Fire of God

Fire of God

This year, God wants to re-ignite our passion for Him and for the life that He has given us.  We ended last year by learning how we can:

Romans 12:11

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Jesus wrote to the church in Laodicea and said:

Revelation 3:15-16

15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

This year, God is calling out to us as well.  He is calling us closer to Him, an all-consuming fire, so that we are no longer lukewarm and complacent and apathetic in life, but instead, on fire for God!

This morning, we’re starting a new series where we learn more about the fire of God and hopefully experience it!

Jesus tells several parables in Luke 12 to a crowd of many thousands that was so vast that they were trampling each other just to hear Him.  He warns us in them not to worry about anything in this world and that God is pleased to give us His kingdom. 

He warns us to be watchful, to interpret and understand the times in which we are living in.  He asks us to keep our lamps burning always ready for His return.

Jesus then said:

Luke 12:49

I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Starting a fire from nothing can be difficult.  I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has experienced this before.  You take some very dry and flammable cardboard, paper, and small twigs and place them in a pile to start up a fire.  You strike a match and hold it to that pile.  The paper starts to burn, but then your match burns out and the paper does right along with it.  A few matches later and the fire finally takes off.

However, once that kindling is ablaze, fire quickly spreads to whatever else is added to the pile.  In fact, the longer that the fire burns and the more that is burnt by it, the easier it is for that fire to spread.  You can even dump water into the hot coals and it is nearly instantly boiled away.

I’m sure that you’ve experienced this in a church service as well.  There are times when the service gets started and it seems like it isn’t until about half way through the service that God’s Presence shows up.  There are also times when you feel like you’re just going through the motions and trudging through the service and head home feeling like God never showed up.

There are other times that you are overwhelmed by God’s Presence before you even walk through the doors!

That’s what Jesus was referring to.  Sure, there was a crowd of thousands, but they weren’t at all on fire for God.  He wished that He would have shown up on the earth and at least had some kindling to work with.  Instead, He had to often take time by Himself in prayer seeking His Father so that He could fan His own fire into flame and then go back out to minister.

Luke 12:49

I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

The thing about being lukewarm is that you’re comfortable.  You can hang out with people that want nothing to do with God and feel just fine.  They feel just fine with you as well.  You can also hang out with people that are on fire for God and feel just fine with that.  They feel just fine around you as well. 

Lukewarm.  On the fence.  One foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world.

You are swayed and affected by those cold for the Lord as well as those who are hot for the Lord.  You enjoy worldly pleasures with the cold people and praise Jesus with the hot people.  However, you don’t change or impact anyone around you.  Lukewarm.

Now when those on fire for the Lord and those cold toward the Lord get together, well, that’s a different story!

The difference is obvious and there is a real fight and struggle because one or the other has to change.  Either those cold toward the Lord will warm up toward Him or those on fire for God will begin to fade and grow cold toward Him.  Neither are lukewarm by any means and it is clearly evident.

That’s why Jesus goes on to say this:

Luke 12:49-53

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Now knowing Jesus personally, I don’t at all believe that it is His will nor His heart that families would be divided nor that people would not live at peace with one another.  In fact, He is the Prince of Peace and calls us to live at peace with everyone so much as it depends on us (Romans 12:18).

What Jesus is stating here is not His will, but just the realistic, factual truth about what was going to happen by saving us.  By setting us on fire for Him, it is going to cause division with those who are not saved and are cold toward Jesus.  It is just what was going to happen.

Just as the affect and impact of natural fire varies, so it also is with the fire of God.

As an example, last week fire tore through California bringing destruction and heartbreak and negatively impacting the lives of many.  That very same fire that brought them destruction brought us comfort and warmth as it burned within our furnaces and wood burners.

Californians cursed the fire and wished it had never came.  Pennsylvanians praised the fire and gave thanks for it.  Fire.

Depending on the context and the content, fire can either be a terrible and horrifying encounter that brings destruction and pain or an awesome and uplifting encounter that brings life and healing and comfort.  The same fire, but placed within different contexts and with different content.

A metal box doesn’t mind fire at all.

A cardboard box despises fire.

A fireplace in the living room loves fire.

A couch in the living room hates fire.

God gave us natural fire to help us to understand Him better.  After all:

Hebrews 12:29

our “God is a consuming fire.”

and:

Hebrews 1:7/Psalms 104:4

He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.

When servants of the Lord gather together, even just two or three of them, those individual flames join together to become a bonfire!  When they stay apart from each other, they gradually fade away and burn out.

Let’s go through this illustration to better understand the fire of God and why some desire it and long for it and others stay far from it. 

The fire is the same for both.  The content entering the fire is the same.  The content is a person represented by this paper cutout.  The context of how that person enters the same fire is the only difference.

Paper person – unsaved – in just alcohol – catches fire and burns up

Paper person – saved – add equal part water representing forgiveness – catches fire, but doesn’t burn up

Paper person – saved, but embracing sin in their lives – equal part water, but only half dipped in – catches fire, but the sinful, un-surrendered parts are destroyed

When we allow sin in our lives by either not knowing about God’s salvation, rejecting it, or just allowing some sin in our lives, we are very resistant and hesitant to enter into God’s fiery Presence.  We innately sense and know that it is going to harm the areas of our lives still in sin.

When it comes to sin, compromise always leads to complacency.  Allowing sin in our lives always cools down our fire for God and leads us away from Him.  Compromise always leads to complacency.

It’s only when we have fully surrendered our lives to Jesus that we have a genuine hunger and desire to enter into, dwell within, and go even further into God’s fiery Presence.  It’s only then that we want more of the fire of God!

This illustration reminds us of the bush that caught Moses’ attention that was on fire, but did not burn up.  It reminds us of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who went into the fire, but did not burn up.  It reminds us of God, Himself, who is a consuming fire and yet exists eternally.

There are only two acts of God’s fire that are negative and lots of beneficial and good acts.  Again, as we just illustrated, it depends on the context and the content of an object regarding the outcome of being in the fire.

Today, we’ll just go over the two negative results of the fire of God.  We’ll spend lots of time on the fun benefits of the fire of God!

First, the fire of God punishes sin.

When we grab a hot pan with our bare hands and begin to get burned, what do we need to do?

We need to let go of it.

Only then will the hurt stop and the healing begin.

God created us to feel pain for a purpose. 

It doesn’t feel good, but it is a good thing. 

It lets us know that something is wrong and needs addressed.

If we choose to continue to hold onto that hot pan even tighter, it is only going to hurt us more until it eventually destroys and can even kill us.

The fire of God burns away sin.

When Isaiah was physically taken straight into the throne room of God, he cried out:

Isaiah 6:5-8

5 “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

This live coal from Heaven’s fiery altar burned away Isaiah’s guilt and sin.  He recognized and expressed godly sorrow for his sin and the sin of those that he hung out with.  However, if he had chosen to take on that sin as part of his identity, if he had refused to recognize or call out his own sinful uncleanliness before the holy God, I believe that the coal would have burned him up entirely.

We must choose to recognize and separate ourselves from sin.  Letting go of a hot pan when we recognize that it is the source of our pain and choosing to separate ourselves from it begins the healing process.  In the same way, recognizing sin in our lives and then choosing to separate ourselves from it is when forgiveness and healing begins. 

This is called repentance.

The simple sermon and call of John the Baptist, Jesus, and what should be the cry of every disciple of Jesus Christ is,

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

1 John 5:16-18

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.

There are many accounts in the Old Testament where the fire of God fell from Heaven for the purpose of punishing people who chose sin and to rebel against God.  God’s fire killed them.

The fire of God came as a punishment to the 250 men who followed Korah in rebellion against Moses’ leadership (Numbers 16).  The fire of God came as a punishment to Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu for approaching God dishonorably and using unauthorized fire to burn their incense (Leviticus 10). 

The fire of God came as a punishment to the outskirts of the camp in the desert land as God’s people grumbled and complained about their hardships (Numbers 11). 

Sodom and Gomorrah were completely destroyed by burning sulfur from the Lord (Genesis 19).  Their sins were that they were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things (Ezekiel 16).

Hell is a real place.  Jesus said that it is a place of eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25).  It is not a place where the devil rules and reigns.  It is not an eternal party and sinfest.  It is a place created for the devil’s punishment.  It is described as an eternal and unquenchable lake of fire where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.  There is darkness and torment and everlasting destruction.  It is a place shut out from the Presence of God and His glory.

Those who reject Jesus’s salvation throughout their entire lifetime will be cast into hell for eternal punishment for their sins.  God will ultimately honor our decision.

Jesus paid the price for the sins of anyone who will call out to Him and receive His free gift of salvation.  Right now, He patiently gives us an entire lifetime to decide.  His eternal attributes are all around us through the world that He created.  He sends people to us to tell us all about this great salvation.  We choose life or death, blessing or curses, Heaven or Hell.

Second, the fire of God destroys.

2 Peter 3:8-15

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

God I a consuming fire and does not change.  We are the content created to be in the fiery Presence of God and baptized by His fire.  The context by which we enter into the fire of God depends on us.

Will we choose to live holy and godly lives?  Will we choose to make every effort to be spotless, blameless, and at peace with God?  Will we choose to repent of our sin or continue in it?

We choose the context.  God is patient and does not want anyone to perish in His fire, but it is up to us whether or not to repent of our sin.

If, IF, we choose to turn away from our sin…  Well, then we get to experience all of the awesome things that the fire of God does that we’ll learn about in the upcoming weeks!

Jesus has already done everything that He can on His part of His covenant.  He has proved His love and desire to give us forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, and every aspect of His Kingdom.

It is up to us to receive it and to hold nothing back from Him.  It is up to us to be a living sacrifice by offering all that we are to Him and not to sin.  Let’s pray and start now!