Outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon All Flesh

davidwpalmer

February 7

(Acts 2:17 NKJV) "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."

This exciting promise from God was first declared on earth through the Old Testament prophet Joel (Joel 2:28–32). He was looking forward to a future event. However, when the apostle Peter quoted this on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), he said that its fulfillment began that day:

(Acts 2:16 AMP) "But this is [the beginning of] what was spoken of through the prophet Joel."

So from the day recorded in Acts 2 till today, this prophecy has been in force. That means we can claim it, fight for it, and live in it today; today's the day of Holy Spirit outpouring.

What's more, we note that God has promised to pour his Holy Spirit on "all flesh." We can take great encouragement from this powerful prophetic promise in several ways:

God's Spirit of Holiness on Individual Flesh

First, it means that God is pouring … yes absolutely pouring … his Spirit of holiness on individual "flesh." In Greek, this is the same word the apostle Paul used when explaining how to overcome sin—and in particular, the sins of the flesh:

(Romans 7:18, 25 NKJV) For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ... {25} I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Paul confessed that his flesh was a major problem in overcoming addiction to sin. Here in verse 25, he says that overriding the flesh's ability to control our life with its sin is only possible through "Jesus Christ our Lord." In other words, if we make Jesus complete Lord of our lives, his lordship is stronger than our flesh's sin. It also implies that Jesus Christ—the living, anointed Word of God—is more powerful than our flesh, when we allow him to have control of us.

(Luke 4:18 NKJV) "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me …"

The word Christ means anointed, which means the smearing on of Holy Spirit power. God's promise is to pour his Holy Spirit on our flesh. Praise the Lord; this means that his promise is to smear his infinite power of holiness upon our sin-addicted flesh. That is, he is liberally pouring on us his ability to disempower sin. Let's now look at God's confirming statement that the Holy Spirit—as one spirit with our spirit—is the only power strong enough to subdue the flesh and overcome its sinful tendency:

(Romans 8:13 NKJV) For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

This passage not only confirms that the Holy Spirit is completely dominant over the sin of the flesh, but clarifies that we have a part in this: "If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." "If" means it is conditional; "you" followed by the verb, "put to death" shows that its fulfillment requires our action; and, "by the Spirit," shows us how to fulfill our part. The promise is that God will empower us to overcome sin originating in our flesh, and that it is fulfilled as we activate the Holy Spirit. We do this by praying in the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, being led by the spirit, and living in close communion with the Holy Spirit. If we don't grieve or sadden him with our words and actions; if we keep our faith in God's word alive and active, his holy power will be fully smeared on our flesh, rendering it's sin-power non-functional.

So, the first point to celebrate about God's promise to pour his Holy Spirit on all flesh is that he can overpower the flesh's sin addiction.

We can apply this to ourselves; but how do we receive and activate God's promise to pour his Spirit of Holiness onto our own flesh? As well as what is listed above, speaking in tongues allows the Holy Spirit to move. When he controls our tongue, he has hold of the steering wheel of our flesh and life:

(James 3:2, 8 NKJV) For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body. ... {8} But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

Truly, as we read here, no man can tame the tongue; yet it can control the whole body. Only the Holy Spirit can tame it, and thus he can bridle the fleshly body to steer it where God wants it to go. If you don't yet speak in tongues as one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, I encourage you to prayerfully seek that gift today; you need it.

A second application we can make from this point is that we can pray, prophesy, declare, and confess God's promise of Holy Spirit outpouring onto those Jesus leads us to. As we do this, we allow the Holy Spirit to be poured out on their flesh—that's right, their sin-addicted flesh. When combined with binding the enemy from them, this can greatly change their life: it can help lead them to understand the gospel clearly; it can also silence blasphemous swearing in your presence or other unedifying behavior. Yes, God promised unequivocally to pour his Holy Spirit on "all" flesh.

Tomorrow, we will see other ways that this promise applies, but for today, let's claim—not a drop or even a trickle of God's spirit power of holiness—but an outpouring. Let's take this promise to heart and confess, declare, prophesy, and pray a magnanimous outpouring of God's Spirit of Holiness on our own flesh today. Let's also declare the same on those around us—those who love us and those who don't. God made the promise; it's ours to claim. Remember, he said that today he would pour his Spirit on all—every last bit of—flesh—including the sinful flesh that all of us have to deal with.