Introduction: Have you ever been in the middle of an event that you will never forget? In such situations you remember the people around you, you remember the sounds, you remember the time of year and you remember the results? These events are profound for you. I have experienced several such events. A few years ago a group of our men went to a "Stand In The Gap" event sponsored by the Promise Keepers in Washington D.C. That event was profound. I will never forget the sights and sounds of that event.
I want to show you an event in the Bible that had a profound impact on the young believers. The event is recorded in Acts 4:31. “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (NKJV)I want to examine this event that we might better understand it and seek to experience something of its magnitude in our church and our lives. In examining this text I want to ask and then answer a couple of questions from the text.
1. The first question is, What happens when the church gets shaken by God? This question is quickly answered as we examine the context of this passage.
A. When the church gets shaken by the Spirit of God spiritual passion is evident. Look at Acts 4:29. "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word.” These early believers were not intimidated by threats. They were not reluctant to face persecution. They were filled with passion to share their faith. Spiritual passion is not something we can create within ourselves. It is not something we can duplicate. It is something that comes from the spirit of God working within us. It is not something a preacher can stir up. It is not something that gimmicks can stir up. It is not something that clever motivational tools can stir up.
Passion causes you to rise above your limitations. In Acts 4:13 we read that Peter and John were uneducated and untrained men. However, they rose above their personal limitations to be used of God. I often hear people say things like “I am too shy to share my faith.” (or) "I do not have the gift of evangelism." When God shakes you, your passion will move you beyond your limitations
Illustration: Over the years I have heard and read stories of people who do supernatural feats in crisis situations because their adrenalin started pumping. Adrenalin is God’s gift to us during crisis moments. I had an uncle who once rescued a man in a wreck because the adrenalin kicked in. My uncle picked up a car with one hand and pulled a victim from beneath the car with his other hand in order to save a man’s life. He rose above his natural limitations. God has given you and I a similar mechanism in the spiritual realm. When the Holy Spirit is allowed to be in control you will do feats you never thought possible. This happens when the church is shaken by God.
B. When the church is shaken the supernatural will be welcomed. In verse 30 signs and wonders are mentioned as accompanying this event. There are two dangers when it comes to expecting miracles. One danger is that we base our faith upon seeing a miracle. If we do not see a miracle we lose faith in God. The other danger is coming to demand them. In other words we demand a miracle from God as if he owes it to us. Because of this some people become experientially focused in their faith. Instead of walking by faith they are always looking for some kind of experience. I acknowledge these two excesses concerning miracles. However, the fact is, when Jesus is alive and his church is doing well his people do not fear or get shocked by the supernatural. They welcome it. They applaud it. They are not hung up on miracles but they see evidence of them.
Illustration: I have been using a devotional book each morning based upon the stories of missionaries and how God has worked in their lives. Last week I read a story about two missionaries who were serving in a Muslim country. They told how they stopped to offer a ride to a young muslim soldier. They said as he sat in the back seat of their car he laid his machine gun across his lap. In a demanding way he asked them to play music on their car radio. They explained that their radio was broken. However, he insisted they play music. He did not believe their explanation. The soldier pointed to a cassette tape laying in the seat of the car. The cassette tape turned out to be recordings of Bible stories about the God who created the world. The missionaries placed the cassette into the supposedly broken tape player and it played perfectly. They concluded God wanted the soldier to hear truth so he healed a broken tape player. When God shakes his church miracles will be welcomed.
C. When God shakes his church urgent prayer is prayed by a united church. Notice Acts 4:31. “When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” Prayer was not merely something they did before the blessing. Prayer was not merely something tacked on to the end of a worship service. Notice two words I used in my opening comment about prayer. I used the word urgent and I used the word united.
We tend to pray with urgency when a loved one is laying in the emergency room. We tend to pray with urgency when our bills are bigger than our income. We tend to pray with urgency when the world trade center gets bombed. Do we pray with urgency for God’s spirit to manifest itself in our lives and our church?
What about unity? We tend to pray in unity if everything goes to suit us. We tend to pray in unity if everything is going smoothly. However, is there a desire in our hearts to pray with unity that God’s spirit might manifest itself in our lives and our church?
Illustrations: Let me share an example of how urgent united prayer brought a spirit of revival. In 1857 a Dutch Reformed layman named Jeremiah Lamphier organized weekly prayer meetings at noon in New York City. About that time Wall Street crashed and a financial panic gripped our country. Those weekly prayer meetings grew upwards to fifty thousand. These prayer meetings moved to every major city in America in 1858. During that time a million Americans were brought to faith in Christ out of a population of thirty million. This occurred over a period of only two years time. That was a supernatural moving of God. (P. 16, And The Place Was Shaken, John Franklin)
D. When God shakes his church love becomes magnetic. Notice Acts 4:32. “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” These people were united in the pursuit and desire for God. In addition, they were diligent in sharing and supporting one another. There was a magnetism in their love for each other.
Illustration: Have you ever been somewhere where people’s spirit of enthusiasm and joy was magnetic? In my favorite Christmas movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, near the end of that movie you see this illustrated. Jimmy Stewart’s friends have discovered that Jimmy Stewart is having major financial troubles. They gather at his home and bring monetary gifts to help resolve his financial dilemma. As those people gather there is a spirit of love, enthusiasm and excitement in the air. Amid the joy a sheriff and a bank examiner are sent to arrest Jimmy Stewart for misappropriation of funds. The sheriff and bank examiner realize they are fighting a losing battle and have no case against Jimmy Stewart so they join the celebration. That kind of spirit is magnetic! That is the way God’s church should be. The spirit should be magnetic and should draw people to God.
E. When God shakes his church sin is feared. This principle is discovered in Acts 5. In this passage a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira lie about a piece of land they had sold. They withheld money that they had apparently pledged to God. They sinned. God struck both of them dead. The climax of this passage is found in verse 11. The Bible says “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.” These people took sin and disobedience seriously. When God shakes his people we will be disturbed by sin.
Illustration: A few weeks ago David and Erica ate a dish on the mission field that had something like maple oil in the food. Both of them had a severe allergic reaction to the oil. Both of them had to be medically treated. They said they will be cautious of that oil in the future. They see how dangerous it can be. Even so, sin is dangerous to God’s people. It will rob your joy. It will kill the moving of God’s spirit. It will stop the flow of God’s spirit. It will hold back God’s blessings.
2. We have examined what happens when God shakes His people. Next question, what can we do to participate with God as he seeks to shake our lives? There were two simple but profound dynamics present in the book of Acts.
(A.) The first dynamic was that the people were humbled. At this point in the churches history they did not have any of the elements we typically see in churches.
-They had no buildings.
-They had no budget.
-They had no staff.
-They had no deacons.
-They had no organization.
Up until the day of Pentecost they were discouraged and defeated. When Jesus ascended to Heaven they were confused and filled with anxiety and doubt. Within that environment God humbled them and stripped their pride. Let me remind you what the Bible says about pride.
“These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look “ Prov. 6:16-17
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.“Prov. 16:18
“God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
(B.) The second dynamic was that they were dependent. When we think about revival and spiritual transformation we tend to ask “what can we do?” We tend to focus on self effort. We tend to get down on ourselves for the things we are not doing. Revival comes when we stop focusing on self and start focusing on Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. As Americans we tend to be self sufficient and self reliant. We take the bull by the horns and control him. God cannot move as long as that spirit is prevalent. We must come to a place where we allow Jesus to be in control.
Illustration: Elizabeth Eliot wife of Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries who were murdered by the Waodoni Indians in Ecuador in the mid 1950’s, shares a good illustration of this truth. She said on she and Jim’s first date they went to hear a daughter of C.T. Studd, who was a famous missionary to Africa. This daughter told of her father’s last hours. He lay on his cot, gazing around a little hut and at his few possessions. “I wish I had something to leave to each of you,” he said to the handful of people present, “but I gave it all to Jesus long ago.”
(Passion and Purity, Elizabeth Elliot, Revell, 1984, p. 43) When God moves we must come to a place where we give it all to Jesus.
* The early believers were dependent on Jesus but they were also dependent upon the Holy Spirit. During the early days of Billy Graham’s ministry he had an experience that changed the whole complexion of his ministry. This experience occurred in the British Isles and was shared with Stephen Olford. Dr. Olford said Billy Grahams’ preaching “was very ordinary.” Over the course of a few days Stephen Olford took the time to teach Billy what it meant to be filled with the Holy Spirit. During that time Billy Graham was a changed man. Stephen Olford said the first time Billy preached after that experience you could see and feel the difference in him. “Members of the audience came forward to pray even before Billy gave an invitation. At the end of the sermon, practically the entire crowd rushed forward. “My own heart was so moved by Billy’s authority and strength that I could hardly drive home,” Olford remembers. “When I came in the door, my father looked at my face and said, “What on earth happened?” I sat down at the kitchen table and said, “Dad, something has happened to Billy Graham. The world is going to hear from this man.” (p. 24-25, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham, Zondervan)
Conclusion
I long to see God shake our church. There are no secrets to this. It is a matter of us seeking and desiring God’s visitation upon our lives.
