Derek Prince emphasizes the historical and prophetic significance of Pentecost, highlighting the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as a pivotal moment for the church. He discusses the importance of understanding the roots of the Pentecostal movement and the necessity of the Holy Spirit's presence in empowering believers, especially the youth, to navigate the challenges of modern society. Prince warns against the rejection of the Holy Spirit, which can lead to spiritual vacuums filled by negative influences, and stresses that the outpouring of the Spirit is essential for the church's mission and the harvest of souls. He draws parallels between the restoration of Israel and the church, asserting that both are experiencing a divine revival in the last days. Ultimately, he calls for a renewed commitment to the Holy Spirit's work in the church to fulfill God's purpose in this critical time.

Now today the church celebrates the historical event of Pentecost. And I would like to bring you my evening message on the significance of Pentecost. Both historical and prophetical. This message will of necessity be just a kind of outline but I trust that it will be helpful. I meet so many Pentecostal people that are ignorant of the history of their own movement. And in addition to that there are so many denominational people from other backgrounds that are becoming interested in the Pentecostal experience and testimony. But many of them too know little or nothing of the actual history and background the Pentecostal movement. So tonight with God's help and I realize that I need the help of the Holy Spirit. I'm going to try to put the day of Pentecost and the testimony of Pentecost and the history of the Pentecostal movement into a kind of general perspective. Both historical that is looking backwards and prophetical that is looking forward. Perhaps we should begin by reading briefly the words of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter of the book of Acts. Just by way of introduction I'd like to read a few verses there. Now we have to assume that here in Christian United States people are familiar with the outline of this story. When our brother goes to Mexico about this he'll meet people that have never opened a Bible. And he'd have to tell them the simple basic facts of the gospel and of the history of the church as something that they've never heard. Isn't that remarkable after 19 centuries the world is full of people that have never even once heard the message of the gospel. But I assume here that we can all recall in outline the events of the day of Pentecost. 120 believers waiting in an upper room in prayer until they came to the place where they were all with one accord. Then suddenly a sound from heaven was of a rushing mighty wind that filled all the halls where they were sitting. There appeared unto them cloven tongues as of fire and it sat upon each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues with new languages that they had never learned. And as this noise got around people gathered and they heard these unlearned Galileans speaking perfectly correctly fluently languages which these people knew. But they knew that the Galileans didn't know them and in these new languages that the Holy Spirit gave them they were declaring the wonderful works of God. And of course the question arose what mean is this. Some said they were drunk and then Peter stood up and he began his answer with the words that we shall read now. But Peter standing up this is in verse 14 acts 2 verse 14. But Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice and said unto them ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and hearken to my words. For these are not drunken as ye suppose seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joab and it shall come to pass in the last days at dawn 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. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vaporous smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. When Peter was challenged with this question what mean is this. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he stood up and immediately he referred to the prophecy that we find in the second chapter of the book of Joab. This is one of the remarkable things about the day of Pentecost. Up to that time the apostles and Peter included had had a very limited and unclear understanding of the scriptures. Many times Jesus had pointed out things to them that they couldn't understand and sometimes they couldn't even remember. But the moment the Holy Ghost came and this is quite dramatic and remarkable. The instant that the Holy Ghost came their whole grasp of the scriptures changed immediately. Not gradually but instantly. Because the very author of the scriptures had come to dwell in them. And Peter could stand up and in the sermons which he preached, which is recorded here in the book of Acts. Almost exactly fifty percent of his messages direct quotation from Old Testament scriptures. And he applied them with amazing fluency and grasp of their true meaning. This is one of the outcomes of the Pentecostal experience. It's a flood of new light on the Word of God. Now tonight I want to relate these statements of Peter to their historical background in the Bible and to their prophetical relevance to the present day. Peter said this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. It shall come to pass in the last days that's gone I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And also on my servants and my handmaidens I will pour out of all things of my spirit and they shall prophesy. We notice here another thing which is particularly relevant to the days in which we live. That there's a tremendous emphasis on the young people. Have you ever noticed that? Out of the four groups specified in Acts 2 17, three are specifically young people. Your sons, your daughters, your young men. This is not an accident. It is estimated, I forget the exact date, but I believe that it's estimated that by 1970, 50 percent of the population of the United States will be 21 years old or under. This is astonishing. It's something that's never happened in the history of the human race. This sudden population explosion which is making young people the majority. Secondly we have to recognize today that there are special satanic pressures and evil forces directed against our young people. In the schools and in the colleges, in social life, all sorts of teachings and influences are being brought to bear upon them. New temptations and new spiritual dangers. And this is God's provision for his young people. It's the fullness of the Holy Ghost in every Christian young person. That makes the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, need the fullness of the Holy Spirit. If they're going to survive and hold fast to their testimony in the days in which they live. Now it's a remarkable thing, a problem which leads us to the correct understanding of God's purpose. That Peter said it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh. Now we know historically that these words were spoken more than 1900 years ago. And we ask ourselves this interesting question. Why did Peter then speak about the last day? And how is it that the prophecy that he quotes leads up to the coming of that great and notable day of the Lord. And the immediate events preceding the return of Christ. And yet this was 19 centuries ago. This is an interesting question. But as we study it, it leads us to an interesting revelation. First of all I'd like to find out how illogical and inconsistent it is for people who claim to believe the scriptures, to suggest that these supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit are out of date today. They suggest that they were for a certain limited age, the early church. And yet Peter said in the last days. We have to ask ourselves this question. Have we come beyond the last days? How can we come beyond the last days if we haven't come to the end? If it was the last days when Peter spoke, how much more must it be the last days to date. And therefore if there were supernatural manifestations of the Holy Ghost then, how much more are we entitled to expect them now. Not how much less, but how much more. For it says specifically in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my spirit your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and so on. So that there is no consistency in the interpretation which suggests that these things were in order in the early church, but are out of date now. It goes absolutely directly contrary to the plain statements of scripture. If they were manifested then, how much more should they be manifested now, if they belong to the last days. However we ask ourselves this question. How is it that Peter said this prophecy was fulfilled then, and the day in which he was speaking. And then he went on to prophesy and to relate this prophecy to the events immediately preceding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the end of the age. And the answer to that I believe can be found if we will turn to the original prophecy of Joel. And in the second chapter of Joel, we read verse 23, which is the beginning of this prophecy. Joel 2 23, Be glad then ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God. For he hath given you the former reign moderately, and he will cause to come down to you the reign, the former reign, and the latter reign, in the first month. You'll notice there, immediately after that, that we come into the prophecy of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And so it is perfectly clear, we have scriptural authority for saying that the figure, the metaphor of the reign, refers to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This promise of reign to God's people was fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And then we observe in Joel, that the reign is divided up into two, two outpourings. The former reign, and then it says the latter reign, in the first month. And this division into two outpourings, two distinct outpourings. The former reign and the latter or the last reign, gives us the key to understanding the application of this prophecy to the days in which we live. And my wife and I lived for a number of years in Palestine as missionaries. And we are familiar therefore with the climate and the geography of Palestine. And we understand what is meant by the former reign and the latter reign. And I want to take a few minutes now, just to explain this to you. Because it is tremendously illuminating. When we know these basic facts of Palestine's climate, the whole of this prophecy comes clearly into focus. In Palestine there is a dry season and there is a cool and damp season. The dry season extends approximately from April to November. And during that time, as a normal rule, no rain falls whatever. I mean that, just no rain at all. It is a present if rain falls. You'll read somewhere in the first book of Samuel, that the children of Israel asked Samuel, they said they wanted a king. And in order to demonstrate to them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them, that the Lord was angry with them at this request. Samuel said I will pray the Lord and he will give you rain and thunder in wheat harvest. And when the Lord gave rain in wheat harvest time, they were all terrified. Because this was so abnormal, that it was a direct propense from the Lord. This shows effectively how unusual it was to have rain of any kind in this dry season. So at the end of the dry season, around about November, we have the beginning of the cooler and damper season. And at this time, as you can imagine, after four, five or six months of uninterrupted sunshine, the ground is absolutely parched hard. And none of the processes of agriculture can begin until rain falls. It is impossible to put in a hole or a plow. The ground is like a rock. And then at the beginning of the winter, there comes the first rain. The first decisive major outpouring of rain. And the main purpose of this in the agriculture of the country, is to soften the ground so that it can be broken up and the soil can be prepared for the processes of plowing, sowing and all that links up ultimately to the harvest. Now this first rain is a distinctive, decisive, major outpouring. After that, through the cool month, rain falls from time to time. But not in such a heavy outpour as for the former rain. Through the cool month, until we get to what the Bible calls the first month. Now the first month is the Passover month. You remember the Passover became the first month. And that corresponds to the Christian Easter. So that is round about March or April. And then in the first month comes the latter or the last rain. And this is the greatest and heaviest outpouring of rain that there is. And it's the final one. After that the dry weather comes and there is no more rain. Now in the economy of the land, both the former and the latter rains are given for the sake of the harvest. The former rain enables the people to begin the processes of agriculture. If the former rain failed, they couldn't plow, they couldn't sow, there would be no possibility of a harvest. The latter rain is also needed to cause the seed to germinate. If either the former or the latter rain fails, then the harvest fails. Now it's most important to understand this. Because it's the same spiritually in the scripture. The rain is always directly related to the purposes of the harvest. One of the great errors that people have made from time to time in the Pentecostal movement, is to separate the rain from the harvest. And then it loses its real significance and purpose. Now when we see this, we understand the application of Peter's prophecy. What happened on the day of Pentecost, was the outpouring of the former rain, the first rain. And this lasted, as history recalls, probably for one or two centuries. Continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit, with all the supernatural signs and manifestations and power and results. That are recorded in the book of Acts and elsewhere. And then the former rain dried up. And we entered into the winter season, where rain falls but only in scattered outpourings from time to time in different places. This is true of church history. We go into church history, we discover that there was never a total stoppage of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit. But from time to time in different places, in different areas, on different groups of people. Such as the Wolvenses, the Hussites, and other groups of people who are scarcely known to the majority of professing Christians today. There were outpourings of the Holy Spirit, in which these supernatural signs and demonstrations and power and miracles were restored to the church. But only temporarily. So we continue through the winter season, until we come to what corresponds to the first month, the Passover month, the New Year month, the Passover month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month, the New Year month a new beginning. And then came the letter of the last rain. Now it has been my privilege to travel quite extensively, and although much of this is not in print by meeting people and also by reading, I've been able to put together a kind of little glimpse of the history of the latter rain. It would appear that the first two places, where we have definite records of a public general outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In the last hundred years, we're in two of those unexpected places. In Russia and in Persia. A little is recorded, at least I know little of what took place in Persia. In Russia, something happened that is very important and significant. When these supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit occurred. When Pentecost was restored to the church. Generally speaking, the professing Christians rejected this move of God. And this is tremendously significant. Because the subsequent history of Russia can be understood when we realize this. Rejection of the Spirit of God, creates a spiritual vacuum. And into that spiritual vacuum, will move the spirit of Antichrist. This is why, spiritually speaking, this is why Communism was able to take over in Russia. And I mention this, because something very similar is happening in the United States today, spiritually. There is a tremendous danger, a very real and present danger, that Christian people, professing Christians, church leaders, will reject the supernatural manifestation and move of the Holy Spirit at present taking place. And if they do, the same will happen in the United States, spiritually, as took place in Russia. The rejection and repulsion of the Holy Spirit, will create a spiritual vacuum, into which will move another spirit. And that will be the spirit of Antichrist. And in various areas of American life today, especially in the colleges and the universities, you can see this already at work. A professor in the University of Washington here, some time ago, made this statement. We are living in a post-Christian era. And he said it with satisfaction. He meant in other words, we've had two thousand years of Christianity. And now we've seen through that, we can relegate it to the past. It belongs to history. We've advanced, we've progressed. We no longer need these superstitions and these restraints and these impositions on our liberty. We're free to act according to our reason. And according to the dictates of our understanding, we don't need this kind of religious bondage and inhibition. It belongs to the past. And that of course, we're not surprised when the spirit of Antichrist moves in to the schools and colleges and universities. Because that's the alternative. One of the main purposes of my message was really to bring out this point. Reject the spirit of God and you receive the spirit of Antichrist. There isn't any other alternative. Well this happened in Russia. And so the believers that had this experience, had to leave. And they left apparently by two routes. Through the north to Finland and through the south to Armenia. And bringing this testimony with them to the churches of Armenia, or to the Church of Armenia. They saw a move in the Holy Spirit amongst the Armenian Christians. And they received this experience and this testimony. And then God began to move in a supernatural way. And for more than a week, the spirit of prophecy came on a young boy of eleven. And by this prophetic revelation, he warned the Armenian people. That there was coming a tremendous massacre and persecution. And that those that wish to save their lives, must be ready to flee. And by the spirit of God, without any school education. He drew a map that showed clearly, the way that they could follow to escape. Leading from Armenia to California. This map is still in existence in the Russian Pentecostal Church in Los Angeles. Now those that had received this supernatural experience and were open to the spirit of God, profited by this warning. And when God's moment came, and the spirit spoke again, they obeyed. And like Abraham, they went out, not knowing whether they went. And they came to California and they settled in Southern California. They did not know that God had been doing, or was going to do, anything like this amongst any other group of Christians. Now it's tremendously significant here's another lesson. The Christians, the real believers in Jesus Christ, who were even willing to lay down their arms, rather than compromise their testimony of faith in Christ. But who rejected the supernatural, did not profit from this warning. But the warning was fulfilled. And as you can probably recall, some few years later, the Turks invaded Armenia. And in the period of a few weeks, one and a half million Armenian Christians died. Massacred. Because they would not deny their faith in Jesus Christ. See this is again a solemn lesson. Jesus said as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. There are many things about the days of Noah that are repeated today. That the unbounding, unbounded godlessness and wickedness, every imagination of man's heart evil, violence filling the earth, all flesh corrupting its way, sexual immorality impoverished in every hand. But let's remember something else. That in the midst of this wickedness, God had one man that he could speak to and he could warn. And it says in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his household. Whereby he condemned the world that then was, and became an heir of the righteousness which is of faith. And just as we see the wickedness and the godlessness and the violence in the world. Let's remember that if we are in the category of Noah, the righteous, we will need the supernatural revelation of the Lord, to escape in the days in which we live. This is not going to be a luxury. This is going to be a necessity for God's people. We have to have the supernatural revelation and instruction and direction of the Holy Spirit, that we are going to come through these days in victory and accomplish God's purpose in our lives. That's one reason why God said, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions. Precisely as it happened in Armenia. Not of a luxury, not a lack of a little bit of chrome added onto a car to put a few dollars on the price. But an essential part of the operation of the car. And so is the supernatural ministry and operation of the Holy Spirit in the church. It is part of a built-in program of God for the church. And the church cannot function as God intended without it. And so these Armenians, baptized in the Holy Spirit, came to Los Angeles. To that area around there. And I've heard this from the lips of some of them that arrived today. I've sat in their homes and talked with them. And one day they were walking through the streets. And they came near to a place called a Luther Street. And they heard some people singing in a building. And when they heard these singing, they said those people sing in a way that tells us that they've got what we have. You see there's something distinctive and characteristic about the singing of spiritual Christians. It can't be imitated. It's real. And so they discovered, what of course you know. That there had been an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Luther Street in Los Angeles in 1904. Just recently I met a man from Kansas. Possibly brother, your pastor would know about this. Who told me that there was a preliminary outpouring in Topeka in 1901. The Bible school there. And gradually you see this thing has been coming to the fore. But probably the time when it really was, came to the attention of the Christian world was through the Luther Street outpouring in 1904, Los Angeles. After that events followed quickly. In 1906 there was an outpouring in Britain, in the British Isles, in the north of England. In a church of England, an Anglican rectory. And you can still go to that village in the north of England today. And you know the Anglican church, they have certain services that must be held in the church. And other services that can't be held in the church. So they build a church hall. And they have built there the church hall. And they haven't paid the debt on the church hall. But you can go there today and in the wall of the church hall, there is a stone which bears this inscription. When the fire of God fell, it burned up the church deck. And the hall was paid for. That's an Anglican church rectory hall. In Cumberland, in England. And God always has his special people, his special ministers. The wife of the rector, a lady named Mrs. Boddy, received a special ministry to pray, believe us through, to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. People went there from all over Britain, and the British Isles. One of those that went there was Smith Wigglesworth, who received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Anglican rectory, through the ministry of the rectus wine. And after this, it spread even more rapidly. 1907, it arrived in Norway, Sweden, and then in Denmark. And after that it's impossible to keep track. Because it went so rapidly. You see, this is rain. And rain is not a human agency. Rain is something that God can retain sovereign control over. And it moves very, very rapidly. Far more rapidly than man can move. And when it comes down, it comes from above. And it can be falling in several different places at the same time. And people in one place may not even know that it's raining in another place. And so it was. And so it moved on to Africa, and to India, and to China. And very soon it blanketed the world. And to those that don't know the Pentecostal movement, we have to explain that we are not a denomination, we never were a denomination. It's an experience, it's a movement. And when we cease to move, we cease to be Pentecostals. In the Scandinavian countries, they call it the Pentecostal revival, Bekkelsa. And I found out to the Pentecostal believers there, if you're not in revival, you're not in Pentecost. Because that's what it is, it's a revival. When the revival has moved, and the movement has passed on, there'll always be something remaining. But it isn't Pentecost. Pentecost is something that moves. One of the most interesting countries in this whole visitation of God has been Brazil. In the year 1911, there were no Pentecostal missionaries in Brazil. Only a few Protestant missionaries, and they've made virtually no impact upon the country as a whole, whatever. It was more than 90% Catholic, and rejected any kind of Protestant testimony. And then in this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, two Swedish Americans, somewhere in the western part of the United States, were baptized in the Holy Spirit. They used to pray together. And as they prayed together, and spoke in tongues, one of them was continually repeating this song, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará, Pará. And after they prayed together for some time, they got tired of hearing this man say, Pará, Pará, Pará. But he went on saying it. So eventually they thought, well maybe this means something. I wonder if it's the name of a place. And they went to the Gazetteer in the public library, and they looked it up, and sure enough it was a little port on the east coast of Brazil. So they decided that God had called them to Pará. They collected enough money to go to Pará. together to get to New York to take the ship. But they dropped in at a missionary convention somewhere in the Middle West on the way. And when the missionary offering was taken up they put in their money for the fare in the missionary offering. So when they reached New York they didn't have the money for the fare. The ship was due to sail but it was held up. And just before it sailed they received the money to pay their fare to Pará in Brazil. They arrived in Brazil not knowing the country, not knowing the language, with no promise of support. And so one of them obtained employment painting pottery. And he earned enough to support the two of them. And the other one bought a sack. And he filled it with Bibles in the Portuguese language. And he went round the villages with the sack on his back selling Bibles. That was the beginning of the Pentecostal testimony. It was a humble beginning. But God always uses something humble, something unconventional, something that man disposes when he wants to do a great thing. The Bible says God has chosen the weak, the foolish, the base, the things that are not of esteem. That's God's choice. God has chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith. You can't get God to change his mind because he's made his choice. If you want to be used of God you've got to get into those categories. You've got to become weak, foolish, poor, base, without esteem, poor in this world. Because those are the people that God has decided to use. Well God moved. He poured out his Holy Spirit. He honored the testimony of his servants that believed his word. Apostolic signs and wonders occurred throughout Brazil. In the south of Brazil there's a city today called beautiful Pentecostal breezes. Rather unusual name. The government called it that because they were so impressed with what happened when the Pentecostal people went there. This was a particularly wicked, violent place, full of brawlers and thieves and brigands. But after Pentecostal revival had taken place there, the whole city was changed and they said we better give it a good name. And that's the name they gave it. Today it's probable that there are about 1 million adult baptized Pentecostal believers in Brazil. And the population numbers approximately 50 million. That is 1 in 50. Actually it's questionable that there ever has been a move of God in the whole history of the Church, from the Book of Acts onwards, that exceeds in its scope and its impact, what has taken place in Brazil. There was one Pentecostal church there a few years ago, I can't speak today, that had 25,000 members in one church. They held a baptismal service, I read this record from a brother. 375 people were baptized on Sunday evening and by Monday night there were another 70 some people ready for baptism the next day. The way they operated was that the believers brought their friends. And that we would do that today, in other places. Testices have been taken by the government in Brazil and the results are dramatic. Areas that about 20 years ago were more than 90% Catholic, are today less than 60% Catholic. This is the result of the impact of Pentecost. It's good to know a little history, it's good to know some facts. But I'll tell you this, that the Pentecostal experience can make an impact that will turn the world upside down. Or it can produce a little self-centered, self-satisfied group of people that make no impact on the world whatsoever. And the difference simply is, not in the experience but in the use to which the experience is put. Does there go with it a vision, a sense of responsibility, an understanding that this experience of the Pentecost, that arrange is given for the sake of the harvest. If we lose the vision of the harvest, we lose the true meaning and purpose and significance of Pentecost in our lives. And we can become one of the dreariest, most self-centered, religiously bound little groups of people that the church can recall. There's nothing wrong with the experience. But it's the place that we give the experience in our lives that is decisive. Now let's consider briefly what is God's purpose. We've spoken just a little bit about the history. There is just a very brief glimpse. But I believe that for those who are open and honest minded, this should be sufficient evidence that the prophecies of scripture can be taken just as they stand. They're reliable, they are fulfilled, they are happening in our day. We have no reason whatsoever to reject these supernatural manifestations. We believe in the Bible and we know just a few historical facts. Now what is God doing? I will say one of the key words in relation to this prophecy is the world rich soul. In Joel 2.23 it speaks about the former rain. And in Joel 2.25 it says, I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten. And so on. The outpouring of the red of rain is a restoration for God's people of things that have been lost over the centuries. And if you look back into the first chapter of Joel you get, before the promise of restoration, the picture of desolation. In Joel chapter 1, and I want to pick out two particular features of this desolation. Joel 1.7, without going into the context, he hath laid my vine waste and barked my fig tree. He hath made it clean bare and cast it away. The branches thereof are made white. And in verse 12 again, the vine is dried up and the fig tree languishes. Right in the forefront of this picture of desolation, prophetically given to Joel, there are two trees. The vine and the fig tree. And then when we come to the time of restoration, we find again that these are portrayed for us here. In Joel 2.22, when we come to this picture of restoration, be not afraid, he beads to the field. For the pastures of wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth their fruit. The fig tree and the vine do yield their strength. We notice that in the picture of desolation, the fig tree and the vine are in the forefront. In the picture of restoration, the fig tree and the vine again are in the forefront. And these are two pictures of God's two people. The fig tree, God's people after the flesh, Israel. The vine, the picture of God's spiritual people, the church. We notice that desolation came to them simultaneously, round about the third century of the Christian era. And restoration has come to them simultaneously, round about the turn of this century. This is an amazing fact. Tremendously significant, that so many Christians have overlooked. Just the time that God began to restore the church, the same time he began to restore Israel. 1897, the first Zionist world conference was held in Switzerland. And in 1904, at the age of 44, Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, died. A young man of overstrained, overworked. And they called him a visionary. But he said within fifty years of my death, the thing that I have preached will be fulfilled. And he was right. Because before fifty years had transpired, after the death of Theodor Herzl, Israel had been restored as a sovereign nation again, in part of their own land. And these two things have been proceeding side by side. This is the sovereign activity and service of God. Jesus referred to this in Luke's gospel, chapter 1, chapter 21. When he said, behold the fig tree and all the trees. When they now put forth, ye see and know of your own selves, that summer is now near at hand. Jesus said look at Israel. And then he said look at all the trees, all the nations of the world. Because just as national restoration has come to Israel, simultaneously it's come to all the oppressed and unrecognized nations of the world. In Africa alone, since the end of World War II. More than 35 new nations have come into being in that one continent. What is that? All the trees, right around the world. The same move is others. The fig tree and all the trees. Jesus didn't mention the vine there, because he was specifically speaking about events in the world. Rather than those things which primarily concern the church, the vine. But we find this total picture. The desolation of the vine, the desolation of the fig tree, long centuries of winter and darkness. And then the restoration of the vine, the church, the restoration of the fig tree, Israel. Both happening simultaneously and dramatically and conspicuously. And on a scale that is making the headlines of the world news papers, in the days in which we live. And then I want to point out again, as I have already mentioned. The clear teaching of the scripture, that the rain is always for the sake of the harvest. If you were to go through with a concordance in your Bible, you could check this in a far wider scale than I'm able to do tonight. And you'd find that wherever rain is mentioned, not far away is the mention of harvest. But I want to read just one verse. In Jeremiah 5 and, well two verses, Jeremiah 5 23 and 24. But this people have a revolting and rebellious heart. They are revolted and gone, neither so they in their heart. Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter in his season. He resorted unto us, the appointed weeks of the harvest. Notice this, the sovereign characteristic of God, that he gives rain. It remains within his power. This is something over which God is sovereign. God said to Jeremiah in another place, is there any among the Genesis of the Gentiles that can give rain. This is in the providence of the one true God to give rain. God said concerning the day of Pentecost, I will pour out of my spirit. He did not give anybody permission. He didn't consult anybody. He declared his sovereign intention to do it. And what he said he will do, he will do. He gives the rain. And Jeremiah says, as we've found so many other passages of scripture, he gives the former and the latter rain in his season. Notice, in his season. And then this connection Jeremiah says, he resorted unto us, the appointed weeks of the harvest. You see that the rain is given for what? For the harvest. For the ingathering of souls. For the consummation of God's services in the earth. And there's a tremendous significance in that sentence. He resorted unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. When the harvest comes, it's a short period. It's an urgent period. There's one feature that remains true about harvest in any country, no matter what agricultural methods may be employed. It has to be gathered in those few brief weeks, or it's lost. It will not wait. We cannot postpone it to another season. We cannot say there's not pseudo-convenience. In most countries where agriculture is one of the primary industries, you'll find that the harvest season is the busiest season of the year. I remember going to Denmark a few years ago, and staying with a farming family in the harvest season in Denmark. We hardly saw them. They were all from dawn till dusk, busy about what? The harvest. Every member of the family, father, mother, the children, the workers, everybody. This is a mark of the harvest season. It's a time of urgent activity, because it's so short. And if we miss it, we lose the harvest. And in connection with the outpouring of the latter rain, God says he's reserved to us the appointed weeks. The short period of the harvest. And all that we could grasp this fact. Just as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, God has reserved a short brief period in which the harvest must be gathered in. All the Pentecostal people would grasp this fact. We cannot delay, we cannot postpone, we cannot say it doesn't suit us now, we've got to build a new church, we've got to do this and we've got to do that. We do not gather the harvest in the time that God's appointed, we lose it. And one thing I'm convinced of, and I've traveled fairly extensively, is this is the hardest hour. I thank God for our young brothers that's going to Mexico, the young brothers that's gone to Africa. God bless them, because they're going in the hardest hours. What we witnessed in five years in East Africa convinced me of one thing. I used to say it insistently to the young African people, this is the hardest hour for Africa. It could not happen this way if it were not God's season. Others have labored. Jesus spoke concerning the harvest in his day. Others have labored. You have entered into the labors and so it is on the mission field. They've been the pioneers, the people that sacrificed, the people that laid down their lives, the people that sowed the seeds.