Text: Acts 3 : 1 – 8, “Now Pater and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.’ And he fixed his attention on them expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’ and he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankle were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered into with them, walking and leaping and praising God.
Theme: Carriers of the Presence of God and the Anointing
Introduction
- A story is told of an adventurer, who decided to travel through Africa all by himself.
- After many days of travelling, crossing rivers and bushes, climbing mountains and hills, walking through plains and scrub, he became lost and didn’t know where he was even though he had a map [e]
- Luckily he came upon an old hut with an old man sitting on a stool outside.
- With a sigh of relief, he ran up to the old man and asked, “Please, can you tell me where I am?”
- The old man look at him, frowned as he thought very hard and then his brightened up.
- “You are here”, said the old man
- As amusing as this anecdote may be, it tells us something….you are here right now [e]
- And the Word of God teaches us that we can call down the Presence of God into this place [e]
- Why must we wait for the right conditions to invoke the Presence of God? [e]
- There is a train of thought in the modern church today that says:
• If the air conditioning is not on, then we cannot worship properly [e]
• If the singing is off key and the instruments are off tune, we cannot worship God properly [e]
• If there is not enough people at church or home cell, God cannot move [e]
• If we perceive that someone does not like us here, then we cannot worship God [e]
• If we don’t have what Pastor Jones and his church down the road has in his church, then the Presence of God won’t move here [e]
• If the pastor or elder or home cell leader does not come pray in my home, then God wont move [e]
• I have so much problems in my home, how can God come here? [e]
- Let’s clear up those misconceptions, this morning…..it doesn’t matter where you are or in what condition you find yourself, when you call on the Name of the Lord , He will answer you [e]
• The Presence of God was in prison with Joseph….Gen 39:21 – “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison”
• The Presence of God was in a fire with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego….Dan 3: 24 – “Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counsellors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?’ They answered and said, ‘True, O king.’ He answered and said, ‘But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.’”
• The Presence of God was in a lions den with Daniel…Dan 6: 21 - 22a - “Then Daniel said to the king, ‘O king live forever! My God sent his angels and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me…’”
• The Presence of God was with Jonah in the great fish’s belly….Jonah 2:2 – “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me, out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice.”
- The Word of God teaches us this morning that we too must call upon God [e]
- We too, must invoke the Presence of God in this place [e]
- We must invoke the Presence of God at home [e]
- We must invoke the Presence of God in our “closet”
- I use the word “invoke”…what does that mean?
- To give you a simple explanation, it means we need to perform something that is holy enough, that is enough to get God’s attention, something that makes God more aware of Umkomaas Full Gospel Church [e]
- To get God’s attention in our very homes [e]
- To get the undivided attention of God, when we are alone with Him behind closed doors [e]
- That moves God enough that His Presence begins to manifest Itself here in a very real and tangible way [e]
- So, how do we do that?
- How does that happen?
- Lets go to our text this morning
1. The Presence of God is invoked by prayer
- [Read Acts 3:1]
- I want you to notice that before the Presence of God was mentioned [e]
- Before a miracle took place,
- Before the lame man could walk, Peter and John were on their way to pray [e]
- Some important lessons to learn this morning:
• Peter and John spent time in prayer [e]
• Bible history records that the saints of old were given “to much time in prayer” [e]
• Prayer precedes every miracle, every move of God, every deliverance, every demonstration of the power of God [e]
• There must be an appointed time of prayer (the 9th hour is mentioned is vs1)
- We always speak of the Power of God [e]
- We always are desiring a revival in this place [e]
- It will only become a reality by much prayer [e]
- Every outbreak of revival in church history only arrived after much time was spent in prayer [e]
- The time has come for revival…
- There must be a revival in this church [e]
- But for a revival to take place in church, there needs to be a revival in your home [e]
- But for there to be a revival in your home, there needs to be a passion stirred up in each heart [e]
- And for a passion to be ignited in each heart, there needs to be a release of the power of God upon that heart [e]
- And for God to release His power upon that heart, there must be an appointed time of prayer, where we call upon God [e]
- Just as there exists equations which produce results in mathematics, this is a spiritual equation that produces results in the heavenlies [e]
2. The presence of God is manifest in His people
- Here’s a law of the spiritual universe for you : God’s Presence cannot be invoked by people who do not belong to Him [e]
- Here’s some things that the Bible does not tell you about that day when Peter and John went to the temple, but our common sense allows us to work it out….
• This man sat outside the gate of the temple….not on the inside [e]
• No records exists that tell us that the priests of the temple attempted to help this man [e]
• No records exists that tell us that this man had been prayed for before [e]
• God has designed that this man be outside a place that His people regularly visit [e]
- God wants to show US His power [e]
- And he wants to work in and through US [e]
- He is not going to pour out an anointing upon the unbeliever [e]
- 1 John 2 : 18 – 20 says, 18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. 20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.[a]
- Today, God speaks to us…He wants to manifest His Presence, and His Power in this place [e]
3. The Presence of God is expected to be manifest in us and through us
- As Peter and John encountered this man, he asked them for money and he expected something from them [e]
- Two things happened as the lame man looked at Peter and John:
• He gave them his attention [e]
• This tells us that the Presence of God sets us apart from the world [e]
• When we carry the anointing, we stand out…we are different and the world cannot help, but notice [e]
• Secondly, he expected something from them [e]
• This tells us that the Presence of God in our lives creates an anticipation that something good is going to come from us [e]
• When we carry the anointing, God uses us for good [e]
• Have you ever heard people say, “You’re good for nothing!”? [e]
• Well I want to say this morning that because the Presence of God is with you, you are good for something [e]
• You are good because you serve a good God [e]
• You are good because of the Blood of Jesus that covers you [e]
• You are good because of the anointing that qualifies you to be good [e]
• Peter and John were not rich…they had no silver and gold [e]
• But God used them anyway [e]
• Peter and John were not the priests of the temple [e]
• But God used them….not the priests [e]
• Peter and John were not popular….no-one out there even knew their names before this event [e]
• But God used them anyway [e]
• Why?...Because the Presence of God was with them [e]
Conclusion
- I want to close now….I don’t want to be any longer….because someone joked with me last week and said, “Pastor when you preach, I’m gonna leave my watch at home and carry my calendar!!
- God wants to use you [e]
- You are the carrier of the Presence of God [e]
- John 14:12 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
- Matthew 5: 14 – 16 says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
- Notice that God is not only referring to pastors, teachers, elders, deacons and leaders [e]
- He is referring to every single one of us [e]
- Why? Because the Presence of God is with us all [e]
