Acts 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 . . ..”
Before Jesus sent the disciples out to teach and preach the good news of the Messiah arisen and alive, he prepared them. Part of that preparation was for the disciples to receive the promise from the Father which Jesus said that he had spoken to them about. What was this long awaited promise? Jesus tells them in the very next phrase. Acts 1: 5 reads, “for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with (in) the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” In other words, Jesus told them that they were to await the promised Holy Spirit that the Father had been promising for some time. They were to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit before they left Jerusalem and started out in their ministries.
When God gives you a ministry or a job to do, He always prepares you first and gives you all of the gifts and assistance you need in order to accomplish that which He has directed you to do. It is His job to train you and to equip you with all that you need to succeed. The chief gift is the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth,” (Acts 1: 8).
We are still completing this mission that Jesus gave to the disciples on that day. We are still going into all the world spreading the good news about Jesus. And we, like the disciples of old, need God’s power working in our lives so that we may accomplish all that He has set us to. And what God has promised He is more than able to deliver.