5/11/08 - Pentecost - Joel 2:28-29

THE SPIRIT HAS BEEN POURED OUT
- On all people
- So you can prophesy

Pentecost is the Holy Spirit’s holiday. It’s not, of course, the only event he was involved with. You may think of him hovering over the waters at Creation, he came down in the physical form of a dove at Jesus’ baptism, and many prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel and even the apostle John in the book of Revelation were “carried away by the Spirit” when they were given visions from God. But Pentecost is the one event in which the Holy Spirit takes a leading role. Today he is the main character. Because nowhere else is his work so prominently displayed or his power so visibly demonstrated than in the city of Jerusalem on the tenth day after the Lord’s ascension. There, Scripture says, the Holy Spirit was poured out on God’s people.
And what amazing things happened when the Holy Spirit was poured out! The disciples were sitting together in a room when they heard what sounded like a “violent wind” whipping through the house, flames of fire separated out of midair and came to rest on each of their heads, the Holy Spirit himself miraculously entered them and they were blessed with the ability to instantly talk in different languages so that they could spread the Word to the thousands of visitors in Jerusalem at that time. And if all those miracles weren’t enough, the Holy Spirit himself had predicted through the prophet Joel that he would do these very things 800 years before they happened! 800 years before the day of Pentecost came the prophet Joel was inspired to write: “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” A specific prophecy about specific events. But Joel not only predicted these things centuries before they occurred, the apostle Peter quoted these verses in his Pentecost sermon later that day to the people in Jerusalem. He solidified the fact that these words of Joel were being fulfilled right in front of there eyes. They were actually watching the Holy Spirit in action. And what an incredible thing it would have been to be there for it! To physically see the Holy Spirit at work! To witness the Holy Spirit’s power! To experience the 800 year old words of the prophet being fulfilled as the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Lord’s people!
But when Joel wrote those words centuries before the day of Pentecost, he wasn’t just talking about that small group men on that day in that city. He was also talking about you. Look and listen again to these words of Joel: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” On all people. Not just those 12 disciples. Not just on the chosen apostles handpicked by the Lord. On all people. “Even on my servants,” the Lord says, “both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” You are included in “all people,” are you not? You are included in “both men and women.” You are living “in those days” because those days are referring to the time after Christ. And so by the words of the Lord himself, you have had the Holy Spirit poured out on you just as the disciples did while sitting in that room in the middle of Jerusalem.
No, you may not be able to miraculously speak in different languages. You may not have flames of fire floating above your heads. But you have had the Holy Spirit poured out on you nevertheless. Directly through the Word. No middle man involved. The Lord has poured out his Holy Spirit on you personally through the written words of the Bible. And that is a different way than it was for almost every believer in Old Testament times. In the Old Testament times before Pentecost, the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of people through the words of the prophets. The Spirit was poured out upon the prophets and their hearts were moved to proclaim the Word of the Lord to the people. Starting from Moses all the way to Malachi, the prophets were given the words of the Lord by the Holy Spirit so that they could in turn teach others. Revelations, visions, dreams, and visitations by the Lord himself were the ways in which the Lord commonly handed his Word down to the common people. And so it must have been a shock to those Old Testament believers to hear Joel’s words for the first time. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” That was unprecedented! The Holy Spirit was not visibly poured out on any and everyone back then - only the prophets in those days. And so to hear that one day the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all people so that all people will dream dreams and all people would see visions must have been incomprehensible to them!
And you are the ones Joel was talking about. You are the sons and daughters. You are the old men and young men. You are the all people. Now I know you don’t receive new visions and you aren’t blessed with any new dreams from the Holy Spirit himself - and I’m not blessed in that way either, but in a way we are blessed with visions and dreams from the Lord. The exact same visions and dreams the prophets received. Because every time you read or hear or study the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is working directly on your heart through the same way he worked on the hearts of the prophets. You are receiving those visions and dreams through the pages of Scripture. In other words, Joel is saying: all people will be prophets at that time. And you are prophets because the Holy Spirit is being poured out on you directly. He is giving you the words of the Lord. He has shown you the details and the accomplishments of Christ himself in the Word - his life, his suffering, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his glory - and these things are facts that only a select few prophets in the Old Testament were blessed to know. And even they did not know the full story about Christ and his work of salvation because he had not yet come. But you know them. You have been blessed with a full understanding about what Christ has done to pay for your sins through the words of the Bible. Because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you personally. And intimately. And powerfully. You may not have been one of those 12 disciples there on that first Pentecost, but you are a prophet. And you must know: prophets prophesy.
“Your sons and daughters will prophesy,” Joel promised. You will prophesy because the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not without effect. The Holy Spirit does not come upon someone without something happening. And that “something” according to Joel in this context is prophecy. And don’t think of prophecy as always telling the future or predicting what is to come by the power of God. The 12 disciples are included in this group of New Testament prophets and they prophesied on that Pentecost afternoon. But they weren’t predicting the future. They were simply repeating the words about Christ. That’s what a prophet does: a prophet repeats the words of the Lord. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy.” With the privilege of the Spirit comes responsibility. You have had the Holy Spirit poured out on you so that you can prophesy - so that you can tell others about Christ - as long as you live. That’s your job. That’s your life! That’s what the Lord has you on this earth to do!
But that’s not usually what we want to do, is it? We don’t want to prophesy to others, we don’t want to tell others about Christ. We really want to leave that to the professionals, don’t we? We are tempted to want to leave that to those who are trained to do it - like that pastors and teachers and staff ministers, to those who are qualified, to those who are good at it. And that last one is the temptation for me. I’m tempted to leave talking to others about Christ to those who are good at it, to those who are better at it than I am. I’m honestly scared to invite strangers to a worship service or a Bible study! It kills me to even invite people I know well to the Lord’s house. I’m nervous. I’m uncomfortable. I’m not talkative by nature. I’d rather keep to myself. And I know that there are many people in this congregation who are better at doing that than I. And so I’m tempted to give that work to others and concentrate on something else. But then I come across a portion of Scripture like Joel 2. “I will pour out my Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy.” I have a job to do. And I have been given what it takes to do it. And so have you. You have been given what it takes to prophesy - to tell others, to invite others, to encourage others to Christ - because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you through faith. And that’s all you need: faith in your Savior. If you know that Jesus is your Savior from sin, that’s all that it takes to “prophesy” that message to others.
My friends, the sun in the sky would remain the sun if there were no sun light. But the sun cannot help but shine all the time. A fire would remain a fire if it did not give off heat. But a fire cannot help but warm everything around it all the time. A Christian would still be a Christian and go to heaven because of faith in Christ even if that Christian did not prophesy. But a Christian cannot help but tell others about Christ all the time. Except that we don’t do it all the time, do we? We hold back, we keep that glorious gospel to ourselves, we neglect the Holy Spirit and refuse to take on that responsibility at times. And you can give all the excuses you want. And I can give plenty of my own. But in the end there is no excuse not to tell and invite and encourage others about Christ. There is no good reason why we have prevented the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to overflow to everyone we know every time. And just think of how many people around you have suffered because you have neglected to do what the Holy Spirit has called on you to do.
Sometimes I wish we were more like those 12 disciples on the day of Pentecost who boldly proclaimed the Word despite the consequences instead of the lazy and selfish prophets we have turned out to be. But then I remember: the apostle Peter was brash and arrogant, even denying that he know who Jesus was. Thomas was a doubter of God’s clear words. James and John were quick to judge others. Nathaniel didn’t believe that Jesus was true God at first. Matthew was a hated tax collector. And all of the disciples were caught by the Lord arguing amongst themselves about who of them was the greatest. These men were sinners! These men were not the most humble, the smartest, or the strongest of Christians the Lord could have chosen. But the Lord chose them as his disciples anyway. The Lord poured out his Holy Spirit on them anyway to do the work he found so important. And the Lord has poured out his Holy Spirit on you as well. He knows we’re bad! He knows we’ll mess up and neglect the task we have been assigned! But he chose us anyway! He worked faith in our hearts through the Holy Spirit in the word of God and he has entrusted us with that precious and priceless gospel to spread to others! He sees how we will fail at that, but he forgives us even before we fall. He recognizes our faults, but he presents us as perfect before his Father in heaven anyway. He knows all too well our sins because he has already suffered hell for each one of them long before we were ever born. The Lord chooses you to be his prophet not because of who you are, but because of who he is: loving, merciful, compassionate, forgiving. And the Lord has poured out his Spirit on you so that you can tell others about how loving, merciful, compassionate, and forgiving your Lord really is. Take this responsibility and run with it! Prophesy for the Lord, because of his love and everything he has done for you. And boldly continue the work of that first Pentecost, spreading the Word to all you know, not because you have to, but because there’s nothing else in this life or the next that could bring your Lord - and his Holy Spirit - more joy. I pray that the Lord continues to bless this congregation as we reach out to others. And I pray that he blesses your individual efforts as well so that the Holy Spirit that has been poured out on each one of us can overflow to many more.
Amen.

“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11