The Holy Ghost Assures Us

Acts 2:16 "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."

First off when the New testament refers to prophecy in the Old Testament we must examine and compare. In this case we ask "What was spoken by the prophet Joel?"

 Joel 2:28 "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. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call."

There are a few differences between the former passages and the latter. Most obvious are the "end of days", referred to as the "great and notable day of the Lord" and in the latter "the great and terrible day of the Lord". It would appear that in those days after the Holy Spirit comes, miracles of the Spirit will comfort us in "the last days". As such we are now in the last days.

At that time many things will happen: There will be fireworks in the heavens, the sun shall be darkened and there shall be a red moon. These two descriptions refer to what has just occurred: four consecutive lunar eclipses without any partials in between ending with a "blood" moon; the red moon many of us just did witness on September 28, 2015. (For more on tetrads and blood moons see Earth Sky: What is a blood moon? ) In other words, we are now in the last days!

The last days culminates in a notable time: "A great and terrible day of the Lord"!  There are many references of what that day is; from the rapture of Christians to the destruction of the world to the "Great White Throne Judgment". Since scripture makes reference to all three as the last days, I take it as that! The "great day of the Lord", for me, commences with  the return of Jesus Christ to gather his people into the sky with him where the living and the dead who believe(d) in Jesus will ascend into heaven for their reward. That will be a great day!

On the other hand, after the rapture, many catastrophic things will happen beginning with the tribulation period and culminating in the destruction of the world, it's recreation, Jesus' thousand year reign (that's good), and then judgment day where all will be judged!

Many say that Christians won't be at the "Great White Throne Judgement". I say they will! God will say "well done good and faithful servant" to his children and they will be judged "innocent", not for what they have done, but in whom they believed! On the other hand, in that day, for those who never believed and trusted in Jesus, they will be judged guilty. It will be a day of God's wrath. Those who never accepted Jesus will be sentenced. Can you imagine the agony that day when lost sinners are sentenced to eternal torment?  Therefore the "day of the Lord" culminates on Judgment Day.

However, until that day, us Christians have hope. We are comforted by the Holy Spirit! Let's review who the Holy Spirit is. He's God's invisible presence here with us. He's the Spirit of Jesus. He is still Emmanuel, God with us! You see, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one and cannot be separated! We don't think of three different "people", but God manifested in three different ways, all appearing to us differently, but in essence, the same! (See my Daily Thought on the Trinity It's in the Math, for a more comprehensive explanation of just who God is.) Think in terms of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus with us still. He ascended in body (Acts Chapter 1), then descended in Spirit (Acts Chapter 2).

Now I did argue that "speaking in tongues" ceased (Cessationist) as the apostolic age ended with the church established: Summary of Speaking in Tongues. However, the Holy Ghost will continue to work all the way until the end of time as we know it. Evidence of it will be prophesies, dreams and visions. It would appear that those three gifts are the continual evidence of the presence of the Holy Ghost in Christians!

Most of us think of prophecy as predicting future events. All prophecy has already been fulfilled. The Revelation of John tells us all things, not only until the end of time, but thereafter as well. No more can be said! What then can those inspired by God "prophecy"?

Ezekiel 33:1 "Again the word of the Lord came unto me..."

Prophecy is when God "speaks" to us. It was at one time audible,  but now the Holy Ghost makes God's word occur in our minds! It "occurred' to John Hagee that the darkened sun and the blood moon refers to the tetrads which just happened. He then published and taught what God revealed to him. If his revelation is true, then things will start to happen as described in Joel and Acts and elsewhere. Hagee believes September 28, 2015 was a turning point for spiritual things which were prophesied ages ago to start happening... and they are (Look at what's happening in the Middle East and the increasing acceptance of sin even in the United States!)

God speaks to some in dreams. For others, they have visions. I seldom dream anymore. I may have never dreamed of future events, but again, I  may have and not realized it! However, like Hagee, I prophesy because as I study God's word, God reveals to me what he is saying to the world. I also have visions. When scripture refers to the locusts coming from the earth, I see in my mind's eye helicopters which are swarming over Armageddon. It's an actual vision I can see, not just abstract thoughts! Likewise, I can see the atomic bonds melting the earth. Maybe the same vision which John had! If the Holy Ghost was not in me, I would not "see" these things! I would be blinded by Satan!

Now to be honest, I don't "feel" as if I have the Holy Spirit all the time! Sometimes I don't even "feel" that I have him at all! That's Satan making me feel unrighteous, although I am redeemed by Jesus. By making me "feel" bad about my righteousness, Satan undermines God and puts doubt in my mind (and the same for you). Having the Holy Spirit is not about feelings. It's about "work", one in particular: loving! Yes, that's an obligation, not a feeling. So that I know that Jesus is with me, I see those visions and prophesy what I read in scripture; not new prophecies, but the understanding and transmission of what has already been planned by God ages ago!

That's how we know that we have the Holy Ghost! No,we'e not alone! Oh, by the way, Joel spoke of salvation too! He even knew where it was to be! It is on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Not only does Zion refer to that city, but traditionally it has been The Temple Mount; where Christ paid it all on the cross!