Answers About Pentecost, The Gifts of Holy Spirit, and The Last Revival

Revival is rising. Many leaders are preparing for what many believe will be the Joel 2-3 Revival,
"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten-- the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm -- my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.
And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." (Joel 2:25-28). These locusts mentioned are the Great Locust (Satan), young Locust (Man of sin), and the other locusts are these, "And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power." (Revelation 9:2-3).

Revival is definitely going to precede and follow these Day of Lord. Right now leaders in many denominations are calling out for the Holy Spirit to fall, as it did at Pentecost, "When the day of Pentecost ^[a]had come, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them ^[utterance.⁵ Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and ^[l]visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” ¹² And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
¹³ But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.”
¹⁴ But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. ¹⁵ For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; ¹⁶ but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷ ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all ^[q]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men shall dream dreams;
¹⁸ Even on My bondslaves, both men and women,
I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit
And they shall prophesy.
¹⁹ ‘And I will grant wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke.
²⁰ ‘The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord shall come.
²¹ ‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man ^[r]attested to you by God with ^[s]miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³ this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. ^24 [v]But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held ^[x]in its power. ²⁵ For David says of Him,

‘I saw the Lord always in my presence;
For He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
²⁶ ‘Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue exulted;
Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;
²⁷ Because You will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
²⁸ ‘You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’

²⁹ “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. ³⁰ And so, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh suffer decay. ³² This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. ³³ Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says:

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
³⁵ Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and ^[ai]Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

The Ingathering

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” ⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. ⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
⁴³ Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. ⁴⁴ And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; ⁴⁵ and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. ⁴⁶ Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:1-48).


The Apostle Paul affirms these gifts and baptism of the spirit, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. ² You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led. ³ Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. ⁵ And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. ⁶ There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. ⁷ But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
¹² For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
¹⁴ For the body is not one member, but many. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. ¹⁹ If they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now there are many members, but one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; ²³ and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, ²⁴ whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, ²⁵ so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is ^[q]honored, all the members rejoice with it.
²⁷ Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? ³⁰ All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? ³¹ But earnestly desire the greater gifts.
And I show you a still more excellent way." (1 Corinthians 12:1-31).

Clearly all the Apostles affirm there are gifts of Holy Spirit, an Baptism of Holy Spirit in addition to Baptism by Water. For those who say the gifts of spirit are only for elders or for those times only, then why did The Apostle Paul write to the entire Church of Corinth and asked it be read aloud like the other epistles? And why then did Paul say, "Of the gifts I do not want you to be unaware," (1 Corinthians 12:1-2). It saddens me how the moving of Holy Spirit, part of the Godhead, The Trinity, is quenched because of people who fear the gifts due to crazies, intemperate people, charlatans, Jim Jones types, and false prophets. The way you "test the spirits to see if they are of the Spirit," () is by the fruit "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23). These fruit are suppose to be one symbiote, one whole grape cluster on a vine, thus you cannot have joy without self control, love without goodness and so forth. Jesus affirms Paul's teaching, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them." (Matthew 7:15-20). The fruit Jesus speaks of is the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and fruit of character, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." (Matthew 23:3). The Lord has equipped us with the testers for fruit, The Holy Bible and verses I've shared, and The Holy Spirit can give you if you ask the, "gift of discerning/distinguishing sprits." (1 Corinthians 12:10, cross ref to 1 John 4:1).

If believers follow the Scriptures and Spirit, then there should be no problem with moving in Spirit, the problem lies not in fear of false prophets alone, but ministers, religious men, and pastors who do not want the power of God to manifest or for God to run things, they are these men, "having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people," (2 Timothy 3:5) and "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to." (Matthew 23:13). There are men who want control of other men and women, they use method and ritual, and rules to keep the Rauch HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) from moving. These men do not want to know God personally, so they quench his spirit, they effectively, "but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful," (Mark 4:19). The Holy Spirit brings the word (written scripture, he helped the apostles write the Bible), and leads people to the Word of God (John 1:1), "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26), "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever," (John 14:16), ""When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father--he will testify about me," (John 15;26), "But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you," (Jogn 16:7), "these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God," (1 Corinthians 2:10), and "As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him." (1 John 2;27).

The Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost, Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh) is part of the Trinity, "Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.  But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he permitted Him. After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is ^[c]My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased," (Matthew 3:13-17), "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit)," (Matthew 28:19), "Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied," ( 1 Peter 1:2), "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth," (Genesis 1:26), "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever," (Genesis 3:22, probably Holy Spirit knows good from evil, hence the Fruit of spirit testing which is good or evil, of God or the devil). The Spirit of God leads us to Christ and Father, just as they the Father magnifies His Son (Phillipians 2:9), and Jesus worships His Father (John 5:30), and they both send the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).

You who believe in Jesus Christ, have the Holy Spirit, "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22). But you do not have the power until you like the apostles at Pentecost ask for power, "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 of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4). The way my dad put it like this, "you have the Holy Spirit when you confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart He was raised by God from the dead (Romans 10:9), but while you are plugged into Holy Spirit (breathed on) you haven't turned the lamp on, the electricity of the Spirit is in you, but you won't see it manifest until you turn the switch of the lamp on and then there will be light (power Acts 2:4)." That is the best way to describe the Baptism of the Holy Spirit I have heard. So you who are plugged in, ask the Holy Spirit to manifest in power. Now sometimes there is laying on hands to receive power of Holy Spirit, "Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit," (Acts 8:17) and "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word (Roman Centurion Cornelius and household).  And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.  For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,  “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”  And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days." (Acts 10:44-48). Sometimes the Holy Spirit just fall on people listening, other times hands are laid, and other times people just ask in seclusion and the power of Spirit manifests. By the way it says, "While Peter was still speaking these words (preaching, see Acts 10: 34-43), the Holy Spirit fell on all those who hard the word," which means the Holy Spirit does interrupt Himself or the speaker, He interrupted Peter. This also demonstrates that faith can come by hearing, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17).

Are you ready to flip the switch, to move in Power of Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) and walk in Fruit (character, morality, good habits) of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)? The Time is now! Do not delay, let Pentecost and Cornelius' Household, and all other examples in Acts be yours today! Amen.