Before the Spirit is Poured Out

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:

The promise of the Holy Spirit to be poured out on all flesh is a great promise of God. The Scriptures teach that when God pours His Spirit out on all flesh, the sons and daughters will prophesy, old men will dream dreams, young men will have vision, and He will show wonders through them. Oh, this is a wonderful promise that every believer ought to desire.

However, we miss an integral part of this promise. This promise depends on doing the things that require the Holy Spirit’s power. There is no need for the Holy Spirit to pour Himself out on people if they are not doing what needs His power. Let me share what we must do for the Holy Spirit to pour Himself out on us.

First, your sons and daughters must prophesy. This is interesting because who will teach the sons and daughters to prophesy? To prophesy is to share the Gospel. This is made clear in Acts 2:16-18. Soul winning ought to be a family affair. Imagine the whole family being a soul winning family and having the power of the Holy Spirit upon them and how much better the home life of this family would be that had the Holy Spirit’s power on them. My friend, dad and mom must teach sons and daughters how to be a soul winner if they will tell others how to get saved.

Second, the old men must not lose their dream for the Holy Spirit to be poured out. The older you get, the harder it is to pursue the dreams you have had because of those dreams that have yet to be fulfilled. However, if you will keep your dream alive, the Holy Spirit will continue giving you more dreams.

Third, the young men must have a vision for God to do something. I believe one thing this generation has lost is its vision for God to do great things. The young generation must be careful not to have a vision for something that truly does not need God for it to happen. God wants the younger generation to have a vision for Him to do something great through their lives.

Fourth, we must first attempt to do wonders for God to perform them. Too many want God to do the miraculous through them without them having to do any work, but God wants us to have the faith to attempt the miraculous and act on that faith before He will show His power through us. Jeremiah 33:3 says, Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Again, God will show the great and mighty things if we attempt them first.

It all starts with soul winning. You can pray for God’s power to fall on you, but you will never have it until you do what requires His power. Soul winning is a work of God that needs the power of the Holy Spirit to be successful. People cannot get saved without the Holy Spirit doing His work in their hearts. However, the Holy Spirit works through the voices and lives of mankind to deliver the Gospel so the lost can be saved. Dreams, visions, and attempting to do great works are a natural byproduct of soul winning. Go soul winning and you will know the byproduct of soul winning is the Holy Spirit being poured out on your life.