Yes, God Is Real!

Acts 12:9
So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

"Religion is the opiate of the people" is one of the most frequently quoted statements of Karl Marx. It was translated from the German original, "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" and is often referred to as "religion is the opiate of the masses." In other words religion was a way for the masses of people to escape the realities of the world. There is some truth to that statement. When people are committed to dead rituals that no longer bear any relevance nor sustain connection to a living and vital God it is an Opiate or numbing influence. But when we are in communication and relationship with a dynamic, and energizing force or as the German’s would call a Zeitgeist. Zeitgeist (pronounced [ˈt͡saɪtɡaɪst] (help • info)) is a German language expression translated as: Zeit, time; Geist, spirit, meaning "the spirit of the age and its society". When we have relationship with a living God he enables us to better understand our world. Yes God is “Real” for I can feel him in my soul. You know God is real when he is existentially relevant. Paul said, “In God we move, live and have our being.” You know God is real when you experience him in your time and space. Sometimes you don’t know God is real until you find yourself in a bind.

Peter was thrown into Prison by Herod just because he was a follower of Jesus. He saw that it pleased the Jews to kill James so Peter was his next victim. As the world becomes more and more anti-Christian don’t be surprised to find yourself picked out to be persecuted. Jesus said, “If they persecuted me they will persecute you also.”

The good news in this text is that when they arrested Peter the church started praying and they were in constant prayer for Peter. He was chained up between two guards in a cell guarded by four Soldiers. He wasn’t going anywhere, so they thought.

That night God sent an Angel who told Peter to put his clothes and shoes on to follow him. The bibles says that Peter didn’t know that what was done by the Angel was real. Have you ever been so sleepy you really didn’t know what you were doing? Peter had to have been in some kind of state of semi-consciousness because he didn’t know this was real until he got all the way out. Sometimes as God is taking you out, your mind doesn’t want to believe that God is really doing it until you get on the other side of your situation and you realize that couldn’t nobody but God do this!

Three things that helped Paul realize that God was real:

1. He had a personal relationship with Jesus. Matthew 16: 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,a the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

2. He had been filled with the Spirit. Acts 2: 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

3. The church was in constant prayer.
Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

Dear God, open our eyes and show your people that you are real. We are in some hopeless situations and only you can bring us out. Deliver us from the deadening of irrelevant religious tradition and awaken us to a living relationship with the risen Christ. Yes God, you are real for I can feel you in my soul.

In Jesus Name.

Amen