I Will Pour Out My Spirit

Today's Reading - Joel 1-3

Our reading today takes us to a time when Judah experienced an infestation of locusts. The swarm destroyed the crops and left the nation without food. Particularly in that time and that economy, this was a major event that impacted everyone's lives. The prophet Joel seizes this opportunity to use these events as a time to teach the nation about repentance and the coming judgement. He emphasizes that God is faithful and that He will honor His promises and will bring blessing to the people if they will turn to Him.

When I got to Joel 2:28ff, I was immediately transported to the second chapter of the book of Acts. When Peter and the other apostles began to speak in tongues (other languages), the people gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost thought they were drunk. But Peter tells the crowd that what was occurring was in fact the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Joel.

 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: "‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ (Acts 2:15-21)

Peter tells the crowd, "what you are seeing now is what Joel was talking about in his prophecy. Today is the day that the Lord has poured out His Spirit and what you are hearing is the result of that."  He then uses the event to tell people about Jesus. In what is called the first Christian sermon, Peter lays out the message that Jesus is the Son of God and that they (we) are responsible for His crucifixion. Take a moment to read the entire second chapter. The message that Peter preached is the same message that we need today. We need to confront our sins and turn to Him with broken hearts and ask the same question that the people asked on that day...Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (v 37)

When our hearts are cut, when pride is removed and we stand face to face with our unrighteousness, there is nowhere to go except to ask the question... "what do I need to do?". These people knew that just a few weeks earlier, they had demanded the death of the Son of God. They knew that their sin had caused His crucifixion and that they were in need of redemption. What shall we do? The same question is asked today when a person is confronted with their sins and understand that they need help. Unfortunately, it depends on who you ask as to what answer you will receive. So, rather than ask someone, let's let Peter give the very specific and direct answer to your question.

 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized 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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:38-41)

What shall we do? Peter (the apostle, the man who walked with Jesus and was told that he had been given the keys to the kingdom) tells them the very simple and straight forward solution to their problem. They were sinners and they needed forgiveness. He tells them that forgiveness was found by repenting and being baptized. He didn't tell them to say a prayer. If that is what they needed to do, he could have told them that. (actually, there is no example in the Bible of someone being told to say a prayer to be saved, there is no example of praying Jesus into your heart) Peter tells them to turn their lives around, change their hearts and to be immersed in water. That is it. Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. Simple, yet so many will debate the issue.

He tells them that when they do that, God's Spirit will come live within them. He tells them that this a promise and that this promise is for everyone. Everyone... that includes you and me. How do I get my sin problem taken care of.... believe that Jesus is God's Son, repent of my sins and be immersed in water. The promise is for everyone. That day, three thousand souls were immersed into Christ and were added to the saved. (vs 41, 47) The rest of the book of Acts includes the stories of others who believed and were baptized... even the apostle Paul... Acts 22:16.

Joel's prophecy is for us. He was pointing to the time when the Savior would die and He would send His Spirit to live within us. He was pointing to a time when salvation would be available to every nation. But he was also pointing to a day of judgement. A day when those that have not believed in the Son, those that have not obeyed the gospel call will stand before God and answer for their rejection of His Son.

If you have not responded to Peter's sermon, if you have not repented of your sins, turned your life over to God and been immersed for the remission of your sins.... your day of judgement will be one of condemnation. Joel points to the day that Peter announced the beginning of the Christian age and the day that forgiveness was offered to all nations. My prayer is that you will accept His offer, that you will respond to the call and turn your life over to Him. Repent and be baptized... that was Peter's response to the question.... "what shall we do?" In the words of Nike... "Just Do It!"