Step 3: Experience an Outpouring of the Holy Spirit

"And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31

A story is told of a man who went off to serve his country during the Second World War. First, he trained soldiers, then his expertise and education led him into the diplomatic service, and eventually he served as an aid to a general who was involved first in the invasion of North Africa, then Italy, and eventually at D-Day. Then, for two more years, he served in the military government that administered Germany following the war. Altogether, he was gone from home for seven years. He had longed to return to his family, and it was a joyful reunion when he eventually came through the door, but the whole atmosphere was soon very stressful. His wife became quarrelsome, his son cowered when he came into the room, acting like he was a stranger. The family had moved from their old home while he was away, so he was not even in familiar surroundings. Finally, one day, in frustration, he burst out, "Didn't you miss me while I was gone?" To which his wife replied, "You were gone so long, it got to the point where we didn't realize what it was that we were actually missing."

Maybe, sometimes, that's the way it is with the church and the Holy Spirit. We've taken a consumer driven, program centered approach to church and in so doing, we learned how to solve our own problems and manage our own resources to produce the kinds of results that we thought we wanted to see. Evangelism has become boiled down to a program, discipleship has become a program, missions is a program, ministry is a program, and it all consumes a lot of time and resources. It has also produced results--not particularly outstanding or remarkable results, but it has caused things to happen and we've become used to that. The end result has been that we have failed to understand how to depend on the Holy Spirit, and we have crowded our worship services with announcements and stuff, and have left little to no room for his spontaneous movement among the people of God. He's been gone so long, we haven't really missed him.

But the Holy Spirit is the engine of the church. In the descriptions of the early church found in Acts, the Spirit is at the center of everything the church does. It is empowered by the Spirit, it is directed by the Spirit, and whatever it accomplishes, it does in the fulness of the Spirit. Paul points out to Titus, in 3:5-6 that the work of regeneration that has come about as a result of our acceptance of Christ's sacrifice has been done by the Spirit, because he has been poured out generously on us. Why would we turn down a generous outpouring of a free gift?

Yet, in many ways, we have done just that. Several times this week, following our study last Wednesday night, I have been asked to explain just what an outpouring of the Holy Spirit would look like. I think I can answer that question.

The most frequently associated manifestations of the Spirit's outpouring in the New Testament is joy and boldness in speaking the word of God. The Spirit's presence brings joy. So when we are gathered together in the body, our worship experience should be joyful, and it should radiate and demonstate joy. The Spirit's presence also causes those whom he indwells to speak the word of God boldly. I think that can be interpreted to mean that a person who is spirit-filled joyously speaks of his relationship with God all the time. People who are full of the Spirit are always looking for ways to acknowledge God and testify to his grace and glory.

As a body, if we are Spirit filled and Spirit led, our worship is joyful and bold. That is demonstrated by our enthusiasm to participate in it. We look forward to corporate worship, our praise is inhabited by God and comes forth joyfully. We want to be involved with other Christians who are also worshipping joyfully. It is also bold in that we want people to see our joy, and our changed life under the Spirit. A square sanctuary with rows of pews that keep us separate, and enable people to hide out along the side or stay away from the action in the back is not conducive to joyful, bold worship. An outpouring of the Spirit should draw us closer to each other and closer to the front, where things are happening. Don't hide! Come out and join the joy.

An outpouring of the Holy Spirit also brings conviction and transformation. We cannot encounter God's Spirit and not be changed. We live in a fallen world, and as a result of our contact with it, we come into the presence of God each week in a fallen condition, beaten up by the spiritual warfare that we have engaged in, whether we know it or not. If we encounter the Holy Spirit in our worship, then we leave transformed. We have become equipped once again to deal with the fallen world in which we have lived. We've made progress in turning over to God more of our life than he had before we walked through the door. Something has happened to us, and we will be different than the person who walked in earlier. The transformation may very well be visible, but if we have encountered the Spirit, it has happened. You can count on it.

Observe, and you will come to the conclusion that our church needs to experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.