Another Promise Fulfilled!

The Promise:

Joel 2:12 "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God? 27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed. 28 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: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit."

Joel was a minor prophet, but what he said was not minor! His writings were few, but what he said was profound. There should be no doubt: God spoke to Joel. This is prophecy, but it's prophecy with a promise! Although it was written by some estimates around 500 B.C. The most reliable estimate is that Jesus died April 7, 33 A.D. The resurrected Jesus was with us for 40 days. Hence, he ascended into heaven sometimes in May 33 A.D. (By the way, the 40 days Jesus was on earth was represented by the 40 days of rain in Noah's time when the entire earth was baptized! Just as the earth was filled again with life from God, at the end of 40 days, the world had life again with the coming of the Holy Spirit! The rainbow should be a symbol of the coming of the Holy Ghost in 33 A.D. which Noah was aware of ca 2348 B.C. by some accounts!)

Rather than viewing the rainbow as a civil rights symbol or acceptance of homosexuality, look at it as God intended: a symbol representing the infilling of the Holy Spirit!

In Jesus's ministry he reminded Christians, incidentally who were quite aware of what Joel wrote, that when he left, that another would fill in for him:

John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

The Holy Ghost was promised by Jesus that he would come when he was gone. Just as Jesus ascended the Holy Ghost descended! As Jesus went to the Father, the Holy Ghost came from the Father. As such the Holy Ghost is Christ's "replacement"  left here to provide comfort to Christians. And actually, the Holy Spirit is the spiritual aspect of Jesus! As such Christians have the Holy Ghost! For the apostles, he came to them at Jesus's departure. For Christians, he comes to us when Jesus comes into our lives!

(Note that there are doctrinal differences as to when Christians are filled with the Holy Ghost. In the Book of Acts it was an event after Christians first believed, but that was the case because Jesus had yet to ascend.  Regardless when we submit and ask, "Jesus come into me!" That "coming" is the Holy Ghost because he's Jesus's "stand-in" since he and Jesus are our intercessors with God. How can that be? Because Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God. Hence, as Jesus was God in the flesh, the Holy Spirit is God's glory!)

I've spoken of the unity necessary for Christians to welcome the Holy Spirit (my last Daily Thought). Joel tells what it takes to unify

Now let's look at the time Jesus left and what he left behind!

Joel 2:12b "... turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. 14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him..."

This "activity" defines how one is "born-again", and as one suffers the "new birth" God will leave a "blessing" behind for those who repent. That "blessing is the Holy Ghost". With John's Baptism, there was not a filling of the Holy Spirit (except for Jesus). Why? Because Jesus had yet to ascend! The Holy Ghost had yet to come to replace Jesus.  With the new birth comes the Holy Spirit because he is God himself! When Jesus "comes" into our lives, it's his representative who comes. It's the Holy Ghost who is a reminder that we're a new creature in Jesus Christ!

John was the apostle whom Jesus loved. As such John was truly in touch with Jesus. He is the only writer of the gospels who truly understood the nature of Jesus Christ! John understood that Jesus, God and the Holy Ghost are one, and always were one. He understood that Jesus was with God in the beginning and that salvation was always through Jesus. The patriarchs were saved by their faith in what Jesus will do, whereas we are saved by faith in what Jesus did! As such their faith was greater than ours!

John, in tune with Jesus, was told by Jesus: "he (the Holy Ghost) shall testify of me". "Testify" is the "giving of evidence". He validates to the Christian, that indeed, "I am born again!" Therefore, the "new creation" has been filled with the Spirit of Jesus, the Holy Ghost! It's the same Spirit which covered the flesh of Jesus at his baptism and lighted upon him (and stayed) at his own baptism. In honesty there are doctrinal differences as to when the Holy Ghost fills the Christian. It's not expedient to argue when, but if we're not filled when we first believed, what evidence would there be that we indeed are believers?)

Salvation is by grace. It's not dependent upon our works. But we can prepare for the Holy Spirit to enter our lives. That's a sincere sacrifice of our selves to the Holy Ghost. He can only represent Jesus if we allow him to! We render our hearts to him in sincerity. We weep and mourn in sorrow as we repent. With faith we turn our lives over to God. It's not the walk to the altar which saves a person, but what occurs after the walk. We must submit to God and when we do, Jesus, represented by the Holy Ghost comforts us. Our faith in Jesus is validated! (If we have to wait until we're baptized, how did Jesus come into our lives, when he [the holy Ghos]  really didn't?) It must be that the Holy Ghost comes into our lives as Jesus comes to us because each are one and the same!

The Promise Full-filled:

Acts 2:2 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17 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: 18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." That's us all who "call" and as Joel said "if he (whosoever) shall turn and repent", shall be filled with the Holy Spirit! Acts reinforces the premise that "salvation" and the reception of the Holy Ghost are one event!

Isn't it great that God didn't really have a "Plan A" and a "Plan B"? God's plan all along was that salvation is only by one: Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who died for me, died for Abraham. Because Abraham believed in what was to come, he had greater faith than I!

 Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

Note that it does not say that Joel, Abraham, Moses, Noah and the others were saved any differently than how we are! It's the same Jesus who saved them because The Word (Jesus) was there with them explaining, as with Joel, "all things about Jesus!" God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and it is by the same faith in Jesus with which we're saved, that they were! They had the Holy Ghost with them because Jesus was with them. We have the Holy Ghost because Jesus left us bodily, but remained in Spirit. It's Jesus who lives within us!

There's a reason that we are not to "grieve the Holy Spirit". It's because rejection of God's Spirit is rejection of Jesus. That's the unpardonable sin!