WEEK 38

THE HOLY SPIRIT POURED OUT

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28 ESV).

Imagine being in Jerusalem during the Passover that Christians now call “Pentecost.” Imagine hearing that “mighty rushing wind” and coming together where Galileans were telling of the “mighty works of GOD” in all languages that surrounded Jerusalem.

Peter’s speech was the first of the “SPIRIT poured out.” Everyone heard Peter’s speech in his or her native language—that was the first miracle. The second was the SPIRIT causing the crowd to be “cut to the heart,” recognizing their sin.

“The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief. Thousands were converted in a day.”¹

“Strengthened by the endowment of the Holy Spirit, [the Apostles] went forth filled with the zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross.”² “[T]hey were preaching in the power of the amazing gift He had sent to them, a person they called the Holy Spirit.”³

The same signs, wonders and mighty works performed by JESUS were now going to be performed by the Apostles. The supernatural phenomenon given by the HOLY SPIRIT sealed the words of the Apostles as Truth and the Christian Church was born.

“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31 ESV).

The “walking in fear” is a reaction to realizing GOD’s desire and ability to provide a way to restore us from the sin that entered us when we were born. And the ‘walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit’ is the realization that the Spirit’s desire and His present workings is to purify and refine our various ‘faculties and passions’ back to making us ‘a proper habitation for God’ like it was before sin entered the world.⁴

The ultimate goal of all of life is to know and love God, make him known, and thereby glorify him. This goal is accomplished primarily through the work of the Holy Spirit. Reading the Bible, going to church, Christian fellowship, spiritual disciplines, service, and worship are merely playing at religion if all of these activities are not empowered, guided, and filled by the Spirit.⁵

ENDNOTES

(38) The SPIRIT Now Poured Out

            1. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 38.

            2. White, 46.

            3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in Christ, Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002) 316.

            4. Adam Clarke, “Commentary on Acts 9:31,” 1832 Adam Clarke’s Commentary 22 February 2021 https://www.studylight.org/commentary/acts/9-31.html#verse-acc.

            5. ESV Study Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2001, ESV Text Edition: 2011) 2521.

            6. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 46.

            7. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000, 2014) 56.

            8. Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911) 39.

            9. “ . . . in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14 ESV).

            10. “For I am sure that . . . no things present nor things to come . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 ESV).

            11. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 ESV).

            12. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son . . .” (Romans 8:29 ESV).

            13. “ . . . I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh . . .” (Joel 2:28 ESV).

            14. “ . . . I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10 ESV).

            15. “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up . . .” (Acts 9:31 ESV).

            16. “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit . . .” (Romans 8:9 ESV).

            17. “And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each of them” (Acts 2:3 ESV).

            18. Samuel Chadwick, The Way to Pentecost (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2000, 2014) 125.