Matthew 3:11-12 11 "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire." From the resurrection of Jesus during the Jewish Feast of Passover, until the Feast of Pentecost is 50 days. The Passover celebrated Isreal's protection and deliverance when they sacrificed the lamb and placed the blood over their door mantle and door posts. The Death angel passed over them. thus the name of the feast, Passover. Now Jesus had become sin for man and shed his blood. Judgement was passed to him and he became sin and God's judgement passed over us and Jesus bore the sin and payed the debt. John the Prophet said this Jesus would baptize with fire and he would burn up the chaff and gather the wheat in to his barn. Isn't it interesting that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit came on the last day of the Feast of Pentecost, the Harvest Feast, and Peter preached and 3000 were saved. What a harvest! John prophesied the coming baptism in the Holy Spirit He prophesied it would be a Baptism Of Fire. This fire of God would burn up everything that is not useful in the Kingdom of God. Why Is The Fire Of God So Important Today In The Church? Or Is It Important? Is The Power Of Pentecost Still Needed Today? Or Are Tongues And The Work Of The Holy Spirit A Thing Of The Past? The fire of Heaven is a consuming, cleansing fire. His fire will burn away every work of the flesh! Ephesians 5:27 … and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. Acts 2:1-4 1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. The Bible Calls Them Tongues of Fire Tongue: glossa (gloce-sah'); a language (specially, one naturally unacquired) Fire: pur (poor); "fire" (literally or figuratively, specifically, lightning) Tongues of Fire is an unlearned language given by the Father that brings into the believer a lightning like fire that burns up everything that that is not fruitful in life. Acts 2:12-21 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?" 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 "'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' This Is The Foundation Of The Church: The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Neither element can be replaced. “Spirit filled souls are ablaze for God. They love with a love that glows. They serve with a faith that kindles. They serve with a devotion that consumes. They hate sin with fierceness that burns. They rejoice with a joy that radiates. Love is perfected in the fire of God”.Author: Samuel Chadwick 1860-1932 Ephesians 2:17-22 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:10-16 10 Because of God's grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 12 Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person's work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 16 Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God Birthed The Church In The Fire. It Is The Fire That Brings Purity. For God’s Plan To Work Man Must Be Consumed By The Fire Of God. Destitute Of The Fire Of God, Nothing Else Counts; Possessing Fire, Nothing Else Matters. Author: Samuel Chadwick If we try to build the Church on anything less than the foundation that has been laid, the Church will be powerless and fail. History has proven that man resists the Fire Of God. When man resists the Fire Of God he becomes religious. God will never change His ways, His foundation is sure. “My fear is not that our great movement, known as the Methodists, will eventually cease to exist or one day die from the earth. My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great”. Author: John Wesley 1703-1791 What has been birthed in the fire must remain in the fire. If the truth of the word set people free yesterday then it will set them free today. Galatians 3:2-3 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? It is only when the whole heart is gripped with the passion of prayer that the life-giving fire descends, for none but the earnest man gets access to the ear of God. Author: E. M. Bounds 1835-1913 The one concern of the devil is to keep Christians from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, and prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, mocks at our wisdom but trembles when we pray. Author: Samuel Chadwick Comments are closed.
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AuthorPastor Dave White is Senior Pastor of WOLCC, founded in April of 1995. Archives
November 2015
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