
We could learn a lot about church from those earliest believers who had something many churches today don’t have—the manifest presence of God.
By Steve Gaines
Does God come to your church? That might sound a little strange, but it’s a question every Christian should prayerfully consider. Far too many Christians believe if they simply attend a church worship service, sing songs, listen as the choir sings “special music,” and then listen to the preacher’s sermon, the Lord will automatically be present with them and affirm what’s done and said by those who participate in the “worship” service. But that’s not the way it works.
If we want to experience God’s manifest presence, we must diligently seek Him. Moses said in Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find Him when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul” (CSB). Later on, God told His exiled people, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13, CSB).
“If we want to experience God’s manifest presence, we must diligently seek Him.” — @bellevuepastor Share on XJesus said in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them.” The immediate context of that verse is church discipline. But there is a broader interpretation to that text. Jesus was also saying that whenever two or three Christians gather together to worship God in Spirit and in truth, God’s manifest presence is with them.
We see God’s manifest presence throughout the Old Testament. We read in 2 Chronicles 5:13-14:
The trumpeters and the singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voice, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the Lord: ‘For he is good; his faithful love endures forever.’ The temple, the Lord’s temple, was filled with a cloud. And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.”
(CSB)
The phrase, “The glory of the LORD filled God’s temple,” is the perfect definition of revival.
God’s presence in the church
God’s manifest presence also appeared to the earliest Christians. Soon after Pentecost, Peter and the disciples were persecuted by the Jewish religious leaders for preaching the gospel in Jerusalem. When the Jewish leaders warned them to stop preaching that Jesus was the Messiah, the disciples refused. Then they prayed and asked the Lord to give them boldness to continue to preach the gospel of Christ.
The Lord answered their prayers by sending His manifest presence. Acts 4:31 says, “When they had prayed, the place where they had assembled was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God boldly” (CSB). God’s manifest presence was in their midst like it was when Solomon and the people of Israel dedicated the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem in 2 Chronicles 5.
Praying for God’s presence
My first job on staff at a Baptist church was in a small town in West Tennessee. I was a college student at a Baptist university nearby, and I served as the youth director at that church. One Wednesday night, a group of us gathered for our weekly prayer meeting. The pastor was a good man. He asked for prayer requests, especially for our upcoming revival meeting. People requested prayer for the guest preacher, the choir, and the people we would invite to attend, especially those who didn’t know Christ as Savior.
In that prayer meeting, I made a prayer request I’ve continued to make for almost 50 years. I asked the pastor, “Let’s ask God to come to our church and our revival meeting.” I wasn’t trying to be a smart aleck; I was dead serious. But I could tell that the folks in the pews didn’t care for my request.
The pastor quickly dismissed my request saying, “Well we know the Lord will be here.” I didn’t pursue it any further, but I can assure you, there wasn’t much of the manifest presence of God in our revival meeting. A handful of people were saved. A few others joined the church. But it wasn’t revival. It was nothing like we see in the book of Acts.
Pursuing revival
I’m uncomfortable with how comfortable many modern Christians are with going through religious motions every Sunday. Many Christians today have little resemblance with their first-century spiritual ancestors in the book of Acts. Our churches should strive to be like the earliest Christians.
“I’m uncomfortable with how comfortable many modern Christians are with going through religious motions every Sunday.” — @bellevuepastor Share on XThose earliest believers didn’t have permanent buildings in which to meet, but the Lord’s presence was with them. They didn’t have seminaries, but when they preached, hundreds (and sometimes thousands) were saved. They prayed for sick people, and they were healed. When they prayed for demonized people, they were set free. They prayed for the gospel to spread, and in less than three centuries, most of the civilized world was evangelized.
Those earliest believers had something many of our churches today don’t have—the manifest presence of God. The glory of God filled their gatherings. We could learn a lot about church from those earliest believers in Jesus.
Revival is when God’s manifest presence fills us and our churches. In my book, Revival: When God Comes to Church, I discuss the various revivals that took place in the Old and New Testaments as well as those that have occurred up until our day.
The last nationwide revival in America was the Jesus Movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s been over half a century since God’s manifest presence filled our churches in a significant way. I’ve written this book to show that God is still seeking Christians and churches that long for His manifest presence.
“The last nationwide revival in America was the Jesus Movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It’s been over half a century since God’s manifest presence filled our churches in a significant way.” — @bellevuepastor Share on XPraying for revival
I pray you and I will live to see a major movement of God like the revivals we read about in the Bible and throughout the history of Christianity. I pray we will become spiritually hungry and thirsty for the Lord to come to our churches. Just like He did in Revelation 3:20 at the church of Laodicea, Jesus is knocking at the door of your church trying to get in. Open the door and let His manifest presence enter your church.
Lord, send a revival to Your people in our day. May the glory of God once again fill the house of God. Amen, and amen!
For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.
