Outpouring of the Spirit
What can happen after a 10 day prayer meeting? Pentecost is a time of preparation of the 1st wheat harvest. Pentecost falls on 50 days after the passover so it changes every year. It was one of the three great feasts which every male within 30 miles of Jerusalem had to attend and many from all over the world came as well. A national holiday celebrating the day when the law was given to Moses on Mt Sinai.
It was on such a day that the Lord chose to send the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as they met together. They received such endowment of power from the Holy Spirit that they proclaimed the greatness, majesty, magnificence of God in a multitude of dialects. This was fulfilled of the prophesy of Joel and the purpose of the outpouring comes to be revealed in verse 21. All who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved! Today we want to examine these three areas: the outpouring of the Spirit; the prophetic word of Joel and the need for everyone to call on the Lord to be saved!.
The disciples were told to wait - not idle but they prayed and chose a man to take the place of Judas in the 10 day period that they waited for the promise of God. If we wait on the Lord , we too will be endowed with the Holy Spirit in such a way that it will be evident that we have supernatural forces at work in our lives. Give yourselves to waiting on the Lord.
When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples, God sent a specific signs indicating His power and presence. The wind and fire attracted many of the pilgrims who were thronging to the temple at the hour of prayer - 9 am (Perhaps 9 am is the sacred hour not 11 am as we do.) When the disciples were filled with the Spirit they began to speak in different dialects. Those Jews present from all over the world heard the apostles speaking in their own language. This was not some ecstatic heavenly language but actual dialects which non-believers understood. The tongues spoken on this day were different than the tongues spoken by the Corinthian church. There are some who speak in tongues when they pray to God. That is very different than proclaiming the wonders of God in known, spoken dialects so that others can understand and glorify God as well.
Peter the rock of the church stood up and spoke to all the people beginning with an explanation of prophesy found in Joel 2:28 - 32. Joel prophesied that in the last days God would pour out His spirit upon all people in the whole world. Sons and daughters, young men and older spiritual leaders , God's servants both male and female will receive the Holy Spirit. The focus of God's pouring out of His Spirit is not on the tongues - that is very incidental. The focus is on prophesying and seeing a vision for the work which needs to be done.
Do you have a vision or dream of how God could use you to reach the world? God wants to pour out His Spirit upon you so that you have a vision for the expansion of the kingdom of God. He wants to include you in the exciting work of sharing our faith and seeing people turn their lives over to Christ. God gives us special spiritual gifts that we are to use to lead others to Christ. Are you using those gifts? If you are not you cannot know the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
The quotation from Joel ends with the proclamation, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." We are living in a day when much of the prophetic word of the Old and New Testament is coming to fulfilment. We live in a time of economic uncertainty. The morality of the world is degenerating. People fear an outbreak of World War III with the explosive powder keg in the Falklands ready to plunge the world into catastrophe.
If Christ were to return today, would you be ready to meet Him? It says that "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Saved from what? God will save us from hell and give us a home in heaven with Him. Are you sure that you are going to heaven? Have you called on the Lord to save you and forgive you from your sins? Behold now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Don't put it off!! Won't you ask Christ to come into your life today to clean up that mess inside and give you a new heart. Ephesians 2:8, 9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and not that of yourselves. It is the gift of God not of works, least any man boast." The Lord tells us in Isaian 1:18, "Come no, let us reason together, though you sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." what is your life like today? Have you ever consciously made a commitment to Jesus Christ and asked Him to forgive you? Do it now!!!