True Revival
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Why did Jesus come to this world?
Why did Jesus come to this world?
This is a question that theologians have wrestled with for centuries… (and we are ALL theologians)
Why did Jesus step out of Heaven and onto this earth?
What was the purpose of the Incarnation? (Go ahead, give me your answers)
Jesus answers the question directly:
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”
28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
We quickly remember these scriptures, don’t we?
We quickly answer that question (as you have done) with “to bring salvation”… “to die for our sins”… “to restore our relationship with God”… “to bring holiness to people”…
But… Did you know that He came to do one more thing… one more thing that if we can grasp it… if we have it… it will guarantee us assurance of our salvation?
49 “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!
50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!
Look at that phrase: “to bring fire”…
Πῦρ ἦλθον βαλεῖν — “pyr erchoma ballo”
Pyr — “fire”
erchoma — “come to a state or condition”
ballo — “to throw, hurl”
It says: “to cause a condition of fire on the earth”
Jesus says: “I came to cause a fire on the earth.”
That’s crazy… right?!
Why would Jesus bring fire?
What does He mean? What is this fire?
A lot of commentators, theologians, and even pastors say “Jesus is ready to set the fire of judgement and let unbelievers face their punishment.”
That, Jesus — for some reason — is desiring to bring judgment and condemnation on the earth…
But that doesn’t make any sense… If Jesus’s desire was to see a fire of judgement consume the “unbelievers,” then why did He come in the first place?!
Why did He choose to step out of heaven?
Why didn’t He just sit in heaven and watch the people “get what they deserve”?
And… How does that fit with Peter’s words in:
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Jesus says that He “has a baptism to undergo”. What is that baptism?
Is it not a baptism that brings forgiveness to the sinner — to the unbeliever as it were?
So… How do these two ideas fit together?
Look back at Luke 12:41
41 Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?”
Jesus’s response to Peter’s question — the parable He tells — is focused on Faith and Faithful living.
His focus here — and in the prior passage and following passage — are about Faith and Faithful living....
Christ’s desire is for the Fires of Faith to be set ablaze in our hearts!
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 4: Matthew–Acts (c. Divided Loyalties (12:49–53))
A. B. Bruce says: “the fire of a new faith, or religion, a burning enthusiasm in believers, creating fierce antagonism in unbelievers: deplorable but inevitable.”
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 4: Matthew–Acts (c. Divided Loyalties (12:49–53))
Creed says: “Christ wishes that the fire were already kindled, because it must needs be so before the kingdom of God can come.”
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 4: Matthew–Acts (c. Divided Loyalties (12:49–53))
Plummer prefers the meaning, “What more have I to desire, if it be already kindled!” He writes: “Christ came to set the world on fire, and the conflagration had already begun.”
Farrar says this:
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 4: Matthew–Acts (c. Divided Loyalties (12:49–53))
“The metaphor is probably to be taken in all its meanings: fire as a spiritual baptism; the refining fire to purge gold from dross, and burn up the chaff of all evil in every imperfect character; and the fire of retributive justice.”
What Christ longed for… the fire He brought to the earth… the thing He yearned to see “kindled”… was the beginning of the purifying work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s Children.
But… it couldn’t be kindled yet… He had a baptism to go through…
Baptism means — “to be immersed” (we talked about this last week)
Jesus knew that He had to be totally immersed in agonizing pain and torture… that He had to be immersed in the sin of the world… that He had to be totally immersed in complete separation from the presence of the Holiness of God…
And that caused Him distress…
50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!
Can you imagine?
But… Jesus suffered all that… He willingly went to the Cross… for your sake and for mine… Not simply to free us from sin… not simply to bring Grace into our lives… but to ignite a fire in our souls!
Jesus yearned to see that fire set… to see it blazing “white-hot” in our hearts… Why?!?
Because that Fire is what changes the world!!!
I. Fire Reveals God’s Presence in Our Lives.
There are several statements about God in the Bible: God is Holy; God is Light; God is Love; God is Spirit;…
We call these “Theophany”… theophany is how God reveals Himself Physically in scripture.
Fire is the most common.
When God appeared to Moses, He spoke as a burning bush...
At Mt. Sinai, God appeared to the Israelites as a fire on the mountain.
17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.
When Moses built the Tabernacle… and the first sacrifice was made in the Holy of Holies… God revealed Himself in Fire…
24 Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
We just talked about the prophet Elijah… When Elijah stood on Mt. Carmel and called on God to send down fire… God showed up and burned up the sacrifice, altar, water, everything!!!
Look at how John describes Jesus in Revelation:
12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest.
14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.
Throughout the Bible, God’s presence is represented by Fire.
That’s what Jesus is excited about… that is what He yearns to see fulfilled… bringing the supernatural, burning, exciting presence of God into our lives!
John the Baptist said:
Luke 3:16 (NRSV)
16 John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Jesus came to totally immerse people in the burning, purifying, awesome presence of God!
An experience with God… a personal encounter of God… is an experience with Holy Fire!
After the resurrection… two disciples walked along the road to Emmaus… Jesus began walking with them, but they didn’t recognize Him… look at what they said after He revealed Himself:
32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
Oh, that we would all experience that Emmaus experience!!!
Let me tell you: When your heart is on fire for someone… you are passionate about that person.
You yearn to be with them… You go out of your way for them… Your world begins to revolve around them… They become everything for you… You find Joy in your relationship with them…
(Do you realize that that is how God views you? God is passionate about you!)
Jesus came to give us that kind of burning, passionate, love-filled relationship with the God of the Universe!
That’s the fire He desired to see kindled!
Because… That is the Fire that reveals God to the World!
II. Christ’s Fire Generates Power in the Life of Believers.
So… Why don’t we see more POWER in our personal lives… in our prayers?
(I’m gonna get scientific on you…)
Thermodynamics — the relationship between heat and mechanical energy and the process of changing one into the other.
Your Cars engine is a great example… burns fuel and changes it into power to create motion… gets you from point A to point B…
Electricity is produced in plants that use gas, coal, water, or nuclear fusion to transfer heat into power…
If just one component… a transformer… a spark plug… a wire… fails… the whole system fails.
The same is true for us…
We operate off Spiritual Thermodynamics.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Holy Spirit living inside you is like God’s Fire… generating the power we need to live the Christian Life.
He gives us the power to share our faith… to forgive people… to love the unlovable people!
John 15:5 (NRSV)
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
The Fire Christ brings to us is the spark that ignites the energy we need to live the Christian Life!
(We say “You gotta have unction…” or “He’s got the unction to get it done...”)
unction : the act of anointing as a rite of consecration or healing (Merriam-Webster dictionary)
(That’s what the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit is)
We have to have an “unction” of the Holy Spirit.
The key to Spiritual Thermodynamics: “You can’t function without unction!”
But… that takes effort from us…
John 15:5 (NRSV)
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
Fire will only burn as long as there is fuel and oxygen… remove either and the fire dies.
We must tend the fire in order to keep it burning!
We cannot just “coast” through life… We cannot just accept God and go about our business, never giving it another thought… We must intentionally keep the fire burning!
Leviticus 6:12 (NRSV)
12 The fire on the altar shall be kept burning; it shall not go out. Every morning the priest shall add wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat pieces of the offerings of well-being.
If you don’t tend a fire, it will simply burn out… The sad thing is, this can happen spiritually as well.
Ask yourself: “Has the Fire gone out in my heart?”
Was there a time when you were more excited and fired up about God than you are today?
Has your zeal and passion for Jesus cooled down?
During the 60’s and 70’s… and even through today… being “cool” has become a good thing…
The “Happy Days” character Arthur Herbert Fonzirelli, “The Fonz” … was the epitome of “Cool”…
To be cool (like the Fonz) you have to look disinterested… never get excited… never be passionate about anything… never be in a hurry… keep one hand in your jeans and look bored most of the time… You were just.... cool, man.
You see… That’s the problem!
Too many Christians are trying to be “cool Christians.”
They’re trying to be loved by the world… Is that us?!
Paul said he was a “fool for Christ” — and yet we’re trying to be “cool” for Christ!
We have replaced the fiery, dynamic Christian Life… for some kind of dispassionate, mediocre substitute.
19 Do not quench the Spirit.
Spiritual fervor… fire… can be extinguished by simple apathy.
That’s why God told the priests it was a daily task to keep adding wood to the fire.
If you neglect prayer, Bible study, quiet time with God, or regular fellowship with other Christians… the fire WILL eventually go out. (repeat)
You don’t lose your salvation; You lose the JOY of your salvation.
You lose your zeal…
Has the fire gone out? Is it dimming?
There was a preacher who one Sunday in mid-winter… arrived early to the church and turned the heat off, but left the fans blowing… When the people arrived… they heard the fans blowing, but it was freezing in the building… The title of his sermon that day was “The Blowers Working, But The Fire’s Gone Out!”
That’s an accurate description of thousands of Christians today… They’re going to church… serving… singing… and giving… but the Fire has gone out!
There was another pastor who had pastored a church for 3 years… One day he met a man on the street and introduced himself to him… The man said, “Oh, I’m a member of your church.” The pastor politely responded, “Well, I’ve been there three years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in service.” the man replied, “I said I was a member, not a fanatic!”
Can I just tell you: The idea that we can “worship from home” and still be “on fire” for the Kingdom… is False!
But there are many who convince themselves they can…
Many people are more concerned with being “cool” … and not being called a “fanatic”… a “Jesus Freak”… than with being on fire for God.
We can understand why… We’ve all seen that weird person… that Christian who got fired up and excited… and started doing really weird things …
And we don’t want to be seen like that, so… we set the Spiritual Thermastat…(the problem)… so low in our hearts that instead of being God’s Chosen, we become God’s Frozen!
It seems like we are so afraid of what the Fire may cause us to do that we choose no Fire.
Leonard Ravenhill said this: “You may belittle experiences and speak of the dangers of emotion, but we are suffering from a species of Christianity as dry as dust, as cold as ice, as pale as a corpse, and as dead as King Tut. We are suffering not from a lack of correct heads… but from a lack of consumed hearts.”
Vance Havner wrote: “Just because some have gone into a wildfire rolling in the hay and foaming at the mouth, that doesn’t mean that the rest of us have to live in a deep freeze! God never intended His Church to be a refrigerator to preserve perishable piety… it must be a place where God’s fire falls and His people are ignited for service.”
Put your hand over your heart… Has the Fire gone out?
Jesus came to bring fire on the earth; has the fire been kindled in your heart? Are you keeping it blazing?
III. God’s Power Purifies.
16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
To “Be Holy” means to “be pure and clean.”
The Holy Spirit comes to live in our hearts to make us Holy.
Malachi 3:2–3 (NRSV)
2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;
3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.
9 And I will put this third into the fire, refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, “They are my people”; and they will say, “The Lord is our God.”
God’s fire… burning in your heart… will remove the dross and impurities that find their way into your life. (Those impurities cannot remain when fire is present)
In 1665… thousands of people were dying everyday in London… the bubonic plague was raging… it was spreading from house to house because of unsanitary conditions… rats and fleas spread germs throughout the city… almost 30,000 people died…
In fact… that is where the nursery rhyme “Ring around the Rosy” came from…
The plague was so bad that experts surmise that the entire population of London would have died if nothing had happened to end it.
On September 2, 1666… the Great Fire of London broke out… it burned uncontrollably for five days… Almost the entire city was reduced to ashes… people lost everything!
But something interesting occured in the midst of it… a large portion of the rat and flea population were killed in the fired… and the epidemic of the plague was ended.
The fire cleansed the city of the impurity that was killing its people.
That’s what God’s fire does in our lives.
It comes into our lives and cleanses us… It removes the impurities that we don’t even know are there…
Going through the fire is not a pleasant experience… It’s hot… It’s uncomfortable… It hurts… It’s scary… We often don’t know when it will end…
Some of us may be going through the fire right now…
Let me tell you: God loves You! He knows what you need… He knows exactly how much heat you need to walk out of the fire cleansed and stronger than you went in! You can trust Him to see you through!
IV. Fire Captivates People.
Have you ever noticed that?
Fire is Fascinating!
People can’t help themselves… When there is a fire burning… they watch it!
There’s a funny story that came out of West Texas… There was an oil well burning out of control, and the Midland and Odessa fire departments could not get close enough to put it out… The owner of the well offered a $50,000 reward to any fire department that could put it out…
a few minutes later… a single fire truck from the Notrees, TX volunteer fire department came barreling by the other trucks… it rolled to a stop right in front of the burning well… The volunteers bailed out of the truck screaming and yelling… They took the hoses and began wetting each other down… and the proceeded to put out the fire!
When the fire was out the owner asked the fire chief, “What are you going to do with the money?”
The chief … who looked like he could barely stand up… said, “I’m going to use the money to fix the brakes on that dadgum truck!”
There’s something about fire that we must not forget… it is important for us… When something is in fire, people come to watch it burn!
In 1981, a fire broke out one night at St. Matthew’s Baptist Church in Louisville, KY… One of the staff members was there watching the scene… He said: “More folks showed up to watch our church burn than ever came to worship with us!”… “I guess the lesson is: When you have a church that’s really on fire, people will come to watch it burn!”
That’s what happened on the day of Pentecost…
A group of Christians got on fire for Jesus and the crowds came to check it out…
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
Do you see what happened there? (Can you get excited?!)
God gave each believer a little flame… a spark… that ignited a fire… And.. when the people in Jerusalem heard what was happening… they couldn’t help but come a see the fire!
The result… 3,000 of them were baptized that day… and 5,000 just a few days later!
Fire attracts people!
We look at this point in the early church, and… I don’t know a single pastor, or Christian brother or sister that doesn’t want to see that happen in their community....
If we desire that… then we have to let God light a fire in us!
Charles Spurgeon tells young preachers: “Build a fire in the pulpit and people will come to watch it burn.”
Church we need to catch fire for God!
I don’t want us to be known as “the church with the big building”… or that “biker church”… or that “church the has the food pantry”… I want us to be known as a church on fire!
Because if we are a church that’s on fire for God… people will come to see it… they will come to watch us burn!
Are we a church on fire?
Not really… We are an extremely warm church… But… let me tell you… the warmth of fellowship… of friendship… is not the same as the Holy fire of God!
You see… we tend to set our spiritual thermostat at a level that doesn’t cost us anything… We set them at a Spiritual Temperature that doesn’t require anything of us… and when we do that… we orchestrate the Holy Spirit out of our lives…
As Pastor David Dykes says: “We are more interested in being “cool” Christians then “red-hot servants” of Jesus.”
I know, I know… Pastor, You said “light a fire in the pulpit” so....
Let me tell you… God doesn’t light churches on fire… He ignites individuals…
3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.
At Pentecost, each believer there had his own little fire… when they put them together… they set the church on fire!
Our church will be a church on fire when I get on fire for Jesus, and… When you get on fire for Jesus, and… then we bring our fire together!
The Old Hymn says:
“Lord as of old at Pentecost,
You did your power display
in cleansing, purifying flame descend on us today.
Lord send the old-time power—
the Pentecostal power —
That sinners be converted
and Your name glorified!”
You can tell someone who is on fire for Jesus…
Because…
V. God’s Fire Radiates From Them.
There was a fiery old revival preacher named Peter Cartwright… He was famous for “telling it like it is.”
He was preaching near Washington DC… And the church heard that Andrew Jackson was coming to visit them…
So… Like any good church would do… they pulled him aside and said: “Peter… listen… the President is going to be here Sunday… we know that you sometimes get a little offensive… so… would you tone it down this week? We don’t want to upset the President.”
(Can you imagine?)
So… Peter got up in the pulpit the next Sunday… and this is what he said:
“I understand that the President of the United States, Andrew Jackson… is with us this morning.”
“I’ve been asked to be guarded in my remarks.” (pause)
“Andrew Jackson… will go to hell… if he doesn’t repent.”
The church was appalled… How could he say that about the President?!?
But… when worship was over… President Jackson grabbed Cartwright’s hand… shook it… and said:
“Sir,… if I had an army of men like you… I could whip the world.” (Pause)
When you have a fire for God in your heart… You cannot keep it secret!
When you put a metal bar in a fire… it begins to heat up… When you pull it out… it glows red from the heat…
the same thing happens to us… When you are on fire for God… You will glow… white-hot with your love for Jesus!
Angels are described as having “glowing faces” because of their exposure to the glory of God…
Moses’s face shone with the Glory of God when he came down from the presence of God on the mountain…
When the Sanhedrin stoned Stephen… they said that his face shone like the face of an angel...
When you’ve got the fire Jesus brings… you cannot keep it inside!
9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
John Wesley was kicked out of the Anglican Church (Church of England) because he was seen as “too radical”… So… He preached in the streets and fields instead…
At 4’11”… Wesley shook the continent for Christ!
Once he was preaching in a crowd and a group of thugs bragged about how they were going to “stop him” and “beat hin up”…
Upon hearing the news… Wesley preached anyways…
In the middle of his message…they approached him with sticks and clubs… but he didn’t stop… Suddenly the leader of the thugs stopped and said, “Look! He glows! He glistens!”
They dropped their clubs… sat down… and that day they were saved!
When Wesley was later asked about the power of his ministry, he said: “I ask God to set me on fire… and let people watch me burn.” (repeat)
Let me ask again: “Has the FIRE gone out in your heart?”
Are you known as a glowing witness for Christ?
Are you more concerned with being “cool” then”red-hot” for Jesus?
The Fire can go out… this is why Paul told Timothy:
6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;
When I used to go camping a lot… I’d get up in the mornings and the fire pit would just be a mound of gray ashes… but… when I stirred them up a bit and added some wood… I’d soon have a blazing fire…
That’s what some of us need to do… We need to stir the coals… we need to stir up the ashes of apathy…
We’ve become cold and carnal… we need to let God re-ignite the fire within us!
When Solomon finished building the Temple… He prayed…
1 When Solomon had ended his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.
3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
In the OT… God had a Temple for His people…
Today… God has People for His Temple.
Our bodies are Temples for the Holy Spirit…
Has the fire of God fallen on your heart?
Do you desire for the Fire of the Holy Spirit to fill THIS Temple?
Then… admit that the fire has gone out… refuse to be a cool, apathetic believer… and ask God to relight your fire.
That is what God WANTS to do!
Jesus told the church in Ephesus:
4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
There is still time… The fire can be relit....
All we have to do is ask!
(altar call)
(song — “Soul on fire” or “Start a fire”?)