Every promise comes with instructions. God promises on the Day of Pentecost that the Holy Spirit would come and they would be filled with power.
“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.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV)
Jesus appeared to the disciples several times after He was resurrected from the dead. This appearance was right before He ascended to heaven. He instructed the disciples to stay in Jerusalem as He will send the promise of His Father. That promise is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will fill them with power. But for them to receive the promise, they had to follow Jesus’ instructions. Can you follow Jesus’ instructions to receive His promise?
Instructions to Receive God’s Promise
Below are the instructions Jesus gave the disciples to receive the promise of the Father, which is God will send the Holy Spirit.
1 – Stay in Jerusalem – Stay in one place
2- How long? Jesus said, until the Holy Spirit comes. They had to wait.
3- When the Holy Spirit comes, He will fill you with power. God’s promise.
When Jesus told them to stay in the city, Jerusalem, the disciples had to obey or follow Jesus’ instruction. In Acts 1:12-14, it says the disciples went to Jerusalem and they went up into an upper room and they were together in prayer.
“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.” (Acts 2:1 NLT)
One Place
The disciples stayed together in Jerusalem and in one place. It didn’t say they stayed in separate places, but they were together in one place. There is power when God’s people come together in one place. That’s why it’s important to come together in church, in one place. Today, many people have gotten “comfortable” watching services online. But the word says,
“let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)
Waited
When the disciples came together, they had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come. That means they couldn’t be in a rush to leave that place, but they had to sit and wait. And while they waited, they prayed.
In today’s world, sometimes we are in too much of a rush, and we don’t have time for God. When you rush, you will miss out on what He has for you. God wants you to spend your time with Him in reading His word, in prayer and in going to church. Unfortunately, when people do go to church, some people get to service late and want to leave before it’s over. God takes a back seat to their priorities. But when people are in a situation and they need God, they want God to meet their need right away.
You see, our “To Do Lists” have taken precedence over God’s instructions. You would think after what we have just experienced this last year that the people have woken up. It’s time to wake up and be hungry for God’s presence.
The disciples stayed in that upper room until the Holy Spirit came. They didn’t know when that would be, but Jesus said if they followed His instructions, they would receive the promise of the Father. They didn’t leave that room until they got what God promised. When the Holy Spirit came, they were all filled with power in the upper room. The bible said, the Holy Spirit came suddenly. He came without notice, unexpectedly. That means if any of the disciples had left that upper room to do something (ie – to finish the “To Do List”), they would have missed God’s promise, being filled with power of the Holy Spirit.
In today’s world, if God spoke to you and promised you something, and He told you to stay in one place until you receive the promise, would you be able to stay put until it happens like the disciples did? Would you be able to follow God’s instructions? I would be interested to hear your response.
May 23rd is Pentecost Sunday and hopefully it’s celebrated in many churches. In our church we do. Don’t miss out on God’s promise and go to church expecting to be filled with power of the Holy Spirit.
Citation:
Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007.
