By the time the sun had set on the first day of Pentecost after the ascension of Jesus, there were about three thousand, one hundred and twenty people who had begun an awesome new life through Jesus Christ. Three thousand, one hundred and twenty people ready to turn the world upside-down, to touch their friends and to touch nations with the compassion and wonderful, miraculous power of God. what was to happen to these people the day after, the weeks ahead, and years to come, we read “and they continued steadfastly” (Acts 2:42) They continued because they wanted the incredible life of the last two months to continue! They had a choice. Either they continued the adventure of a redeemed and Spirit filled life or they became church-goers.

The concept of being saved and becoming a church-goer was totally unknown to them. They saw themselves as a force, not just a fellowship. They were part of a revolution, not a religion. They were an outpost of heaven, not a society of the earth. They never went to church, they were church. Christ was never just part of their lives, He totally consumed them. This is what we have been saved for  -  an ever growing, ever fuller, more powerful life in God! They continued steadfastly!

“Continuing Steadfastly” was a normal consequence of being baptised with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had said to them (John 16:13) When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever he hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. A critical word in this statement is when. Without a ‘when’ the rest is of no importance. There must be a ‘when’ in our lives, then He will lead and guide us into truth.  Truth is a transforming encounter of which knowledge is only a part. Truth sets us free. Jesus IS the truth. Truth makes us different people. Holy Spirit does this, he takes us on from truth to truth, from freedom to freedom, from newness to newness. And He will tell you things to come. I don’t think this has much to do with ‘end time events’, it’s more about divine possibilities for the next hour of your life!

There’s a very revealing example for us of moving with the presence of God. After being “baptised in the cloud” (1 Corinthians 10:2) they were then led by the cloud through their wilderness travels. Look at how the New Living Translation tells the story in Numbers 9:15 – 23.

Moving with His presence was unpredictable, it could be years before the cloud lifted, it could be overnight; it was unsettling, imagine just getting the tent nicely arranged, the household in a routine, and the cloud lifts! It was both inconvenient and inconsiderate, God never seemed to consider their circumstances.

But when the cloud lifted, it was the Spirit stirring and announcing His moving. The people had to brake camp and ready themselves to move with God. Then the cloud moves and the people follow, the people went after God. One of the most important things a pastor can teach his flock is how to hear the trumpet, see the cloud rise, break camp and GO AFTER GOD!

Imagine the situation if they never moved with the Presence? If they stayed put they would lose the voice of the Lord (the Lord spoke out of the cloud). All the other voices in the world would talk to us without fear of contradiction. They would lose the supernatural protection (experienced at the Red Sea). They would lose the fire that gave them light during the dark hours. First: the Word loses its proper place in our lives. Second: the internal ‘fire’ that influences our choices and direction. That fire probably gave them warmth in the cold dessert evenings; they would lose that too.

Soon they would realise they were losing connection with those who were going on with God. No more manna. And the Rock from which refreshing water flowed had moved away. Most tragic of all, they lost the nearness of God in their lives.

Day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on.

It’s hard to “break camp”. I’d been a Christian for five years. I didn’t know anything about ‘moving on’ with God, and in those days I tended to count myself out – I was quite shy – so didn’t even recognise the need in my life for more God. But God’s time came (the cloud lifted). I knew it, but just knowing it wasn’t enough. I had to “break camp”, that is, respond to God in a way I never had before. It was hard to do and I was reticent for many reasons, but something in me (my mind, emotions and will) had to break!

Breaking camp means completely finishing with some part of your life as it is, and leaving it behind as you go into something new. Another time I recall, breaking camp with the place I had been camped spiritually, meant breaking connection with a large group of people who had been camped with me. They didn’t want to move, never saw the cloud lift – but I had to move. So not only was I breaking an old spiritual place for me, I was breaking with people who if I’d stayed with them I would’ve been held back from moving with God’s presence.

Every time I’ve broken camp, God has met with me in a new way and I’ve ended up with some new adventure, and a new level in my spiritual life. The believers in Acts 2 continued steadfastly because they didn’t want the adventure to stop! At another time, I didn’t make a conscious effort to move away from people, but because of the change in me they moved away from me.

For an Israelite to break camp and move on with the cloud of the Lord’s presence, he had to either see the cloud for himself OR discern the sound of the trumpet (Numbers 10:1 – 7) The trumpet is a type of a prophetic voice; and so through the preaching or a prophetic ministry, or the voice of the Spirit on the inside, God will sound a trumpet message. If a person was slack in recognising the trumpet, they could be left behind. Sometimes the trumpet could be the voice of your pastor speaking into you, having come to him or her because you’re hungry for more God in your life, or unwilling to stagnate.

Next the Israelite would have to go about the inconvenient and unsettling work of stopping whatever he was doing, packing up everything he owned (including his tent), gathering all his livestock, ready to move. Only by being more desperate for the presence of God than his own comfort would he do this. He would then join himself with others who had heard the trumpet and were ready to move.

This would be normal and continual until Israel had entered the promised land (40 years), the Israelite had to have that as his ultimate goal. Even though saved, baptised and Spirit-filled, he could still forfeit that if he didn’t continually move on with God’s presence.

The three main keys that enabled the early Christians to move with the ‘cloud’ were:

(1) they went after God by their love, hunger and surrender to the Word of God as it was taught by the apostles. But it was more than listening to messages – they also continued in the ‘Apostles fellowship’ – picture a warm and exciting personal interaction happening in the church with everyone! Pastors, new believers, deacons, apostles, Mums and Dads, prophets, students – a ‘koinonia’ that empowered each one to ‘do’ the Word, to make the Word work in their lives.

(2) they went after God by their association with people who had the same love for the presence of God. They did this through continual hospitality among themselves, and a continual gratitude for the blood of cross. They would enjoy a meal, lots of fun and encouraging conversation, then bring out the bread and wine to focus their hearts on the reason for it all.

(3) they went after God by a type of praying that declared their desperation to be where He is at all times; and declared their earnest claim on every promise of God to be fulfilled in their lives. The promised land was the aim of following the cloud. Tell him you’re coming – in prayer, daily through life, say it! Build a language of searching and hunger for His presence in your life.

Let’s be the crowd that stays with the cloud!

Back to the Top