Thursday, May 21st, 2009

Thursday, May 21st, 2009
Joel 2:28-32
"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. "And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls.

Oh, the promise of the Spirit. This promise was given in Jeremiah 31, the promise of the new covenant, and it is reiterated throughout the Scriptures. The promise of the great day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would come from heaven and fill His people.

So often, myself, as a Christian will live in the old testament. Living as if the Holy Spirit has not actually come, living as if the Holy Spirit really isn't real, active and powerful in my life.

Oh, this promise was made, it was fulfilled, and every single person who is a Christian has the Holy Spirit living in them. So, I am a Christian, and I know the Spirit lives within me, but the question is am I living in such a way as to allow His power to work in and through me.

Listen, oh my soul, what was promised in the coming of the Spirit, then the question will become, what then should this look like in a new testament believer, post-apostolic, like me.

1. Prophecy will take place. The Spirit will be poured out in such a way that future events will be foretold of the power and will of God to come.
2. Dreaming dreams will take place. The Spirit will pour out on people and will allow them to dream dreams that will tell of God's power and might to come. Perhaps this is like the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had, foretelling of the kingdom cut out without hands.
3. Visions will take place. The Spirit will give visions to people, perhaps like Peter which will show what God is doing and will do for people.
4. Rulers thrown down. The Spirit will pour out His power and wrath. The kings of the earth will be brought down, for the free spread of the gospel.
5. Salvation will take place. The Spirit will pour himself out on people that hear the gospel. They will repent and find salvation.

This outpouring of the Spirit happened at Pentecost, and throughout the time of the apostles, until the gospel was spread to such an extent that the whole world had heard of Jesus Christ and His salvation. The universality of the gospel call is true. God has sent the word out to the whole world, and commands everyone, everywhere to repent and turn from the great wrath to come.

God has offered this salvation to all. This is the message of the gospel, and this message is powerful and true. This message needs to be sent out throughout the whole world to everyone I know. I must give this message of hope to people today. I need to share with them the joy of the gospel and show them how much God has loved the world, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Oh Lord, this salvation message, has been around for a long time, even in the prophet Joel, yes, even in the garden of Eden. Help me to hear this message, help me to live this message, and help me to share this message with the lost in the world today. In Christ, amen.