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Peter's Testimony

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Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Oct 16, 1855

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 7, No. 8.

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Peter's Testimony.

By James White

"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 Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, 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 hand-maidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come." Acts ii, 14-20.
It was on the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were all filled with the Holy Ghost, that the Apostle gave the above testimony. The multitude seeing the results of being filled with the Spirit, and not being competent judges, were amazed, doubted, and mockingly said that the disciples were full of new wine. The object of Peter in his remarks seems to be to correct this wrong idea. He taught them that what they saw and heard, resulted from the operation of the Spirit of God, and not from drunkenness. "This is that," says Peter,which was spoken by the prophet Joel." That is, this is the effect of a cause prophesied of by Joel, and not that the prophecy quoted by the Apostle had its complete fulfillment on the day of Pentecost as some urge, and therefore the last days ended on the day of Pentecost, and there has been none of the genuine since! We object to this view for the following reasons:
1. Because the remarkable dreams and visions of Paul, Peter and others, and the visions of John on the isle of Patmos, were after the day of Pentecost.
2. Because these things were to occur in the "last days," and as there can be no days later than the last, these signs must reach to the very close of the gospel age.
3. Because it would be the greatest absurdity to urge that the wonders in heaven above, the signs in the earth beneath, and the signs in the sun and moon occurred on the day of Pentecost; or that there were old men present asleep dreaming on that all-exciting occasion.
4. These things all constitute signs, and were to occur "before that great and notable day of the Lord come."
Facts in the case compel us to take the position that the prophecy of Joel, referred to by Peter, belongs emphatically to the last days. When Peter says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel," he referred only to the Holy Spirit, whose effects were before their eyes. There is no record that any were having visions on the day of Pentecost. They were exercised with the gift of tongues only. There were none dreaming at that time, neither were the signs in heaven and earth, sun and moon there fulfilled.
But let us look at Joel ii, 32, and see where he locates the prophecy. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." It is the REMNANT that is to witness these things. It is the remnant (or last portion of the Church) that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, (which is the spirit of prophecy, Rev. xix, 10,) most certainly, that is to share this deliverance. "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord," in the time of trouble such as never was, will share that deliverance. "Shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night unto him?" Luke xviii, 1-8. This calling on the name of the Lord is also symbolized by the angel [Rev. xiv, 15] crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, "Thrust in thy sickle and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
God has ever manifested his power to his children according to their necessities and their work. And can we for a moment suppose that God's people will pass through the perils of the last days, and face the time of trouble such as never was, and he not manifest himself to them through those gifts which he himself has set in the Church? Nay, verily. God has by the prophet Joel promised to do great things for the REMNANT "before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come."
J. W.