A Video Supplement for
Come, Follow Me Lesson 26:
“Ye Shall Be Witnesses unto Me”
Transcript
In Acts 2, we have the account of the Spirit being poured out on the Day of Pentecost in great power. This event provokes varied reactions from the observers who from many different nations and speaking many different languages all hear the gospel preached in their own familiar tongues. Some are pricked in their hearts while others think that the apostles are speaking their languages through the miraculous powers of alcohol. Peter responds to this latter charge, as is recorded in Acts 2:14-17, citing the prophecy of Joel 2:28-32, of which I shall read part
14 ¶ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
In other words it is too early in the day for them to have gotten drunk
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Peter (and Joel) here link the Spirit to prophecy. This view is later sustained in the Revelation 19:10 when John in response to almost mistakenly worshiping an angel recounts, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” We thus understand from these two passages that 1. it is the Holy Ghost which conveys to a person a spiritual witness that Jesus is the Christ (as also confirmed Doctrine and Covenants 46:13), 2. that those who gain the guidance of the Holy Ghost may also receive other spiritual gifts such as tongues, prophecy, revelations, visions, prophetic dreams and so forth (see also Articles of Faith 1:7), and 3. that these are to be available in the last days according to Peter. Now if they were being poured out in Peter’s day and the prophecy also includes the signs of the second coming, then how much more can we suppose that we, who are living in even more “latter days” than Peter can enjoy these same gifts and blessings if we appeal to the Lord, following him through baptism having faith on the name of his son Jesus Christ and those upon whom the Spirit is here poured out had done. It would be a scandal if one were to suppose that these gifts were only to be available to benefit and bless God’s children in the second to last days and not on an ongoing basis according to their faith until the prophecy were actually fulfilled in its totality including the Lord’s coming. We thus have every reason to trust in the Lord and seek for the blessings which he offers in our day to those who put their trust in him.
