Joel 2:28, 29
The events of this passage of scripture have partially come to pass. Peter quotes it in Acts 2:17, stating the “afterward” to be “the last days”, when on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 in Jerusalem who were waiting on the promise of the Father. We have had nearly 2000 years pass since Peter stated this, and we still hear talk of the “last days”. This is because the era of the “last days” began with the ascension of Christ, though the “last day” is yet to come.
Since we are in these “last days”, the out-pouring of the Spirit is still happening. The Holy Spirit has already arrived on the earth, empowering the church, but every believer can have an outward manifestation of this power in their life. Joel said that it would cause “your sons and daughters to prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28). Even the servants and the handmaids can now receive this mighty manifestation (verse 29). It is not confined to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, because Peter took the gospel of grace to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, in Acts 10, and after he preached of the forgiveness of sins through Christ, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:44). These same new converts then begin to “speak with tongues and magnify God” (verse 46).
The Holy Spirit enters the believer at conversion, and He manifests Himself as Comforter in their life, walking with them into every area, providing the reaffirmation that they are the righteousness of God (John 16:10). He wishes to provide them with all spiritual gifts as well, and the believer is encouraged to pray for the best of those gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). The Spirit manifests the various gifts so that the believer can profit from them (1 Corinthians 12:7), and it would do us good to look at the list of those gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.
One gift is given to all believers to use as a prayer language, to build them up, and to glorify God, and that is the gift of tongues. Three times in the book of Acts, the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit into believers lives was accompanied by speaking with other tongues (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6), and Paul told the Corinthian church that when you use this gift you speak directly to God and that it is done to build up your spirit (14:2, 4). Paul also encouraged the believers to pray in tongues whenever they wanted, or even to sing in tongues in like manner (14:15), and he was proud of using tongues (14:18). He also knew that not everyone would agree with this usage, so he instructed the Corinthians that if someone chose to be ignorant regarding these gifts, “let him be ignorant” (14:38), but to “forbid not to speak with tongues” (14:39).
The Holy Spirit is still touching lives and entering into the heart of everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. When the Law was given on the first Day of Pentecost, 3000 people were killed. When the Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost, 3000 people were saved. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. Praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit!
If you are not seeing the manifestation of the Spirit in your life through the gifts, there is no condemnation to you. You are not “doing something wrong”. Simply ask for the Holy Spirit to manifest in you. Your heavenly Father always gives to those who ask (Luke 11:13).
The events of this passage of scripture have partially come to pass. Peter quotes it in Acts 2:17, stating the “afterward” to be “the last days”, when on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the 120 in Jerusalem who were waiting on the promise of the Father. We have had nearly 2000 years pass since Peter stated this, and we still hear talk of the “last days”. This is because the era of the “last days” began with the ascension of Christ, though the “last day” is yet to come.
Since we are in these “last days”, the out-pouring of the Spirit is still happening. The Holy Spirit has already arrived on the earth, empowering the church, but every believer can have an outward manifestation of this power in their life. Joel said that it would cause “your sons and daughters to prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:28). Even the servants and the handmaids can now receive this mighty manifestation (verse 29). It is not confined to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, because Peter took the gospel of grace to the house of Cornelius, a Gentile, in Acts 10, and after he preached of the forgiveness of sins through Christ, “the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word” (Acts 10:44). These same new converts then begin to “speak with tongues and magnify God” (verse 46).
The Holy Spirit enters the believer at conversion, and He manifests Himself as Comforter in their life, walking with them into every area, providing the reaffirmation that they are the righteousness of God (John 16:10). He wishes to provide them with all spiritual gifts as well, and the believer is encouraged to pray for the best of those gifts (1 Corinthians 12:31). The Spirit manifests the various gifts so that the believer can profit from them (1 Corinthians 12:7), and it would do us good to look at the list of those gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.
One gift is given to all believers to use as a prayer language, to build them up, and to glorify God, and that is the gift of tongues. Three times in the book of Acts, the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit into believers lives was accompanied by speaking with other tongues (Acts 2:4; 10:46; 19:6), and Paul told the Corinthian church that when you use this gift you speak directly to God and that it is done to build up your spirit (14:2, 4). Paul also encouraged the believers to pray in tongues whenever they wanted, or even to sing in tongues in like manner (14:15), and he was proud of using tongues (14:18). He also knew that not everyone would agree with this usage, so he instructed the Corinthians that if someone chose to be ignorant regarding these gifts, “let him be ignorant” (14:38), but to “forbid not to speak with tongues” (14:39).
The Holy Spirit is still touching lives and entering into the heart of everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. When the Law was given on the first Day of Pentecost, 3000 people were killed. When the Spirit was given on the Day of Pentecost, 3000 people were saved. The letter of the law kills, but the Spirit gives life. Praise the Lord for the Holy Spirit!
If you are not seeing the manifestation of the Spirit in your life through the gifts, there is no condemnation to you. You are not “doing something wrong”. Simply ask for the Holy Spirit to manifest in you. Your heavenly Father always gives to those who ask (Luke 11:13).
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