The Latter-Day Gifts Enumerated

The manifestations of the gift were to be as follows:AGP 170.3

“Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.” True, devout, loyal members of the church, the body of Christ, will exercise this gracious gift.AGP 170.4

“Your old men shall dream dreams.” Valiant soldiers of the cross, veterans in the great conflict with the forces of evil, will be given special information and encouragement sorely needed in times of perplexity and peril.AGP 170.5

“Your young men shall see visions.” To some in the strength of manhood, called to great tasks, will be revealed broad, comprehensive views of God’s purposes and plans for the accomplishment of His work in the earth.AGP 170.6

“And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.” God will not pass by even the lowly in the bestowal of His gifts.AGP 170.7

A truly Spirit-filled church!AGP 170.8

Pentecost was the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy. It marked the beginning of a great spiritual movement in the church and in the whole world.AGP 171.1

“The testimony of the first Christian church is entirely of a prophetic character. The first effect of the Pentecostal spirit is the prophesying of the believers who were so suddenly and miraculously filled with His power (Acts 2:4): their word is followed by signs and wonders (3:6; 4:30; 5:12, 15, 16; 9:34, 40). The judicial power of their prophecy reveals itself in the history of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11). The Church as such, in her appearance and condition, as well as in her activity, stands like a prophet of God in the midst of the people; and in the consciousness of this her office she abandons every worldly avocation. She has a charge committed to her by the Lord; through her, God will give ‘repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins’ (5:31); she is the Zion that bringeth good tidings, and which says unto the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God’ (Isaiah 40:9).AGP 171.2

“From this church proceed the different prophets, such as Stephen, who experienced what the Lord prophesied (Matthew 23:34). At his death the Pentecostal church for the first time comes in conflict with the carnal-minded Israel: her testimony is resisted with blood, but she does not cease. Those who were scattered abroad (Acts 8:4) founded the diaspora, to which St. James addresses his Epistle: they are the prophets (James 5:10) who went about in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and preached the word of God to the Jews.” “Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge” (three-volume edition, 1889), Vol. III, p. 1940.

What a remarkable body of men and women! That was the apostolic church. It was the church Christ founded. It was the church Paul called the body of Christ. It was the kind of church which Christ desired should continue through the centuries until His return. That church was represented in the book of Revelation thus:AGP 171.3

“I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Revelation 6:2. Or, following Goodspeed’s translation, “He was given a crown, and he rode forth a victor to conquer.” The might and the triumphs of that church cameAGP 171.4

through the gifts dispensed by the Holy Spirit, who came at Pentecost in fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy and the promise of the Father.AGP 172.1