PREPARING A DWELLING PLACE FOR GOD

THE PRESENCE OF THE SPIRIT

 

TEXT: Exodus 40:33-38 “Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work. 34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out — until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels. 

 

Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”Let’s pray. 

 

INTRODUCTION: 

 

After the Tabernacle had been set up exactly as God instructed Moses, having been sanctified through the blood, along with the offering up of incense, the Lord filled the Tabernacle with His Presence! God had come to dwell among His people as He had promised.

 

When we get to the New Testament, we see that Jesus perfectly fulfills all the types and shadows of the Old Testament. He is the greater Moses. He is the perfect Lamb of God, whose divine blood doesn’t just cover sin as the Old Testament sacrifices did, but rather completely washed sin away forever! As the scripture says in Hebrews 7:27 “Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once and for all when he offered himself.

 

When Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished,” He was in essence saying, I have taken away sin and have opened the way for God to dwell, not only among His people, but dwell in His people. The blood of Jesus had prepared the way for God to dwell in the new tabernacle of the human heart! As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”

 

In Acts 1:1-5 Luke records the following truth: “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

 

Acts 1:12-14 “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 

 

Here is the first point I want you to grasp: First there was the blood of Jesus shed on the cross to take away sin and open the way to relationship with God. Then there was the “incense of prayer” that was offered up to God by the disciples, along with Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers. The stage was being set for the Holy Spirit to be poured out on the Church! And that is exactly what happened as we read in our text Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

 

This was not only the very first revival, but it was and is also the pattern or blueprint for every succeeding revival throughout Church history! God has not changed how He brings revival. He hasn’t changed what is required for Him to pour out His Spirit on His Church! First the blood, followed by the incense of prayer. The blood of Jesus is the only way that we can have and maintain a relationship with God. And it is through relationship with God that we enter into prayer. It is how we hear God’s Voice, know His heart and pray down His Presence and power into the earth; into our lives; into our Church and into our community and beyond! It is the only blueprint for an outpouring of the Spirit and a true heaven-sent revival!  

 

For The next few minutes, I want to share with you two examples of historical revivals that changed the world and then tell you why I believe we are on the verge of the next, and perhaps the last great revival before the Lord’s second return to the earth. 

 

I. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

 

The years from 500 AD to 1500 AD have been called by historians “The Dark Ages.” There have been many explanations as to what caused the “Dark Ages,” which discussion would be a pointless waste of time. Therefore, I won’t get into these different historical theories. What is agreed upon is that they began in 500 AD and ended in 1500 AD. So, we will begin there. 

 

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit brought the life and light of heaven to earth through God’s Church.This life and light conquered the heathen and the cruel Roman Empire. Rome, which attempted to destroy the Church through massive and vicious martyrdom of believers in Jesus was eventually conquered by the Church! And that was both good and bad. It was good because the cruelty of Rome was broken. But it was also bad, because when the devil discovered he could not conquer the Church by trying to destroy it from the outside, he decided to attempt to conquer the Church from the inside. 

 

This began with something good. The Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinus was Roman Emperor from 306-337 AD. He is also known as Constantine the Great for his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD and the Christianization of the Roman Empire. 

 

But this also became something bad. People were now “joining” the Church because not to do so could be very dangerous! The script was completely flipped! But the results were devastating to the Church. People were now “joining” the church not because they were born again by the Spirit of God, but because they wanted to avoid being persecuted or killed! The Church soon became weak and apathetic. It had gone from the beauty and glory of a relationship with God to little more than a dead religion, having a form of Godliness but denying the power thereof! It lost its’ light and salt! 

 

When the light and life went out of the Church, the world was plunged into darkness, hence the period that became known as The Dark Ages. The devil had done his work well. The nearest thing to the Dark Ages today is the modern day woke church that has no light or life of God in it! More later. 

 

I do not believe it is an accident or coincidence that “The Dark Ages” ended in the 1500’s with the beginning of what is called “The Protestant Reformation.” This is when God used a man named Martin Luther, a teacher and a Monk. On October 31, 1517, Luther challenged the Catholic Church’s intermediary role between people and God in what is known as Luther’s published work of 95 Theses.These were 95 objections to the Church’s teaching and practices that were clearly not Biblical! 

 

Let me make it plain. The Catholic Church was built on the notion that individual believers should be dependent on the Pope and the Priests for personal salvation. The Protestant Reformation in contrast was built on the Word of God which clearly teaches that each individua receives personalsalvation when he or she puts their faith in Christ alone as Savior and Lord!

 

The main scripture of the Protestant Reformation was Romans 1:17, “the just shall live by faith.” Each person must put their trust in Christ to be saved! 

 

The return to the Word of God led to the life of God flowing back into His Church! The Church was delivered from dead religion and brought back into relationship with God through the Holy Spirit! 

 

This revival of the Spirit also brought the world out of “The Dark Ages,”and was foundational to the development of Western civilization—the most advanced civilization in the modern world. And the Protestant Reformation was also very important to the founding of the greatest country the world has ever known: The United States of America! The 13 original colonies were founded by Bible believing Christians who came from the Protestant Reformation! 

 

Think of how many multiplied millions of people worldwide came to know Christ because of the Protestant Reformation and the revival of the Spirit in personal salvation! “The just shall live by faith.” 

 

II. THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN 1906.

 

I believe that God restored personal salvation by being born of the Spirit in the Protestant Reformation. 

 

I further believe that God restored the Pentecostal Presence of the Spirit to the Church beginning withthe great 1906 revival in Los Angeles California.This revival came at a time when the Church had once again lost its way. People were turning away from the Church in massive numbers. It was a dark time spiritually. 

 

But from this humble beginning, with a very small remnant church of “nobodies” in the eyes of the world, God infused His Church with Pentecostal power that has led to millions upon multiplied millions of people being brought into the kingdom of God. 

 

The Pentecostal outpouring in 1906 led to a literalexplosion of missions that affected the entire globe with the Gospel of Christ! 

 

Just like the first revival of the Church on the Day of Pentecost with the initial outpouring of the Spirit, and the revival that was unleashed with the Spirit’s work in personal salvation, and the Pentecostal revival that began in 1906, the Church and the world are today in desperate need of another infusion of the Spirit’s life and power! 

 

As I have said for a long time now that I believe we are in the season that is leading to the next great,and possibly final revival, before the Second Coming of Christ! 

 

Why do I believe that? 

 

1. As in the times of the other great revivals, we are living in a time of gross darkness and will not survive without an intervention of God’s Spiritfrom heaven. We must have an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. He is our only hope!

2. God’s heart is to save the lost. He longs to bring in a great harvest of lost souls into the Kingdom of God. 

3. As in other revivals, God is raising up a remnant that is hearing His voice and is seeking Him in intercession and prayer.

4. Something is changing. You can feel it. God is on the move!

 

What kind of revival will it be? If God restored personal salvation by the Spirit in the Protestant Reformation that began in the 1500’s, and the personal Presence of the Holy Spirit in the Pentecostal Revival of 1906, then what will He restore in the coming revival? 

 

I believe in the next revival God is going to restore the power of the Spirit that will result in signs, wonders, divine healing and miracles! This demonstration of the Spirit’s power, through a prepared Church, will lead I believe to tens of millions of people being born again into the kingdom of God! It will be the greatest harvest of souls in history as we move to the end of the age!

 

CONCLUSION/ ALTAR

 

If this then is where we are, what should we do? 

 

Three things: 

 

1. Trust in the blood to save you. Live your life by getting and keeping your sins under the blood of Christ through living a life of confession of sin and repentance or turning from sin.

 

2. Live a life of prayer and intercession. Seek God with all your heart. Learn to hear His Voice and pray His will. 

 

3. Be filled continuously with His Spirit! 

 

If you do these three things, then you will be prepared for the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit. You will be prepared for the next great revival on God’s calendar.