Two young boys were out in a large field playing hide and seek. As the first boy leaned against a tree covering his eyes and counting to 100, the other boy ran across the field and climbed up into another tree to hide. Just then the first boy reached 100 and he yelled out, “ready or not here I come.” Immediately the boy ran across the field looked up into the tree and said, “I found you! Now its my turn to hide.” The other boy climbed down out of the tree, then leaning against the tree, covering his eyes he began counting to 100. The first boy made the long run across the field climbed up into the first tree to hide. When the other boy finished counting to 100, he yelled out, “ready or not, here I come.” Without hesitating, he ran across the field to the other tree, looked up and said, “Ha, I found you!” Just then a third boy ran up to his friends and asked, “Hey what you guys doing?” When the boys told him that they were playing hide and seek he excitedly asked if he could play too. In unison the other boys responded, “you can’t; there’s only 2 trees!”
These two boys had fallen into a habit of playing the game the same way and forgot that there were lots of different hiding places for them and others to hide in. We sometimes have a similar problem when we come to church. We all get together to do the same thing we did the week before, and then expect God to show up the same way we have always expected him too. When will we stop “playing church” in the same old way? It’s time to Prayerfully Encounter the Living God.
+ Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where thy were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (NIV)
God is not a “supercomputer” making a programed response to our input. God can meet with His people in many different ways. We have described encountering the presence of God as the “manifold presence of God.” That is to say that God’s presence is multifaceted having many and various forms or features. In the same way that a diamond is cut to reflect the light in many different ways, so too God can be experienced by His people in unique and different ways. God is a living God; He comes to His people powerfully and in different ways.
Over the past two weeks we have looked at how the early church encountered God’s presence. From their example we can learn how to likewise encounter God in the fullness of His presence. We have examined four basic principles that were part of how the church in Acts came to God:
1. The Church had a divine expectancy, or they had faith to earnestly seek God with all their heart soul mind and strength. The early church took Jesus at His word. He told them that when just two or three were together in His name, He would be there with them. Jesus taught them that whatever they asked in His name, the Father would do. They believed it, and guess what—Jesus did what He said.
2. The New Testament Church made a habit of prayer. The prayer meeting in Acts 4 was not a crisis prayer meeting or a call for help to a heavenly 911 operator. Believers within the church joined together on a consistent basis recognizing that Jesus was with them. We too need to make a habit of prayer—not just a private devotional prayer time, but corporate prayer with other believers.
3. When the church prayed, they acknowledged God for who He is. We too need to learn to identify the absolute truth about God and His promises. Instead of focusing on our problems, we can focus on God; again rather than telling God about our problems, we can tell our problems about our God. When we proclaim the truth about God, our faith will be increased and God will “move our mountains.”
4. With divine expectancy the church presented their requests to God. We can boldly ask God to meet our daily needs.
That’s what we see the church doing in Acts 4—with a divine expectancy they continued in their habit of praying together, declaring the truth about God they then made their requests known to God. That’s when God showed up.
Notice again how Luke records what happened in verse 31: “After they prayed.” AFTER THEY PRAYED, THEN GOD! The Lord answered the prayer of His people and met with them in a powerful way. This morning we are going to take a closer look at how God so powerfully encountered His people in response to their prayer and what it means for us to likewise experience the manifold presence of God in similar ways. But don’t overlook the necessity of prayer! God came after they prayed.
+ James 4:2 You do not have, because you do not ask God. (NIV) Ye have not, because ye ask not. (KJV)
Can I paraphrase that another way? You miss out on God because you don’t spend any time talking with him. Let’s make it our habit to talk with God–individually and together, and get ready for what’s going to happen when God shows up!
Luke records three things that took place after the church prayed. Now don’t think of these as three ways to recognize God’s presence; don’t put God into a box and think you have it all figured out. Let’s be honest with each other, if the church today was shaken as Luke described most of us wouldn’t be looking for what God was wanting to say to His church, but would want to turn on our TV’s to find out what the earthquake measured on the richter scale and how much damage was done. We would look to see if our homes had been damaged and not look for the work God is doing within His church.
Rather than showing us how God meets with His people, I believe that the Holy Spirit has revealed through Luke’s account of what will happen as a result of an encounter with the manifold presence of God. Like the early church, when God shows up powerfully in our lives, there will be evidence of His presence in our lives. Others should know that we have been in God’s presence because they can see what God is doing in and through us.
1. The place where they were meeting was SHAKEN.
What happened to shake the room where the believers were gathered for prayer? I don’t know. Could it have been an earthquake, or perhaps a centurion with one hundred chariots thundering by outside. Today we could blame the room shaking on many different things: a low flying jet, a sonic boom; a train; a hundred Harley riders going by, a terrorist attack (on and on we could go). How the room was shaken is not important, but the fact that it was shaken in response to God’s presence is. Why is the shaking important; why did the Holy Spirit inspire Luke to record that a shaking occurred as a result of the believers prayer meeting?
First, the shaking speaks again to the reality that God’s manifold presence will be made know in a variety of different ways. In Acts 2 we read about a rushing mighty wind and cloven tongues of fire, but now God’s presence came with a shaking of the room. God came to his people in a different way.
+ 1 King 19:11-12 11The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. (NIV)
God could have come to Elijah in the wind; He had used the wind before. When God remembered Noah He sent a wind over the waters to bring them again to dry land (Genesis 8:1), and when Moses and the nation of Israel appeared to be trapped by the Red Sea, God sent a strong east wind making a way of escape through the sea (Exodus 14:21). And as we mentioned, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers in Acts 2 there was the sound of a mighty wind. But this time God was not in the wind.
The prophet Isaiah said that God would come with a great earthquake (Isaiah 29:6). God shook the earth when Jesus was crucified, and three days later another earthquake rolled away the stone from an empty grave (Matthew 27:54; 28:2). In Acts 4 there was a shaking of the room where the believers had gathered; yes, God could have spoken to Elijah through the earthquake, but He didn’t.
God had made His presence know through fire; Elijah himself had called down the fire of the Lord upon Mount Carmel (1 King 18:38). The Lord had shown Himself in fire at the dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1). Again we saw that on Pentecost cloven tongues of fire rested upon the 120 and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Yet this time God did not come to Elijah in the fire.
God came to Elijah in a whisper—a still small voice. The shaking of the room is a reminder that God can come in many different ways. Remember its His manifold presence.
The question is not will God shake the room when He meets with us, but rather WILL WE RECOGNIZE GOD’S PRESENCE WHEN HE COMES TO BE WITH US?
The shaking of the room, however, goes deeper than just a reminder that He can come to His people in different ways. Whenever we encounter the manifold presence of God we will be shaken—that is we will be cleansed by being in His presence. (Look with me at Hebrews 12:25-29.)
The church today needs to be shaken and cleansed by an encounter with the living God. We need to let God shake us free from the sin that would entangle and destroy us; we need to be shaken from tradition that would hold us captive; we need to allow God to shake us until we see that we are a part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken—a kingdom that is pure and holy without a spot or wrinkle having no need of cleansing.
+ Hebrews 12:25-29 25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." 27The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken-- that is, created things-- so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our "God is a consuming fire." (NIV)
Listen to how the Message concludes Hebrews 12—“For God is not an indifferent by-stander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God Himself is Fire!”
You cannot come into the presence of God and remain the same; God will clean house, to clean you up from the inside out. Everything in your life will be shaken until only the unshakeable remains. Are you willing to let God have His way and begin the shaking in your life—to begin the process of cleaning out your heart so that what remains is a heart that is pleasing to Him?
The first indication that you have been in God’s presence will be a shaking of your life–God will cleanse your life of everything that is impure. God wants to make us into the image of His Son Jesus; that’s impossible without cleansing. Let God’s presence shake you—purify you—making you what He desires.
2. They were all FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT.
What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Jesus put it like this:
+ Luke 24:49 What comes next is very important: I am sending you what my Father promised to you [that is you will be filled with the Holy Spirit], so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high. (The Message)
To be filled with the Spirit is to be empowered or energized with the dynamite power of God. God empowers and equips you. Without God’s power we can do nothing, but His power enables us to fulfil His purpose. God’s will is done in our lives through His power working within us.
>> We all know that you can have the finest automobile with an engine that has lots of horse-power, but if there is no gasoline in the tank then the car won’t be going anywhere. Likewise until we are filled with God’s spirit, we are powerless to do anything.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, or baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues is not a one time event.
+ Ephesians 5:18 . . . be filled [continually, keep on being filled] with the Spirit. (NIV)
We have two problems.
First, the power of God’s Spirit is an infinite supply, but unless we remain in His presence we will run out of gas–we’re like the car that has great fuel economy and can go a long way on a little bit of gas, but sooner or later will require a fill-up. We can fulfil God’s purpose and design, but we must keep coming back to Him for more of His Spirit’s power in our lives.
Our second problem is even bigger; our gas tank leaks! Even if we filled to overflowing, and don’t put the power to work, it won’t stay in our spiritual tanks. We must continually keep on being filled with God’s Holy Spirit. When you encounter God–HE WILL FILL YOU UP!
3. They all SPOKE THE WORD OF GOD BOLDLY.
On the surface this is simply an answer to the believers prayer. They had asked that God would enable them to speak His word, and now in response to their prayer God enabled them to do that very thing–speak His word with fearless confidence. But it goes deeper than just answered prayer.
When you encounter God’s presence you will be transformed –you will live differently because God has impacted your life. One sure way to test if you entered into the presence of God when you have been at church is to listen to the things you say and to watch the things you do after you leave church! What is you life like after being in the manifold presence of God; has there been a change that can be seen and heard?
Do you recall what happened to Moses after he had been in God’s presence? He glowed! I don’t know if He glowed in the dark too, but Moses had spent enough time in God’s glory that he had soaked it up and his face was radiant (Exodus 34:33-35). Now the apostle Paul does like Paul Harvey and tells us the rest of the story in 2 Corinthians 3.
+ 2 Corinthians 3:13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. (NIV)
Moses had a problem; the shine didn’t last forever! So why did he really cover his face? Was it because the people didn’t want to see the radiance of God’s glory, or was it that Moses didn’t want them to know the glory was fading because he had been out of God’s presence for awhile?
We may not shine with the glory of God’s presence upon our faces, but there should still be evidence that we have met with Jesus. It’s the transformation that occurs.
+ 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (NIV)
I have always liked math. I think what I like most about it is that the answer to a problem doesn’t change; once you know the answer it will always be that way. For instance we all know that 2+2=4 (I know we have to keep this simple for those of you who don’t like math!). If you say 2+2=3 we all know that it’s the wrong answer. If we insist that the answer has to be 3 then we know that the equation must be changed to something like 2+1 because that equals 3. The same holds true for an encounter with God.
CLEANSED + EMPOWERED = TRANSFORMED.
When you think about your encounter with God it should always add up to being transformed, and you should never accept anything less. And if you find yourself remaining the same–unchanged–less than transformed, then you should ask yourself, “what do I need more of; do I need to be cleansed or empowered more? Which will cause me to be transformed?”
Peter experienced the transformation that occurs after being in God’s presence. On the night Jesus was arrested, he was afraid to speak up and defend his Lord; Peter denied even knowing who Jesus was. But after Peter was in the manifold presence of God–when Peter was cleansed and empowered, then Peter was transformed. Peter could then stand and proclaim Jesus to the very men who had Jesus killed.
Conclusion:
God will transform our lives as well. When the church prays:
1. We will be shaken; God removes things that will keep us from being like Jesus.
2. We will be filled with the spirit; God will empower us to be and to do that which He desisres.
3. We will speak the word of God boldly; God will transform us; we will be changed.
The New Testament Church encountered God’s presence after they had prayed. Are you ready to enter into His presence today?
