There was a day when a man’s word was his bond, and a promise made was a promise fulfilled. Dr. Ruble, Erskine Seminary Dean Emeritus, once told me how, when he first came to Due West to teach, he received the mortgage for his home with little more than a handshake. Try that today! Four years ago when Nations Bank gave us our mortgage, they required a wee-bit of paperwork! All things considered, truthtelling and promise keeping have fallen on hard times. Today there are political operatives who find their ability to deceive and to misrepresent the truth to be a matter of pride. In fact, some make their living by spinning the truth, rearranging facts so as to confuse the public and obscure the truth.

In a day when falsehood is uplifted, and the "Big Lie" glorified, it runs contrary to our culture to talk about a sure promise. Nevertheless the biblical standard has not changed. Today I call your attention to a text of Scripture that highlights a very precious promise. And it is a sure promise- a promise made, and a promise fulfilled.

Our text describes for us events that occurred on the day of Pentecost. Then, in answer to the prayers of God’s people, and in fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan, the Holy Spirit was poured out in a spectacular fashion. Peter, emboldened by the power of the Holy Spirit, preached a message of judgment and hope- of judgment for the wickedness of those who had crucified the Lord, and of hope for those who were convicted of their sin and sought the mercy of God. It is in this message that Peter reminds his hearers of God’s promise of salvation- a promise made to Abraham, to David, and to the prophets, and now fulfilled before their very eyes!

In particular, he tells them "repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Then he tells them, "this promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off- for all whom the Lord our God will call."

The background for Peter’s sermon, and his confidence in God’s promise, begins at the very beginning. In the garden, God made a covenant with our first father, Adam. That God created Adam was a gracious act. There was nothing that compelled God to create, for there was no law or authority external to God that bound him or determined his actions. Instead, God made Adam out of his mere good pleasure.

And God placed him in a garden perfectly adapted to his needs. When Adam became lonely, God gave him a helper to walk with him and share in his covenant responsibilities. This covenant was, in reality, a relationship- a relationship of union and communion. And God saw fit to join with Adam in the garden to walk with him in the cool of the evening. This was a gracious accommodation on God’s part, bowing low to be in fellowship with his handiwork.

As you all know, this relationship did not continue unmolested. God had placed some conditions on their continued relationship. He gave Adam certain covenant responsibilities, namely to live out his partnership in faith and obedience- to tend the garden, a task that was singularly appropriate and not at all burdensome. And, God had lined out the boundaries clearly- Adam knew that the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil was off limits and that to eat from it would constitute an act of disobedience. In fact, it would be an act of high treason against the Great King.

Well, you know the rest of the story, and a dismal story it is. Adam did not remain faithful, but broke covenant with God. And the sentence of death was pronounced upon him. Our first parents, intent on becoming gods in their own right, by their act of disobedience became not more than human, but less. The image of God was marred and the covenant relationship, founded on mutual union and communion, was broken.

Even then, however, God was gracious. The sentence of death was not fully executed at once; instead time for repentance was offered. In mercy, God provided a covering for the nakedness of our first parents and, in doing so, demonstrated two important truths: first, the works of our hands are not sufficient to cover our shame, and second, innocent blood must be shed in order for the guilty to stand, covered, in the presence of God.

Although Adam broke this first covenant, God continued to seek out a people for himself. In the days of Abraham, God initiated a new phase in his unfolding covenant of grace. From the individualism of Adam and his offspring, God broadened his covenant promise to include the family and tribe of Abraham. So, in Gen. 17:7, God entered into a covenant with Abraham and his descendants with him.

There were several important new developments in the Abrahamic covenant. At this time, God instituted circumcision as the sign and seal of the everlasting covenant. Also, God said he would give the promised land to Abraham’s descendants, a promise that anticipates God’s people inheriting the earth, according to Rom. 4:13. Furthermore, God promised that he would multiply Abraham’s seed and make them as numerous as the stars in the heavens, Gen. 15:5. Finally, In Gen. 18:18, he promised that Abraham’s seed would be a blessing to all nations, a promise that Paul tells the Church in Galatia specifically refers to our Lord Jesus!

These, in particular, are the promises that underlie Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. But the promises made to Abraham were expanded as the people of God grew from a tribe into a nation. The provisions of the Abrahamic covenant were reiterated in God’s gracious promises made to Moses. In obedience to the commands of God, Moses became the mediator of the covenant at Sinai. Moses, as mediator, led his people out of the bondage of Egypt, through the watery judgment of the Red Sea, to the promised land of Canaan. The covenant was fleshed out further in the laws of holiness that God gave to Moses. Significantly, it is in the Book of Leviticus that we find the clearest articulation of what it means to be in covenant with the Lord. In Lev. 26:12, God promises, "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people."

In this phase of the unfolding Covenant of Grace, Israel was baptized into union with Moses by the journey through the Red Sea. In commemoration of God’s mighty redemptive act, delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt, the feast of Passover was instituted and celebrated. Because of God’s everlasting love, Israel became his treasured possession, his own dear children. Commanding his people to build the Tabernacle, or the Tent of Meeting, God provided a dwelling place for his glory. Although only a temporary situation, the Tent of Meeting was the place where God could meet with his covenant people.

With the establishment of Israel as a nation, God continued to work in faithfulness to his covenant promise. When King David ascended to the throne, God expanded his covenant from a nation to a kingdom. In fact, in the 89^th Psalm, God promised to extend the line of David forever and to establish his throne as long as the heavens endure (Ps. 89:29). With the coming of Solomon, God allowed his people to build a permanent dwelling, a temple, where God could meet with his people. At the dedication of the Temple the presence of the Lord so filled the Temple that the people were unable to enter for a time.

The final phase of covenantal development does not occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, but is certainly and clearly promised there. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. 31:31, Eze. 34:22ff, 36:24) prophesy of a time when God will sprinkle his people with clean water. He will give them a new heart and new spirit; he will write his laws on the hearts of his people. All will come to know the Lord, and none will have need of being taught. Indeed, they predict a time when Israel will be more than an earthly kingdom; for Israel will be a nation of holy men and women, a kingdom of priests!

What marvelous promises God made to his people! And, throughout the Old Testament, we see that most of these good promises were fulfilled. But there is much that was not fulfilled. Abraham sought for a city, whose builder and maker was the Lord- and he never found it. David looked for a son who would ascend to the throne, who would be established forever as God’s firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth- but he did not live to see it. Many in Israel heard the prophet’s voice proclaim a covenant of peace, a time of renewal when all Israel would experience the transforming power of God- but they were joined with their forefathers and did not receive the things promised.

Now, when we come to the new covenant, or the New Testament, we find that what God had promised, he now fulfills.

In Matthew 1:23, we find the promise of the birth of Jesus, and we are told he will be called Immanuel, which means "God with us!" You may not immediately perceive the covenantal significance of this title, but think back to the basic covenant formula, "I will be your God, and you will be my people." Do you see it now? Jesus Christ, the Divine-Human Savior is the embodiment of the covenant principle. In Christ, God and man are brought together forever and the gap that was opened by the First Adam has been closed in the Second Adam.

Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant who establishes a new covenant code, the new commandment of John 13:34. And, by the power of the Spirit he writes that commandment upon our hearts so that we love one another. He leads his people in a redemptive journey from sin through the waters of baptism to the promised land. In commemoration of God’s mighty redemptive act, delivering us from the bondage of sin, the Lord’s Supper was instituted and celebrated.

This work of redemption, promised to Abraham, David, and the prophets, is the promise that Peter announces on the Day of Pentecost. And it is a promise, he says, "for you and your children and for all who are far off- for all whom the Lord our God will call." How marvelous is this promise- the promise of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit! It is this promise which runs through the Covenant of Grace, the promise of union and communion with God, broken in Adam, and restored in Jesus Christ. And it is not just for the old covenant people of God and their children, it is for you, and for me, and for as many as the Lord our God shall call!

Oh, there is one other thing! There will be an even greater fulfillment of this promise, for what God accomplished in principle at Calvary, he will yet implement in fullness. God will finally and ultimately fulfill his covenant promise in the new heavens and the new earth. Look with me at Revelation 21:1-4; 21:22-27; and 22:1-5. Here we see Paradise restored. All of redeemed humanity is returned, not to a primitive Garden, but to the fully differentiated City of God, with all of its advancements and cultural achievements.