The Book of Joel
The Day of the Spirit – The Call to be Filled with the Spirit
Joel 2.28-32
Introduction
Today we come to the fourth sermon in a five-part series on the book of Joel. What we have
seen so far is that even though the Lord had given the Israelites the land flowing with milk
and honey as an inheritance, the people were disobedient and unfaithful to the Lord’s will.
So, during the days of the prophet Joel the Lord brought a plague of locust, His might army
(2.25), upon the land the likes that had never been seen before. The locust had been
gnawing through all the vegetation for four years bringing the land and the people to near
extinction. The Prophet calls the people to lament, to cry out to God through God’s Word,
pleading for God to act. The Lord also calls the people to repentance declaring, “Yet even
now return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning; rend your heart
and not your garments.” (2.12-13a) The Lord heard their cries of lament and saw their
heart of repentance and tells the people that He will be zealous for His land and will have
pity on His people. (2.18) The Lord makes a series of promises telling the people that He will
restore the years the locust ate away. (2.25)
Today we will see the Prophet, being divinely inspired, looks forward to the outpouring of
God’s Spirit upon all flesh.
Even though it will be centuries until the Lord fulfills this prophecy, it is important to
understand that when a prophet glazes into redemptive history, he sees the mountain
peaks of events and not necessarily the valleys. For Joel, he sees the pouring out of God’s
Spirit upon all flesh as a major milestone in redemptive history that news should bring
encouragement to any generation before and every generation after.
Hear now the Word of God, Joel chapter two verses twenty-eight through thirty-two.
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. 30 “And I will show 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
coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 32 And it shall come to pass That whoever
calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall
be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls. (2.28-32 NKJV)
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The Day of the Spirit
Joel prophesies that one day in the future the Lord will pour out His Spirit on all flesh
regardless of gender, age, or social status. (2.28) And we know that special day was the Day
of Pentecost centuries later in Jerusalem when the Apostle Peter told his audience that
Joel’s prophecy had been fulfilled. Understanding the context of that special day is
important so please allow me to share some context. As you recall, the resurrected Christ
had presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to a
selected group of followers over a period of forty days. Prior to Jesus’ ascension back to the
Father He commanded this group not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father
had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you
will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (Acts 1.3-5)
Therefore, about one hundred and twenty returned to Jerusalem and gathered in an upper
room devoting themselves to prayer. (Acts 1.12-14) After ten days, on the Day of Pentecost,
there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house
where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing
themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. (Acts 2.2.4)
As this small group of faithful followers of Christ rushed out into the streets of Jerusalem,
they were not speaking some strange gibberish but rather languages of the many pilgrims
that had gathered from various nations to Jerusalem to celebrate the religious holiday of
Pentecost. (Acts.2.5-11)
When the multitude heard these faithful followers of Christ proclaiming the mighty deeds
of God through Christ in languages to which they had not been born or trained, they were
amazed and marveled saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were
mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine?” (Acts 2.12-13) But Peter, taking his stand
with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in
Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. For these men are not drunk,
as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning; but this is what was spoken of
through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of
My Spirit on all mankind; . . . (Acts 2.14-17a) And Peter proceeds to quote word for word the
remining portion of Joel prophecy. (Acts 2.17b-21)
What Does This Mean?
So, what does this mean? To answer that question, you must understand that even though
the Holy Spirit played an important role in the Old Testament, the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit in the Old Testament was selective and temporary. The Spirit “came upon” such Old
Testament leaders as Joshua (Num.27.18), David (ISam.16.12-13), and even Saul
(ISam.10.10). In the book of Judges, we see the Spirit “coming upon” various Judges whom
God raised up to deliver Israel from their oppressors. You see, the Holy Spirit came upon
these individuals for specific tasks.
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The selective and temporary indwelling of the Spirit was a sign of God’s favor upon that
individual, and if God’s favor was withdrawn, the Spirit would depart, as we see with King
Saul and as we hear in David’s famous prayer when he said, “Do not cast me away from Your
presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Ps.51.11) In the Old Testament the
Spirit came upon certain individuals for specific tasks or roles. Once the task was
completed, the Spirit presumably departed from that person.
Permanent Indwelling of the Spirit
But we see Jesus highlights the change in the Spirit’s ministry from temporary (O/T) to
permanent (N/T) when He says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,
so that He may be with you forever; the Helper is the Spirit of truth, . . . you know Him because
He remains with you and will be in you. (Jn.14.16-17) We see that the permanent indwelling
of the Holy Spirit in believers began on the Day of Pentecost. At the completion of his
sermon on the Day of Pentecost Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many
as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2.38-39) When you accept Christ as your
Savior, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your heart, bringing with Him an entirely new
life of love, relationship, and service to the Lord. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do you not know
that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and that
you are not your own? For you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
(ICor.6.19-20)
Last Days
The permanent indwelling of the Spirit will continue from the Day of Pentecost until the
day our Lord comes back in all His glory. Peter explains this when he says, this is what was
spoken of through the prophet Joel: ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour
forth of My Spirit on all mankind. (Acts 2.16-17a) The “last days” is the time between the
ascension of Christ and the day of His glorious return. We see the prophet Joel tells us that
the Lord will pour out His Spirit in those days . . . Before the coming of the great and
awesome day of the Lord. (2.29, 31b) Joel uses the phrases “in those days” and “before the
coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” as bookends to describe what Peter calls
the “last days.”
But Joel tells us that on the great and awesome day of the Lord, the Lord will show wonders
in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned
into darkness, And the moon into blood. (2.30-31a) This is exactly what Jesus told us saying,
“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in
perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation
of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Lk.21.25-
27)
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The Call to be Filled with the Spirit
But until that great and awesome day of the Lord, God calls His children to be filled with the
Spirit and not to do anything that would quench or grieve the work of the Spirit. (Eph.5.18;
IThes.5.19; Eph.4.30) I want you to see what the indwelling of the Spirit does in our lives.
Calls us to be Born Again
The Holy Spirit calls us to be born again. He comes to us when we are dead in our
trespasses and sin, draws us to Christ, and creates new life. (Acts 2.39; Jn.3.1-8; Tit.3.5)
Joel highlights this point saying, “And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of
the Lord shall be saved.” (Joel 2. 32; Acts 2.21)
Bears Witness to Our Adoption
The Holy Spirit bears witness to our adoption. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs
with Christ. (Rom.8.16-17a)
Joins Us to the Body of Christ
The indwelling Spirit makes us members of Christ’s universal church for by one Spirit we
were all baptized into one body. (ICor.12.13)
Teaches All Things
Jesus told us that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (Jn.14.26) The
indwelling Spirit helps believers understand and apply the Scripture to their daily life.
(ICor.2.12)
Lead Us
The Spirit leads the believer in paths of righteousness. The Apostle Paul told us,“For all who
are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” (Rom.8.14)
Intercedes for Us
The indwelling Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with groanings too
deep for words. (Rom.8.26)
Give Spiritual Gifts
The indwelling Spirit gives spiritual gifts to edify the church and toserve the Lord
effectively for His glory. (ICor.12.11)
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Produces the Fruit of the Spirit
The indwelling Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in the believer’s life. (Gal.5.22-23)
Seals Us for the Day of Redemption
The indwelling Spirit seals the believer unto the day of redemption as the guarantee of our
inheritance in Christ for all eternity in the heavenly Church of Mount Zion. (Eph.1.13-14;
Heb.12.22-24) To be among the remnant whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2.32b)
Closing Thoughts
Brothers and sisters, the people in Joel’s day looked forward with holy expectation to the
day when the God’s Spirit would be poured out on all flesh, to the Jew and to the Greek. But
today we live in the day of the Spirit and God’s call for us is filled with the Spirit, not
allowing any to hinder, quench, or grieve the Spirit in our lives. Often what the Old
Testament saints looked forward to with holy expectation the people of God today take for
granted. Are you seeking to be filled with the Spirit or are you taking the indwelling Spirit
for granted?
In 1926, the father of my spiritual mentor, Dan Iverson, wrote a little hymn entitled “Spirit
of the Living God. Pastor Dan was the founding pastor of Shenandoah Presbyterian Church
in Miami and was the church planting catalyst to plant all the presbyterian church in Dade
County and some in Broward County for decades to come. God used Pastor Dan in a
powerful way and when you read the words of this little hymn you will see that he
understood his ongoing need to be filled with the Spirit.
“Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me,
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me,
Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.”
Transition to the Table
As we transition to the Lord Table this let this be our prayer on this Anniversary Sunday.