YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS

Acts 2:17

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”

When did occur the event of this verse? (2:1) What did happen on that day? (2:2-4) How was the spiritual condition of all of them? (2:4) Why Peter had to stand up and address the crowd? (2:12,13)Which word of God did take Peter to interpret what they had experienced? (Joel 2:28-32) 

On the day of Pentecost when the disciples were all together in one place, came the Holy Spirit from heaven and all of them were filled with the Spirit of God.  

Please read Acts 2:17 again. When is ‘the last days’? (17a, Is. 2:2, 2Ti. 3:1, Heb.1:2, 2P.3:3) Are we living in the last days? What is the promise of God in the last days? (17b) What means ‘pour out’? Who is ‘my Spirit’? What are the works of the Holy Spirit (Jn.16:8, 13; Acts 1:8)? On whom God will pour out his Spirit in the last days? Who is ‘all people’? 

Acts 2:17 “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” 

The last days: Not a single point of time, but an entire period. The Messianic age. Peter – Outpouring of the Spirit; Hebrews – Appearance of the Son is the beginning of the last times; All the days of the new covenant are the last days, and these are already far advanced (Bengel); The return of Christ is the end of the last days.

Pour out:  Not in drops, but in streams. Abundantly. 

My Spirit: The Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of truth.  

The work of the Holy Spirit. John 16:8 “When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:13 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

All people: without the discrimination of race, gender, social positions, etc. All believers under the new covenant can be full of the Holy Spirit. All flesh (KJV). The Holy Spirit can convert us, who are carnal, into spiritual persons. (Starke) This promise is also daily fulfilled through the Word and the Sacraments, because among believers, every day is a spiritual Pentecostal festival; and that fulfilment will never cease in the Christian Church, as long as the Word and the Sacraments endure. (John Arndt)  

Who are ‘your sons and daughters, your young men and your old men’? (17c) What means ‘prophesy’, ‘see visions’ and ‘dream dreams’? 

“Your sons, your daughters, your young men, your old men” represent all the disciples, without distinction of sex, age, or station. 

“Prophecy, see visions, dream dreams” are the three principal forms assumed by the influences of the Spirit under the old covenant. God used them to communicate with his people. The Holy Spirit enters into the heart of the believers, dwells in it and gives spiritual gifts. 

“Prophecy” – Reception and declaration of a word from God. In the Old Testament the Prophets received a word from God through many means – direct declarations, visions, dreams, or an appearance of God. And they spoke it to the people. In the New Testament, the word “prophecy” means “to speak before” or “to speak for”. Thus it refers to speaking for God or Christ. “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1,2) Prophecy is also to interpret and preach the words of God.     

“See visions” – Vision is the experience of a special revelation from God. To see visions is to know God’s will in his life and obey it. 

“Dream dreams” – Dreams were important in the Old Testament, many times God revealed his plans through dreams. To dream dreams is to put our hope in the Kingdom of God.  

How we can prophesy, see visions and dream dreams? (2:17b) How we can be full of the Holy Spirit? What great vision of God you can see in this new year? 

2:17b “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”

To be full of the Holy Spirit, 

We have to repent of our sins – Acts 2:38, 3:19

We have to obey to the Holy Spirit – Acts 5:32

We have to desire to be full of the Holy Spirit – Is.44:3

We have to pray – Luke 11:13, Acts 2:1, 8:15,16

We have to believe – Mark 11:24

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