Fall Lord, Fall!

Acts 10:44

“While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”

I want to focus my attention on one word in these verses, “fell,” which is the word that captured my attention while studying these verses last night.

“The Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.”

The first thing I see here is that what is happening is the work of the Holy Spirit.  

First, the Holy Spirit was the initiator of what was happening. It doesn’t say they grabbed it or reached out and seized the Holy Spirit; it says, "The Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word."

Second, the Greek word for “fell” (epepesen) means to come upon suddenly, with power, grip, seize, or take possession of. One of the definitions for this Greek word even says, “To strike or to hit.”  In other words, the Holy Spirit came upon them in an undeniable manner, and it was a visible manifestation of the power of God.

They were visibly and physically affected. They felt it, and anyone present could see the effects of the Spirit upon them. As I was reading this scripture, my mind went to other passages in the Word where the power of God fell.

1 Chronicles 21:26 - “And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.”

This was also an undeniable, visible manifestation of the power of God. The example that stands out was when Elijah squared off with the false prophets of Baal upon Mt Carmel. 

The false prophets and the Man of God agreed. They would both build an altar and offer a sacrifice but put no fire under it. They would call on their respective gods, and the God that answered by fire would be recognized as the one true God. The false prophets built their altar, laid the sacrifice on it, and called upon Baal from morning till noon without an answer.

Elijah began to mock them, and then they became violent and went into a frenzy and began to jump on the altar and cut themselves until the blood gushed out upon them. They continued from noon till the evening sacrifice. Then Elijah took over the stage.

Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down; he put the wood in order and arranged the sacrifice on the wood. Then he had them pour 12 barrels of water on the sacrifice, and then he prayed a short prayer. The Bible says that the fire of the Lord “fell” (the same Greek word in the Septuagint) and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water in the trench.

What happened upon that mountain was so powerful and undeniable that it turned a nation back to God. They experienced a visible, tangible manifestation of the power of God. They had a God Encounter. The Fire of God, the Power of God, fell upon that Mountain on that Altar and that Sacrifice.

Then my mind goes to Acts 2:1-4: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

·         The fire of God Fell on David’s altar and burnt offerings

·         The Fire of God fell on Solomon’s offering and sacrifices

·         The Fire of God, The power of God fell on Mt Carmel

·         The Holy Ghost Fire fell on the day of Pentecost

·         The Holy Ghost Fire fell on the Gentiles in Cornelius' house.

In each case, Old and New Testament, it was a visible and undeniable manifestation of the Power of God. In each case, those involved experienced a God encounter.  

I remember when I was a child, having these types of visible and tangible God encounters regularly in the church services where I first came to "know of Jesus," it still happens in the church I now attend where I came to "know" Jesus.

What am I getting at with all this background? What is it that is weighing heavy on my mind this morning? I am seriously concerned that we may be raising a generation of young Christians who have never had a God encounter. A generation that has never experienced a tangible and undeniable manifestation of the power of God. I am concerned that many of the old Pentecostal denominations are becoming Pentecostal in name only because of the current generation of believers:

·         Know God in theory

·         Know God religiously

·         Know God mentally or intellectually

·         They know of God

But have they ever had a Mt. Carmel, a Day of Pentecost, or a “House of Cornelius” encounter with the Fire of God falling on them? I wonder to myself, have they ever experienced the power of the Holy Ghost seizing them and taking possession of them? Have they ever experienced the supernatural fire of God burning in their hands and feet? To so many in this generation today, the fire of God is just a concept; it’s just an idea, and an encounter with God is when they get goose pimples listening to a worship song.

But my mission today is to tell you that the fire of God is not just a concept; it is not just an idea; it is not a theory or philosophy to be studied. It is not the figment of an overactive imagination or religious ramblings. The fire of God is the manifestation of the Holy Ghost; it is a God encounter, and it is:

·         The same fire that fell on Mt Carmel

·         The same fire that fell on the day of Pentecost

·         The same fire that fell in Cornelius' House.

·         It is Real, Tangible, Alive, and it is Contagious!

·         It is still the mighty power of God

Why is this power so important? Because the fire of God can heal cancer, it can flush drugs out of your system, take the desire all at the same time, deliver you from alcohol, pornography, lust, and perversion, it can destroy jealousy, pride, criticism, bitterness, and unforgiveness, it can heal your broken heart, it will restore joy and peace, it will heal your marriage, and the fire of God will heal your mind.

My prayer, no, my cry today is, God do it again! Let the fire fall! That same fire that fell on the day of Pentecost, that same fire that fell on the gentiles in the home of Cornelius, do it again, Lord, do it again!

·         Let the fire fall!

·         Come suddenly, come forcibly, and come with power!

·         Rush in on us and take possession of us!

I’m not satisfied just reading and singing about it; I want to experience it! Jesus said: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” 

 

This power is not a theory or a concept; it is the same power that caused the sun and moon to stand still, the same power that divided the Red Sea and caused water to flow out of a rock like a river. The same power made the three Hebrew children fireproof, gave Daniel's lions lockjaw, and shook Paul and Silas’s prison off its foundations. Let it fall, Lord, let it fall!

This power is the same power that was upon Jesus' life. It opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, and made the lame walk and the dumb talk, and it is the same power that raised the dead, including the Lord Jesus Himself. Let it fall, Lord, let it fall!

It is this same fire, anointing, and power that God wants to send upon your life right now. God is waiting, and He wants to fall on your life with a tangible, undeniable, irrefutable, and indisputable manifestation of the power of the Holy Ghost.

Hunger is a magnet; it will draw the anointing and open the door for the manifestation of God's power. The great Apostle of Faith Smith Wigglesworth said, “Every Soul touched by Pentecost should be a live wire.”

I believe there are some hungry and thirsty people who refuse to be satisfied or appeased with anything less than a personal encounter with the true power of God. The power of God is going to seize your life, take hold of your life, and set your life on fire.

The God we serve still answers by fire. Wherever there is an altar, wherever there is a sacrifice, wherever there is anointed prayer, wherever there are hungry hearts, and wherever there is desperation for Him, the God who answers by fire is available right now.

His power is waiting to fall on you:

·         He is ready to save you

·         He is willing to heal you

·         He is waiting to deliver you

·         He is waiting to restore your marriage

·         He is here to revive and resurrect you

Fall, Lord, fall on us now! Fall on our hearts, fall on our lives, fall on our marriages, fall on our ministries, fall on our visions and dreams, fall on our attitudes, fall on our families, fall on our finances, fall on our minds, and fall on our bodies.

Fall, Lord, fall! Consume us, burn up dead religion, burn up carnality, burn up dead traditions, burn up everything that is not of you, and set us on fire!