Lesson Eight: The Promise is For Everyone
For 2019, our theme is “Take it Home”. The last Wednesday of every month we cancel service and encourage every family to have a Family Bible Study night. Here’s the Bible study we provide for each family.
FOCUS VERSE
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
BEGINNING TOPIC
Keeping a promise is a very important responsibility. Words can so easily flow from the brain and out the mouth without any thought of the obligation they may place on you. Some speak promises, fully intending to break them. Quickly their friends and family will learn not to trust what they say. Sadly, so many young people are growing up with a natural distrust, because of all the unfulfilled promises given to them. But without a doubt, God is trustworthy. If He has given you a promise, you can guarantee that He is going to fulfill it.
HISTORICAL SETTING
Over 500 people saw Jesus ascend into heaven. Jesus had finished His work on the earth by dying on the cross and resurrecting the third day. His body would now ascend, in order for Him to descend as the Spirit to fill every Christian.
He declared to his followers in 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.” In Acts 1:4-5 Jesus explains just what the power is that the hearers were promised: “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. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”
Only 9 days later, we find 120 followers waiting in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Ghost. Where did the rest of the 500 go? Perhaps they got impatient and didn’t wait. Or, possibly, they were too busy and had to return to their work. Maybe, they doubted the promise and decided it was silly to wait on something that, in their opinion, may not ever happen. Whatever the reason, the 380 that saw Jesus ascend did not see the fulfillment of the promise.
But as Acts 2 describes, when the day of Pentecost had come, all the words of Jesus concerning the Holy Ghost were accomplished. The 120 were baptized with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance. The wait was over! They saw first hand the fulfillment of the promise.
Jews from all over the world were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. It was to a large gathering of those Jews that Peter preached Acts 2:38-39. Peter explained to them that, although the promise had been fulfilled for the 120, each person has the same promise of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. This promise is for everyone.
VERSES TO CONSIDER
Jesus was not the first to declare the promise of the Holy Ghost. Ezekiel prophesied that God would give us a new heart by putting His Spirit within us (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Joel prophesied that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28-29). John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptize His followers with the Holy Ghost and fire (Matthew 3:11).
The initial evidence of the Holy Ghost in a person’s life was also prophesied of by Isaiah (Isaiah 28:9-12). Speaking in tongues is shown in almost every occurrence of someone receiving the Holy Ghost in the Bible and implied in the other times (Acts 2:1-4; 10:44-46; 19:1-6). Paul quoted Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 14:21-22 while teaching on speaking in tongues during church meetings.
CONCLUSION
The promise of the Holy Ghost was not offered to the 120 alone. As Peter explained, the Holy Ghost is a gift that Jesus wants all to have. The promise of the Holy Ghost is yours.