The fullness of our entrance into the land of promise will take place after Christ returns. As in the case of Israel we will need faith, hope, trust, patience, courage, knowledge, wisdom, obedience, and all the other characteristics that the Holy Spirit so patiently has wrought in us if we are to ride with the Lord Jesus in the Battle of Armageddon and then rule with Him over the nations of the earth.

This does not mean we are to assign our victories to our life beyond the grave. If we are not learning to press forward in faith now we will not press forward in faith then. If we are faithful in the present we will be faithful in the future. God knows this and deals with us accordingly.

We never are to compromise with the enemy in our land of promise. We are to meditate in the Scriptures daily, laying hold on the promises with unrelenting, unswerving faith. Every blessing of Heaven and earth already has been given us in Christ.

The pattern of the outpouring. A study of Christian revivals from the time of the Protestant Reformers to the present day points up some facts about the outpouring of the "harvest rain." The promises of the Scriptures plus the historical pattern of the giving of God's Spirit prompt us to believe there has been a gradual increase of the Spirit during the period of time from the Protestant Reformers until now, and that the "latter rain" will increase in volume until there is a worldwide downpour of glory.

One of the features of the moving of the Spirit of God has been a restoration of understanding of the Scriptures.

The Book of Joel has some important things to say about the feast of Pentecost. On the day of the beginning of the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit announced through Peter: "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel" (Acts 2:16).

The message of Joel is that there is to be a time of desolation and famine followed by restoration and fruitfulness. This, we believe, is to be the pattern of the Pentecostal "rain"—a period of desolation followed by an abundant restoration of the blessings of God.

It appears the dark ages of Western civilization were paralleled by a dark age of the Christian churches in which, with some notable exceptions, the Presence of the Spirit of God and the understanding of the Scriptures were diminished greatly from what had been true of the ministry of the first Apostles. These were the days of the "palmerworm," the "locust," and the "caterpillar."

There appears to have been since the time of the Reformers an incoming tide of restoration of the Word of God and the Spirit of God. Of particular interest here is Joel 2:21-27, which suggests the end of the Christian Era will experience a visitation of God's Spirit on the earth, the like of which has never been witnessed from the time of Adam to the present hour.

To be continued.