“And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.... Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8:1-4.
Note.—“Persecution has only had a tendency to extend and establish the faith which it was designed to destroy.... There is no lesson which men have been so slow to learn as that to oppose and persecute men is the very way to confirm them in their opinions, and to spread their doctrines.”—Dr. Albert Barnes, on Acts 4:4.
6. What words of Peter seem to indicate another outpouring of the Spirit?
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19.
7. What event does he speak of as immediately following these times of refreshing?
“And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive [Syriac, retain] until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Verses 20, 21.
Note.—From this it seems evident that we may look for another outpouring of the Spirit for a final proclamation of the gospel to all the world just before Christ's second advent and the restitution of all things.
8. What prophecy was fulfilled in the Pentecostal outpouring of the Spirit in the time of the apostles?
“But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, [pg 197] and said, ... These are not drunken, as ye suppose, ... but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out 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: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:14-18. See Joel 2:28, 29.
9. What expressions in the prophecy of Joel seem to imply a double fulfilment of this outpouring of the Spirit?