Acts 5- What Kind of Church?

"... And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number" (Acts 5:12-14).

I can picture Luke reminiscing as he wrote about the church services he attended at Solomon's Colonnade. Isn't it strange that no one dared to join them? What's up with that?

Here is what I believe to be the reason why the others didn't dare join them. There was something supernatural that occurred when all the believers got together to worship. I mean it was a display of the Body of Christ and it was holy. It was different than a board meeting or a concert or a sporting event. This was spirit filled people getting together and the presence of the Lord was on them... lets not race over that. I will say it again. The presense of the LORD was on them. It makes me think of Moses on the mountain top with God in Exodus. The Israelites looked up and as the Glory of God descended to meet with Moses it looked like a fire consuming the mountain (Exodus 24:17). The appropriate response of the Israelites was that they didn't want to go near the mountain. In fact when Moses came down they made him cover his face with a veil because he was glowing just from being near the glory of God.

That is how church should be. The glory of God resting on the body of believers like a consuming fire. When an onlooker heard or saw this gathering they wouldn't dare join them (vs 13). I am not going near because I could be consumed by the fire. I am not sure if I am Holy enough to come anywhere near where God is... Yet they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and were added to their number (vs 14). 'Ah, those were the days,' I could see Luke saying. And I also say that in my head as I read.

But, what would it take to see that happen again? It isn't an ideal in history that can never be repeated... I believe that is God's desire for church every Sunday in every city. But what hinders that? First off I would say a lack of faith. We hardly believe that church would have been that powerful in bible times let alone in Beloit in 2009. So friends we must fight the fight of faith... believe that God is living and mighty and consistent with scripture. Believe that if we would take God seriously that He would be honored to show Himself mighty. Secondly, the reason I believe church is so flat is because we lack holiness. God does not honor his temple if it is defiled. He removes His spirit from the Churches that do not pursue holiness(Rev. 2). We can hardly expect God to descend like a consuming fire on a bunch of defiled sacrifices.

So, friends... let us prepare our hearts for Sunday morning. Let us do our work at the cross before we even come into the temple. Golgotha, where the cross was located, is outside of the city. Not in the temple. So we need to do our work of repentance and confession before we enter into the temple. "Let us go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore" (Hebrews 13:13). Take our sin to the cross before we even go to church. So that God would be pleased to attend the temple. Then, let us attend church with faith that He will make His presence known. We should pray that what happens at church is unexplainable. We shouldn't expect everything to go according to plan. We shouldn't expect church to be predictable. It should cause us to tremble.

Lastly, it is out of that sort of holy relationship with the Almighty that service and community outreach and evangelism happen. When the believers have it right first then numbers were added and they were highly regarded by all the people. When we put the priorities on adding numbers first and being highly regarded first then we endanger ourselves of loosing our treasure (Jesus Christ) and becoming a successful philanthropic organization. Which many churches have done. Programming takes the place of the spirit and outreach takes the place of spirit lead evangelism and community service takes the place of regard and respect for godly people. It is a danger that we cannot afford. When I read Acts I desire that we would repent and return to former ways. I ask for the spirit to move in my life so I can experience what those believers in Solomon's Colonnade experienced. And I pray that church would be anointed like that. Imagine what church could be like? It would blow our minds. I am praying for that.