A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, 2026.
And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls (Joel 2:28-32).
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. . . .
And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:1-6, 12).[1]
What happened at Pentecost, as recorded in the second chapter of Acts? Clearly it was a unique event, tongues of fire, rushing wind, the miraculous gift of languages. It was sudden, Luke says,[2] but what happened on that day did not come out of nowhere. When the crowd stood bewildered at the sound of the apostles declaring the mighty works of God in many languages, Peter corrected their misconceptions and pointed them back to the Scriptures, saying, “this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel” (Acts 2:16). What was witnessed in that moment was not merely a curiosity nor chaos, but a prophesied promise fulfilled.
As first delivered centuries before, Joel’s prophecy served as a warning to God’s people for their sin but also a promise to restore. Under God’s judgment, the people, along with livestock and land, endured natural disaster and devastation, including a plague of locusts. But God promised to restore the years the locusts had eaten, providing agricultural blessings and national renewal.[3] And it was within this promise of restoration that God promised a day would come when he would personally dwell with his people.[4]
How? God promised, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (2:28). It was a promise given to be fulfilled one day in the future. And God did come and dwell with his people in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but it was after this death, resurrection, and ascension that the prophecy was fulfilled in full. The first day of Pentecost following Christ’s ascension was that day. On that day, the age of fulfillment arrived and the last days began. The Holy Spirit was poured out. And if you are in Christ, then the Spirit has been poured out upon you. We live with but also by the Holy Spirit, for apart from the Holy Spirit there is no life in Christ.
Think about it: It is the Holy Spirit who has delivered the Word of God to us. It is through the preaching of that Word that the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see sin for what it is, and to see Christ truly for who he is. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the gift of faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and who indwells us by faith, equipping and enabling us to live for Christ. And it is through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence that we are sanctified in preparation for glory. The Christian life is a Spirit-filled life.
All of this should, of course, encourage gratitude within us. So, let us give thanks that our Lord Jesus did not ascend into heaven and leave us to ourselves but continues to abide with us and in us by his Spirit. And let us look back with joy to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Spirit. For, God does indeed dwell with his people by his Spirit.
The Promise
Let’s begin first with the promise itself: Joel prophesizes, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” (2:28). Notice first that this is entirely the work of God: “I will pour out my Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is not earned. He is not manufactured. He is not summoned by technique or human effort. God pours out His Spirit sovereignly and graciously.
Yet, when God promises to pour out his Spirit, this does not imply the Spirit’s absence among the Old Testament saints. Under the Old Covenant, it was the Holy Spirit who gave life, empowered faith, inspired prophets, strengthened kings, and equipped leaders. Just as Abraham was saved by faith through the Holy Spirit, so were all the Old Testament saints. And apart from the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, there is no conviction, no repentance, no faith, and so no salvation. No one in the Old Testament, or today, was ever saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. But before Pentecost, the ministry of the Holy Spirit was uniquely different, often concentrated and selective. The Spirit came upon Moses, upon Joshua, upon David, upon Elijah uniquely. Rightly did David plead, “Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11), not because he feared losing his salvation but because he enjoyed a unique manifestation of God’s Spirit as the Lord’s anointed.
But through Joel, God promises a day when the Spirit would be poured out broadly, expansively, “on all flesh.” What does he mean by “all flesh”? He means, as we see in the text, sons and daughters, fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters, even servants would receive the Holy Spirit. This is not a promise of universal indwelling but diversity, across every category of person: young and old, male and female, servant and free. The blessings of the Spirit would no longer be restricted to a small class of specially appointed leaders but be poured out upon the covenant community.
When I think of this promise, I’m reminded of a tense exchange between Joshua and Moses. In Numbers 11, when the Spirit rested upon the seventy elders and they prophesied, Joshua became concerned that people, other than Moses, were prophesying. And so, Joshua pleaded with his mentor, “My lord Moses, stop them” (Num. 11:28). In his eyes, the Spirit had been poured out upon Moses alone and that was enough, present and active with God’s prophet alone. But Moses, in his humility, wanted more for the Lord’s people, responding to Joshua, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (11:29). What Moses longed for, Joel promised. And what Joel promised, God fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.
And in the book of Acts, as we move from the second chapter of Acts onward, we witness the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s presence as promised: prophecy, dreams, and visions. But the heart of Joel’s prophecy is not merely miraculous phenomena that occurred only during the apostolic era and then ceased. The heart of the promise is the outpouring of the Spirit himself: The Spirit who convicts of sin, who illumines the Word, who regenerates dead hearts, who unites sinners to Christ is the same Spirit who sanctifies the Church, who empowers witness of Christ to the world. The central glory of Pentecost is not tongues of fire but the presence of God dwelling with his people.
And it’s not something we wait for, because the “last days” that Joel foresaw include these days. The last days began with the coming of Christ, his death, resurrection, ascension, and the pouring out of the Spirit of Christ upon us. And it is in these last days that by his Spirit, we are equipped and enabled to glorify Christ, to advance his gospel, to build his kingdom, to live as his Church, and that he would live with us.
We must never lose sight of this truth. God has not set us apart and saved us to leave us. We are not abandoned people. The Spirit dwells within the Church. The Spirit accompanies the Word. The Spirit strengthens weak saints. The Spirit convicts, comforts, sanctifies, and preserves. The Spirit testifies that we belong to Christ. And the Spirit is the guarantee that the glory to come is certain.
The Presence
Contextually, with this promise also comes the promise of judgement. The Lord says, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes” (Joel 2:30-31). These are apocalyptic images in keeping with prophetic language, in which cosmic disturbances tell of judgment breaking into history. Such language is common among the prophets. We see this language in Isaiah regarding Babylon, in Ezekiel regarding Egypt, and in the prophets generally when God comes in judgment against nations.
But when Peter preached at Pentecost, he chose Joel’s prophecy specifically and included this part of Joel’s prophecy. Why? Because the death, resurrection, ascension, and enthronement of Christ meant that the decisive turning point of history had arrived. The kingdom had come, and judgment is coming, on the prophesied Day of the Lord.
What was witnessed and experienced at Pentecost announced both salvation and judgment. The same Spirit who gives life also exposes unbelief. The same gospel that softens some hearts hardens others. There is no neutrality before the enthroned Christ. Judgment Day is indeed coming, and he who sits at the Father’s right hand will judge both the living and the dead.
And this, of course, makes the last verse of this prophetic promise all the more pertinent: “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved” (2:32). Judgment is coming, but there is salvation today, and it is offered to “everyone.” It is not limited by ethnicity, class, age, gender, or background. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The fulfillment of the promise belongs to all who call upon the name of the Lord.
It is no surprise that the apostle Paul uses this verse in the tenth chapter of his epistle to the Romans. Because the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ and to call upon his name is, as Paul puts it, is to “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead . . .” Everyone who does “will be saved” (Rom. 10:9,13). The promise God made is fulfilled in Christ alone. For, salvation comes not through works, not through heritage, not through ceremony, but through faith in the crucified and risen Savior. And his Spirit is poured out upon all who believe.
The Fulfillment
Now, I want you to turn back with me to the beginning of the second chapter of Acts, where we find Christ has already ascended, and his disciples are gathered, and the promise of the Father is about to be fulfilled. And suddenly the Spirit comes: wind, fire, languages, power, and the apostles begin declaring the mighty works of God. The representative nations gathered in Jerusalem hear the gospel in their own tongues. And then, Peter stands and quotes Joel, in essence saying, “This is that”! What was promised has arrived through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Having just celebrated Ascension Sunday, we should pause here and reflect on its connection with Pentecost: Jesus truly is enthroned. And this is Peter’s point, in part, when he says later in this chapter, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:32-33). Christ, exalted at the right hand of God, has poured out his Spirit. And this pouring out is evidence of his reign now.
But the authority Christ has been given, and the Spirit he has given to us, is not for the sake of turning inward as a church but outward, bearing witness to Christ. Spirit-filled people speak about Jesus. Why? Because the Spirit magnifies Christ. The clearest evidence of the Spirit’s work is not frenzy or spectacle. It is Christ exalted, Scripture believed, holiness pursued, sinners converted, and the gospel proclaimed. Such is the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
But though Christ has poured out his Spirit upon us already, our salvation is not yet complete. The Christian lives between fulfillment and consummation. The Spirit has been poured out but the final Day of Lord has not yet arrived. The Spirit is already given, but we still groan for glory. And so the Church lives with expectancy: we pray, we worship, we witness, and we wait. Because the same Jesus who poured out His Spirit will return in glory. Until that day, the invitation still stands: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
(Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] Acts 2:2
[3] Joel 2:21-26
[4] Joel 2:27
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