THE PROMISE: OUR ADVANTAGED POSITION

“ The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Acts 1:1-4, Luke 24:45

 

The one who died, resurrected and ascended gave us a promise that He’s coming back.

 

There is something greater ahead of us now, and that is His return.

 

For us to prepare for Jesus return there is something we will have to look at closely because we cannot prepare for His return in isolation. No bride dresses herself up on her wedding day to meet the groom because there will always be those who are present to help prepare her for the wedding ceremony and to meet the groom. We cannot prepare for the return of Jesus without assistance: we need assistance.  If we say we don’t need any assistance, it is either we are not ready for the wedding or have denied ourselves of the needed assistance.

 

We must know that there is one who is doing everything to make sure that the wedding does not hold. A wedding can be stopped, hindered, postponed or cancelled. These are all possibilities in our relationship with Christ as the bride of Christ: and no bride prepares herself to meet the groom without assistance. For the physical wedding, there is physical assistance. In the same way, for the spiritual wedding, we need spiritual assistance-spiritual help. The preparation that is done toward the wedding is to remove anything that will not make the bride presentable. In the same way also, we need such a preparation to remove anything that will not make us prepared to meet with Jesus.

 

All our need is tied inside one need, and all other promises are also tied in the promise. We are serving Him awaiting His return. 

 

Jesus left us with a promise. And if we will prepare, and the days will count for us, we must look at the promise Jesus gave us. Jesus left us with ONE assurance which is ‘THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER-"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). If we can make that one PROMISE our focus it will make a lot of difference. That one promise is the HOLY GHOST.

If we will be properly prepared as we wait for His return then we must pay attention to the promise of the Father. (Luke 24:45-49).

 

In Acts 1:4, they were told to wait for the promise. The process by which they received the Holy Ghost is the same process we need to grow in Him and increase in the power of the Spirit. We will still have to tarry which will demand time. When we don’t have time to wait in prayers, in reading the scriptures there is no way we can get into the fullness of God’s promise. We need to resign from religion and stop playing Church.

 

John 14:16-19, Galatians 3:13-14, Romans 8:11, Ephesians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 7:1.

 

 Jesus promised us the Helper, (the Holy Ghost) to help us until the wedding takes place. We need to make provision for the Helper. Help may be available but if we have not made provision for the help we cannot have access to that help. To deny this promise is to deny ourselves of the benefits thereof. It is this promise that distinguishes us from the saints of old. This promise is our advantaged position.

 

 All that we ever desire are in the promise. Without the promise, we cannot access them. A lot of the things happening to us and the struggles we experience is because we have "denied" the promise. It is not true that Christians are a minority in the North.  Virtually all the missions that came with the Gospel to the North had one thing common among them. They came with a gospel that played down on the ministry of the Holy Ghost, and any Gospel without the Holy Ghost is a lifeless Gospel (Romans 8:11, Ephesians 1:13). They played down on our advantaged position- the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost residing in us is what makes real what happened on the cross.

 

TO IGNORE THE PROMISE IS TO IGNORE OUR ADVANTAGED POSITION

 

Scriptures say we are the dwelling place of God (2 Corinthians 6:16-18). Though God dwells in Heaven, He lives in us on earth by His Spirit. Jesus had to go so that the promise of the Father can come to us. This is where the enemy will take advantage of us. He may not make us deny Christ but can make us live our lives in isolation of the Holy Ghost, and where the Holy Ghost is not welcome, God is not present. God does not dwell in a physical temple but dwells in us through the Holy Ghost. It is by the workings of the Holy Ghost in us that the reality of the Fatherhood of God comes to us.

 

Acts 1:5 -8, John 14:16, John 15:4-5, Proverbs 3:5-7

 

Those that will be empowered by the Spirit are those who wait. We cannot be witnesses without the empowerment of the Holy Ghost. What you do not have, you cannot manifest. We must have received the Holy Ghost to manifest the Spirit and it is for the profit of all.

 

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”. 1 Corinthians 12:7.

 

All the HELP that we will ever need, has been packaged by God, and put in the person of the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Ghost, we can do nothing. We are to be witnesses of His power and glory and produce proof of what God has wrought in Christ Jesus.  It is the Spirit that will get the work done through us. We will struggle without the Holy Ghost. Let’s stop walking and living an independent life. Let’s start living from the inside out. The most insulting thing we can give to someone is to ignore the person, and the Holy Ghost is a person.

 

David never lost any battle because for every battle, David sought the LORD.

 

The promise is to our advantage, and it is our advantaged position. If we deny the promise, then we deny our advantaged position. The Holy Ghost is not going to find expression unless we submit to Him.

 

“Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine neither can you unless you abide in me”. John 15:4

 

Abiding involves a combination of the word and the Spirit.  Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot enter rest.  To bear fruits, we must abide in Him.

 

If we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our path. (Proverbs 3:5-7).