Pentecost: Unity With A Purpose

 

On the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:16-21, the disciples were in one place, in one accord, when the Holy Spirit was poured out in tongues of fire upon each one. As those who were in Jerusalem at the tomb of David, including foreign visitors, witnessed this remarkable sight, they were unsure of what they were seeing. Peter began to tell them that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel. A portion of this prophetic passage reads:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh...

before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD."

Peter goes on to urge the crowd of onlookers to "repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, ... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."  (Acts 2:38)

This remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit is directly connected with the "last days", and the terrible day of the LORD, according to the verse above. If we look at the Book of Joel, we will find additional prophetic insight into these events, and our purpose regarding them:
"Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD."     Joel 1:14

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain!

Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the LORD is coming, for it is at hand;"         

"Now therefore," says the LORD, "Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm."       Joel 2:1-2, 12-13
This is Joel's prophetic warning and instruction to God's own people, Jew and Gentile, from every station, circumstance, age, and walk of life (Joel 2:15-16).



 

 

"Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD,....Why should they say among the peoples, "Where is their God?"

"Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people."  

"...For in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls."      Joel 2:17-18, 32b

 

It is in this same chapter that we see the awesome prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. There is a purpose to this outpouring, as there is a purpose to the Book of Joel. It is the call to a united intercession and repentance of God's people as the last days, and the day of the LORD, approaches.

The prophet talks about a harvest that is ripe, and wickedness that is great. (Joel 3:13).

The outpouring of Pentecost is not to be consumed on our own flesh, or for our own purposes. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a last days event for last days people who will see and understand that the day of the LORD is approaching. This outpouring is associated with the harvest of souls and lives, as Pentecost is associated with the harvest of grain. This outpouring is for the united purpose of God's people, from all walks of life, to begin to cry out to Him, purely and effectively, for His great move of salvation and deliverance, and for His pity upon His people.
"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision."       Joel 3:14

The word "multitudes" used here does not just mean many people in the Hebrew. It refers more to a tumult of sound and confusion, cries of mourning and rage, clamorous and troubled, to be in an uproar. The "valley" is a place of profound depth, to be unsearchable because of the depth. "Decision" is a disturbing word that means sharp, pointed, to cut, to maim, to wound, a threshing sled (used for crushing and separating grain) having sharp teeth.
This will be the terrible place and situation for many on the awesome day of the LORD.
We, who have received the Holy Spirit, and are praying for an even greater outpouring of the Spirit, must use this precious gift for the purpose of interceding with the LORD, as we see the day approach. Will the terrible shouts and cries of the multitudes in the valley on that day ring in our ears, because we did not bother to weep between the porch and the altar?
The Prophet Joel is not just celebrating a miraculous anointing of the Holy Spirit. He is calling ALL of God's people to come into the house of the LORD in the united, divine, prophetic purpose of intercession and repentance, because the last days are here, the harvest is ripe, and the awesome day of the LORD is at hand.

"Shofar Alarm Blast"
 

"Alpha and Omega-We Give You All The Glory"