The Outpouring

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE OUTPOURING

Acts 2:16-21

6 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17” ‘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. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’  

NIV

This is the beginning of Peter’s greatest sermon, and he starts with what most Jews, regardless of where they live, would know: a prophet’s words. Joel spoke about the last days, but we know that, when he preached this sermon, it was not the literal last days. However, it could be argued that, after the ascension of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit, the last days have begun, at least compared to all the days since creation. Because we are referred to as young earthers, or because we believe according to biblical timelines, the creation happened about 4,000 years before Jesus came to earth. Now we are about 2,000 years after Jesus walked among us. If we used, and that is, “if” the 6 days of creation and the 7th day of rest as a clue, then we could say that we are now living in the 7th day, which would be the last days. However, in the context of what Peter said, the last days began when the Spirit was poured out on all people. That is another clue we need to take special note of: the Spirit has been poured out, and we are part of all people; therefore, the Spirit has been poured out upon us. This would also mean that we may well prophesy. We know that it is one of the gifts of the Spirit in the group of the speaking gifts, tongues, interpretation, and prophecy. Peter is also speaking about what is referred to as the last days, as in the time of the tribulation spoken of in the Revelation given to John. But the point is that the prophet Joel made it clear that whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. That is the point Peter is making very clearly in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost. There is no other way, nothing that will save a person from the impending disaster coming upon the earth that Joel spoke about. We have called upon the name of the Lord. We have called upon Jesus, accepting him as our Lord and Savior. We pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. He has given us the authority to use His name, and the calling to declare his name above all names and that Jesus is the Son of God. It is only through Jesus we are saved, and it can never be Jesus plus anything, but only Jesus. Our salvation is not dependent on anything we could ever do, other than having faith in Jesus, and even our faith is a gift of God. That truth is told to us in the letter Paul wrote to the Romans, when he said that God has given each man a measure of faith. This is another of those clues we need to note. We should never think more highly of ourselves than we should, but in accordance with the measure of faith God has given us. Nothing in and of ourselves can save us, but by the faith God has measured out to us, we can believe in the work of Jesus for our salvation. We could not even have faith if God had not measured it out to us. We praise His Holy Name! We are grateful beyond what we can even measure because Jesus saved us from our sins. Because of the outpouring of the Spirit upon us, we can know Jesus. Thank your Lord for the outpouring.