PART 4 – I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT…YOU WILL PROPHECY
INTRODUCTION TO PART 3 (JOEL 2:18-32)
Over the last 3–weeks in Joel, we have seen that spiritual revival begins by seeing our devastated situation, seeing that God is both powerful and loving enough to deal with the deepest problems in and around us if we will seek Him in prayer. We have seen that He can ‘restore the years the locusts have eaten’ - those who will seek Him will have such a harvest as to make up for the grief of the barren years. Today, and through our devotions this week, we will see that when the Holy Spirit falls on a church community (revival) they will hear God’s voice, speak for Him and have experiences of His awesome presence.
QUOTES TO INSPIRE YOU.
‘ Every revival of religion, I say, is really a repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost.’ (Lloyd-Jone, Revival)
‘Whitefield wrote in his diary, ‘Monday, 1st January, 1739. Had a “Love-Feast” with our brethren and spent the whole night in close prayer, psalms and thanksgivings. God supported me without sleep.’ The hours flew by, until about three in the morning it seemed the day of Pentecost had come again. John Wesley in his journal recalled, ‘The power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from awe and amazement at the presences of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be Lord.”’
James Harvey, the friend of Wesley at Oxford, described the change in Wesley through his anointing of the Spirit. ‘His preaching was once like the firing of an arrow, all the speed and force depending on the strength of his arm in bending the bow. Thereafter it was like the firing of a rifle ball, the whole force depending on the powder and needing only a finger touch t let it off.’ (Colin Whittaker, Great Revivals, Page 46-47)
CONTENTS
1. Come to Jesus Daily devotional- Monday – In those days…The last days
- Tuesday – My Spirit
- Wednesday – I will pour out my Spirit
- Thursday – They will prophecy
- Friday – Everyone who calls will be saved
For links to the message go to our website,
1. COME TO JESUS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
One of our goals as a church is to spend at least 20 minutes every day in prayer and worship out of the bible. I hope you find this devotional helpful toward that end.
MONDAY – IN THOSE DAYS…THE LAST DAYS
Joel 2:28-29 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Acts 2:15-18 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
Afterwards…in those days…in the last days
Joel’s words were a promise (prophecy) that was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. We are now in a new era, The ‘last days’, lasting until Jesus’ returns. During the entirety of this dispensation (era) Jesus is pouring out His Spirit on all of His people.
The idea of the ‘Last Days’ is to strike us with the urgency of the hour. The time is short. The opportunity for salvation will soon be over. As Paul says, ‘The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light’. The Spirit wants to instil His urgency in us so that we take up our armour and fight in prayer, fight through sharing the gospel, fight for the souls of those heading for eternity in hell. Jesus, just prior to to His ascension to heaven said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)
The promises of the Old Testament and of Jesus regarding the gift of the Spirit have come upon us. When the Spirit was poured out on the church at Pentecost, Peter recognised this as the beginning of the era prophesied by Joel. Peter declared, "this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel…” (Acts 2:16).
RESPONSE
Revivals are extraordinary seasons when the Spirit falls on the church, however, let’s never forget that we are in the Last Days when the Spirit is being poured out on His church. This is no time for passivity! Whilst seeking God for revival, it’s so important that we ‘go on being filled with the Holy Spirit’ - whilst waiting for the rain, let’s never forget that we do have a well! The gift of the Spirit’s empowering is available every day.
Jonathan Edward’s Experience of the Spirit
This example is a little wordy but may we, in whatever context we are in, ask for the Spirit to fill us with a vision of ‘the glory of the Son of God’.
‘Once, as I rode out into the woods for my health, in 1737, having alighted from my horse in a retired place, as my manner commonly has been, to walk for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, pure and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle condescension. This grace that appeared so calm and sweet, appeared also great above the heavens. The person of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency great enough to swallow up all thought and conception--which continued, as near as I can judge, about an hour; which kept me the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, and weeping aloud. I felt an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how to express, emptied and annihilated; to lie in the dust, and to be full of Christ alone; to love him with a holy and pure love; to trust in him; to live upon him; to serve and follow him; and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure, with a divine and heavenly purity. I have several other times had views very much of the same nature, and which have had the same effects.’ (Works of Jonathan Edwards)
TUESDAY – MY SPIRIT
Joel 2:28-29 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
It’s vital, when we are talking about and desiring the Holy Spirit’s work among us, it’s vital that we remember that He is, and that we relate to Him as, a person.
There is a danger of thinking of the Spirit as a power – an ‘it’ rather than a ‘He’. One can think of Him in terms of how He may help us to achieve more in our lives, which is true, but this far from having a living, loving relationship with Him. Joel highlights some of the results of the Spirit’s empowering - prophecy, dreams, visions, but it’s imperative that we seek to have a genuine relationship with the Spirit over and above what He might do for us. The issue that we must all settle once and for all is this – is God an ends or a means for you?
In scripture, the Spirit is often spoken of in metaphors as Gordon Fee has written,
‘We tend to think of the Spirit in non-personal terms and refer to him as “it.” Listen to our images: dove, wind, fire, water, oil. No wonder many regard the Spirit as a gray, oblong blur and find him so difficult to understand and to relate to.’
Do we want power or do we want friendship?
It’s not a friendship when one is in it for what the person can give you rather than aiming for a shared relationship.
Gordon Fee has written, ‘Not only has the coming of Christ changed everything… so too has the coming of the Spirit. In dealing with the Spirit, we are dealing with none other than the personal presence of God.’
RESPONSE
Martyn-Lloyd Jones in his book on revival says,
‘There is no doubt that, as we advance in faith, and in knowledge, and in experience, we shall more and more desire God Himself, and not only, and not merely, the things that are given to us by God.’
Are you seeking power or even revival whilst failing to see that Jesus saves us and gives us His Spirit in order to have a friendship with Him? Jeremiah’s prophecy, speaking of this era of the Spirit, shows that having a relationship is a key aspect of the Spirit’s presence.
'This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.’ (Hebrews 8:10-11)
The Psalmist expresses so well what should be at the centre of every desire for revival - to meet and know God.
‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?’ (Psalms 42:1-2)
WEDNESDAY – I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL PEOPLE
Joel 2:28-29 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Pour out
This description of the Spirit being ‘poured out’ speaks of abundance. This is more like Niagara Falls than a dripping tap. We are not coming to God in the hope of twisting His arm! It is God who promises to pour out His Spirit.
In those days
Joel’s prophecy of the new age of the Spirit being poured out was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Joel's prophecy, however, is promising more than a day, it’s a promise of a ‘pentecostal’ age in which He is constantly pouring out His Spirit. When thinking of this age of the Spirit, it vital that we remember the 3 main ways that He is at work in this dispensation, as seen in the early post-pentecost church:
1. Regeneration
Salvation - regeneration - is a powerful miracle of the Holy Spirit. A Christian is united with Christ by the Spirit. We see this work of the Spirit in examples like Lydia,
Acts 16:14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.
Paul describes it poetically when wrote of those who have been united with Christ and made alive by the Spirit, thus,
‘So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:16- 17)
2. Empowering or filling
Jesus promised “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…”. This empowering is something that we are to ask for as a life-style. The empowering of the Holy Spirit is what enables us, amongst other things, to ‘prophecy’ as Joel promises, and witness effectively as Jesus promises.
3. Revival
Revival events are extraordinary periods of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in which individuals, the church and society are transformed. It can only be distinguished from the ‘everyday' empowering of the Spirit in its greater intensity and effects. For example, what we read about the effects of the Pentecost outpouring must also be seen as a revival. For example, it’s pretty extraordinary to be able to say,
Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptised, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Lloyd-Jones writes, ‘Every revival of religion, I say, is really a repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost’ (Revival Page 200).
RESPONSE
The promise of the Spirit is for everyone including you. The only requirement is that you come to Jesus for salvation and then come believing His promise of the Spirit’s empowering. Peter declared,
“Repent and be baptised, 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. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”’ (Acts 2:38-39)
God has made you a promise, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people…” So let’s ask Him for more salvation, more empowering and days of revival. For what reason do we ask? We ask so that we may know God, love God and that He would receive greater glory.
I would add, let’s remember, we do not control The Spirit, He works in the measure and manner that He decides. Let’s not despise the gentle dew which refreshes because we are too busy wanting the tongues of fire!
David Brainerd’s Experience
‘I was attempting to pray; but found no heart to engage in that or any other duty; my former concern, exercise, and religious affections were now gone. I thought the Spirit of God had quite left me; but still was not distressed: yet disconsolate, as if there was nothing in heaven or earth could make me happy. Having been thus endeavouring to pray though, as I thought, very stupid and senseless for near half an hour, then, as I was walking in a dark thick grove, unspeakable glory seemed to open to the view and apprehension of my soul. I do not mean any external brightness, for I saw no such thing; nor do I intend any imagination of a body of light, somewhere in the third heavens, or any thing of that nature; but it was a new inward apprehension or view that I had of God, such as I never had before, nor any thing which had the least resemblance of it. I stood still, wondered, and admired! I knew that I never had seen before any thing comparable to it for excellency and beauty; it was widely different from all the conceptions that ever I had of God, or things divine. I had no particular apprehension of any one person in the Trinity, either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost; but it appeared to be divine glory. My soul rejoiced with joy unspeakable, to see such a God, such a glorious Divine Being; and I was inwardly pleased and satisfied that he should be God over all for ever and ever. My soul was so captivated and delighted with the excellency, loveliness, greatness, and other perfections of God, that I was even swallowed up in him; at least to that degree, that I had no thought (as I remember) at first about my own salvation, and scarce reflected there was such a creature as myself’ (The life and diary of David Brainerd).
THURSDAY – THEY WILL PROPHECY
There is way too much to say on this subject here. My intention is to stir your faith for prophecy.
Joel 2:28-29 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
Acts 2:15-18 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
God makes a promise that every Christian will ‘prophecy’. Joel, includes sons, daughters, young, old and servants in this list of those who prophecy because he wants to make it clear that all of God’s people will prophecy. It’s interesting to note that Peter, at the fulfilment of this prophecy on the Day of Pentecost, in order to underline this idea adds, ‘and they will prophecy’. So, to be clear, in these Last Days, in this age of the Spirit, every Christian can hear and speak God’s voice!
What is meant by the promise, “they will prophecy”?
Depending on what we think the word ‘prophecy’ means, will determine what we expect from this promise of Joel. To be extreme, does this mean that every Christian is to directly hear from God so doesn’t need teachers or the bible? Are we to expect every decision for us and the church to be answered by a direct revelation from the Holy Spirit? Our experience, and the teaching of scripture, does not bear such an interpretation, so what does this promise from Joel actually mean for us?
Forthtelling and foretelling
Prophecy (prophēteúō) firstly means forthtelling – speaking the mind (message) of God in a particular situation. It can also refer to foretelling, i.e. predicting the future as the Lord reveals it. Let’s look at each in turn.
i) Forthtelling
This aspect of prophecy can be put under and number of headings:
Worship – In Acts 2, for example, when the Spirit fell, they spoke in ‘tongues’, but this was also a form of ‘prophesy’ - forthtelling in other languages. It says ‘we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’ (Acts 2:11). So, to be clear, when we speak out, ‘Jesus, you are King of Kings, we love you…’ this is a form of Spirit-inspired speech, it’s prophesy.
Encouragement – When we say ‘I believe that Jesus wants to remind us/you that…’ this is also prophesying - this is also Spirit-inspired utterance.
Evangelism – Speaking the gospel to people is also forthtelling - the gospel is God’s word to the world!
Preaching – The bible does separate the gifts of teaching from prophesy, but when we teach God’s word with a sense that this is what God wants us to hear right now, and for a certain reason, this is a form of prophecy.
Speaking of the coming of Christ – Joel writes, ‘I will pour out my Spirit in those days. I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth…’ in other words, all Christian will ‘prophecy’ the coming of Jesus and the need to be ready.
Specific direction – God’s word is our authority but, on occasion, we will need specific direction. Some teach that one just needs to apply the principles of scripture to the choices that one need to make, but this is to miss the point that the bible itself promises that God will speak to and through us. (See Acts 13:1-3, 16:6-10, 1 Tim. 1:18)
ii) Foretelling
Foretelling is prophecy about the future. This can be for an individual, a church or a nation. (See Acts 11:27-30, 23:11)
God wants to speak to and through all Christians. In these last days, all Christians can hear God’s voice and are to speak for Him.
RESPONSE
God, through Joel has made us a promise that we will prophecy - we can hear and speak His voice! Paul urges us,
‘Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.’ (1 Corinthians 14:1)
Gordon Fee writes,
‘All this textual evidence suggests that prophecy was a widely expressed and widely experienced phenomenon, which had as its goal the building up of the people of God so as to come to maturity in Christ.’
A revived individual or church will have a great emphasis on prophecy. When people are filled with the Spirit they become sensitive to God’s voice and are prepared to speak for Him. The church will hear Him calling them - and we often hear this through one-another - to prayer, to worship, to love, to holiness, to mission…
May God give us the heart of Moses who, correcting Joshua’s concern that people were prophesying, said,
‘But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”’ (Numbers 11:29)
FRIDAY – EVERYONE WHO CALLS WILL BE SAVED
Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.
Acts 2:19-21 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
During revival, many people become Christians. Also, during revival the gift of evangelism is greatly empowered. On the day of Pentecost, they all spoke out for God’s glory (in foreign languages) and Peter, in particular, stood up with a new boldness and declared the gospel to the crowds. Three thousand were added that day! And, on top of this, the church became a devoted community.
Lloyd-Jones said, ’ Every revival of religion, I say, is really a repetition of what happened on the day of Pentecost.’ The ‘normal Christian life’ is always to have the attributes of Pentecost and the Acts 2 church, but during Revival, these things are in greater abundance.
Today, I want to focus on the promise of evangelistic boldness and salvation. Salvation is, fundamentally, the work of the Holy Spirit as He imparts new life to people. During seasons of revival the gift of evangelism is ‘fanned into flame’ to great effect and the trickle of salvation that we normally see becomes like the flood-waters of spring. Brian Edwards writes,
‘Always when the church of Christ is revived by the Holy Spirit evangelism and mission are the natural and inevitable outflow. Evangelism therefore becomes the test of a genuine work of the Spirit of God… Evangelism is always the hallmark of revival. In fact, in revival it is not ordinary evangelism but a desperate concern , amounting to a passion, for those who have never yet received the invitation to return. Evangelism is an inevitable outflow in revival because revival makes eternal issues a reality. Without Christ men go to hell. Nothing happens today when we talk about hell; we don not feel very much. In revival, both evangelist and hearers feel the horror of hell and the reality of eternal issues. And they feel the glories of heaven also. Things that are ordinarily so remote and distant to us become so real and so vital in revival.’ Brian Edwards, Revival, Page151)
Evan Roberts, prior to God using him so powerfully in the 1904 revival in Wales was filled with God’s love by the Spirit, he wrote,
‘The the fearful bending of the judgement day came to my mind, and I was filled with compassion for those who must bend at the judgement, and I wept. Following that, the salvation of the human soul was solemnly impressed upon me. I felt ablaze with a desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the Saviour; and had it been possible, I was willing to pay God for doing so’
REPONSE
God is alway calling and empowering His church in regard to evangelism. We are to be prayerful and faithful ‘in and out of season’. Even in winter the farmer has to mend the fences, dig the trenches, find the lost sheep… It may be winter now, we may not be experiencing the long days of fruitful summer, but we are to be busy in the field! My friends, and I speak to myself, if we are not prepared to dig and sow in the hard earth of this season, do you really think that you and I are ready for revival, when we will have to work harder than ever to gather and care for an abundant harvest!
Here are a couple of examples from history of what happens when the Spirit comes on us.
The Methodists
‘John, Charles Wesley and George Whitefield, with four other of the original Holy Club from their Oxford days, and some sixty others, gathered at Fetter Lane, London, in the evening to sing and pray. Whitefield wrote in his diary, ‘Monday, 1st January, 1739. Had a “Love-Feast” with our brethren and spent the whole night in close prayer, psalms and thanksgivings. God supported me without sleep.’ The hours flew by, until about three in the morning it seemed the day of Pentecost had come again. John Wesley in his journal recalled, ‘The power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from awe and amazement at the presences of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise Thee, O God, we acknowledge Thee to be Lord.”’
James Harvey, the friend of Wesley at Oxford, described the change in Wesley through his anointing of the Spirit. ‘His preaching was once like the firing of an arrow, all the speed and force depending on the strength of his arm in bending the bow. Thereafter it was like the firing of a rifle ball, the whole force depending on the powder and needing only a finger touch to let it off.’ (Colin Whittaker, Great Revivals, Page 46-47)
D L Moody
In his book, Why God Used D.L. Moody, R.A. Torrey writes about “the definite enduement from on high” that empowered Moody’s preaching. Torrey records,
‘here were two humble women who used to come to his meetings. One was “Auntie Cook” and the other, Mrs. Snow. These two women would come to Mr. Moody at the close of his meetings and say: “We are praying for you.” Finally, Mr. Moody became somewhat nettled and said to them one night: “Why are you praying for me? Why don’t you pray for the unsaved?” They replied: “We are praying that you may get the power.” Mr. Moody did not know what that meant, but he got to thinking about it, and then went to these women and said: “I wish you would tell me what you mean,” and they told him about the definite baptism with the Holy Ghost. Then he asked that he might pray with them and not they merely pray for him.
Auntie Cook once told me of the intense fervour with which Mr. Moody prayed on that occasion. She told me in words that I scarcely dare repeat, though I have never forgotten them. And he not only prayed with them, but he also prayed alone. Not long after, one day on his way to England, he was walking up Wall Street in New York (Mr. Moody very seldom told this and I almost hesitate to tell it) and in the midst of the bustle and hurry of that city his prayer was answered; the power of God fell upon him as he walked up the street and he had to hurry off to the house of a friend and ask that he might have a room by himself, and in that room he stayed alone for hours; and the Holy Ghost came upon him filling his soul with such joy that at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on the spot from very joy. He went out from that place with the power of the Holy Ghost upon him, and when he got to London (partly through the prayers of a bedridden saint in Mr. Lessey’s church), the power of God wrought through him mightily in North London, and hundreds were added to the churches, and that was what led to his being invited over to the wonderful campaign that followed in later years.’
2. COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY STUDY
Opener - Have you had any definite experiences of the Holy Spirit speaking to you or through you?
Read Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:14-18
During this series in Joel, we are thinking about spiritual revival - What happens when the Holy Spirit falls in unusual power. This week we have seen that during revival the church will ‘prophecy’ - that is, they will hear and speak God’s voice; in seasons of the Spirit’s outpouring, there is a greater desire to speak, hear and to obey what He says.
Discuss:
- Read 1 Corinthians 14:1. What should be the driving motive for wanting to prophecy?
- What does 1 Corinthians 14:3 say about the result of prophesying?
- Read 1 Corinthians 14:24-25. How can prophecy effect non-believing visitors to our churches?
- What does 1 Corinthians 14:29 say that we are to do with prophecy? (Let’s not get too hung up on who does the ‘weighing’. In reality it happens as the church listens and, for more directional prophecy, it happens through the eldership team).
- Read Acts 2:21 and Joel 2:32. A final aspect of prophecy that I’d like us to think about is evangelism. Evangelism is prophecy in that it is telling People God’s word for them: “repent, believe, get baptised…” (Acts 2:38-39). According to Joel, all people will ‘prophecy’ and Jesus calls of of us to tell the gospel to those around us. Let’s pray for one-another to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Bold evangelism always follows the empowering of the Spirit.
0 comments:
Post a Comment