Acts 4:31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Reflection: Sermon Thoughts: Part 1
Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro
I mentioned in the sermon this past Sunday that the book of Acts, in particular, we should take care to not conclude it is always “prescriptive.” That is, it does not necessarily prescribe how it is we should live. WE should not, for example, conclude that because the early church sold their possessions to give to the church, that we are directed to do so. This example is a “description” of what happened, not a “prescription” for what should. Indeed, Acts 2 is not a normative event in church history. Acts 2 describes how the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples with tongues of fire and 3,000 people were saved. I wish that were normative, but it was, mostly, a one-time event. So too are the verses we read Sunday. They tell us of a history that we can learn from, and strive to, and honor, while (at the same time) recognize that it is unusual.
Here in verse 31, they prayed and the room was “shaken” where they were. If this happened today, we would think an earthquake, no doubt, was occurring and it likely would not occur to us that it was a sign of the Holy Spirit. But… we should seek the Holy Spirit and be filled by his presence. We should speak the Word boldly. Those things are things we can do easily. We should seek that. If we also want to pray that the Holy Spirit will move in tangible and miraculous ways… I suppose I could encourage you to seek that. However, I might also ask if you are willing to be filled with the Spirit and speak the Truth of the Word boldly and passionately. I suspect that if we were all actually filled with the Spirit, and all committed to his Word as they were in the New Testament, then we might very well see a move of God in a miraculous way. What do you think?
Prayer
Lord, may we seek to see your hand move in us in amazing ways, while at the same time be obedient to proclaim your truth with passion and vigor!