²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. ²⁹ Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. ³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³² And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

What if I told you that the first portion of scripture to be quoted in the first ever sermon after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus was our text here at the end of Joel 2? And what if I told you that, in part, the end of Joel 2 was quoted in the first post-resurrection/ascension sermon to prove that the disciples were not drunk? And what if I told you that when Peter needed to describe what it meant that the Holy Spirit had come upon the church, he turned to the end of Joel 2 to do it? And what if I told you that God used Peter’s sermon and this passage from Joel 2 to bring “about 3,000 people” into the Kingdom (Acts 2:41)?

In Acts 2, the Spirit of the living God falls upon the gathered church the people heard these early disciples speaking in their own tongues Then the critics accused them of being drunk. So Peter responded.

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ¹⁷ “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; ¹⁸ even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. ¹⁹ And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; ²⁰ the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. ²¹ And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— ²³ this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. ²⁴ God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

That Peter quotes Joel 2 in the first post-resurrection/ascension sermon should give us pause then compel us to a very careful consideration of this amazing passage. What is happening at the end of Joel 2? When we turn to it we find a synopsis of the day of the Lord in three movements: the pouring out of the Spirit, the coming of judgment, and the completion of salvation.

The pouring out of the Spirit.

As we have seen, the initial occasion for Peter’s sermon was the pouring out of the Spirit of God. Peter quotes Joel to show that Joel had foretold that this would happen. Here is what Joel said.

²⁸ “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. ²⁹ Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

This is an amazing promise. The most notable elements are these:

• That the Spirit of God will be “poured out.”
• That the pouring out of the Spirit has universal connotations: “on all flesh.”
• That the Spirit of God will be poured out on every facet of society: the young and the old, men and women, the powerful and the servants.

Concerning this universal connotation of the pouring out of the Spirit—“I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh”—J. Hardee Kennedy has offered an interesting perspective.

            While all flesh may refer to universal mankind…or to all living beings…in this instance the context limits the scope to all Israel. Note the pronoun in such expressions as your sons…your young men. Yet in application to the Israelitic community the promise was universal, overriding distinctions and ushering in a new divine-human fellowship. Upon the young and the old, the slave and the master, the female and the male alike, God will bestow his gift.[1]

We might say, then, that this pouring out of the Spirit “on all flesh” refers to all people who comprise the people of God: the young, the old, men, women, the powerful, the servants. The Spirit, then, is the great leveler, the great equalizer. Paul will highlight this fact later in Galatians 3:28 when he writes: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Yet, what is most astonishing is what these “all flesh” will do as the Spirit comes upon them: they “shall prophesy…dream dreams…see visions.” Why is this astonishing? Because this means that God’s revelation will no longer be limited to the professionals, to the priests, to the prophets. Instead, through Jesus (as Peter will reveal), all of the people of God can now hear from God and proclaim His words to the world. Never, we hasten to add, in violation of His word, but His word can now be shared with all by all of God’s people!

This beautiful doctrine is called “the priesthood of the believer.” It means that all of God’s people are now effectively priests before God: privileged to serve one another with holiness and righteousness before the Lord and privileged to say “thus says the Lord” to the watching world.

The classic passage on the priesthood of the believer was also written by Peter in 1 Peter 2.

⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

We are all prophets. We are all priests. Therefore, we must “proclaim the excellencies” of Jesus. And we do this by the power of the Spirit that has been poured out.

The coming judgment.

The second movement in Joel’s synopsis of the day of the Lord is the coming judgment. So let us follow the flow of thought: in the last days we will see (1) the empowerment and ministry of the Spirit-led Church, (2) the coming of judgment, then (3) the final completion of salvation for the people of God. In our text, Joel speaks of judgment.

³⁰ “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹ The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

This imagery will be used by Jesus in Matthew 24.

²⁹ “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ³⁰ Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

These are the signs that the coming of the Lord Jesus are imminent.

Let us not miss the connection between the outpouring of the Spirit and the coming of the end: it is because the coming of Christ draws nigh that the people of God must, through the Spirit’s power, proclaim the excellencies of Jesus…and one of His excellencies is His perfect holiness and judgment. The church, then, is to be not only a missionary body, but a prophetic body and a priestly body.

The implication of this is unavoidable and undeniable: if the church upon which the Spirit of God has been poured out fails to be a body of prophets and priests proclaiming the coming day of the Lord, we care neither for His coming nor for those for whom His coming will mean judgment.

You, you, are to herald the excellencies of Jesus!

You, you, are to speak His name!

You, you, are to warn those who have rejected!

You, you, are to comfort those who have trusted!

The end is indeed coming! That is not the message of a crazed person on a street corner. That is the message of the living God. It is true and we must both heed and herald it. Why? Because we have been called and commissioned to this great task.

The completion of salvation.

The pouring out of the Spirit upon the Church.

The coming judgment with the return of Jesus.

Then, the completion of our salvation.

Remember: We live now in the time between the times, between the first and second coming of Jesus. The first coming set the end in motion. The second will complete its end: judgment for those who reject the Son, salvation for those who receive Him. Here is how Joel puts it:

³² And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Here again is a note of universality: everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved! That is different form the universalism that says that everyone will be saved. It does not say that. But it does say that everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will indeed be saved. The offer is given to all and any who receive Christ will be saved. Peter quoted these beautiful words in his Pentecost sermon. Paul quoted them as well in Romans 10 after his great synopsis of salvation in verse 9.

⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

¹³ For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Yes, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved! This is true! Note, too, that Joel does not depict God as passive in salvation.

³² And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

“Those whom the Lord calls.”

Do not get lost in the intricacies of the predestination debate. It is enough to note that the two elements we see in Joel 2:32 are found consistently throughout scripture:

• “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”
• “those whom the Lord calls”

Both of these realities must be held to. Why? Because we must not cease calling men and women and boys and girls to respond: “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” And because we must not act as if God is powerless to call and to save or passive in the salvation of His people: “those whom the Lord calls.”

This is not a call for theological dissection. I long ago stopped feeling any need to rationalistically untangle the mystery of exactly how the response of human beings to the gospel and the calling work of God operate together. No, not theological dissection and debate. Rather, it is a call for wonder and for worship. We are called to trust in Jesus, to receive Jesus. And our great God gets all the glory!

The Spirit of the living God has been poured out upon us!

We are to herald the message of life to the nations indiscriminately.

Why? Because this is what the Spirit who has been poured out does: He makes much of Jesus. He speaks the name of the King of Kings. And we are the conduits through whom He does this! Through you! Through me! The people of God! Priests, all! Prophets, all!

Are you living out your priesthood in acts of holiness and service?

Are you living out your prophethood through proclamation and witness?

Have you trusted in Christ? Then you have received the Spirit. Let the Spirit do through you what the Spirit loves to do: point the world to Jesus!

 

[1] Kennedy, J. Hardee. “Joel.” The Broadman Bible Commentary. Gen. Ed. Clifton J. Allen. Vol. 7 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1972), p.76.