"The Promise of the Father" After Jesus rose from the dead, He presented Himself to His disciples for forty days, “being seen by them…and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which is the baptism of the Holy Spirit: “But 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”  (Acts 1: 3-8).  These were the last words that Jesus spoke to them before He was taken up in the clouds, out of their sight.  As they gazed up at the heavens where He disappeared, two angels admonished the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 10-11).  Jesus told His disciples that He “would not leave them orphans,” but that He will “pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you”  (John 14: 16-18). On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples were all in one place and in one accord, when the sound of a mighty rushing wind filled the house where they were sitting.  The Promise had come, appearing as tongues of fire upon their heads.  They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  This caused quite a stir in the city!  The Jews from different nations heard the Galilean believers each speak in their own native tongues, proclaiming the marvelous works of God. They were amazed, asking themselves, ‘What could this mean?’  Others mocked and said that they were full of new wine (Acts 2: 1-13). The once cowardly Peter, who denied Jesus three times before a servant girl, was now filled with the Holy Spirit.  He boldly proclaimed to the crowd, “These are not drunk as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day, but this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” Peter fearlessly preached the deity of Jesus Christ with authority and power, and the hearers were “cut to the heart.”  Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  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”  (Acts 2: 3-39).  The gift of the Holy Spirit is for all believers, even for us in our present day! The result of Peter’s anointed preaching was that three thousand souls were saved that day.  The Promise of the Father was given to equip us to be bold witnesses to a lost world. Before Peter had received the Holy Spirit, he turned tail and ran for his life when Jesus was arrested.  After being filled with the Spirit on Pentecost, Peter confronted the rulers of the people and the elders of Israel—the very men who had Jesus crucified:  “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled.  And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4: 8-13). Jesus told His followers that He would “give them a mouth and wisdom which all of their adversaries would not be able to contradict or resist” (Luke 21:15).  Jesus told His disciples not to worry about how or what they should answer when they were brought before magistrates and authorities, “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12: 11-12). When the apostles prayed for more boldness so that they would not waiver before the threats of their enemies, “the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness”  (Acts 4: 29-31).  Christians need the Holy Spirit today more than ever.  Satan knows that his time is short, and he has come down with great wrath (Revelation 12:12).  God’s people are being persecuted worldwide with a demonic hatred that far supercedes human anger.  Lust and idolatry and paganism have permeated our culture unchecked, mocking everything pure and holy.  Only the power of the Holy Spirit can pierce the hearts that have been hardened by sin.  Only the authority of heaven can empower Christians to stand without intimidation before scoffers and uncompromisingly preach the gospel.   Revelation 12: 11 declares that Christians overcame the devil by “the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”  The Holy Spirit alone takes away the fear of man, and the fear of death. Give your life to Jesus and receive the Promise of the Father today.  You will become a mouthpiece for God, speaking words of life that this dying world desperately needs to hear. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”  --Jesus (John 6:63)