I will pour out My Spirit
Joel 2:28-29 –
28 And it will be that, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29 Even on the menservants and maidservants in those days I will pour out My Spirit.
This great promise from God through the prophet Joel is echoed in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zechariah, but receives its fullest expression in Joel. In the last days, God will pour out His Holy Spirit, not only on the priests, not only on people who are especially anointed, not only on a specially chosen elite, but on all kinds of people, regardless of age (old and young), gender (sons and daughters), or social status (menservants and maidservants).
This echoes Galatians 3:38 –
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Under the Old Covenant, women couldn’t be priests, neither could slaves, neither could people of a certain age – if you were too young or too old, you couldn’t be a priest. But, under the New Covenant, all those restrictions disappear. God can use us all to minister for Him. All believers are priests:
1 Peter 2:9 - But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonders of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.
This is where the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers comes from.
It echoes what God originally intended for the Jewish nation:
Exodus 19:6 - You will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.
Originally, it was God’s intention that all the first-born sons would be priests. But because they defiled themselves by worshipping the golden calf, God replaced them with the Levites, who judged the other tribes for worshipping the golden calf (Exodus 32:25-29; Numbers 3:41). But Jesus has now taken the place of those first-born sons and those Levites, and He invites all of us to share in His identity as priests and heirs.
If we want to be sure that this blessing is for us, we need only to turn to Acts chapter 2 and the sermon that Peter preached to the crowds (Acts 2:38-39):
38 Peter replied, ‘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. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.’
So, let’s not hold back from how the Spirit wants to work in our lives.
Those of us who have been filled with the Spirit need to beware of two things:
1. Using the gifts of the Spirit for our own selfish ends. As much as we can edify ourselves by speaking in tongues, that is not the main reason why the Spirit has been given. Acts 1:8 –
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.
So, the power of the Spirit is given so that we can witness to others. It is not so that we can be selfish or enjoy our own Pentecostal picnic. When Jesus was tempted to turn a stone into bread in order to feed Himself, He refused, but later we see Him feeding the 5000, and then the 4000, and He has been feeding hungry souls ever since. He used His miraculous power not for selfish ends but to help others.
2. We should also beware of thinking that we can only be filled once.
Ephesians 5:18 –
Don’t get drunk with wine, because it makes you lose control. Instead, keep on being filled with the Spirit…
Being filled with the Spirit is not a one-off event; we need to continue being filled with the Spirit. We need to continue to invite the Spirit to rise up within us so that we can overflow to a needy world.
So, let’s not quench the Spirit:
1 Thessalonians 5:19 - Do not quench [stifle, suppress, extinguish, stop, smother, put out, restrain] the Spirit;
let’s not grieve the Spirit:
Ephesians 4:30 - And do not grieve [sadden, upset, hurt, cause heartbreak to] the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption;
let’s not resist the Spirit:
Acts 7:51 - Stephen continued speaking, “You stubborn Jewish leaders; you refuse to give your hearts to God or even listen to Him. You always resist [oppose, fight against, work against, withstand,, ignore] the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors did”;
but let us continue to welcome Him as He fills us and works in us and through us.
O Breath of Life, come sweeping through us,
Revive Your Church with life and power;
O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us,
And fit Your church to meet this hour.
O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,
Till humbly we confess our need;
Then in Your tenderness remake us,
Revive, restore, for this we plead.
O Breath of Love, come breathe within us,
Renewing thought and will and heart;
Come, Love of Christ, afresh to win us,
Revive Your Church in every part.
Revive us, Lord! Is zeal abating
While harvest fields are vast and white?
Revive us, Lord, the world is waiting,
Equip Your Church to spread the light.
(Bessie Porter Head)
We need the Holy Spirit to breathe into our lives and into our church if we are truly to see God’s Kingdom come.
"‘Thank You, O my Father, for giving us Your Son, and leaving Your Spirit till the work on earth is done’. We thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are still baptising people in Your Holy Spirit and, whilst we pray for that to happen in our own fellowship, we also ask that those of us who have already been baptised will continue to be filled and refreshed by Your Spirit so that we can flow in the Spirit in all that we do, and continue to be empowered to be Your witnesses. We ask for Your glory and honour and to advance Your Kingdom. Amen!"
