In verse 4, abide in Jerusalem awaiting the coming
of the promise. Stay in Jerusalem and wait. For while John's baptism was
with water, John using water, you, as John said, will be baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And the Lord makes the
point. The time was drawing near. John gave no timetable in his
declaration of it in the third chapter of the book of Matthew. Neither did our Lord exactly,
except to say it would be after he went away. Not before, but
after he went away. And now, some forty days after
the resurrection, here in Acts chapter 1, just prior, probably
ten days or so to his ascension, he tells them that this great
event is at hand. Notice his words, not many days
hence. Not many days hence this would
occur, this would happen. Wycliffe translates, within these
few days. Still, the definite day is not
told them. Only that the day was approaching
and was near at hand. Soon it would be so. Soon it
would arrive. And the disciples, I am persuaded,
brothers and sisters, that the disciples had no idea what it
would be and what it would be like when it was occurring. They had no idea at all what
to expect. In fact, notice something. In
Acts chapter 1 and verse 6, the Lord's promise of a coming special
event and now it was near, seemed to kindle in them the hope and
the expectation of the establishing of a theocratic kingdom ruled
over by Messiah of which Israel then is the chief or the head
of the nation. They asked him in the light of
his instruction, will you at this time restore again the kingdom
to Israel? And the Lord, as you see, dismisses
them and in verse 8 promises them that in the power of the
Holy Spirit they would be witnesses of Him in every place. far and wide and unctionized
by the power of the Spirit of God, they would declare the message
of Christ and the great and wonderful gospel. Remember the words of
the Lord in the upper room discourse, that the paraclete, that the
comforter, that the Spirit of truth would not come until or
unless he went away. John 16 and verse 7, And our
Lord ascended in their sight, in their view, before their very
eyes, our Lord ascended again into heaven. but not before freshly
promising them the effusion of the Holy Spirit, a comforter,
a guide, a helper, an advocate, a paraclete who would abide with
them and would guide them into all things. So the point of our
first study is this, the Spirit came by promise. The promised Spirit, and according
to God's promise, He poured out the blessed Holy Spirit of the
Lord. Now, in our second study this
evening, we will look at the connection between the atonement
of Christ, His death, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit,
God willing.