I Have A Dream

Acts 2:16-21

16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

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 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

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

. . . your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. . .

In continuation from our last study we discovered what God intended for the coming of the Holy Spirit’s reign in the world and the church. In this study we will aim to apply what that means for us today living in these “last days”. The term last days is referring to the days of the Holy Spirit; not the Day of the Lord as we shall see later in our study (Acts 2:20); but for now, lets pay attention to how the Holy Spirit will be using the church during these “last days”. The Holy Spirit began His reign laying the foundation as the Apostles were chosen to establish this authority in the organism and administration of the church (1 Cor. 12:27).

That foundation has been already laid, as we have seen in a previous study, before the Holy Spirit came upon the “whole church” at Pentecost. (http://www.7thdayministries.com/#!The-Chosen-One/cgy0/E43F76B6-4AE2-43CA-BB2E-73643241E2BB) The foundation was Christ Himself as the Chief Cornerstone and the Apostles as pillars (Ps. 118:22; Mk. 12:10; Acts 1:2; 4:11; Eph. 2:20; 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:28).

1 Peter 2:4-8

The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People

4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,

"Behold, I lay in Zion

A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,

And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."

7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

"The stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief cornerstone,"

8 and

"A stone of stumbling

And a rock of offense."

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. NKJV

I would like to make note that there is no single Pope to rule over this foundation, because the Holy Spirit has been given to “all flesh” there is no separation between priest and people or clergy and layman through Christ’s sacrifice (Eph. 2:14; Matt. 27:51; Heb. 6:19); because we are all mediators of a new covenant in Christ, but Christ working in the Holy Spirit is the only Redeemer for God, however, the Holy Spirit uses the means of the church to sovereignly administrate this task; not man or Pope. We can be used as co-mediators chained to the Scriptures; but never as Co-Redeemer as the Roman Catholic apostate church claims. There must be a separation of terms.

Heb 9:15

15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. NKJV

The context in which the author of Hebrews is teaching about the mediation of the new covenant is referring to “the redemption for sin under the first covenant”. Therefore this mediation is referring to Christ's work of redemption, but the church’s role as mediator is for the ministry of Christ's redemption, as a holy priesthood, and as the whole church is given a delegated authority for this ministry; for the Spirit was given to “all flesh”.

2 Cor 5:18-6:1,2

18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

6 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. NKJV

Now having laid this foundation, what does Joel and Peter mean by, “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy” ? Notice that the fulfillment is in the “sons and daughters”, meaning both male and female will have the same Spirit; but there are different roles in how the Spirit is manifested through and in them. To give us some application women are not to have authoritative roles over the men.

1 Cor 14:34-35

34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

Titus 2:3-5

3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things — 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. NKJV

1 Peter 3:1-6

3 Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. 3 Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel — 4 rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. NKJV

There are multiple ways women can prophesy in the church; as seen above they can teach other women and children the way of God. Women can prophesy "in the Spirit" over us through song (Zeph. 3:14,17), as David appointed women in the choir(1 Ch. 6:31,33; 25:5,6), and together as an assembly (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).

It is also important to note that the words “shall prophesy” doesn’t always mean foretelling future events, but that your sons and your daughters will simply speak forth future events that have not yet been fulfilled, but have been (past tense) revealed. It is important to understand the context of what is going on when we try make sense of these words. Peter is quoting a historic “foretelling” of the event that just occurred in the upper room and Scripture is being written as Peter speaks. Peter is simply saying that Joel’s prophesy is just beginning to be fulfilled as the next phrase defines "the generations" of this prophetic event.

. . . your young men shall see visions. . .

This phrase is referring to the young Apostles and prophets who are the foundation of this prophesy. This does not mean that the Spirit will continue to give divine “revelation” throughout all of God’s history, but that these “revelations” will end with the death of these young men, who are the chosen Apostles of the Lord. As we continue to read through Acts and the Epistles; only the Apostles accompanied these gifts in reference to the beginning generation.

Acts 2:43

43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.

Acts 4:33

33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

Acts 5:12-13

12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch.

1 Cor 12:29-30

29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

Eph 3:5-6

5 which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:

Jude 17

17 But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Peter 3:2

2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, NKJV

All these verses are in reference to the authority of the Apostles who have the temporary sign gifts and are declaring God’s revelation until its completion.

2 Cor 12:12

12 Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. NKJV

Rev 18:20

20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!"

Rev 22:18-19

A Warning

18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. NKJV

Once the cannon was completed through the death of all the Apostles and prophets; the following generation, (. . . your old men shall dream dreams. . .), reveals the difference between the fulfillment of visions and the failings of dreams. Notice it says they will “dream dreams” as if they it was all a just a dream, or it could mean that ‘these old men' do not get to see the fulfillment of their dreams; as their sons and daughters take hold of their fathers dream; like Joshua took hold of Moses' dream “from The Lord” to go into the promised land.

1 Cor 13:8-10

8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. NKJV

It is not sinful to dream and desire the things of God, in fact when we do, we are desiring a good thing: (This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 1 Tim 3:1 NKJV). But this may not always be God’s plan for us, for He is sovereign, and even the Apostles were not always permitted to act according to their own wills (Acts. 16:7). Dreams can fail, but love endures forever; and the Holy Spirit that was given to the church will not fail (Matt. 16:18), until He is removed from the world (1 Thess. 4:17), and He will never be removed from the abiding church in this age or the one to come (Jn. 15:7; Matt. 28:20; Matt. 12:32; Heb. 6:5; Eph. 1:21).