THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER
Acts 1:4
Morning Meditation 4/18/2015
"And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me."
In part one on the subject of THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER we looked at WHAT THE PROMISE IS. In this meditation we will look at THE REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIVING THE PROMISE:
This promise was not made to the world--only to those who had obeyed Him and had made a commitment to follow Him. John 13:37, "Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake." I think Peter's expressed willingness to follow Christ without reserve, even unto the laying down of life, expresses the willingness of others who followed with Him on a regular basis. Let's notice,
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR RECEIVING THE PROMISE
Let's notice the following requirements to receiving the promise:
FAITH WAS A DEFINITE REQUIREMENT
John 1:11-12, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" Faith in a living God was not new to the Jews. They had walked by faith when they came out of Egypt and had seen God work in miraculous ways in their journey to the Promised Land.
This faith had to do with a confident trust in His name, i.e., "even to them that believe on his name." When God called Moses at the burning bush we read in Exodus 3:14-15, "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations."
What was the result of Moses faith in this revelation? Moses delivered the Children of Israel through many crises because he accepted the revelation that God made of Himself when He said, "I AM THAT I AM." You say, "that don't make sense." It satisfied Moses and gave him the confidence that through faith in this revelation of God that every need would be met and that the deliverance would be successful..
When Jesus began to gather His disciples that He would use to begin the Church He ask in Matthew 16:13-18, "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Jesus trained His disciples to walk by faith in Him. It is interesting to note that the Apostle John uses the verb form of the word faith in his gospel and did not use the noun form a single time. John was not led by the Lord to teach the theology of faith, thought it is there, he emphasized walking by faith in the living Christ. Next,
WAITING WAS A DEFINITE REQUIREMENT
Luke 24:49, "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."
Some have said, "We are not called to wait today. We are called to go." Those who talk like that will be those who make up a powerless Church. They go out empty, dry, and ready for burial!!! Nothing ever happens because they don't expect it. The Lord says to the Laodicean Church in Revelation 3:18, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." This is a picture of the modern church that does every thing it can to make it appear that it is like the early church. And many believe it because they do not use their Bibles to discover that lie. Next,
THIRSTING WAS A REQUIREMENT
Isaiah 44:3, "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:"
John records the truth of this in John 7:37-39, "In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)"
The thirst for the Lord is absolutely necessary for one who is sold out and ready to give himself a living sacrifice. Thirst will pull you to the source. It will compel you to go beyond the mediocre. The man who thirsts for God will find Him and will be filled to overflowing.
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
