The Altar Is An Invitation Into the Realm of Encounter
In her groundbreaking book, Doorkeepers of Revival, Pastor Kim Owens makes a stunning observation concerning the modern Church and the key to giving the fire of God space to burn without hindrance.
The place of encounter has been lost in many of our modern church settings. Corporately, the altars have literally been replaced with more seats and spiritually less time is available to tarry. Personally, the altars have been replaced with competing secular weights and sins that fill our schedules and minds. The byproduct is empty hearts that lack zeal, shallow relationships with Jesus, and a lack of the fire of the Holy Ghost in our atmospheres. We cannot expect to have revival if the place of encounter is replaced.
An altar is not merely a wooden bench or some kind of Old Testament fixture upon which animal sacrifices were offered; an altar is a place of divine encounter. There aren’t three keys to experiencing the glory of God or seven secrets to calling revival fire down from Heaven. Surely messages like that gain strong audiences, because we all want to know “If I do these X things, I can get the results I want from God. I can see the supernatural! I can attract revival!” No. There is one way into the Pentecostal fire, and it’s the way of Romans 12:1: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (NIV).
In the Old Testament, fire always falls on sacrifice. God is not looking for a bunch of physically dead people; He is looking for those who offer up everything to Him. That is what positions a human vessel to be marked and used by Heaven. He is not looking for the perfect; He is looking for the yielded. He’s not looking for the one with his or her act together, but He is seeking transparency and honesty. Will you offer up the good…and the bad? Will you offer up your addictions, struggles, and habits? Will you openly present those hidden things to the Lord who sees everything, as nothing is concealed from His sight? You may tremble at the thought of complete vulnerability before a holy God. I can understand that. But I offer you a word of encouragement.
Your Open Invitation into the Realm of Encounter
Hebrews 4:16 is your invitation into the presence of God—any time. Even in my sin? Yes. Even in my addiction and struggle? Yes. This is why we need altar space in the church today. The altar is not for those who have everything together; it’s for those who need to be convicted by God’s mercy and convinced of their utter need for God’s empowering grace. The invitation of Scripture is as follows:
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
A few points to consider on this very important passage of Scripture:
You are invited to come boldly into the presence of God, not timidly or cowardly. Your boldness is on the basis of Jesus’s blood, period.
The throne of grace is not some concept or spiritual idea; it’s an experiential dimension in the spirit realm. It’s a place of powerful encounter with the living God. Do not allow anyone to reduce the “throne of grace” to a mere religious idea. It’s a realm. If you have faith for a concept, then you will understand a concept, but if you have faith that, through the blood of Jesus, you have bold access into a place, a realm, a dimension of divine encounter, that is where you will go. Your faith will go as far as your definition of a Bible concept. Is it meant to remain a concept, or is it possible to engage what you read about in Scripture as a real encounter?
There is a revelation of divine mercy available in the presence of God. Satan works extra hard to foster the following deception: “You messed up. You did X, Y, and Z, and because of your sin, you are not allowed to enter God’s holy presence until…” Until what? You say you’re sorry enough times. You go through some kind of penance process that is intended to manufacture holiness (which is impossible). You do a few good deeds that outweigh the bad ones. In satan’s backward, warped economy, he uses the spirit of religion to keep you at arm’s length from the presence of God because he knows that it’s in the realm of presence that you will receive the two things a struggling, desperate person needs. And we all struggle! First, you receive the revelation of mercy, which is that the blood of Jesus alone makes atonement for your sin and grants you access into the very presence of God. It’s this revelation of mercy that reminds you of how feeble human effort is at bringing us behind the veil, into His holy presence. Your works, no matter how many and how good, could never and will never grant you access to His presence. Good news: Jesus’s atoning work, once and for all, made a way for you to come boldly into the throne of grace anytime, in any condition. Now, onto the second blessing found in His glorious presence.
There is the provision of supernatural grace in the presence of God. Mercy grants you access into the presence because of the atoning blood of Jesus, but the revelation of grace is what provides supernatural transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit. The blood of Jesus grants you access to God’s presence in your struggling state, but it’s the power of the Spirit that refuses to leave you a “struggler.”
In order to receive the empowering grace to walk in victory over sin and struggle, it’s vital you have a steadfast revelation of the permanence of the finished work of Jesus. Once more, Jesus’s blood grants you access into God’s holy presence, and the Spirit’s grace gives you divine power to walk victoriously above the sins and struggles that have kept you living beneath your divine destiny. Where does this all take place? The altar of encounter.
Move Out the Seats and Open Up the Altars
In the 1990s, churches moved entire rows of chairs out of the way in the front of their sanctuaries. Why? Chairs being filled was less important than people being filled. Having more people in seats did not mean “more God.” Consider what “moving chairs” means in the spirit. We are moving that position of status quo (sitting down). We are moving the “comfortable” out of the way. We are refusing to accommodate safe, spectator Christianity. We are even making a statement saying, “We place more emphasis on making more space for God than making more people comfortable.” We love people; we are just not on a mission to make people comfortable. Consider that for a moment: we claim to “love” people, but some of what we do (in the name of being inoffensive) encourages people to live comfortably in their sin, struggle, and status quo. This is the very opposite of love. Our aim is to make the Holy Spirit comfortable so that He can minister freely, and instead of encouraging people to remain stuck in their comfortable spiritual status quo, the Spirit can draw them to that crisis point of the altar. Remember, altars filled with empty, broken people attract fire from Heaven. Bottom line: we don’t love people when we are preaching messages or creating environments that make them comfortable living in something (sin, status quo spirituality) that will ultimately destroy them.
