Equipped for the Prophetic Lifestyle

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,
Your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ And also on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”

Acts 2:28-29

The Prophet Joel declares an outpouring of the Spirit of God regardless of age, sex or social class. This at the time was unimaginable given in the Old Testament, the pattern was that God only poured out His Spirit upon select individuals for a specific task. For example the Spirit of the LORD came upon Saul, Balaam, David etc and after their assigned tasks were done, the Spirit of God lifted off the person.

However, this is what Jesus says to the Apostles before He ascends into heaven;

⁴ And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; ⁵ for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:4-5

And on the day of Pentecost, both Joel’s prophecy and Jesus’ promise come to pass in full color.

“2 When the Day of Pentecost had 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 the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Acts 2:2-4

The numbered disciples gathered was about one hundred and twenty and they all began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. As expected, the onlookers had differing reactions to the event. Some were amazed and marveled because they could hear these Galileans speaking their languages.

^“8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” ¹² So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

Acts 2:8-12

On the other hand, others mocked saying, “They are full of wine.” Well, Peter stands up and clarifies that the men were not drunk as it was too early in the day – the third hour – for that kind of thing. Then he refers to Prophet Joel word for word and a little more;

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
¹⁸ And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.”

Acts 2:17-18

And on that day, 3000 souls were saved.

The promise of the Holy Spirit being poured out on all flesh was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. That promise of the Holy Spirit came with a “3-piece” package;

• Our sons and daughters shall prophesy
• Young men shall see visions
• Old men shall dream dreams

What does this mean for us today?

God kept His promise. He did send the Holy Spirit. Along with this promise, the “3-piece” package was delivered to us. No one was left out – the young and the old. Male and female. All have access. As a people of God, it is time for us to arise and live the life we are already equipped for – a Prophetic Lifestyle. God would like heaven to invade the day to day life through His sons and daughters all over the world. God would like an army of mouthpieces who will decode heaven’s voice and declare it to the recipients that their hearts will be turned to God just like the 3000 did on the day the promise was released. The 3000 saved that day was a demonstration of what it should look like when anyone – Peter in case – receives the Holy Spirit and operates fully under His power.

Arise! You have already been equipped for a Prophetic Lifestyle. You shall prophesy. You shall see visions. You shall dream dreams. Go be God’s mouthpiece that all may come to the knowledge of our LORD Jesus Christ.