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#359 Kingdom: The Promise Of The Father

Act 13:32 And we preach the gospel to you the promise made to the fathers.

This is speaking of the “promise made to the Fathers” which is the gospel of the resurrection, the Kingdom, the Messiah and the New Covenant. For example Daniel prophesied of the Kingdom that would never pass away or be destroyed. David spoke about the Lord whose body would not suffer decay, indicating the resurrection. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both spoke about the New Covenant. Isaiah spoke about the Redeemer coming to Zion and a whole new dimension of ministry and the immediate Presence of the Holy Spirit would begin. These were some of the promises” among “many other promises made to the fathers.” Many of the Promises are within the context of the Kingdom. Here we are making a definite distinction between the “promise made to the fathers” from the “Promise of the Father” that is made to the church within the whole context of the New Covenant and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.. If we examine these scriptures with an open heart we will see that what Jesus was speaking about was NOT ONE OF THE PROMISES OF THE FATHER BUT THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER.

Luke 24:49 “And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Having been around Pentecostal and Charismatic people for 37 years, I am familiar with the understanding that the “Promise of the Father” is directly related to Acts 2:4. However, to limit the “Promise of the Father” to Acts 2:4 is too shallow and a very serious mistake. Acts 2:4 is not ONE OF THE PROMISES but a very small beginning and introductory first step within the ONE PROMISE! Jesus DIDN’T say wait for the “PROMISES” of the Father. There is ONE complete experience within the ONE PROMISE of the Father. If we have received 1% of the Promise, that is good but we may have stopped at the introductory experience but surely that does not negate the fulness of the ONE PROMISE of the Father.

It should be obvious that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit was not given to cause so much division and controversy in the church for the last 100 years. This seemingly endless theological debate about evidence and when and if we have received the Holy Spirit has turned the blessing of the New Covenant into a source of contempt. When we understand that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit CANNOT be separated from the Promise of the Father, it will help us ignore the controversy seek God for the actual experience.

Act 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 “For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself.”

Obviously Jesus Christ didn’t display such a remarkable manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as just a one day experience. This same promise extends to far off places, down through many generations to EVERYONE that is called by God to Himself.

Act 1:4 And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Act 2:2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.

The Pentecostals and Charismatics were correct in saying that there is NO DOUBT that the Baptism with the Holy Spirit IS the PROMISE of the Father and that the in filling of the Holy Spirit was certainly accompanied with speaking in tongues. Almost anyone who has eyes to see can understand that but our purpose is NOT to rehash the controversy of the last 100 years. Our purpose is to show that Acts 2:4 is NOT the complete PROMISE OF THE FATHER but just the introduction to the Promise.

In the early 1970s we fellowshiped with a church that had a statement of faith that said “We believe in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4.” This was standard teaching for the time and agreed with the scripture. This may be technically correct for the time but no one should ever say we believe in the Promise of the Father according to Acts 2:4. It is ONLY proper to believe in the Promise of the Father according to Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22. The Promise of the Father is so much more than speaking in tongues.

To clarify, it is essential to understand why the Promise of the Father was given and why it was essential to the formation of the Church that He is Building. Today there seems to be a nearly universal ignorance of the Promise of the Father but in those day they were all anticipating the coming of this tremendous promise. They knew it also included the coming of Messiah and they assumed that when the Promise came the Kingdom would also come.

They didn’t understand that the coming of the Kingdom was directly linked with the coming of the Holy Spirit. AFTER the Holy Spirt came HE would lead them and teach them and reveal all truth. However, all this was to be done from the new inner life of man and not as some outward ministry controlled by men.

In Acts 1 the disciples were certainly correct in thinking that the Kingdom would come together with the Promise of the Father. However, they were anticipating a Jewish, local, physical and earthly kingdom similar to the kingdom of David. They expected a powerful ruler with a military kingdom that would drive out the Romans and restore the sovereign rule of their land back to Israel.

Act 2:33 Then being exalted to the right hand of God, and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from

the Father, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

It is rather ignorant to isolate the Promise of the Father from the Promise of the Holy Spirit because they are intricately linked together and it is impossible to have one without the other. In other words the coming of the Holy Spirit is much more than what they experienced in Acts 2:4.

Rom 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

He will teach you all things. He will take of mine and reveal it to you. All will be taught by God. He will give LIFE to your mortal bodies.

In true church tradition we ask “Well, what does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God? The answer is straight forward, It means to be “led by the Spirit of God.” We don’t need to “spiritualize” it because it is already “spiritualized.”

We are given several examples where Paul and Barnabas were “Led by the Spirit of God” so we don’t need to interpret this experience or try to explain that this experience is no longer valid today. Most Pentecostals and Charismatics relate being led by the Spirit of God with some revelation or understanding within the natural mind of the natural man. However, the Holy Spirit functions within the new Spiritual man, which after Christ is created in the image of God. This new spiritual man has eyes, ears, heart, and the mind of Christ. He has legs to walk in the spirit. This new inner man is a totally New Creation and NOT a repaired and “saved” old creation.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit is given to all within the church age. Why? Because we CANNOT separate the Promise of the Father from the Promise of the Holy Spirit. Why? Because the Promise of the Holy Spirit is essential to realize and understand the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant AND the Kingdom. If this is true then it appears that everybody who has repented and has been baptized has already received the Holy Spirit. This is a popular concept. However, Jesus didn’t share this experience of receiving the Holy Spirit as automatic.

Luke 11:8 “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. 9 “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. 10 “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened. 11 “Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? 12 “Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? 13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”

The Holy Spirit will lead you into ALL truth. Exactly what does that mean? It means He will lead you into all Truth. Even though we don’t say this, we believe that “He will lead some learned man who stands in a pulpit to lead you into all truth.”

The popular concept of pulpit and pew assumes that we can teach the natural man some Bible doctrines and we will miraculously produce some spiritual Christians. The fact is that the natural man can not be a Christian because he belongs to the wrong family. He must die, be buried and be resurrected into a whole new family with a new resurrection Life. All who are living after the flesh must die! Those who are still “in Adam” are in eternal danger, even if they have said religious words and made some religious confession.

Rom8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

The chorus from the choir is this; Even though we are living after the flesh, we are born again and that is enough to take us to heaven. Since I am born again the deeds of the body are irrelevant.

Since we cannot accurately separate the coming of the Holy Spirit from the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit from the Promise of the Father and the Promise of the Father cannot be separated from the New Covenant and the New Covenant cannot be separated from the establishment of the Kingdom of God, it is clear why Jesus told His disciples don’t you try to do anything until you have received the Promise of the Father. Don’t even attempt to minister in you own natural abilities but wait until you put on the Power of God as a garment and make certain you are functioning within the that Power from on high. Be certain that you understand that the natural man, with his natural mind his and natural ability will be totally lost in ministering the New Covenant and the mysteries of the Kingdom.

My point is this; Jesus didn’t tell them not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4 but to stay in Jerusalem until they had received the total Promise of the Father. But isn’t this instruction ambiguous and confusing? Not at all! Why?

Act 1:4 And having met with them, He charged them not to leave Jerusalem, but to await the promise of the Father, “which you heard of Me;

Here we discover that Jesus had been teaching His disciples about the Promise of the Father so they knew what to expect.

Act 11:15 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as

He did upon us at the beginning. 16 “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Jesus had been speaking and teaching the Disciples about the Holy Spirit and what it meant to be “Baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Act 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell

upon all those who were listening to the message. 45 And all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. 46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God.

From these verses it is clear that when the Holy Spirit came upon them Peter was not totally surprised because Jesus had been teaching them what to expect. This was part of the Promise of the Father! When Peter heard them speaking in tongues he immediately recognized that Cornelius and this group had received the Holy Spirit [ and the Promise of the Father] exactly the same as the disciples did on the Day of Pentecost.

To isolate the Promise of the Father from the Baptism with the Holy Spirit has been popular for 100 years but this is dangerous and is a serious departure from clear scripture. Our purpose is not to make the Baptism with the Holy Spirit to be the fulness of the Promise of the Father but to be the introduction to the fulness of the Promise! It is the Holy Spirit that reveals and facilitates the fuller understanding of spiritual things. In this spiritual dimension the natural mind of the natural man is helpless.

All ministry must adopt a frame of reference from which to evaluate our understanding of where the church needs to go. Unless we adopt an eternal frame of reference, the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant and the current Kingdom within will soon become another Christian cliche. We will continue to speak of God’s total provision in ambiguous terms but without ministering the actual experience. In other words to speak about the “Kingdom Demands” outside of the provisions of the Promise of the Father and our experiential participation in the New Covenant just leaves man with the challenge to do the very best that he can in human ability to please God and do His will. No matter how “consecrated” the natural man is or his desire to serve God, those who are in the flesh CANNOT please God.

This concept of serving God in natural ability is actually just the Old Covenant way of pleasing God through carnal commandments and physical requirements. However, with the many new and greater demands of the Kingdom of God, this can only frustrate the natural man and this soon becomes evident when he tries to understand eternal things. When the natural man attempts to serve God, he can ONLY do it in the flesh. Then he will always end up with “Oh, wretched man that I am.” The fact is that the Kingdom Life is so far beyond the capacity of the natural man to fulfill or understand that it just becomes foolishness to him.

We really cannot adapt to a new frame of reference until we have developed the mind of the Spirit, forsake our best human effort and participate in the New Covenant provision. This tremendous provision is focused upon and is inherent within the new inner man. Its provision is extremely limited for the outward man because he has no facilities to comprehend these spiritual dimensions. Receiving this eternal frame of reference is the work of the Holy Spirit revealing the things that are to come to our new spirit. However, there are multiple dimensions to this new inner Life within that can only be activated by the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit as He manifests Himself in the inner Life. This is just is part of the many provisions of the New Covenant. It is by His work in the inner man that we develop a new frame of reference for our outward life and ministry.

For example; The Glorious Church, The New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, God’s Eternal Purpose , the Kingdom of God and the manifested sons will soon become our new frame of reference and goal of the Christian Life. The Priesthood after the Order of Melchizedek is revealed within the New Covenant provision. A functioning Kingdom of priests becomes the focus for outward ministry. Since the primary function of the Kingdom of Priests is to (1) Stand before the Lord (2) Minister to the Lord an (3) To burn Incense, the outward ministry is radically different from the Outer Court ministry. In the Holy Place dimension of ministry there is NO competition within this corporate ministry! All ministries function under one Head. This eliminates denominational type headship. There are no titles, no hierarchy of human positions and NO ministry in the flesh permitted in this dimension. The absolute sovereign headship of this priesthood has already been assigned to our High Priest. He alone directs His body of Priests, speaking and directing and leading each member of his priesthood body through the work of the Holy Spirit.

It is my opinion that each restoration ministry must adapt to this frame of reference if we are going to cooperate with Christ Jesus in building His Lampstand Church. If our frame of reference is just a denomination or an independent group or a single Christian experience we will surely adapt to lower human goal. The Goal of Christ Jesus during the church age is to build that ONE Pure Gold Lampstand Church, hammered out of one piece. All New Covenant ministers that have been appointed by the Father are elders in that one church or they eliminate themselves from what Christ is building.

Our ultimate frame of reference must be the completion of this glorious church. Since this IS the church he is coming back for, it is essential that she become all that He intended from the foundation of the world. For this reason we must use the ultimate and eternal frame of reference as our eternal goal. Otherwise we will talk about going to heaven, someday, as our ultimate goal!

Very little of this eternal perspective is possible or relevant except we function within the full provision of the New Covenant which is the basis of the Promise of the Father. Without experiencing the full provision of God’s promise we will always view these things as impossible or just conceptual and maybe as doctrinal but not as experiential.

We may accept the doctrine but not expect the experience. In other words we are quick to accept a religious concept but not within a practical and experiential possibility. I recently heard of a church that is having carnality problems so the pastor tried to convince the people that they needed to begin to see the church as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle. Trying to see a carnal church as glorious is difficult, even for a carnal believer who has no revelation of eternity or what God has purposed. He is not coming back for a church that is pretending to be glorious.

The question is this; How much of what Christ Jesus has provided through Calvary must we experience before we can say “This is enough?” For example; Without experiencing regeneration no other experience is possible but is regeneration enough? How much of the Promise of the Father is enough? How much of the New Covenant is enough? How much of the Kingdom must be a reality in our life.

The New Covenant guarantees us that God will forgive us of our sins and our iniquity He will remember no more. This is wonderful but is that enough? Hundreds of ministers of salvation will confirm in one chorus “That is enough!” “We don’t really need a new spirit or His Spirit or His Laws in our heart and mind and we don’t want to be bothered with Him causing us to walk in His way so we are careful to keep His statutes and ordinance and do them or that we be His people and that He would be our God.” We don’t want to be inconvenienced with Him “causing us”. As long as He is our personal Savior that is enough!

This “forgiveness of sins is enough” doctrine has delayed the growth and purpose of the church for over 100 years and the evidence is all around us. Thousands believe that if we have forgiveness of sins and an imputed righteousness, that is enough. If we try to preach a higher frame of reference we are labeled as heretics. The objection to a higher Life is this; Our sins are forgiven and we are going to heaven someday so who would want more than that? How can you get more saved than saved is the question.

Another question is this; Can we really be “clothed with power from on high” unless we receive the promise of the Father? The other question is this; Can we really function in the New Covenant / Kingdom dimension without supernatural power. Is the believer, who is just a natural man, but is doing the very best that he can to please God in the flesh, the real Christian Life? Since escaping the power of the flesh appears to be a universal problem, maybe God’s way and His provision is a better choice.

It is my opinion that the church will never grow up in all things into Christ WITHOUT ALL of God’s provision experienced in the inner man. The natural man in the pulpit, preaching a natural message to a natural people will never get a spiritual result. This is quite evident in the visible church, universally.

Unless we have His laws written on the new inward man, can we really be led by the Spirit?

Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

John 6:45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me.

1Jo 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

All this provision is supplied within the New Covenant. If we are ignorant of what God has provided for us, we will revert back to the natural man doing the very best that he can. The result of that is “Oh, wretched man that I am.” The frustrating thing about ministry is that after 30 years of preaching we still have the natural man in the pew that has to be taught the basic things over and over. Exactly WHEN is it that God begins to teach each one from the inner man?

Does the new inner man need to grow and develop BEFORE God can begin to teach each one to know Him and to be able to read and understand His laws and His ways? It is embarrassing to realize that after over 30 years of preaching so few are in that spiritual dimension to be personally taught by God. However, we hear people say “Well, the Bible says we are all taught by God and I believe the Bible so I believe I am being taught by God.” Many who believe what the Bible says about salvation but are still not saved. Why? The doctrine will not save you and you must have the actual experience. This mentality of believing the doctrine but having no Life experience has invaded the visible church. Much of the church have their doctrines set and proved but there is no Life of God in the inner man.

Few even recognize that sins {plural} can be forgiven but sin {singular} must be cleansed by removal. Forgiving the sins that we have done is wonderful but to ignore the sin nature that has produced the sins {Plural} is ignorance. Of course the Promise of the Father and the New Covenant have made provision for both sins and sin! Still, the doctrine of cleansing will help no body unless they have the experience.

Receiving forgiveness for the outward sins without dealing the “sin” that dwells within me is called salvation. But do we believe that is the best that Calvary could provide to create a glorious church without spot or wrinkle? Are we ever going to see the natural man fulfilling the Eternal Purpose of God? Never! If we always keep the eternal goal in mind it helps us sort out some of these foolish doctrines that have deceived many into the comfort of the status quo.

Why does popular Christianity think that struggling with the sin nature within is normal? One reason is because we have focused upon the blood for the forgiveness of sins {plural} and severely neglected the personal cross that is directed toward the sin nature or sin {singular}. When “forgiveness of past sins” is the goal instead of God’s eternal purpose we fall into some objective program of Christian Religion.

It seems that so many churches make forgiveness of sins {plural} the destination instead of the first step into God’s eternal purpose. We are quick to label forgiven sinners as “Christians”before there is discipleship or they have a developed inner life. While baby Christians are “Christian” they are still far short of the Kingdom Government of God which governs by the laws within the inner man.

Then what is the solution to this lukewarm dilemma? We must begin our outer court teaching with the Promise of the Father, the New Covenant, The Kingdom of God and the development of the inner Life. Our frame of reference must be the high calling of God, the New Jerusalem, the Bride of Christ, the Glorious Church, God’s Eternal Purpose and the Throne of God. After we have established a new frame of reference for the believers of our eternal destination, we must prepare the new believers by actually laying each of the 6 foundations of Hebrews 6 with 6 genuine experiences in their life. The Tabernacle of Moses reveals at least 7 valid Outer Court experiences! These are not just 6 doctrines to be learned. The Bible lays out 6 foundations which are NOT destinations but preparations so we CAN go on to perfection. Without these 6 experiences God will not permit us to go on and the inner life will be just too shallow to participate in the next Outer Court experience of full consecration.

My theory is that until “the various ministries” have developed a genuine inner life and a Holy Place ministry, they will not be equipped to lead believers into that dimension where the Lampstand Church BEGINS to function.