Holy Spirit Poured Out

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"And it shall come to pass afterward, [that] I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:" Joel 2:28

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" Act 2:17

One of the most dearly cherished hopes in connection with the finishing of God’s work on earth has been the promised latter rain. For centuries, faithful believers have looked with anxious expectation for the fulfillment of the events associated with it.

By the pen of inspiration,we know that the effects of the early and latter rain upon the seed represent the different phases of the work of the Holy Spirit. Every time we witness rain, it revives in us this anticipation. The apostle Peter speaking through inspiration applied the prophecies of Joel not only to the experience of the church during the early rain, but also to the time of the gospel’s final triumph. “In the last days, saith God, I will pour outof my Spirit upon all flesh . . . that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Based on this expectation Peter also admonished us to: “Repent . . . and be converted,that” our “sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence ofthe Lord” (Acts 2:17–21; 3:19).“But near the close of earth’s harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain; and it is for this added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest ‘in the time of the latter rain.’ In response, ‘theLord shall make bright clouds, andgive them showers of rain.’ ‘He will cause to come down . . . the rain, theformer rain, and the latter rain’(Zechariah 10:1; Joel 2:23).”