A Remnant According to Grace

Acts 2:17-21

17 '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. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. 21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.' NKJV

17 '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.

In continuation from our last study we dove into how the Holy Spirit is being set up as Lord of the church. Christ is exalted to the seat of authority as the Most High’s right hand. We learned a little bit how God rules as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is three Persons who are in perfect agreement who rule the earth, by means of their roles to each other, yet, remain equal in power, authority, and essence. The Biblical narrative starts out, “In the beginning God.” This testifies that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit were with the Father in the eternal mind of the Word (Jn. 1:1). I say this to show that, even though, Christ now rules and intercedes for the church from the right hand of the Father in heaven; He is very much present in the earth by the Person of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who reigns in the earth in the current dispensation of grace (Eph. 3:2). As we studied last time, we were able to see that the Person of Jesus Christ is coming to reign again in the earth when Israel repents of her rejection of the chosen Messiah (Eph. 1:10). This is the aim of Peter’s sermon. He is preaching for Israel’s repentance in particular.

This sermon is specifically addressed to Israel, but in God’s providence it is not the time or season of Israel’s repentance (Eph. 1:10), however, God has promised that He will bring them repentance, (. . . so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, . . . Acts 3:19 NKJV). These “times” of refreshing precede the Christ’s reign on earth. Someone will ask isn’t Christ reigning now, and the answer is yes; but His reign is from heaven (. . . whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things . . . Acts 3:21 NKJV). What are the times of restoration of all things? If we study Revelation 19 and 20 closely we should conclude that the land, mind, and life of all things is restored to Christ as He rules in Jerusalem. However there is one thing that is not fully restored and that will be the heart of man. Christ’s coming rule will be with a rod of iron working against man’s will (Rev. 2:27). Israel’s heart will be restored (Jer. 31:31; Ezk. 36:26), but the Gentiles nations will be suppressed by Christ’s rule (Rev. 112:5; 9:15). They will not be able to resist His laws through the deception of Satan as, even now, all nations are currently deceived, including Israel (2 Cor. 4:4). Therefore what Peter is quoting by the prophet Joel applies to the reign of Holy Spirit in the earth.

17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh

Peter says that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of verse 17.

. . . I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh . . .

In the Holy Spirit God sovereignly controls all flesh in the earth (Jn. 17:21). This is mainly referring to the Holy Spirit’s reign in the body of Christ, but it also includes those outside of the body elect. First, lets briefly discuss the Holy Spirit’s rule in the heart of the world. The Holy Spirit is the agent of restraint against all evil in the world (2 Thess. 2:7). His work is not only to convert the sons of God (1 Sam. 14:6; Rom. 8:14,19), but to restrain the sons of men (Jn. 8:35; Ps. 145:12; Mic. 5:7). It is He who brings sunshine and rain on both the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45).

Now, lets discuss the Holy Spirit’s rule in the church. Here all flesh means both Jew and Gentile. The Holy Spirit’s reign begins a unity and joint body of the saints who worship God through the Person of Jesus Christ.

Gal 3:28-29

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. NKJV

Col 3:9-11

9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. NKJV

Rom 10:12-13

12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." NKJV

Paul is quoting from Joel’s prophesy also in (Rom 10:12-13). Therefore the context concludes that all flesh means both Jew and Gentile.

Joel 2:32

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.NKJV

Mount Zion is symbolic of the cross of Christ, (Heb. 12:22) but notice Joel’s original prophecy includes Jerusalem; the earthly city, also. Joel continues on about “those days” as Peter also referenced as the “last days”:

Joel 3:1-3

"For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land. 3 They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink. NKJV

It would have been very clear to Joel’s hearers that the literal city of Jerusalem is God’s intent and purpose of the prophesy.

"For behold, in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, . . . Joel 3:1

Also we have already seen this section of prophesy fulfilled in recent history. On May 14, 1948 Israel became an official nation, again. I don’t have time to get into the details of how Israel was formed but you can research it here: (http://www.examiner.com/article/after-1-878-years-israel-becomes-a-nation-again-may-14-1948 ); on your own for further study. However the rest of the prophesy remains, yet, to be fulfilled:

2 I will also gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land. 3 They have cast lots for My people, have given a boy as payment for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.

. . . your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.

Lord willing we will discuss the preceding phrases in our next study. But, for now, pray for; not kill for (2 Cor. 10:4; Matt. 6:10) the full restoration of Israel. If indeed the Holy Spirit is abiding in us as His chosen church (1 Jn. 3:14) we will not boast against the “branches” (Rom. 11:18); because it is Christ who supports and uplifts us in the body of Christ (Jas. 4:10), and as we have seen, it is God’s will that the elect remnant of Israel repent and come to life in the Person and work of Jesus Christ (Rom. 10:1; 11:5, 28, 29).