Why Pentecost Marked ‘Just the Beginning’ of God’s Great Global Outpouring

(Editor’s Note: This is part 2 of a two-part article. For part 1, click here.)

Jesus promised His disciples that they would do the same works that He did and greater works in John 14:12. The Greek word megas translated here as “greater” can mean “great of number and quantity: numerous, large, abundant” or it can be “used of intensity and its degrees.” At the end of his account of the Gospel, John reported, “There are also many other things which Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. Amen” (John 21:25).

We see that the disciples in the book of Acts experienced greater miracles than they had seen Jesus do. There’s no record that the shadow of Jesus healed anyone, but Peter’s did (Acts 5:15). It was a kind of wonder that went beyond Jesus’ recorded miracles. There’s no record of Jesus sending a handkerchief to heal someone, but it happened in Paul’s ministry (Acts 19:12) and it’s fairly common to us to have prayer cloths sent out to heal the sick. These were acts of the Holy Spirit.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was referred to by Peter as “That which was spoken by the Prophet Joel,” but they didn’t see the fullness of the outpouring that we are still expecting that will be on all flesh—every person on the planet. That is yet to come, and there will be even greater works than what have been recorded in the Word of God in that outpouring. I have recently understood that just as Jesus was resurrected on the “Feast of Firstfruits”(of the barley harvest) as the “firstfruits” of the Resurrection, that the outpouring on the day of Pentecost (celebrating the firstfruits of the wheat harvest) and the book of Acts were the “firstfruits” of the Joel 2:28 outpouring that will be the greatest harvest ever with amazing, unprecedented signs and wonders.

Paul quoted Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa. 64:4) in 1 Corinthians 2:9 and goes on to give more revelation about it in the ensuing verses:

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? Likewise, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God. These things also we proclaim, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:10-14).

A few months ago, as I was waiting on the Lord for instructions about the global outpouring, He said, “Align yourself, your heart, your mind, your emotions, your expectations with Mine. The day of Pentecost was just the beginning. What took place there was the seed of the dream I have—My ultimate intention. The book of Acts was the microcosm of the ‘all flesh outpouring’ I am about to do.

“When you focus on Me and My plan, the details will fall into place as I lead you. The results will be beyond your imagination. It will be like the book of Acts on steroids. But don’t focus on the results. Focus on Me.”

God has amazing plans for the days that are coming for those who are intimately related to Him. Those who will allow Jesus to live His abundant life through them as He did when He walked the earth will carry the anointing that comes from profoundly connected prayer. They will do whatever they see our Father doing, and say only what they hear our Father saying. This deeply loving submission to the Holy Spirit will produce a kind of obedience that will see heretofore unknown miracles and demonstrate the love of God to the lost, drawing them into His kingdom in the coming unprecedented global outpouring and harvest.

To learn more about God’s great global outpouring and the coming Pentecost, click here to listen to the entire podcast. {eoa}

Sharon Buss, president of End-Time Handmaidens Inc., has served at the headquarters in Engeltal since 1977, where she has been mentored and trained by the late Dr. Gwen Shaw, founder of the End-Time Handmaidens, for “such a time as this.” Her vision for revival in the nations and bringing in the final end-time harvest should encourage us all to be equipped, prepared and ready to “just obey God.” globaloutpouring.org/