Supernatural Declaration of God’s Plan
David W Palmer
(Acts 2:14–17 NKJV) But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. {15} For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. {16} But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: {17} ‘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.’”
When the Holy Spirit filled and clothed Peter on the Day of Pentecost, he suddenly understood something from Scripture; it was a prophetic insight. Peter could see exactly what God was saying in this prophetic passage and how it applied there and then. He immediately stood up to address the people whose attention the Holy Spirit had arrested. The Holy Spirit spoke through him and delineated the way Jesus intended for the church age to unfold: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh.”
On that day, God poured out his Spirit on the 120 devoted followers in the “upper room,” but the revelation the Holy Spirit gave Peter shows that it is God’s plan for this to continue unabated to include “all flesh.” When coupled with Jesus’s commission to preach the gospel everywhere to everyone, we see that God’s vision for the time in which we live is to have both the gospel and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit reaching everyone—without exception.
With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit comes: “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.’” Prophecy is supernatural saying, and “see visions” and God-given dreams are supernatural seeing. So, not only is the spontaneous and supernatural revelation to be given to us—and we should expect it continually—God’s plan is for everyone to have things revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. Of course, he wants them to hear and receive the gospel first. But even grasping the truth of the gospel and its power unto salvation is a revelation given by the Holy Spirit.
As we move deeper and deeper into these last days and end times, let’s expect more than ever to receive revelation, prophecies, dreams, visions, and gifts of the Holy Spirit—supernatural seeing, saying, and doing. And let’s expect that it is fully God’s plan for new believers to begin to experience this too.
Part of our role in discipling newborns in God’s kingdom is to show them how to be guided by God’s written word so they can walk genuinely in the revelation God wants them to receive without being deceived, side-tracked, or thwarted by the enemy. I always remember what I was taught as a novice in all of this: “All word and you dry up; all spirit and you blow up; word and spirit together and you grow up.”
Today, I encourage you to expect to receive prophecy, see visions, or have dreams if age-appropriate. Expect revelation from God as you read his word, and expect spontaneous and supernatural seeing and saying while conversing, preaching, teaching, or writing. This, after all, is God’s plan for this time. Let’s also expect the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all flesh. Expect God to use you in this today.
We must also remember that when filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’s followers appeared to be drunk to their audience:
(Acts 2:12–13 NKJV) So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” {13} Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
Mere observation without explanation can lead to cynicism and misunderstanding. Peter had to preach and teach them that these spirit-filled people were not drunk, but full of the Spirit of Holiness. We too need to be ready and fully prepared to give explanation of what God is doing and quietly nip in the bud any hint of the enemy’
