Old and Young Shall Dream Together

Prayer: God of all nations, please break down the barriers that divide us and that blunt the wonderful message of your grace. Pour out your Spirit upon us and convict us of our prejudice and selfishness, and replace it with your transcending love. Forgive us, forgive me, when my own shortsightedness and selfishness interferes with the world seeing a united Church proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

17“ ‘In the last days, God says,

I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

your young men will see visions,

your old men will dream dreams.

Introduction

Now today I want us to focus on old and young together, unified by the Spirit in ministry according to Acts 2:17. My deep desire is to see the old and the young united in vision and in ministry at Monroe Street Christian Church. This is where the Spirit would take us 73 years of service. So I urge all of us: "Walk by the Spirit!" "Be led by the Spirit!" "Bear the fruit of the Spirit!"

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is the opening of a new chapter of history. We live in this chapter and I want to unfold three of its characteristics from verse 17. But I want to do this with a very specific focus on old and young in this congregation. 

Notice that verse 17 says, "Your young men will see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Neither will be left out. Both will be blessed in this way. When the Spirit comes, he draws together in ministry. Sons and daughters will prophesy (v. 17). The Spirit will draw men and women together in ministry, he will draw low and upper class together in ministry, and he will draw old and young together in ministry (v. 17). The Spirit comes upon all, fills all (Ephesians 5:18), gives gifts to all (1 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Peter 4:10), and empowers all for witness and ministry. It is not of the Spirit when old or young withdraw from the other or from the ministry.

Three Characteristics of This Chapter 

So let's look now at the three characteristics of this chapter of history beginning at Pentecost and keep in mind as we go, the truth that it is old and young together, not old and young separated. To help you remember them, each characteristic begins with an "F."

1. Final

First, the chapter of history beginning with Pentecost is the FINAL chapter. Verse 17: "In the last days it shall be, God declares." This chapter is the chapter of the "last days."

The Beginning of the End Times

We live in the end times, the last days. It does not matter that these last days have stretched into 2,000 years.

The Second Coming of Christ to Follow

Living in the last days means that the next great epoch-making act of God is not another flood, and not the choice of a new Abraham, and not another great Exodus, and not the giving of another law, and not the taking of a promised land, and not a period of Christian kings or an exile in Babylon, and not another Christ to die and rise. Living in the last days means that the next great epoch-making act of God is the great and terrible day of the Lord referred to in verse 20—the second coming of Christ.

An Overwhelming Significance

If our older minds and our younger minds could be filled with the awesome meaning of living in the last days, it would cover a multitude of frustrations and minor disagreements.

Note that word "filled"! If our minds could be filled! That is the second "F" that characterizes this chapter of history. It is not only FINAL.

2. Fullness

It is a chapter designed for spiritual FULLNESS. Fullness for the old and fullness for the young. "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit . . . "

Paul prays for all believers that they would be "filled with all the fullness of God."

Here I want to call you—young and old—to a passion for fullness. Paul meant old and young when he prayed that we be filled with all the fullness of God.

If you were to ask me, "What is this fullness?" I would say, "Why do you want to know?" Could it be that you want to know all that it is so that you can decide whether to obey the command to seek it, to pray for it, to have it?

What I long for from myself and from all of you is the answer: "Who knows all that the fullness of God might mean in my life? Or are there any older or younger people who would dare to say, I have seen all of God I want to see; my love for him is as deep as I want it to be; my confidence in his grace is as full as I want it to be; my life is full enough of God for all to see as fully as they should see.

And if there is none who can say that, then one thing should unite the old and young of this church—a passionate quest for all the fullness of God.

In the FINAL chapter of history, I pray that the old and the young of Bethlehem will find a deep and precious unity in pursuing all the FULLNESS of God. That is what this FINAL chapter of history is for.

3. For All Flesh

But that is not all it is for. The third and last "F" describing this chapter of history is this: it is for "all FLESH." Verse 17: "And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh."

This means that the outpouring of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is not to be restricted or held in; God means it to be worldwide.

This too is the meaning of the time we live in. It is the great missionary time. We simply don't know the meaning of our day if we are content with the present extent of the gospel and the out-pouring of the Spirit on the unreached peoples of the world.

When Joel and Peter say that the young men will see visions and the old men will dream dreams, this is what they have in mind—dreams and visions about the spread of the kingdom of God until "all flesh" is reached. One strong evidence for this is that in the rest of the book of Acts all the dreams and visions are given for missionary strategy and missionary motivation. Ananias (Acts 9) has a vision to go commission Paul for his great missionary work. Peter (Acts 10) has a vision to carry the gospel and the Spirit to the Gentiles at Cornelius' house. Paul (Acts 16) has a vision of Europeans saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." (See also 18:9; 26:19.)

When the Spirit comes in his fullness, this is what will happen for the young and for the old. The Bible says, you are never to old to see a vision and dream a dream for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ—never!

In conclusion

The meaning of our time is threefold: It is the FINAL time. It is a time for FULLNESS. It is a time for reaching all FLESH with the gospel—old and young together.

Keep these last two in the right order. First FULLNESS, then reaching all FLESH. We are not called by God to a frustrating, unfinishable, discouraging, gloomy task of reaching all flesh. We are called by the God of all grace first to experience all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19), all the fullness of the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), all the fullness of Christ (Romans 15:29). And then in the strength and joy and fullness that he supplies to spread it to "all FLESH."

We live in the final years of history. God is calling us to be FILLED with the Spirit, with all the fullness of God. And in that fullness he is calling young and old to dream new dreams and see new visions of how all FLESH can be drawn into the experience of Christ. May the Lord give us this fullness and hasten the great and final day of the Lord. Amen.