The
Outpouring of the Spirit
Promise of and
Preparation
For Pentecost
For what did
Christ, just before His ascension,
tell His disciples to wait?
“I am going to
send you what the Father has
promised; but stay in the city until
you have been clothed from on high.”
Luke 24:49.
With what did He
say they would be baptized?
“For John
baptized with water, but in a few
days you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 1:5.
Note – John the
Baptist had foretold this baptism.
“I baptize you with water for
repentance. But after me will come
one who is more powerful than I,
whose sandals I am not fit to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit and with fire.” Matthew
3:11.
For what work was
this baptism to prepare them?
“But you
will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and
in all Judea and Samaria, and to the
ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:8.
Results
of Pentecost
What were
some of the results of the preaching
of the gospel under the outpouring of
the Spirit?
‘When the people
heard this, they were cut to the
heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, “Brother what
shall we do?” Peter replied,
“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. The promise is
for you and your children and fort
all who are far off-for all whom the
Lord our God will call.” With
many other words he warned them; and
he pleaded with them, “Save
yourselves from this corrupt
generation.” Those who accepted
his message were baptized, and about
three thousand were added to their
number that day.” Acts 2:
37-41. “The apostles performed
many miraculous signs and wonders
among the people. And all the
believers used to meet together in
Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else
dared join them, even though they
were highly regarded by the people.
Nevertheless, more and more men
and women believed in the Lord and
were added to their number.”
Acts 5:12-14. “So the word of
God spread. The number of
disciples increased rapidly, and a
large number of priests became
obedient to the faith.”
Acts 6:7.
How
did persecution affect the preaching
of the gospel?
“On that day a
great persecution broke out against
the church in Jerusalem, and all
except the apostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly
men buried Stephen and mourned deeply
for him. But Saul began to destroy
the church. Going from house to
house, he dragged off men and women
and put them in prison. Those had
been scattered preached the word
wherever they went.” Acts
8:1-4.
Note –
“Persecution has only had a
tendency to extend and establish the
faith which it was designed to
destroy…. There is no lesson
which men have been slow to learn as
that to oppose and persecute men is
the very way to confirm them in their
opinions, and to spread their
doctrines.” – Dr. Albert
Barnes, on Acts 4:4.
A
Latter-Day Outpouring
What prophecy was
fulfilled in the Pentecost outpouring
of the Spirit in the time of the
apostles?
“Then Peter stood
up with the Eleven, raise his voice
and addressed the crowd. “Fellow
Jews and all of you who live in
Jerusalem, let me explain this to
you; listen carefully to what I say.
These men are not drunk, as you
suppose. It’s only nine in the
morning! No, this is what was spoken
by the prophet Joel: “In the
last days, God says, I will pour out
my Spirit on all people, Your sons
and daughters will prophesy, young
men will see visions, your old men
will dream dreams. Even on my
servants, both men and women, I will
pour out my Spirit in those days, and
they will prophesy.” Acts
2:14-18. (See Joel 2: 28,29.)
What expressions in
the prophecy of Joel seem to imply a
double fulfillment of this outpouring
of the Spirit?
“Be glad, O
people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord
your God, for he has given you autumn
rains in righteousness. He sends you
abundant showers, both autumn and
spring rains, as before. Joel
2:23. (See also Hosea 6:3.)
Note – In
Palestine the early rains prepare the
soil for the seed sowing, and the
latter rains ripen the grain for the
harvest. So the early outpouring of
the Spirit prepared the world for the
extensive sowing of the gospel seed,
and the final outpouring will come to
ripen the golden grain for the
harvest of the earth, which Christ
says is, “the end of the
world.”
(Matthew 13:37:39;
Revelation 14: 14, 15.)
For
what are we told to pray in the time
of the “latter rain?”
“Ask the Lord
for rain in the springtime; it is
the Lord who makes the storm clouds.
He gives showers of rain to men, and
plants of the field to
everyone.” Zechariah 10:1.
Note – Before the
apostles received the baptism of the
Spirit in the early rain on the day
of Pentecost, they all
“continued with one accord in
prayer and supplication.” (Acts
1:14.) During this time they
confessed their faults, put away
their differences, ceased their
selfish ambitions and contentions for
place and power, so that when the
time for the outpouring came,
“they were all wit hone accord
in one place,” ready for its
reception. To be prepared for the
final outpouring of the Spirit, all
sin and selfish ambition must again
be put away, and a like work of grace
wrought upon the hearts of God’s
people.
The
Call of Revelation’s Angel
How is the closing
gospel work under the outpouring of
the Spirit described by the
revelator?
“After this I saw
another angel coming down from
heaven. He had great authority, and
the earth was illuminated by his
splendor.” Revelation 18:1.
What
does the angel say?
“With a mighty
voice he shouted: “Fallen!
Fallen is Babylon the Great! She
has become a home for demons and a
haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt
for every unclean and detestable
bird. Verse 2.
Note – The
religious world will have become a
one-world government during this time
much like the same condition, as was
the Jewish nation after it had
rejected Christ at His first advent.
(See 2 Timothy 3: 1-5.)
What
did Peter on the day of Pentecost
tell the hearers to do?
“With many other
words he warned them; and he pleaded
with them, “Save yourselves
from this corrupt generation.”
Acts 2:40.
What
similar call and appeal will be made
under the final outpouring of the
Spirit?
“Then I heard
another voice from heaven say: “Come
out of her my people, so that you
will not share in her sins, so that
you will not receive any of her
plagues; for her sins are plied up to
heaven, and God has remembered her
crimes.” Revelation 18: 4, 5.
Note
– A great work will be
accomplished under the final
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Many
voices all over the earth will sound
the warning cry. The 144,000 servant-
prophets will be using signs and
wonders to help those believers who
are honest in heart make the right
decision as at Pentecost, and
thousands will be converted in a day.
Those who fail to heed this final
gospel call during the third and
fourth angel’s message, like the
unbelieving Jews, will be doomed to
destruction and will have taken up
sides with Satan and have taken the
mark of the beast. After the seventh
trumpet has sounded in heaven, the
last seven plagues will overtake the
wicked, as war, famine, death, and
destruction overtook the Jews, who,
not believing in Christ, failed to
heed His call to flee, and shut
themselves up in Jerusalem to their
doom. Those who heed the call of the
first, second, and third angel’s
message and believe and come out of
Babylon and separate themselves from
the wicked will be saved by
God’s grace.
